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..

"MOVING THE NEEDLE" WITH "GO ON" RATES?

YES WE ARE!

The State Board of Education has really just gotten started tracking "Go On" rates for Idaho's high schools using the National Student Clearinghouse, and has data back to the high school class of 2011. 

Luckily, the Southern Idaho Conference (SIC) Districts (Boise, West Ada, Mt. Home, Middleton, Nampa, Caldwell, Vallivue, Emmett, Kuna, and Bishop Kelly High School) have been tracking the data since the Class of 2007, and so have a wealth of information about "Go On" rates in the Treasure Valley.

These Districts are all members of the Treasure Valley Educational Partnership (TVEP), formed in 2011 by the Superintendents of the SIC to work with local businesses, non-profits, and higher ed institutions to promote education in the valley.

Following are some data about the college-going rates of SIC high schools, and the improvements that have occurred since we started tracking the data. TVEP chose as its goal to improve the percentage of students enrolled in college 2 years after high school graduation, upon which SIC districts were already focused. 

The overall SIC comprehensive high school "Go On"  rate for students who enroll in college within 2 years of high school graduation was 62% for the class of 2007. For the class of 2012, it was 69%. That's an increase of 7%. However, that growth figure is misleading - schools with high levels of free/reduced lunch showed much higher growth, and schools with lower percentages of freed/reduced lunch showed lower growth, simply because their rates were already quite high.

WITHIN 2 YEAR PERCENTAGES - SCHOOLS WITH

>40% FREE/REDUCED LUNCH

Let's start with schools with relatively high rates of free/reduced lunch. The statewide senior high average free/reduced percentage in 2013-14 was 41%. We'll use 40% as the indicator of poverty levels and "Go On" rates.

MERIDIAN HIGH SCHOOL

Meridian High School, in the West Ada District, has about 40% free/reduced lunch, and about 3% Limited English speakers.

Meridian's 2 year "Go On" rate has increased from 55% for the class of 2007 to 70% for the class of 2012 - 15%.

CALDWELL HIGH SCHOOL

Caldwell High School is the lone comprehensive high school in the Caldwell District. Caldwell High has 77% free/reduced lunch, and 6% of its students are Limited English.

Even so, Caldwell's 2 year "Go On" rate has improved by 10% since the class of 2007, from 50% to 60%. Even though the class of 2012 was 7 students larger than the class of 2007, 28 more students from the class of 2012 were enrolled in college after 2 years.

CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL

Capital High School, in the Boise District, has 44% free/reduced lunch, and 3.5% Limited English. 

Capital's 2 year "Go On' rate has improved by 11% from the class of 2007 to the class of 2012, from 60% to 71%. Even though the class of 2012 graduating class was 40 students smaller, 20 more students were enrolled in college after 2 years than were in the class of 2007.

COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL

Columbia High School, in the Nampa District, has 59% free/reduced lunch, and 3% LEP.

Columbia's 2-year percentage has increased by 12% since the class of 2007, from 47% to 59%. Columbia's graduating class has increased by 50 since 2007, when it was a new school, but 129 more 2012 grads were enrolled in college after 2 years than were in 2007.

Certainly, those are impressive gains. Other schools that have shown strong "Go On" growth include Emmett (12%), Middleton (10%), Kuna (13%), and Vallivue (8%).

Borah High School's 2 - year rate had increased from 59% to 70% between the classes of 2007 and 2010, but has since dropped back to 62%. Much the same happened at Mt. Home High School, where the rate increased from 52% to 66% in the same period, only to drop back to 57%. The Nampa District's two other high schools, Skyview and Nampa, increased by 5% and 3%, respectively, from 2007 to 2012.

WITHIN 2 YEAR GO ON RATES -  SCHOOLS WITH < 40% 

FREE/REDUCED PERCENTAGES 

Six Treasure Valley high schools have rates of free/reduced lunch that are below the state average - Boise and Timberline in the Boise District, and Eagle, Mt. View, Centennial, and Rocky Mt. in West Ada. Each of these schools have very high "Go On" rates.

