Accountability / Performance Reports
EPHS students once again participated in CAASPP and ELPAC testing in the spring of 2021 after the pandemic, then again for the 2022 testing cycle. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium , or SBAC (available to 11th grade EPHS students, as well as ELPAC testing for English Learners), provided additional data as the district was still emerging from the lingering effects that the pandemic had on instruction and on public school operations in general. Data from these two important assessments were available in the fall of 2022 and yielded scores that were better than expected given the disruption COVID-19 had on the continuity and availability of high-quality instruction and attendance opportunities. For SBAC ELA, two EPHS students scored “Standard Met”, one student scored “Standard Nearly Met”, and the remaining two students scored “Standard Not Met” (n=5). In the past, EPHS students typically scored in the lowest scale score range. For SBAC Math, no students scored “Standard Nearly Met” and the other five scored “Standard Not Met” (n=5).
ELPAC testing for EPHS yielded the following Performing Level Descriptor results: Level 1 - "Minimally Developed" (n=1); Level 2 - "Somewhat Developed" (n=1); Level 3 - "Moderately Developed" (n=0), and Level 4 - "Well Developed" (n=0).
The analysis of state testing data from spring 2022 illuminated that more emphasis needed to be placed in mathematics instruction. As for EL students at EPHS, the emphasis needs to be placed on developing more effective integrated ELD instruction delivered in a supplemental fashion in order to augment the subject matter attainment garnered exclusively from online courses. EPHS is too small of a school to have a designated ELD program, but the Acellus online course program, delivering academic instruction in English, can utilize supplemental instructional strategies, techniques, and activities that are shown through research to leverage higher levels of academic learning and English language acquisition. Planning for this supplemental delivery is continuing in the 2022-2023 school year and could involve a qualified certificated ELD staff member coming to the FACE campus and performing a pull-out program for the small number of EL students currently at FACE. The two strategies that should be emphasized include vocabulary development (Tier 2 words considered low-utility for academic language development and Tier 3 words that are subject-specific), and the expanded use of oral language during the instructional period. There needs to be a more conscious, deliberate emphasis on creating a rich oral language environment at a designated point in the instructional day.
Use of Additional Data
In order to determine learning loss and accelerate academic skills in ELA, math and ELD (as required by the 2020-2021 LCP, the distance learning accountability plan and subsequently in the 2021-2022 LCAP), diagnostic assessment needs to take place as early in the semester as possible. The ELA teachers administered the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) assessment to ascertain reading skills. Once DRP data became available and the need for remediation became evident in order to mitigate learning loss, the ELA teacher modified curriculum and instructional plans to extent necessary to reach all students while still maintaining the focus of covering the CaCCSS for ELA. The math instructor used diagnostic test instruments available from their curriculum adoption to determine skill levels needed for Integrated Math III and “back-filled” any skills deficits students may have had.
Other additional data used for EPHS students is from the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS). This survey that provides our school district and their parents/community with quality local data can be used to improve student academic performance and social-emotional, behavioral, and physical health of all Firebaugh students. It assesses key indicators linked to success in school, career, and life. Local data gives our district and EPHS staff a better understanding of the relationship between students' health behaviors and academic performance.
Numerous constructs in the CHKS are examined and assessed and are thought to be critical for academic preparedness and for college and career readiness. Overall, female students had a tendency to report higher positive rates than their male peers except in the areas of perceived safety and the frequency of bullying. For all students, School Connectedness and School Environment appeared to hover around the middle of the scale, however, Academic Motivation for our female students was substantially higher than their male counterparts (72% vs 50%). The constructs detailed in the report contained a tremendous amount of percentage data based upon student responses and are too lengthy to mention in this statement, but the overall categories that affect student mental health and academic performance gives the EPHS staff substantive clues as to where to put more emphasis and where to direct resource allocations.
Students participating in alternative education programs in general tend to have less positive data in the CHKS, and the data analysis from this survey is a reminder to EPHS staff that students need to feel connected to their school by having positive relationships with adults, feel safe, and become empowered through a positive social environment and academic opportunities that will prepare them for adult life after they leave EPHS.
Lastly, another type of data that EPHS office staff closely monitored and used in our program for academic progress was attendance data. Because of the tiered pupil re-engagement requirement of the LCP, careful attention was paid to student participation and engagement, especially when they returned to in-person instruction. Alternative education students almost always have a history of chronic truancy so school-to-home connection became critical. Chronic absenteeism was higher in the 2020-2021 school than in previous years, but the need to increase attendance for EPHS students beginning this year (2021-2022) became a revitalized program goal, one that will further develop and improve after the pandemic restrictions are no longer a factor.