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Transcript

Goal

Reflection on Closing the GAP

When school starts again in the fall, we will be doing credit recovery sessions for all areas (including biology) so that these freshmen students will have an opportunity to pass the class and make a better grade on the EOCT.

Thus, dropping the retention rate from 63% to 48%.

Reflection on the Learning and Activities

Reflection on Acceptable Evidence

It was interesting to find different activities for 2 different subject matters other than science. However, I did see a few activities that I might incorporate into my Chemistry classes as well.

I tried to obtain a wide range of technology tools for the students/teachers to use that would be engaging and user friendly for both.

I also tried to keep the content age appropriate and not to lower level for the students.

For Acceptable evidence; since we at OHS have Data teams that meet weekly for each area of learning, i.e. 9th lit team, biology team, 9th math team, world history team etc., we constantly compare data between pre and post tests as well as determining what questions worked and what questions didn't and if the concepts need to be re-taught again because of the data from the summative tests or formative assessments. This knowledge is incorporated into the PLU since my teachers already know how to do this.

I also incorporated technology by using the Assistments website for assessments, clickers and the N-spire calculators that the math department uses for the assessments as well.

The re-teaching is a follow up using the activities and ideas listed on the Learning and instruction page

Reflection on the Desired Results

Reflection on this Data

This assignment was to create a Professional learning unit using the Backwards Design Method in which there are 3 stages

1)Desired Results 2) Acceptable Evidence 3) Learning and Instruction

So for desired results, statistically, you can hope to gain a 10% improvement in scores. We want more at 15% improvement in EOCT scores during the Credit Recovery sessions given next semester.

This is the biggest freshmen class (638) that Osborne High School (OHS) has had in a long time. This is the first time that this many freshmen have failed (63%) or will not go on to the next grade. We even have a freshman academy and maps and information for students and parents on how to survive high school as well as sneak peaks and freshmen night so that parents have an opportunity on how best to help their students achieve.

Normally, we have around 40% failure rate with our freshmen.

We have data teams at our school and are constantly under pressure from administration to maintain a successful pass rate.

Our Science (Biology) retainees were 95 out of 638 freshman students. Around 15%

Since most of the students didn't pass 9th Literature and 9th math...we also looked at the teachers who had the most failures.

It was interesting to note that 2 teachers in the Literature department had students who passed the EOCT test with 80's and 90's but failed the class with a 42-50%. This shows that the students understood the content by passing the EOCT but didn't turn in their work? Why? What are the contributing factors to this?

We also looked at our demographics; 50% of the Hispanic population failed while 44% of the Black population failed

Out of the 309 retainees, 77% are first time freshman and 23% are 2-3 time repeaters

Data Found

The Transition to the 9th Grade

Osborne High School has 307 Retainees. These are students who aren't going to proceed to the next grade.

Out of these 307 students; 196 of them are FRESHMEN

That's 63% of the Freshman class!

Most of these students are double retainees in Math and English.

134 for Math and 132 for English

What are some of the reasons for these statistics?

Freshman student Lexile scores are not on level and students don't do well on the EOCT (end of course test) and the Math curriculum has changed (again) and is not matched with the EOCT questions.

How can we as teachers close this gap of retaining students?

Different activities and assessments will be shown to allow teachers to help students achieve higher lexile scores and math activities designed to help them pass the EOCT

While the transition from middle school to high school can represent an important milestone,

it can also be a time of loneliness, isolation, and disconnection for some students. This transition

period is frequently marked by declining academic performance, increased absences, and increased

behavior disturbances. These factors put freshmen more at risk than any other school-aged group.

The differences, both academically and socially, between middle school and high school make the

transition difficult. High school is the first time students earn credit for graduation. Unfortunately,

some 9th-graders do not realize the importance of passing core courses. When asked, students

who fail one or more classes during 9th grade say they wish they better understood the importance

of their freshman year on graduation. Had they known, they claim they would have worked harder to

achieve higher grades.

More rigorous classes and frequent homework assignments are only some of the problems freshmen face. Along with academics, social concerns also evolve during the transition period. These often include getting lost in school and being bullied by older students.

Schools with fully operational transition programs have an average dropout rate of only 8%, while

schools without such programs have a dropout rate of 24%.

McCallumore, K. M., & Sparapani, E. F. (2010). The importance of the ninth grade on high school graduation rates and student success. Education, 130, 447-456. Retrieved from www.eddigest.com

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