EAGLE HIGH SCHOOL

Eagle High School has about 15% free/reduced students, and 1% Limited English.

Though Eagle High School's "Go On" rate after two years increased by "only" 5 percent between the class of 2007 and the class of 2012, the 2012 rate was 80%.

TIMBERLINE HIGH SCHOOL

Timberline High has about 22% Free/Reduced lunch, and about 1% of its students are Limited English.

Timberline's 2-year "Go On" rate has increased only slightly since the class of 2007; however, it stood at 76% for the class of 2013.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH SCHOOL

Rocky Mountain is the newest high school in the West Ada District, so we only have data since 2009. Rocky has about 18% Free/reduced lunch, and less than 1% of its students are Limited English.

In the four classes for which we have data, Rocky Mountain's 2-year rate has increased by 9%; for the class of 2012, it stood at 76%.

BOISE HIGH SCHOOL

Boise High has 23% Free/Reduced lunch, and has seen increases in its Limited English population recently. Boise's LEP population is at about 2.5% of the total school enrollment.

Boise's "Go On" percentage has increased by 7% since the class of 2007, and stood at 81% for the class of 2012.

Centennial (32% FRL) and Mt. View (25%) , the other 2 high schools in the Treasure Valley with percentages of Free/Reduced lunch below the state average, each stood at 76% in 2-year "Go On" rates for the class of 2012.

It's impressive to see the growth in "Go On" percentages among most SIC schools that are high impacted by poverty, and in which many students struggle with the financial burdens of college-going. We are proud of the progress we are making.

There are, to be sure, a few SIC comprehensive high schools in which "Go On" rates have grown more slowly, and most alternative high schools have low rates of matriculation - most of the students at our alternative schools face obstacles to high school graduation, as well.

The information in this report is taken from the database of the Treasure Valley Educational Partnership, which is comprised of the SIC Superintendents and administrators, higher education representatives, local business people, and volunteer and non-profit organizations in the communities we represent.

THIS AND THAT FOR APRIL

Here are several local  stories from the past few weeks.

AP COMPUTER SCIENCE ENROLLMENT SOARS

A new, more practical Advanced Placement Computer Science course will be offered in the Boise District next fall, and student requests have skyrocketed. 

The new course, Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles, attracted 215 enrollments, and the existing course, AP Computer Science, saw 60 enrollees. The total enrollment of 275 students, is a far cry form the average district-wide enrollment in CS over the past few years.

Enrollment by high school in Computer Science, by high school:

Boise             79

Borah            53

Capital          84

Timberline   59

BOISE'S SURPLUS COMPUTERS HELP AFRICAN STUDENTS

Local engineer, volunteer extraordinaire, and world traveler Todd Fischer recently journeyed to Sierra Leone, and delivered surplus District Thinkpad laptop computers to the Massory Community Learning Center. The Massorians have created the Learning Center and built computer tables, power, and networking for the laptops. Todd reports that the community is very excited about the donation, and is putting the laptops to good use, as you can see.

BOISE DISTRICT VISITS BSU CAREER FAIR

Hoping to attract the best teachers to the Boise District, District Supervisors and Human Resources Director Blas Telleria visited the Boise State Career Fair on April 4. Blas reports that the Boise District table was mobbed by potential District teachers.

Below, Social Studies/Science Supervisor Chris Taylor, Math Supervisor Dr. Teri Thaemert, and Special Education Administrator Dr. Betty Olson visit with prospective teachers:

Boise's table was the star of the show:

KAREN GILLETTE RECEIVES TWIN HONOR

Karen Gillette, Lead Teacher at Boise's STEP program for 18-21 years olds with disabilities, was honored last week as a leading "Woman in Industry" by the Women's and Children's Association of Idaho. Karen is a distinguished educator who has devoted her career to working with children with disabilities. Congratulations, Karen!

Here she is receiving congratulations from Mayor Bieter:

ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL PLAYS THE EGYPTIAN

Nine time Grammy winning Texas Swing band Asleep at the Wheel played Boise's Egyptian Theatre Saturday night. What this has to do with this blog? Nothing! But it was a fine night of music.