Prologue, as adopted

Academic Ends Policies (global; CSIP), tentative consensus

Academic Ends Policies (Literacy -- Reading), tentative consensus

Academic Ends Policies (Literacy -- Reading), policy added following May 2, 2000, Board meeting discussion, tentative consensus

Academic Ends Policies (Literacy -- Writing), proposal for discussion May 9, 2000, not yet discussed by Board

Academic Ends Policies (Math and Science), proposal for possible discussion May 9, 2000, not yet discussed by Board

Academic Ends Policies (Other Measures), proposal for possible discussion May 9, 2000, not yet discussed by Board

Literacy: Highest Priority or First Among Equals?, posing of an issue for possible discussion May 9, 2000, not yet discussed by Board

1. The ICCSD Board has been evolving new governance policies modeled on the ideas of John Carver as described in books such as Reinventing Your Board. It has already completed, and posted to its Web site, three of the four categories of policies he recommends (board governance, board-superintendent linkage, and executive limitations – along with a “prologue” of general explanation). Anyone who wants to pursue the matter of "ends" in greater depth may find it helpful to look at those policies and examine some of Carver’s writing.

The Board has now turned its attention to what Carver calls “ends policies,” and what most people would think of as “goals” for the District.

On January 18, 2000, it posted to its Web site a "Draft Illustrative Possible Academic Ends Policies." It requested response from District staff. Given the Board's focus on literacy and reading, it received a special presentation by the District's Language Arts Resource Specialists (LARS). On April 4, 2000, it summarized staff comments (including those from LARS), and provided Board responses to them, in a Web-posted document entitled, "ICCSD School Board Response to Staff Concerns Regarding Sample Academic Ends Policies." This followed a presentation to the Board by Dr. H. D. Hoover, Director, Iowa Statewide Basic Skills Testing Program, and a professor at the University of Iowa College of Education. He spoke on March 21, 2000, and lengthy quotes from his presentation are available on the Web at "H. D. Hoover and 'Ends Policies.'" The Board's April 4 response to staff contains some references to Dr. Hoover's presentation.

This current version of the Board's academic ends policy clearly reflects its commitment to an ongoing dialogue and its willingness to change. There have been substantial modifications of the Board's January 18 document as a result of the responses from staff, LARS, Dr. Hoover and the Director of Instruction. Indeed, virtually all of the Board's original standards have been abandoned!

2. The Board wishes to make it expressly clear that:

(a) it does not intend to use test scores, or any other standards, as "high stakes" measures. ("High stakes," especially in the context of test scores, refers to the practice of some states and school districts to pay bonuses to schools and teachers, retain students in grade, or even close schools, on the basis of rising or falling standardized test scores.) It is the Board's expectation that the data obtained in the course of monitoring these ends may serve diagnostic purposes for the Board in highlighting areas of greatest need (for additional resources) and methods of greatest success.

(b) Although others are, of course, free to utilize the Board's data, its choice of a particular "end" or measure is not intended to limit in any way whatsoever the use of other assessments and measures found useful by students, parents, teachers, principals or Central Administration Office (CAO) personnel.

For example, each building may want to develop, within the building, its own academic goals and plans for achieving them – as, indeed, most already do. Regular reports on the building’s progress in carrying out its own plans – in a graphic form consistent throughout the District – could be quickly presented at Board meetings without even imposing on anyone the obligation to attend (although, of course, all who would want to be present would be more than welcome).

(c) It is the Board's intention to minimize any additional burden on the CAO or other staff. Although the Board's responsibilities, need for and use of data are somewhat unique, it will, for the most part, use data that is already being collected and analyzed. Some of what it may use in the future will be similar to that assembled by the CAO as part of the District's "Comprehensive School Improvement Plan" now mandated by the State of Iowa.

4. The Board does not intend for its ends policies to become “desk drawer documents” – prepared, put away, and forgotten. The ends, and the charts used to monitor their achievement, will regularly be reviewed by the Board as they relate to future Board policies or agenda items at its meetings.

5. It is worth noting that, even if the Board was not inclined to follow its governance policies that call for it to establish ends for the District, the Iowa Legislature now requires the District to do the equivalent anyway. All the Board is really doing is putting in place, for its own purposes, selected ends and data not unlike those the State now requires in the form of a “Comprehensive School Improvement Plan.”

6. As is obvious from the academic ends, and as is consistent with its governance policies, the Board does not intend to involve itself with “means.” How the ends are to be met is left entirely to administrators and staff.

