BOISE DISTRICT ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAM NUMBERS, PARTICIPATION SURGE

Advanced Placement test-taking numbers increased dramatically in 2015, as larger numbers of students took the challenging exams, and the number of exams taken increased, as well.

AP STUDENT NUMBERS

The number of students taking at least one Advanced Placement exam reached an all-time high in 2015, increasing by 196 students from 2014 to a 2015 total of 1792. A significant portion of the increase came at Borah High School, where this year every student who took an Advanced Placement course was asked to also take the AP exam.. Increased financial support from the State of Idaho for Advanced Opportunities, as well as already established support from the Boise Schools Foundation, made it possible for students to take the exams at no cost.

Participation in the exam program was up this year at Boise High (+31 students) and at Timberline (+27), as well as at Borah (+160).

AP EXAMINATIONS

As you might imagine, the number of exams taken also increased dramatically in 2015, increasing over 2014 by 438 to reach a total of 3670.

Again, the largest increase was at Borah High School, where exams taken grew by 256 from the previous year. Boise's exam total increased by 85, Capital's by 33, and Timberline's by 60.

Another factor in the increased totals is the large number of AVID students now enrolled in 11th and 12th grade at all four comprehensive high schools and taking Advanced Placement coursework. There are currently 235 juniors and seniors enrolled in AVID in the Boise School District.

PARTICIPATION PATTERNS

AP test participation patterns have changed in the past few years, as more sophomores have taken courses and participated in the exam program. The number of sophomores taking an AP exam increased from 74 in 2010 to 324 in 2014. Almost 80% of the exams given to sophomores in 2014 were for 3 courses: AP Human Geography, AP Physics B, and AP World History. Human Geography has been primarily a course for sophomores since it was introduced in the District. World History has become popular with sophs more recently.

Nationally in 2014, about 15% of AP exams were taken by 9th and 10th graders. The vast majority of those exams were in Human Geography (primarily by 9th graders), and World History (primarily by 10th graders). In Boise in 2014, 20% of exams were taken by 9th and 10th graders.

EXAM SCORING

It's important to note that Advanced Placement exams are scored on a 1-5 scale, with scores of 3, 4, and 5 eligible for college credit or waiver of coursework. Whether or not students receive credits or course waivers for AP test scores is determined by the individual colleges and universities. The College Board, which offers AP course outlines and audits districts' fidelity to the AP curricula, provides a comprehensive list of college credit policies for AP exams.

Even if so student does not score a 3 or above on an AP test, the experience of taking a college-level test that is offered nationwide will help a student to succeed in college.

NOTE: This post was edited to delete a chart portraying percentage of juniors and seniors taking an AP exam - the chart was inaccurate. We have asked the College Board for cohort numbers of exam takers - that is, the number of graduates in each class who took an exam any time in their high school careers. We'll report those numbers as percentages of graduating classes in a future post.

HOW HAS HIDDEN SPRINGS ELEMENTARY
FARED SINCE THE BOISE DISTRICT TAKEOVER?

In January, 2009, Hidden Springs Charter School's (HSCS) Board of Trustees asked the Boise School District to take over operation of the school beginning in the 2009-10 school year, owing to financial difficulties at the charter school. After the Hidden Springs Board declared bankruptcy, the Boise District bought the school building and its contents from the Bank of America for $3.5 million in January, 2010, and invested over $500,000 in repairs and upgrades to the building.

Over the past six school years, enrollment at Hidden Springs Elementary has dipped about 70 students, as the school has become a true "neighborhood school".

During the same period, open enrollment has dropped from 84 to 41, and out-of-district open enrollment has declined from 41 to 4. Most out-of-district open enrollment into Hidden Springs Charter School had been from Eagle, a community in the Meridian (now West Ada) School District.

Some in the Hidden Springs community feared that a Boise District takeover might mean "lower standards" which would lead to declining academic performance among Hidden Springs students. However, the District retained the Harbor Method, which had been a staple of the charter school, and maintained the curriculum of the school, which was oriented around the standards followed by all elementary schools in the District, in order to facilitate a seamless transfer to junior high school.

In fact, Hidden Springs has remained a high achieving school since its integration into the Boise School District. Most of the excellent staff at the school remained teaching at Hidden Springs, and strong community involvement continued in the neighborhood.

On the "old ISAT", used before the SBAC became the new measure of proficiency in 2015, high levels of proficiency were common in schools across the state of Idaho. Hidden Springs' proficiency rates were exceptionally high, and over 95% of students were typically proficient in any given year. This continued after the transition of HSCS to Hidden Springs Elementary School.

