AVID STUDENT COLLEGE PROGRESS

Go On Rates and Persistence

The best measures of success of the AVID program are the percentage of students that go on to college,  the persistence rates  over time, and the college graduation rate for those students.

So what do those rates look like, thus far?

The college go on rates for AVID students are remarkable, at 20-30% higher than the District as  a whole.

Considering that about 40% of Idaho high school grads typically graduate from college in a 6-year time frame, the persistence of AVID college students is impressive. Though we know that some AVID students graduated this spring, we'll wait until we receive the National Student Clearinghouse report next November to confirm the number of college grads, just to have official confirmation.

College Destinations

AVID student college destinations mirror the District-wide patterns. Just over 70% attend three institutions - Idaho, Boise State, and the College of Western Idaho. Here's a look at the overall AVID college-going patterns.

From among the "Other" category students, here are a few notable colleges Boise District AVID grads are attending.

Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) - we have come a long way! It's exciting to see so many Boise District AVID students having success and living their dreams.

THE 2012 LEVY AND AVERAGE CLASS SIZE

On March 13, 2012, the Boise District went to the voters with a levy proposal. The levy proposal was for an authorization of $14 million a year for 5 years, or an overall cost of $70 million. The first line of the levy proposal laid out the primary intent of the measure: "For the purpose of maintaining low class sizes..."

The levy passed with almost 71% voter approval, and the District went forward with the authorization confirmed. So what has happened since then?

Class Size Since 2011-12

The moneys provided with passage of the levy were intended to maintain class size in the face of reduced state and local funding. District officials indicated that class sizes would increase significantly and that staffing reductions would be necessary if the levy did not pass.

Going forward from 2011-12, with use of the levy funding, average class sizes actually declined in the Boise District.

Elementary average class size is .6 smaller than it was in 2011-12.

Though it may not seem like a huge decrease, the research on class size indicates that any reduction is important. From "7 Myths about Class Size" on the Class Size Matters website:

"Researchers have found that there is no particular threshold that must be reached before students receive benefits from smaller classes, and any reduction in class size increases the probability that students will be on-task and positively engaged in learning. In fact, Alan Krueger of Princeton University analyzed the STAR results for students who were in the “larger” classes and found that within this range (22-25), the smaller the class, the better the outcome."

Average secondary class size also decreased between 2011-12 and 2015-16, and by a larger factor than the decrease at elementary. The secondary figures do not include Self-contained Special Ed classes or Limited English groups, or the average size would be smaller.

Authorization vs. Utilization

Passage of the levy authorized $14 million over 5 years. However, as the economy improved and local property tax revenues increased, the District decreased the amount certified on the levy. In fact, the District never did certify the full amount authorized by passage of the levy, and has reduced the amount during the tenure of the levy.

Though the levy authorization gave the District spending authority for $70 million in 5 years, actual expenditures through the 2016-17 school year will have been $37.5 million.

The levy ends after the 2016-17 school year. We are extremely grateful to our patrons for their support as the District went through a rough patch with ongoing funding. Thank you!

BOISE RESULTS ON THE "NEW" SAT 
SCHOOL DAY TEST

You may know that the SAT has been revised to comport with the Common Core Standards, and that the test is back to two subtests, Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and Mathematics. Thus, the total possible score on the test is now once again 1600, and each of the subtests has a maximum score of 800. For the past few years, the total possible score on the SAT was 2400, and each of the Reading, Math and Writing tests were worth a total possible score of 800.

The College Board turned around the SAT School Day results very quickly this year, and we received a spreadsheet two weeks ago with scores for every student, a breakdown of answers given for each for all items by student. In this post, we will examine some of the top-line results for the District.

The statewide SAT results will apparently be released sometime in June, and at that time we should be able to analyze statewide performance on the new test. Additionally, the College Board will release the exam (as it does every year), and, for the first time, will provide an item analysis for the test. The College Board has previously prepared an analysis only for the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test, taken annually by sophomores statewide, and by all juniors in Boise in October.

Last year, results from the SBAC and the SAT were highly negatively correlated with poverty at the school level. In other words, higher scores were associated with lower levels of free/reduced lunch. Now, however, with the College Board providing an item analysis and releasing the test, we will be able to celebrate specific areas of strength on the assessment, and use the analysis to improve overall student performance in skills areas that are weaker. The SBAC does not offer such tools for the improvement of instruction.