7. The Board assumes that in most academic areas, schools, and classrooms, most of the time, the ends policies will require no more than that staff continue doing what's already being done. Clearly, the ICCSD does not need to improve everything, and everywhere, let alone at once. Nor do we have the resources to do so if the need was there. The Board is fully aware that such improvements as may be desirable will only be possible over time. "Dramatic improvements" are even suspect. Besides, we have numerous reasons for pride in our present accomplishments.

8. There are many categories of potential ends policies. “School safety” might be one. But the Board believes that academic ends are certainly among the most important. And of those it believes that literacy -- especially reading comprehension -- is, if not ultimately the highest priority, at the very least a rational place to start.

9. This end is encouraged with the District’s creation and execution of its own Iowa-mandated “Comprehensive School Improvement Plan,” the Board’s “academic ends policies,” and the monitoring and management information reporting systems that measure progress towards those ends.

10. Although in accordance with its governance policies the Board looks only to the Superintendent, references to "the Superintendent" in this document, as elsewhere, necessarily include anyone to whom the Superintendent may delegate his or her responsibilities.

11. To ease understanding of the relationship and organization of the following ends policies, conventional outline formatting has been used (with the John Carver numbering system in parentheses).

Global academic ends policy (Level 1): Academic achievement is the highest priority of the Iowa City Community School District. As the District's "Second Strategic Plan 1996-2001" declares, the District will "ensure that students become responsible, independent, lifelong learners capable of making informed decisions in a democratic society as well as in the dynamic global community."

I. (Level 2a) - Comprehensive School Improvement Plan and Management Information Reporting System Policy

A. (3a) The District will adopt goals designed to improve students' achievement. Progress toward those goals will be monitored, reviewed and assessed in accordance with the District's Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, as mandated by the State of Iowa. The results will be reported to the community; they will be reported to the Board as part of the District's management information reporting system.

1. Measurable goals, and action plans designed to achieve the goals, will be established annually for the District and each school. The goals will be approved by the Superintendent, presented to the Board and reported to the community. Progress against the goals will be reported to the community no less often than annually.

2. Progress toward the action plans for the District, and each of its schools, will be reviewed periodically by the Superintendent and provided to the Board as necessary. The focus of the Board's action plan reviews will be to insure that the District and individual schools do what they say they are going to do.

3. The progress toward the goals and other key measures will be assessed no less often than annually by the Board, Superintendent, and such other District units as the Superintendent may designate, such as the Comprehensive School Improvement Plan Advisory Committee and Curriculum Review teams. The results of the assessments may determine if changes are necessary in policy, curriculum or standards.

I. Global academic ends policy (literacy -- reading) (Level 1): Children will over time read, independently, increasingly complex text with understanding.

A. (Level 2a) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Literacy -- Reading -- Superintendent): The Superintendent is responsible for selecting, or designing, the methods for measuring the achievement of the Board's academic (literacy -- reading) ends in accordance with the following guidelines.

1. The measurements will be quantifiable.

2. The measurements will be multiple, but at least one will be a national, standardized test such as (but not limited to) the ITBS and ITED (which are tests currently used by the District).

3. Student achievement will be measured at various grade levels.

4. The measurements will provide data that enables the Board to evaluate trends.

B. (Level 2b) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Literacy -- Reading -- District Improvement): There will be an annual increase in the percentage of students who make more than "average growth" (as defined in 3, below) in reading comprehension as they progress from one grade to the next.

1. Data will be reported to the Board, by each grade level for which it is available, but only on a District-wide basis (not by schools or classrooms).

2. It will be reported no less often than annually.

3. "Average growth" is defined as the numerical increase in national average test scores (on whatever tests the Superintendent has selected) from one grade level to the next.

To illustrate: The Superintendent will have been provided by (or will request from) the national testing service being used by the District the median reading comprehension score from, say, the national scores of third graders and fourth graders. The third grade median score will be subtracted from the fourth grade median score. The difference is "average growth" in reading comprehension from third to fourth grade. "More than average growth" for an ICCSD fourth grader is any increase larger than this national "average growth."

4. Each individual ICCSD student's "growth" (i.e., increase in his or her test scores) from one grade to the next will be compared with "average growth." The percentage of students exceeding "average growth" will then be reported to the Board District-wide by grade in school.

C. (Level 2c) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Literacy -- Reading -- Individuals' Improvement and Interventions): There will be an annual increase in the number of students (a) whose reading comprehension is above the level of “proficient” (as defined by the Superintendent), and (b), for those already above the level of “proficient,” the number who make “average growth,” as defined in 2b3, above.

