Are Iowa schools and Iowa students “First in the Nation”? IASB Convention November 2007

1. Are Iowa schools and Iowa students “First in the Nation”?IASB ConventionNovember 2007

2. What have you’ve heard? • What do some people say about the reasons why students are not learning well? • Back sheet of hand out – tear it off • Write it down . . . . . .

3. Russ WiesleyWaukee CSDIASB Board of Directors2002 Leadership Academy2008 IASB President-Elect • IASB Board discussion of state standards • Foundation research findings • Lead to district meeting content for 2007 and spring 2008 • 2008 Legislative priority: state standards and assessment

4. Harry HeiligenthalLeadership Development Director, IASB and ISBF Research Project Coordinator Margaret BucktonAssociate Executive Director, Public PolicyIASB

5. DefinitionsAMO – the Annual Measurable Objective is the state’s planned target to reach 100 percent proficiency by 2013 (proficiency in Iowa’s plan means all students above the 41st percentile ITBS and ITED)Trend Line – a projection of recent history forward to estimate what will happenITBS – Iowa Test of Basic Skills (4th and 8th grade reading & math)ITED – Iowa Test of Educational Development (11th grade reading & math)

6. Iowa Testing Trends

11. Your Prediction: Draw a line – what do you think 11th grade reading looks like?

14. Summarize ITBS/ITEDs dataReading?Math?Subgroups/Gap?

15. NAEP TRENDS

16. Definitions: NAEP – National Assessment of Educational Progress. The NAEP tests 4th, 8th and 12th grade students. Reading and math have the longest history. Average Scale Score – the average score assigned to state populations and subgroups based on random sample(s) of who took the test

17. Definition: Quartile Look Q1 Q2 Q3

18. NAEP Data • 4th Grade reading and math • 8th Grade reading and math • Iowa quartiles and averages • Iowa and the nation quartiles and averages • Point out scale differences – axis starting at zero or higher

23. NAEP Reading History Table (Separate page) • USA Averages • Iowa Averages and Gain • All Other States Averages and Gain Highlight: Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia

33. Summarize NAEP dataReading?Math?Iowa and the Nation?

34. ACT TRENDS

38. ACT Scatter PlotCompare 1997 and 2007

41. Summarize ACT data,Iowa and the Nation?

42. Iowa GapsFirst – real data, real district, likely typical

45. What’s possible? • Real district, real data • Large district (top 10 percent of Iowa districts by enrollment size) in a community experiencing economic decline • District has 40 percent of students on Free and Reduced Price Lunch compared to 32 percent (state average in Iowa)

49. A Different View. . . • “The latest research on children with reading difficulties suggests that only a few students (perhaps 2-4%) have difficulties that stem from intractable neurological or intellectual malfunctions. Most are simply children who are not responding well to instruction. Source: Teaching Reading to Young Students: A Summary of our Research-Based Knowledge. By P. David Pearson and Kailonnie Dunsmore

50. A Different View. . . Conclusions from review of research: • Reading difficulties in most beginning readers are caused by instructional & experiential deficits rather than developmental deficits . . . current estimates of children with specific reading disabilities are greatly inflated. • . . .the majority of children who experience early reading difficulties can become functional readers if they are provided with intensive support tailored to their individual strengths and weaknesses. Source: Frank R. Vellutino and Donna M. Scanlon. In Handbook of Early Literacy Research, edited by Susan B. Neuman and David K. Dickinson.