At the time, we used percentages of "Advanced" ISAT performance as the barometer for success at District schools. Here are the percentages of Hidden Springs students scoring in the Advanced range in Reading and Math before the transition, and after.

On the Reading subtest, of the ISAT, the percentage of Hidden Springs students scoring in the Advanced category was higher in every year after the transition from charter school to District elementary school than it was prior to the transition..

On the Math subtest, of the ISAT, the percentage of Hidden Springs students scoring in the Advanced category was higher in every year after the transition from charter school to District elementary school than it was the year prior to the transition, and about the same in 09-10, 10-11, and 11-12 as it was in 07-08.

The smooth transition from charter to elementary school was the result of diligence and patience on the part of Boise District trustees and administrators, the staff at Hidden Springs, and members of the community. We continue to value the relationships built over time in the neighborhood, and look forward to a strong continued partnership.

THE CAREER LADDER AND TEACHER RETENTION

Last week we published "The Career Ladder Explained" a paper designed to describe the basic principles of the new law. In this post, we'll examine the possible effect of implementation of the Ladder in local districts.

Every Idaho district has a salary schedule which is designed to:

• allow teachers to understand what they will be paid, based on their levels of experience and education.
• provide teachers the opportunity to establish a professional development plan based on educational advancement compensation in the district.
• establish a predictable career salary path for teachers.

Districts receive salary funds annually in Salary-Based Apportionment distributions made by the state. Historically, districts have reported information about the experience and education of their staffs, and received funding based on that information, For 2014-15, the minimum apportionment amount was $31,750. Districts were required to pay no less than that amount to first-year teachers. Other allocations were based on teacher placement on the state's salary apportionment grid, but no requirement existed to pay teachers the amount allocated.

For instance, the top allocation, for teachers with 15 or more years experience, and an MA degree plus 30 credits, was $47,002.

Most districts in Idaho paid those experienced teachers more than $47,002 in 2014-15. For example, Moscow's highest salary base salary was $60,773, American Falls $58.776, Meridian $57,677, Lakeland $57,490, Blaine County $75,623, and Boise $64,242.

So, why do districts pay more than the top state salary allocation to their most experienced teachers, and how do they acquire the funding to do so?

The answer to the first question is that the amount of the allocation is considered by most districts to be insufficient for a career teacher, and that they want to be competitive with other districts. The second question is more complicated, but to put it succinctly, districts use local resources to supplement the allocation and pay teachers a higher salary.

The new Career Ladder legislation has the same requirements. The base salary for a first-year teacher in 2015-16 will be $32,700. Other allocation amounts will be based on the same process as in prior years. The Career Ladder is not a salary schedule, even though some districts in the state may treat it as such.

However, there are key differences in the structure of the Career Ladder:

• Many of the "cells" in the old distribution grid had been frozen - the 2014-15 allocation for a new teacher in the old grid was the same ($31.750) as for a teacher with 8 years of experience and an MA degree. The Career Ladder changes that - allocations for newer teachers rapidly increase as the teachers move forward on the new grid. The allocation for a 2015-16 new teacher will increase from $32,700 to $44,375 in just five years, a 35.7% increase.
• Allocations for teachers with more than 13 years experience do not accelerate in the same fashion. The career teacher allocation increases from $47,600 to $50,000, an increase of just 5% in 5 years.
• Though there are payments made to districts for education in the Career Ladder, there are only 2 levels - BA+24 and MA, and they are separate from the reimbursement grid. On the old grid, there were 7 levels of educational allocation: BA, BA+12, BA+24, BA+36/MA, BA+48.MA+12, BA+60/MA+24, and MA+36/EdSp/PhD, . The only lane that required teachers to earn an MA degree was the last one. This represents a philosophical shift from acquisition of credits beyond the BA to earning a Master's degree in a specific area of focus.

District and local teachers' association negotiations teams will have to check their assumptions about salaries in order to make good decisions. Here are some of the questions they may want to ask themselves:

• When we look at the long term effect of how we will pay newer teachers, does it make sense to switch totally to the Career Ladder, knowing that the top salary for a teacher with an MA degree will be $53,500 (with flow through of the Master's degree premium)? 
• Does the district currently use local and/or operational/discretionary moneys to fund salaries? Will we continue to do so?
• Do we want to flow-through the education stipend moneys to teachers, remembering that we have compensated teachers for education on our current salary schedule? Or will the district create a plan to distribute those funds through the bargaining process?
• Do we want to create two salary schedules, one for veteran teachers and one for newer teachers, understanding the problems that will create  (e.g, a higher top-end salary for veteran than for new teachers)?
• In whatever agreement we make, do we want to encourage teachers to acquire a Master's degree by placing a Master's requirement on our schedule or on the Career Ladder?