1. The Superintendent will utilize means of his or her choice to evaluate and identify those children (a) whose reading comprehension is below the level of “proficient” or (b) who are not making “average growth.”

2. Appropriate interventions to assist students who are in need of additional academic support will be identified.

3. The Superintendent will provide children so identified such additional academic support as in his or her judgment such children need in order to reach a level of “proficient” or otherwise reach their potential.

4. The Superintendent will report to the Board the number of children so identified, the program or programs utilized to improve their performance, and the relative success of each such program. The report will be by grade (District wide, not by school) and no less often than annually. The Superintendent will also provide such additional information and recommendations as he or she may choose regarding proposals for shifts in, or additional provision of, the District resources necessary to achieve this end.

5. Every child’s reading achievement will be reviewed by that child’s teacher with the child’s parent/s or guardian/s, and by that teacher’s principal. This review shall include, among other things, whether the child performs at a level of “proficient,” the additional academic support and interventions provided, if any, and recommendations for parental participation.

I. Global academic ends policy (literacy -- writing) (Level 1): Children will over time write, independently, increasingly complex text with meaning, clarity, purpose and application of standards conventions (as defined below).

A. (Level 2a) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Literacy -- Writing -- Superintendent):  The Superintendent is responsible for selecting, or designing, the methods for measuring the achievement of the Board's academic (literacy - writing) ends in accordance with the following guidelines.

 1. The measurements will be quantifiable.

 2.  They will measure both students' mastery of standards conventions and writing quality, as both are defined, below.

 3. The measurements will be multiple, but at least one will be a national, standardized test such as (but not limited to) the ITBS and ITED (which are tests currently used by the District and measure standards conventions).

 4. Student achievement will be measured at various grade levels.

 5. The measurements will provide data that enables the Board to evaluate trends.

 6. "Standards conventions" refers to such technical aspects of writing as spelling, grammar, mechanics and usage - elements of writing capable of being evaluated by standardized tests.

 7. "Writing quality" refers to such elements of writing as clarity of purpose, organization, analysis, use of examples, transitions, and clarity of expression. (This is currently evaluated by the District with a double-blind, multiple-reader, process using randomly selected students' writing from the beginning and end of the academic year. The Iowa Testing Program writing assessment is being considered as a supplement or alternative.)

B. (Level 2b) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Literacy -- Writing -- District Improvement): There will be an annual increase in (a) the percentage of students who make more than "average growth" (as defined in 3, below) in their mastery of standards conventions in writing as they progress from one grade to the next, and (b) the percentage of students whose writing quality shows improvement during the year.

1. Data will be reported to the Board, by each grade level for which it is available, but only on a District-wide basis (not by schools or classrooms).

2. It will be reported no less often than annually.

3. "Average growth" is defined as the numerical increase in national average test scores (on whatever tests the Superintendent has selected) from one grade level to the next.

To illustrate: The Superintendent will have been provided by (or will request from) the national testing service being used by the District the median writing standards conventions score from, say, the national scores of third graders and fourth graders. The third grade median score will be subtracted from the fourth grade median score. The difference is "average growth" in reading comprehension from third to fourth grade. "More than average growth" for an ICCSD fourth grader is any increase larger than this national "average growth."

4. Each individual ICCSD student's "growth" (i.e., increase in his or her test scores) from one grade to the next will be compared with "average growth." The percentage of students exceeding "average growth" will then be reported to the Board District-wide by grade in school.

5. The writing quality of each student, or a randomly selected sample of students, will be compared with those student's writing quality one year earlier and the percentage of students whose writing quality has improved will be reported to the Board District-wide by grade in school.

 C. (Level 2c) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Literacy -- Writing -- Individuals' Improvement and Interventions): There will be an annual increase in the number of students (a) whose mastery of writing standards conventions is above the level of "proficient" (as defined by the Superintendent), (b) and, for those already above the level of "proficient," the number who make "average growth," as defined in 2b.3, above, and (c) whose writing quality, as defined in 2a.7, above, improves over the course of a year.

1. The Superintendent will utilize means of his or her choice to evaluate and identify those children (a) whose mastery of writing standards conventions is below the level of "proficient," (b) who are not making "average growth," or (c) whose writing quality does not improve.

2. Appropriate interventions to assist students who are in need of additional academic support will be identified.

3. The Superintendent will provide children so identified such additional academic support as in his or her judgment such children need in order to reach a level of "proficient" or otherwise reach their potential.