Overall Results

The College Board recently set benchmarks for college preparedness on the EBRW and Math SAT subtests. The Reading benchmark score is 480, while the math benchmark score is 530.

 On the new SAT, the results are higher than on the old test - 70.2% of Boise juniors met the EBRW readiness benchmark, compared with 48% in Reading and 41% in Writing on the old SAT given in 2015.

On the new SAT, 45% of juniors met the Math college preparedness benchmark, a bit higher than in Math on the 2015 test, when 43% met the benchmark.

We were able to analyze the percentage of students who met both EBRW and Math SAT benchmarks, as well. 43% of juniors met both the EBRW and Math benchmarks, compared with 33% who met all 3 benchmarks on the old SAT.

Average Scores

Because the percentage of students meeting the EBRW benchmark was so much higher than in the past, the average District score was quite a bit higher than the combined benchmark score of 1010.  So though only 43% of students met both the Math and EBRW benchmark scores, 59% of Boise juniors met or exceeded the combined benchmark score.

High School Scores

It's important to understand that the SAT (and the SBAC) is highly correlated with student demographics. When you look at scores by school, you'll find a strong relationship between Free/reduced price lunch percentages and student performance. You'll also find that Limited English students typically perform less well on the test, especially on reading-related tasks. Now that the SAT is aligned to the Core, both subtests, EBRW and Math, have a lot more reading, which will make it even harder for Limited English students to score well.

That said, here are the Boise comprehensive high school average scores on the new SAT, accompanied by some demographic data for the schools.

GOING ON TO...UTAH?

Boise District graduates choose universities and college spread across the United States. However, the majority of grads stay in-state and attend the University of Idaho, Boise State University, or Idaho State University.

But recently, a trend has been developing.  A number of Boise District grads are choosing to attend the University of Utah or Utah State University. Though the Utah/USU connection only accounts for about 3% of students who "go on" the number has been climbing for several years.

For the class of 2015, 33 students enrolled at the University of Utah, while 25 enrolled at Utah State. Throw in the typically annual enrollment at two popular private schools, Westminster College and Brigham Young University, and the total for the class of 2015 was about 80, over double the total for the class of 2008.

Utah and Utah State are part of the public university system in the state of Utah. A Utah legislature code provision provides the rules by which a non-resident student can qualify for resident tuition at Utah public universities after the first year of college at those institutions.

Furthermore, multiple scholarship opportunities are available for non-resident students, and can be seen here and here.

So what types of students are choosing the two public Utah universities? Well, it turns out that the Utah enrollees are highly-qualified and highly capable students from all four comprehensive high schools in Boise.

Enrollment at the two institutions is not evenly split among District high schools. In 2015, 27 Timberline students enrolled at Utah and USU. From Borah and Capital, it was 9 each. From Boise High, 13 students enrolled, all at the University of Utah.

Enrollment at out of state institutions typically ebbs and flows among popular schools. The University of Oregon and the University of Puget Sound were both very popular in 2008, but enrollment has fallen off somewhat since then.

However, the attraction of in-state tuition at the two Utah schools is strong, and most of the class of 2015 students received some form of merit aid, we assume. Additionally, a five-hour freeway drive (and one-hour flight) to Utah may be preferable for some students to the seven hour drive up U.S 95 to Idaho. 

If the talk among students at last week's graduations is any indication, the number of students headed to Logan and Salt Lake City is going up, not down, for the class of 2016.

THIS AND THAT FOR MAY

 VOUCHERS, RACE AND FAMILY INCOME, 
BORAH SCHOLARS

An Interesting Look at the Implementation of Vouchers

In an article for the Education Opportunity Network, Jeff Bryant provides some research and opinion about implementation in various states where legislatures have passed laws allowing vouchers. 

With the recent conversation in Idaho's legislature about rescinding the Blaine Amendment to the Idaho Constitution , Bryant's article seems timely. He writes, with citations:

"First, there is the issue of church and state separation. All research shows that most of the money voucher programs redirect from public schools to private institutions ends up going to religious schools. In D.C., 80 percent of voucher users attend religion-based private schools. North Carolina’s relatively new voucher program sends 93 percent of its money to “faith-based schools.”

Clearly, Bryant is opposed to the idea of vouchers. But so are the majority of American people. In the most recent Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup poll on education,  63% opposed vouchers.