These are all important questions. Teams may want to plot the reimbursement increases on their current salary schedule against those on the Career Ladder, and then extend the amounts they would pay teachers on each to 20 or 30 years. This will give an estimate of career earnings for new teachers. Teams should also consider the impact on retirement earnings of paying a lower top salary over a long career. 

In any event, it makes sense to take the process slowly and consider options before making a salary agreement. It's complicated, and, even though districts and teachers' associations can only agree for one year at a time, the implications of the first agreement under the new law are critical for the future of teacher salaries.

As we noted in the Career Ladder explanation, the new law provides for reimbursement increases for newer teachers, and does much less for career teachers. Teacher recruitment is critically important to Idaho districts; so too is retention of veteran teachers, and consideration of those who wish to make make teaching in Idaho a career.

THIS AND THAT FOR APRIL

Here are a few interesting tidbits for April, 2015.

TIMBERLINE, CAPITAL, BORAH, BOISE MAKE IT SIX IN A ROW

The Boise District's four comprehensive high schools made the Washington Post's list of the Most Challenging High Schools in America. It's the sixth year in a row that all four schools have made the list. For Boise High, it's 17 straight appearances on the list, and for Timberline, it's 13. Borah has made the Post list seven years in a row, and Capital six. 

About 10% of America's high schools make the Washington Post list. The criteria are simple - schools must give more Advanced Placement or International baccalaureate exams than they have graduating seniors in a given year. The Post list was the brainchild of Jay Mathews, the Washington Post education columnist.

Only nine Idaho high schools made the Washington Post list in 2015. The four Boise high schools were joined by Century High School (Pocatello), Wood River (Blaine County), and fast-rising Vallivue High School (Caldwell). Two charters made the list as well - North Star Charter (Eagle) and Coeur d'Alene Charter.

TESTING STORIES, FROM BOISE AND ACROSS THE NATION

In case you have not noticed, SBAC testing is underway across the state of Idaho and the nation. It's been interesting to watch the progress (or lack thereof in some cases) across the country. From statewide computer crashes in seven states to massive opt outs in New York and students not showing up for the tests in Seattle, it's been an interesting few weeks. We have had 35 opt-outs from SBAC testing in Boise.

Here are Boise teacher and student reports about the SBAC testing from Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4 of the testing. In general, teachers and students are voicing the concerns we thought might emerge: the tests are too long, directions and questions are confusing, Special Ed and LEP students are struggling mightily, and computer glitches are popping up now and then, especially with audio on the test. However, students are trying their best, according to teachers, and feel like many of the questions, especially in math, are realistic and match what they have been taught.

IDAHO ED NEWS FEATURES DEBATE OVER CHARTERS

Recently, Idaho Ed News featured an interesting op-ed by Vallivue teacher Levi Cavener, who writes a blog called Idaho's Promise. In his op-ed, Cavener described conclusions he has made in reviewing demographic data from charters across the state provided by the Idaho department of Education. Cavener indicated that the demographics of charters differ significantly from those of non-charters in the same area.

A representative of the Idaho Charter Network responded to Cavener, claiming that he had "cherry-picked" the data he used in his op-ed. The representative then used an example of what she noted as similar populations at two charters in Nampa (Victory and Liberty) and Reagan Elementary in the Nampa District, and claimed that achievement at the charters was higher.

Well, here's the data for the schools cited by the Charter Network representative, straight from the State Department of Education data file. Judge for yourself - are the schools demographically comparable?

2014 STATEWIDE KINDERGARTEN ENROLLMENT DROPS

Idaho's 2014 public school kindergarten class is almost 1000 smaller than its predecessor. Could it be the beginning of a trend?

In our last post, we pointed out that Boise's 2014 kindergarten class was 150 smaller than the 2013 class, owing to lower birth rates during the recession. Now it turns out that the statewide count is down, which could have ramifications for Idaho's enrollment for the next few years.

