District

Dialogue

Bi-weekly news from the Laveen Elementary School District August 15 2014

The District Dialogue is issued twice monthly.

State accountability scores released The Arizona Department of Education has released the 2014 A-F Letter Grades. The Laveen Ele-

mentary School District has once again earned a grade of “B.”

The district earned a total point value of 133, which is ten points higher than last year and the

highest the district has been since Arizona began assigning letter grades in 2011.

Vista del Sur earned a grade of “A” and all other schools earned grades of “B.”

Three schools improved their letter grades over last year: Cheatham and Laveen schools went from

a “C” to a “B” and Rogers Ranch went from a “D” to a “B.”

The state’s accountability system is designed to place equal value on current year achievement and

longitudinal academic growth, specifically the growth of all students as well as a school’s lowest

achieving students. The A-F Letter Grades are based on two components: a composite score and a

growth score. Only students who attend a Laveen school for the full academic year are included in the

letter grade accountability scoring.

District earns bonus points

The District earned the total six bonus points that are possible for an elementary district to earn in

the state’s accountability system. The points were awarded for the reclassification of English Lan-

guage Learners and reducing the amount of students scoring “Falls Far Below” in specific areas.

School districts are expected to reclassify 23% of their ELL students to earn three bonus points in

the A-F Letter Grade calculations. Reclassification means those students have become proficient in

English based on the state’s Arizona English Language Learner Assessment (AZELLA). This spring,

Laveen tested over 500 ELL students with an excellent district-wide reclassification rate of 44%. This

is an increase from 25% in 2013.

The Composite Score represents the av-erage percentage of students passing the AIMS test in the areas of reading and math and bonus points earned. Schools and districts may earn three bo-nus points for reclassifying English Lan-guage Learners (ELL) and for reducing the percentage of students scoring Falls Far Below (FFB) in third grade reading or eighth grade math.

The Growth Score represents the aver-age academic growth of all students and the bottom quartile students. Each student who has two years of state assessment data earns a student growth percentile (SGP) score, based on how well they grew academically com-pared to similar peers across the state. An SGP score of 50 would be considered average growth.

Understanding the accountability system

PAGE 2 August 15, 2014

Nominations needed for Employee of the Month

Nominations are needed for the Employee of the Month Awards.

Each month one certified and one classified employee are selected to receive the district’s Employ-

ee of the Month Award. To be recognized for this award, candidates must meet the following criteria:

Be a strong supporter of the district;

Have the desire to assist in the development of Laveen students;

Demonstrate initiative in their current position;

Be reliable and demonstrate excellent attendance;

Effectively communicate with the community, parents, students, administrators, and staff; and

Demonstrate involvement in the community and profes-

sional curricular activities concerning the district.

To nominate someone for this award please submit a nar-

rative that meets the above criteria to your principal for ap-

proval. Nomination forms can also be found in the Communi-

ty Relations section of the district website.

Nominations are due on the 15th of each month and will

be considered for up to six months.

M.C. Cash, Trailside Point celebrate A+ School of Excellence designations

In late May both Cash and Trailside Point schools celebrated their designations as A+ Schools of

Excellence™ by the Arizona Educational Foundation. Representatives from the organization attended

assemblies by both schools to present them with a $500 check and a banner designating it as an A+

School of Excellence.™

To further celebrate their success, D.L. Withers Construction arranged for aerial photographs to

be taken of each school’s entire student body in an “A+” formation.

The A+ program recognizes schools that demonstrate high achievement while identifying and

meeting the academic and non-academic needs of their student population. *A+ School of Excellence is a trademark or service mark of the Arizona Educational Foundation and is used by

permission.