Money, Race, and Success

From the outstanding New York Times research publication The Upshot comes an article about the results of a fascinating research study  showing the relationship among poverty, race, and educational achievement. In the interactive chart featured in the article, authors Motoko Rich, Amanda Cox, and Matthew Bloch allow readers to input a school district name and see how it compares to others across the country in terms of achievement and poverty.

Their findings:

• "Sixth graders in the richest school districts are four grade levels ahead of children in the poorest districts."
• "There are large gaps between white children and their black and hispanic classmates. The gaps are largest in places with large economic disparities."
• "Even in districts where white students and their minority classmates had similar socioeconomic backgrounds, academic gaps persisted."

William E. Borah Scholars Honored

Last week, Borah High School honored its 6 William E. Borah Scholars, their parents, and their teachers at a dinner at the Cottonwood Grill.

The six scholars (left to right) and their choices for college next year:

Mark Jerome, United States Military Academy at West Point
Hunter Inman, Gonzaga University
Phillip Cathers, Stanford University
Jessica Meyer, The College of Idaho
Pablo Piedra, Duke University
Eva Chung, The College of Idaho

Successful W.E.B. Scholars must have a 3.7 unweighted GPA, be endorsed by the Borah faculty, have taken at least one Advanced Placement course in Social Studies, English, and Science, and Math, and two in Science, and have earned "points" by taking other rigorous coursework while in high school.

Phillip Cathers speaks at the W.E.B. Scholar dinner

Each Scholar spoke at the W.E.B. Scholars dinner, addressing factors which made him/her successful in high school, giving credit to teachers who influenced him/her, and thanking parents for all they have done for them. It was truly a magical evening.

Congratulations, 2016 William Edgar Borah Scholars!

AASA PROMOTES"REDEFINING READY" INITIATIVE

The American Association of School Administrators is promoting its new initiative, which urges consideration of numerous factors in determining if a student is "ready" for college, instead of reliance on one variable such as a "point in time" test.

"Redefining Ready", as the initiative is called, starts with a minimum GPA, and then provides a range of criteria in addition, of which a student should meet one or more to be considered "ready".

Here are the specifics of the Redefining Ready"initiative:

So minimally a student might have a 2.8+ GPA in high school and have gotten a "C" or better in Algebra 2, a 500 on each subtest of the SAT, a "C' or better in an AP or Dual Credit course, or a 3+ score on an AP test, and be considered "college ready".  This addresses the issue of the student who passes an AP or Dual Credit course and fails to meet the mark on the SAT or ACT - the student has demonstrated "College Readiness" on one measure but not on another.

We did some research on the class of 2016 (current seniors) to see how many met the GPA requirement. What we found was that 72% of our seniors met this first criterion. It will take a bit more research to see how many students who met the GPA requirement met one or more of the others, but we know that GPA is the most important predictor of college readiness.

However, use of these criteria could help parents understand what it takes for their child(ren) to demonstrate readiness, and that it's more than one high-stakes measure.

AASA is also promoting a "Career Ready" about which we are more uncertain:

Though some of the criteria for "Career Readiness" seem appropriate,  it seems that 90% attendance and 25 hours of community service might be appropriate for all students, not just those who are going to college. Perhaps the GPA requirement, attendance, and community service indicators could all be base requirements, and some combination of additional requirements might equal readiness for "Life After High School".

However, AASA has done a really good job of identifying multiple factors that are important for success, no matter the route students choose after they graduate from high school.

BOISE, BORAH, CAPITAL, TIMBERLINE

MAKE WASHINGTON POST LIST OF MOST CHALLENGING HIGH SCHOOLS...AGAIN

All four Boise District comprehensive high schools have made the 2016 Washington Post list of the "Most Challenging High Schools in America"  Seven Idaho schools were identified on this year's list: two high-income charters, Century High School (Pocatello) and the four Boise high schools. Approximately 11% of high schools nationwide were identified this year by the Post.

This is the 8th consecutive year that all four Boise District high schools have made the list. Capital has been on for 8 years, Borah 9, Timberline for 15, and Boise High School for 18 consecutive years.

The formula used by the Post's Jay Mathews, an education columnist, is simple - the number of Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate exams taken divided by the number of graduating seniors in the high school in a given year. The Washington Post list is intended to measure the access students have to rigorous coursework, and their willingness to participate in that curriculum.

Borah's Washington Post award plaque will be presented at Friday's Senator's Choice Academic Assembly in the Borah gymnasium..