Kindergarten enrollment in most of Idaho's large districts dropped in 2014-15. Here are Idaho's kindergarten enrollment numbers for the past several years:

Note that the drop from 2013-14 to 2014-15 in kindergarten enrollment coincides with the decline in Live Birth Rates between 2008 and 2009:

Overall, Idaho's public school enrollment continued its pattern of growth in 2014-15:

However, since each of the Live Birth Rate figures from 2009-2012 is lower than that of 2008, we may see smaller kindergarten classes in the state for several years, which could slow the rate of PreK-12 enrollment growth in the state.

Since 2009-10, Idaho's overall public school enrollment has grown by about 4%, or about 13,000 students. If the next several kindergarten classes are similar in size to that of 2014-15, Idaho's overall enrollment growth could slow to only 1-2% during the next 5 years.

Of course, other factors, such as ingress and egress of families, impact enrollment in the state. It will be interesting to see what happens with the student population, given the impact of the Great Recession on Live Birth Rates in Idaho.

2014 CENTURY SCHOLARS - A STELLAR GROUP

As we approach the award ceremony for the 2015 Century Scholars on April 14, it's time to take a look back at the 2014 Scholars - a group of Boise School District students who are now enrolled far and wide across the United States (and even abroad) in college. 

The Century Scholars Awards are sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Boise, organizations committed to service and supportive of education. The Scholars awards were originated in Boise by then Superintendent Stan Olson as a means for recognizing the best and brightest in Boise's schools. The awards recognize students with the highest GPA in Boise's five high schools, along with the two private high schools in the city.

Eighty-eight of the 100 (5% of the senior class) 2014 Scholars were from the Boise District. Here are some statistics about those students:

Average Scholar Weighted GPA:  4.22

Average SAT score: 1981 (of 2400)

Number of Scholars who scored 2000 or above on the SAT: 47

Number of perfect (800) Scores in SAT Reading: 4

Number of perfect scores in SAT Math: 10

The 2014 Scholars are currently attending colleges and universities in 26 states. Fifteen (18%) are going to school in Idaho - 7 to Boise State, 4  to the University of Idaho, 3 to the College of Idaho, and 1 to Idaho State University.

Twelve (15%) are at college in these locations in California:  Stanford, Claremont-McKenna, Occidental, Pepperdine, Cal-Berkeley, Cal-Davis, Cal-Santa Barbara, UCLA, and USC (2), California Polytechnic.

Ten (12%) are in Utah: 5 at BYU, 2 at the University of Utah, 2 at Utah State University, and 1 at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

Some are attending elite private universities around the country: Colby College (ME), Colorado College, Emory University (GA) (2), Grinnell College (IA), Wake Forest University (NC), and Santa Clara University (CA).

Others are at Ivy League and other prestigious universities and colleges: Harvard, Cornell, Penn, Princeton, Georgetown, and the University of Chicago,

State colleges, especially those with strong engineering programs, are also favorites of the 2014 Century Scholars: Arizona State, Montana State (3), Portland State, Texas A & M (2), Tulane, Colorado (2), Iowa, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Western Washington.

And finally, two of the 2014 Scholars are enrolled at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, one is on a mission for his church, and one is enrolled at a university in South Korea.

Quite an auspicious group of Boise Schools grads. It's true - our students can (and do) go everywhere!

THE CURIOUS CASE OF KINDERGARTEN ENROLLMENT AND THE RECESSION

The Pew Research Center has published several articles about what happens to birth rates in times of economic downturn. As you might expect, they decline, as families decide to put off child bearing until economic times improve:

From the article by Gretchen Livingston and D'Vera Corn: "The U.S. birth rate, which had been relatively stable or rising, began falling after 2007, when the Great Recession began and the decline persisted even after the official end of the recession in 2009."

Though the authors further indicate that birth rates appear to be stabilizing, we looked at Ada County birth rates (we've always used them in our calculations of kindergarten size) during the recession to see the potential effect on District kindergarten enrollment. Here are the birth rates for the past nine years:

The Boise District typically receives about a third of the Ada County Live Births five years later. So, for example, in 2012,  the kindergarten class was 1829, 32% of the live births in 2007. In 2013, there were 1918 kindergartners, 34% of the live births in 2008.

So, knowing that we would likely receive around a third of the live births again in 2014, we were able to anticipate a smaller kindergarten class. That class came in at 1763, 34% of the live births in 2009.

Here are the Boise District kindergarten class numbers since 1998, with projections based on live birth rates for the next few years included:

We'll see if the projections play out as well as they have in the past few years. If they do, we can expect flat enrollment numbers rather than the substantial growth which had occurred in district enrollment from 2008 to 2013. District enrollment grew by almost 1100 students during those years, but declined slightly in 2014.