4. The Superintendent will report to the Board the number of children so identified, the program or programs utilized to improve their performance, and the relative success of each such program. The report will be by grade (District wide, not by school) and no less often than annually. The Superintendent will also provide such additional information and recommendations as he or she may choose regarding proposals for shifts in, or additional provision of, the District resources necessary to achieve this end.

5. Every child's writing quality and mastery of writing standards conventions will be reviewed by that child's teacher with the child's parent/s or guardian/s, and by that teacher's principal. This review shall include, among other things, whether the child performs at a level of "proficient," the additional academic support and interventions provided, if any, and recommendations for parental participation.

I. Global academic ends policy (math and science) (Level 1): Children will over time:

    (a) solve, independently, increasingly complex problems;

    (b) construct, independently, increasingly complex scientific knowledge.

A. (Level 2a) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Math and Science -- Superintendent): The Superintendent is responsible for selecting, or designing, the methods for measuring the achievement of the Board's academic (math and science) ends in accordance with the following guidelines.

1. The measurements will be quantifiable.

2. The measurements will be multiple, but at least one (for each math and science) will be a national, standardized test such as (but not limited to) the ITBS and ITED (which are tests currently used by the District).

3. Student achievement will be measured at various grade levels.

4. The measurements will provide data that enables the Board to evaluate trends.

B. (Level 2b) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Math and Science -- District Improvement): There will be an annual increase in the percentage of students who make more than "average growth" (as defined in 3, below) in mathematical problem solving and science as they progress from one grade to the next.

1. Data will be reported to the Board, by each grade level for which it is available, but only on a District-wide basis (not by schools or classrooms).

2. It will be reported no less often than annually.

3. "Average growth" is defined as the numerical increase in national average test scores (on whatever tests the Superintendent has selected) from one grade level to the next.

To illustrate: The Superintendent will have been provided by (or will request from) the national testing service being used by the District the median national score from, for example, the national scores of third graders and fourth graders in mathematical problem solving. The third grade median score will be subtracted from the fourth grade median score. The difference is "average growth" in mathematical problem solving from third to fourth grade. "More than average growth" for an ICCSD fourth grader is any increase larger than this national "average growth." (A comparable process would be used in calculating average growth for other grades, and for science.)

4. Each individual ICCSD student's "growth" (i.e., increase in his or her test scores) from one grade to the next will be compared with "average growth." The percentage of students exceeding "average growth" will then be reported to the Board District-wide by grade in school.

C. (Level 2c) - Board’s Academic Ends Policy (Math and Science -- Individuals' Improvement and Interventions): There will be an annual increase in the number of students (a) whose math and science comprehension is above the level of “proficient” (as defined by the Superintendent), and (b), for those already above the level of “proficient,” the number who make “average growth,” as defined in 2b3, above.

1. The Superintendent will utilize means of his or her choice to evaluate and identify those children (a) whose math and science comprehension is below the level of “proficient” or (b) who are not making “average growth.”

2. Appropriate interventions to assist students who are in need of additional academic support will be identified.

3. The Superintendent will provide children so identified such additional academic support as in his or her judgment such children need in order to reach a level of “proficient” or otherwise reach their potential.

4. The Superintendent will report to the Board the number of children so identified, the program or programs utilized to improve their performance, and the relative success of each such program. The report will be by grade (District wide, not by school) and no less often than annually. The Superintendent will also provide such additional information and recommendations as he or she may choose regarding proposals for shifts in, or additional provision of, the District resources necessary to achieve this end.

5. Every child’s math and science achievement will be reviewed by that child’s teacher with the child’s parent/s or guardian/s, and by that teacher’s principal. This review shall include, among other things, whether the child performs at a level of “proficient,” the additional academic support and interventions provided, if any, and recommendations for parental participation.

Because the research literature in K-12 education provides support for a number of indicia of probable, or actual, academic achievement other than the traditional, and intuitive, test scores and other comparable measures Jim Behle and I have been exploring the possibility of additional academic ends.

Some are measures that tend to correlate with academic achievement while in K-12 school.

Others recognize that the purposes of K-12 education go well beyond the academic achievement of teenagers; that the true measure of the success of a K-12 program is what happens to students after graduation, not before.

These have not only not yet been discussed by the Board, they have not yet even been drafted.

But the following is at least a beginning partial list.

In each instance it will usually be obvious whether the "end" for each would involve an increase, or decrease, over time.

• Attendance. There is a correlation between attendance and academic achievement. By definition, schooling does not take place when students are not in school. Moreover, absence indicates that a school has failed to motivate a student to want to attend, or that a parent does not care enough to insist upon attendance, or both. Thus, a goal of increasing the percentage of enrolled students in attendance could be an academic "end."

