The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation has seen “unprecedented and historic improvement” in its school accountability grades, said Superintendent David Smith. This year, the EVSC has seen an increase from 5 to 15 schools receiving the letter grade “A,” and now half of its schools are receiving an A or B — a 300% improvement over two years ago.

One EVSC school, *New Tech Institute, now in its fifth year as a high school in the EVSC and who received a “B” this school year – is one of a handful of schools in the state which will have the opportunity to re-appeal its school grade in December. New Tech had been considered a 9^th -10^th grade model school.  EVSC is asking for the school to be considered a 9^th-12^th grade model, as its first graduating class was in spring 2014, so that bonus points for improvement in pass rate for End of Course Assessments can be awarded, which could increase the school grade to an A.

Bob Jones, a member of the Superintendent’s Business Advisory Council and President and CEO of Old National Bancorp, said this community deserves high quality educational opportunities.  “We are pleased to see that the School Board’s commitment to long-term strategies – and teachers’ implementation of those strategies is paying huge dividends.”

Chris Kiefer, president of the EVSC Board of School Trustees, said, “the credit for this breakthrough performance goes to teachers, staff, students, families and the leadership of our superintendent. The School Board saw the importance of a re-investment in curriculum and utilizing methods and models based on best practice.  These initiatives take some time to take hold, and our school leaders and teachers have done what was necessary – gone above and beyond – and now we are seeing the pay off.”

Superintendent Smith said improvement is not centered on one thing that has been done, but many successful strategies, working synergistically. “The only way our district could accomplish such historic improvement is by working together as a team with a clear focus on student achievement. Teams of teachers have spent hours poring over data, analyzing student scores and other predictors in order to help all students reach their maximum potential. In fact, the EVSC was named first in the nation last spring for its use of data in the Data Quality Campaign district Data Use Award.”

The EVSC has embedded interventions during the school day which are utilized to provide individualized attention to students who are struggling; or enrichment time for students who are already achieving at a high rate. “What we have witnessed, is that through enrichment and interventions, not only is there improvement in ISTEP scores with struggling students, but also with students who come to us already achieving at Pass+ levels on ISTEP. The improvement in school accountability grades is evidence that all students are showing gains in academic outcomes.

“Not only teachers and school staff – but others who come into contact with students during the school day, like bus drivers and cafeteria personnel, along with volunteers and community partners — should take pride in this increase in accountability grades, as all have the opportunity to make a difference for students,” he added. The Community School framework – bringing community partners into the schools like Youth First social workers, Southwestern Behavioral Health, St. Mary’s Outreach, and Juvenile Court Judge Brett Niemeier — these and many others re making it possible for students to be able to focus on their education, he added.

While the EVSC is very pleased with the accountability grade improvement, there is still work to be done. “We don’t have a one-size-fits-all approach,” Smith said. “An example of this is the implementation of the Transformation Zone, a grouping of high-need schools receiving individualized, focused support where we have seen many successes.”

Brynn Kardash is principal of one of the Transformation Zone schools who have seen dramatic improvement – from an F accountability grade, to this year’s A.  Evans actually began the turnaround process several years ago under the Equity School model, established for three schools in the EVSC – (Howard Roosa [which became Evans], Delaware, and McGary).  Through this collaborative process with the Evansville Teachers Association, these schools were permitted greater autonomy to work toward school improvement, longer school calendar, additional professional development time, etc.

“I would say that over the last few years we have implemented a variety of strategies and techniques but when teachers focused on specific strategies and had more buy-in to the school processes, we saw more success,” Kardash said. “Teachers are committed to ensuring we are setting rigorous and attainable goals by participating in School Improvement Planning during the summer. Then, teachers take that work and write their own grade level goals and find strategies to support the work of the school.”  Kardash continued saying that information is shared with families and students – so there is a shared sense of responsibility and ownership.  The focus at Evans is not on the passing rate, but on improvement for all students.

McGary Middle School, which was a school that was required to conduct a public hearing this summer as a part of the accountability system for the state, had an increase in letter grade this year to a D. This improvement removes them from potential state takeover. While Principal Tammy Dexter said she realizes that more improvement is necessary, great strides are being made. In addition to the hard work of students, staff and families, Dexter said “the creation of the Transformation Zone within the EVSC has afforded us the opportunity to collaborate with other schools in the district to determine and promote best practices and a culture of high expectations and accountability.”

Kardash agreed.  “We were able to invest in programs and implement programs with fidelity because of teacher buy-in and because of the support of the Transformation Zone.  We are given flexibility to use data to make decisions that will affect student success at Evans School.”

A four-year history of the EVSC School Accountability Grades listed on next page.

EVSC School Accountability Grades

EVSC School Accountability Grades
School 2013-14 2012-13 2011-12 2010-11
Central High School (8241) A B C C
Cynthia Heights Elem School (8225) A A A A
Delaware Elementary School (8285) A B C C
Evans School (8353) A F F C
Hebron Elementary School (8317) A B C C
Helfrich Park STEM Academy (8318) A B F D
Highland Elementary School (8325) A A A A
North High School (8253) A B B C
Oak Hill Elementary (8231) A A A
Perry Heights Middle School (8345) A D C C
Plaza Park International Prep Acad (8349) A C C D
Scott Elementary School (8229) A A A A
Tekoppel Elementary School (8361) A A D C
Thompkins Middle School (8323) A D D F
West Terrace Elementary School (8381) A C C A
Daniel Wertz Elementary School (8376) B C F C
Francis Joseph Reitz High School (8245) B B B C
Harper Elementary School (8309) B B D C
New Tech Institute (8326) B B D A
Benjamin Bosse High School (8237) C C C C
Academy for Innovative Studies (8270) F F F F
Caze Elementary School (8261) F F F F
Cedar Hall Community School (8265) D D F FDexter Elementary School (8289)
C
F
F
C
Fairlawn Elementary School (8293)
C
C
F
D
Glenwood Leadership Academy (8301)
F
F
F
F
Lincoln School (8251)
F
F
F
F
Lodge Community School (8329)
F
F
F
F
McGary Middle School (8339)
D
F
F
F
North Junior High School (8230)
C
C
F
Stockwell Elementary School (8321)
C
C
F
C
Stringtown Elementary School (8357)
C
D
D
B
Vogel Elementary School (8365)
C
C
D
D
Washington Middle School (8369)
F
F
F
F
William Henry Harrison High School (8311)
C
C

THIS ARTICE WAS SENT TO THJE CCO BY EVSC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR MARSHA JACKSON.  THIS ARTILE WAS POSTED BY CCO WITHOUT BIAS, OPINON OR EDITING.

By Lesley Weidenbener and Ben Brown