HOW WE ARE DOING
State Data – Math
State Data – Writing
2007 Kansas Writing
In January of 2007, all juniors took the 2007 Kansas Writing test. Students took this persuasive test during their regular English classes; topics were chosen from the provided prompts. Wichita South teachers utilized the six trait Kansas Persuasive Rubric to score the students’ work during an inservice in February.
State Data – Science
Beginning in the school year 2007-08, all juniors were given the state test in Science. They completed both parts of the test: Life Science and Physical Science. The percent proficient for South High was 68.9% which was slightly lower than the district average of 74.6%. Starting in 2008-09, OTL will mean that the freshmen will complete the Life Science assessment and juniors will complete the Physical Science assessment.
State Data – Social Studies
Beginning in the school year 2007-08, all juniors were given the state test in Social Studies. They were given both parts of the test: World History and U.S. History. The percent proficient for South High was 68.0% which was slightly higher than the district average of 67.4%. Starting in 2008-09, OTL will mean that the freshman classes will be tested on the World History part of the test at the end of their 9th grade year. The junior classes will be tested on the U.S. History part of the test at the end of their 11th grade year.
In the fall of 2005, USD #259 provided the funding so that all 9th and 10th graders could take the EXPLORE and PLAN assessments which were developed by ACT. These tests have been nationally normed with comparable age groups of students.
The EXPLORE test for 9th graders is designed to help students develop a high school course plan that prepares them to achieve their post secondary high school goals. The tests consist of four 30 minute testing sessions in English, mathematics, reading and science.
The PLAN test for 10th graders also consists of four tests: the English test is a 30 minute assessment; the math is 40, reading 20, and science 25. The PLAN test serves as predictor of how the student will perform on the ACT test before entering college. The test measures academic development, helps students explore career/training options, and make plans for the future.
In the fall of 2007, the administration of USD #259 shifted the Explore test to 8th grade and the PLAN to the freshmen thus affecting our ability to have longitudinal comparative data for these tests past the fall of 2006.
ACT Math, Reading & Science Trend Data
Reading
Language Arts students at Wichita High School South will complete at least one Independent Reading Project (IRP) assignment each semester. The IRP is not just a book report, but focuses on expository (nonfiction) and narrative (fiction) reading with five components that are closely aligned with the Kansas High School Reading and Writing Standards. The Individualized Reading Project is a Building Common Assessment that has been utilized at Wichita South since 1999.
The charts below show a fall to fall comparison for first semester and a spring to spring comparison for second.
Extreme Literacy
Improving reading achievement is a cornerstone of USD #259’s high school reform plan. Placement in eXtreme Literacy will be based on the use of multiple data points that include: NWEA MAP strands, MAP reading lexile, district common assessments, teacher input, and state assessment data that indicate on a consistent basis that the student is performing two grade levels below his/her academic grade level. Placement will be based on academic need, not behavior. These classes have fewer than 15 students in each section, so enrollees get the personal attention they need to help them learn strategies that they can employ in new settings.
Extreme Literacy was initiated for 11th grade students during the 2006-07 school year. A course will be added for 10th grade students in 2007-08 and the 9th graders will begin the year after that and will replace the Read 180 reading initiative.
Writing
Students enrolled in English classes complete a variety of writing assignments throughout the course of the year that are assessed with the Kansas Rubrics. There is a specialized rubric for each text type: expository, narrative, technical and persuasive. Scores are collected by the Language Arts teachers on designated essays and entered into a data base so that they can be analyzed and teachers can adjust instruction accordingly. Completed essays are added to the student writing portfolios which are maintained throughout the students’ high school careers and returned to them when they transfer from South or graduate.
A baseline writing task is assigned within the first week of school each fall. Component #5 of the Individualized Reading Project (IRP) is assessed with the Kansas expository rubric; students also complete a District Common Writing (DCA) task in English and a persuasive writing task in Social Studies. The DCA essay for freshmen and sophomores is expository and the junior essay is persuasive. A second IRP is assigned for second semester and a summative writing task is assigned near the end of the school year so that students can see their progress in writing over the course of the year.
Social Studies
Beginning in the 2006-2007 school year, all students enrolled in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade social studies classes will be required to complete a DBQ (Document Based Questions) for each semester. The DBQ will consist of questions based on primary source documents along with a persuasive five paragraph essay. The essays were rated using only two ARG traits: ideas and content and organization. Analyzing the data, there is a small discrepancy between the overall scores and the scores for the minority groups. For example, the overall rating for all 9th grade students was 3.574803 in ideas and content and 3.76378 in organization. The averages for African American students only were slightly lower with a rating of 3.516129 for ideas and content and 3.483871 for organization. The average scores for white students were as follows: 3.675676 for ideas and content and 3.837838 for organization. Starting next year (2008-2009) the persuasive five paragraph essay will be rated with all six ARG traits.