• Class size. Since there seems to be research support for the academic value of reduced class size K-3, and we are allocating resources to bring it about, the Board might wish to track, and establish an end of, reductions in the size of those classes.

• College. A high proportion of our high school students end up attending two and four-year colleges. Thus, whether the Board declares it as an "end" or not, the District is, de facto, performing the role of a college prep institution -- at least for most of its students. Accordingly, it can be judged as such. (Of course, the Board will want measures of how well the District is doing in serving all of its students, not just the college bound.)

• Advanced Placement. The end would be to increase (a) the number of advanced placement classes, and (b) the number of students enrolled, and (c) who pass the tests.

• Core Program Participants. The research literature indicates that one of the best measures of probability of enrollment in, and successful completion of, a college program is participation in a core program of four years of English/language arts and three or more years each of mathematics, science and social science. An end could be to increase each year the percentage/number of students who do so.

• Honors Classes. The end would be similar to that for Advanced Placement classes, above.

• College Entrance Exams. There might be an end to increase ACT and SAT scores of students -- or simply to increase the numbers of students taking the tests.

• Students Attending College. There might be an end of increasing the percentages/numbers of students who intend to, or preferably who actually do, attend two and four-year colleges.

• College Grades. The Board might want to examine (to the extent available) the college GPAs of the District's graduates who attend college.

• College Graduation Rates. The Board might consider relevant (a) the average number of years the District's graduates take to complete two and four-year programs, (b) the percentage/number of those entering college who graduate, and (c) the number who go on to graduate-level programs.

• Dropouts. Dropouts represent the ultimate "attendance problem," the ultimate failure by a school to provide for its students. Because such students are no longer enrolled they are not counted among the absent. But it is often difficult to know when a student is no longer enrolled in school because they have dropped out, and are living on the streets here or elsewhere, and when they have simply moved to another school district where they are enrolled and fully participating.

• Ninth Grade Enrollees Graduating. To avoid the problem of students who have simply disappeared, this end would require that a record be maintained on every entering ninth grader (plus students transferring into the school in higher grades), along with the current address of every one who left the school before graduating and what is believed to have been the reason for their leaving and the school where they continued their education. This would be comparable to other academic ends efforts of the Board to prevent students from "falling between the cracks." The "end" would be to increase the number of entering ninth graders who graduate.

•  Numbers of dropouts (grades 7-12).  This would be an alternative, or supplement, to the end above. It would simply be a record of the number of students characterized as "dropouts" by their high school administrators. It would not record those who leave for other reasons.

• Graduation Rates. This would be an alternative, or supplement, to the "Ninth Grade Enrollees Graduating" end, above. Presumably it is the percentage (and/or number) of 12th graders in the fall who graduate in the spring.

• Parental Involvement. We have yet to explore the range of options for encouraging parental involvement. But whenever that task is completed there may well be ends to come out of the discussion that are directly related to academic achievement.

• Post-college achievement. Presumably a major purpose of all levels of education is preparation for life after school. It may be possible to come up with post-graduation ends that are useful measures of how well our K-12 program has prepared our graduates for their personal and professional adult lives. For example,

• Preparation for democracy. One of the more common purposes of K-12 districts across America is preparing students for democratic participation. Ours is no exception. But how can this be measured? One way would be to (1) obtain the graduating seniors lists from the high schools for the years from five years ago to ten years ago. (2) Select a random group of students from each. (3) Obtain their addresses from the schools or (if they do not have them) from local directories -- looking for those who reside in Johnson County. (4) Compare the list of those who are local residents with the voter registration rolls. (5) Of those who are registered to vote see how often they have voted in past national and local elections. The end would then be to increase over time the percentage of our students who end up registering to vote and actually voting.

The Board has identified as an issue, but not yet resolved, whether it views literacy in general, and/or reading comprehension in particular, as its highest educational priority.

Prologue, paragraph 8, above currently provides:

8. There are many categories of potential ends policies. “School safety” might be one. But the Board believes that academic ends are certainly among the most important. And of those it believes that literacy -- especially reading comprehension -- is, if not ultimately the highest priority, at the very least a rational place to start.

And of those it believes that literacy -- especially reading comprehension -- is ultimately the highest priority.

For example, the Global Academic Ends Policies (Literacy -- Reading) (Level 1) might read:

Among the academic ends policies the highest priority is that children will over time read, independently, increasingly complex text with understanding.

That children will over time read, independently, increasingly complex text with understanding is the highest priority among the academic ends policies.