Lincoln teachers detail student literacy progress in annual report
Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2008
LINCOLN - Board of Education members heard presentations on test score results, academic programs, goals for the upcoming year and information about No Child Left Behind when they heard the annual report to the public Monday evening.
School-level presentations in the two-hour report began with a report from the Lincoln Elementary School teachers. Teacher Melody Butler said they hope to achieve a 10 percent gain on the first- and second-grade literacy and math scores on the state Benchmark exam.
Teacher Janice Johnson said one age group in which the school did not make adequate yearly progress for improving literacy test scores under the No Child Left Behind was the third grade. The school needed 56 percent of its students to score proficient or better on the Benchmark exam, and 51 percent scored in those categories.
The teachers also said they hoped to improve scores of low-income students. The school hopes to improve low-income students'scores on the fourth-grade math exam, for instance, from 59 to 65 percent advanced or proficient.
About 65 percent of the district's students participate in the free and reduced lunch program for low-income pupils, Superintendent Frank Holman said.
The middle school met standards for yearly progress in all categories, Holman said.
Teacher Bridget Davis said the school made gains in almost every grade level from the 2007 exam to the 2008 exam.
The school also made some progress moving a few special education students up to the next level under the testing categories.
"It's much more important to move a kid from below basic to basic. That's an important step," Board member Richard Watson said. "We get so focused on proficient and advanced we forget how important the basic and below basic are."
For the high school, teachers spoke about their hopes to improve literacy scores, as only 43 percent scored proficient or better on last year's end-ofcourse literacy exam. Students math scores on the end-of-course exam fared better, with 65 percent scoring proficient or better on the geometry exam.
"Every teacher is considered a literacy teacher this year," teacher Audra Savage said. "Our goal is we have 60 percent score proficient or better on the literacy end-ofcourse exam."
Teacher Johnny Williams said the seventh class period of the day will be "Wolf hour"this year, where teachers will spend time helping students in literacy and other areas. The school follows an eightperiod day.
Clay Hendrix also gave a report on the new Alternative Learning Environment program that he directs at Lincoln, noting 19 students were enrolled so far.
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