School Board Meeting Packed

Room W7 at the Kimball Jr./Sr. High School was overflowing as parents, staff members and students attended the Oct. 30 special meeting of the Kimball Public Schools Board of Education.

During public comment time, about a dozen meeting attendees addressed the board with their concerns. Most of those who spoke were concerned about changes that they believed had been made to the schedule of classes. Specifically, that jazz band and show choir would no longer be held during the 27-minute intervention time in the schedule. Instead, they would be held after school.

The intervention period would be used, as titled, for academic interventions for students who needed them. Many expressed how important and beloved these music programs are and that moving them out of the school day would not allow many students to participate.

Some questioned why this was change was being considered instead of addressing curriculum issues and teaching methods.

Curriculum and instruction director Danielle Reeder, in her analysis of student achievement data, provided evidence for the necessity of immediate intervention to try to restore positive academic growth to Kimball students.

In her detailed report to the board, Reader explained the assessment scores that have put Kimball Junior High School in need of improvement, as determined by the state. This designation requires the school to develop an improvement plan and receive targeted support and assistance for students. Detailed information can be found on the Nebraska Department of Education’s website. Go to the Nebraska Education Profile at https://nep.education.ne.gov

The district uses various, differentiated tools to provide a complete picture of student achievement. One of the assessment tools utilized by the district is the Nebraska Student Centered Assessment System or NSCAS. This tool compares schools with peer schools throughout the state. Three levels of proficiency, from low to high, are determined based on student test performance: Developing, On Track, and Benchmark.

The data from this assessment indicates that in fifth through eighth grade, about a third to under half of the students are On Track or Benchmark in Language Arts.

In math, only about a quarter of students are On Track, with about 75 percent scoring in the Developing category. These results indicate that the majority of students need academic support and assistance for improvement.

Another assessment incorporated in the NSCAS is the ACT, which is a national test that is used by most colleges and universities in their admission analysis. Nebraska uses the ACT to assess third-year high school students in the state. The ACT scores range from 1 to 36 in several content areas: English, Reading, Math, Science and Writing. There is also an overall composite score, which is an average of the content areas. For comparison, to gain entrance to most colleges, the minimum composite score is 18. Significant merit scholarships usually require a score around 27 with a high school grade point average in the top 10 percent of the class.

The average NE state ACT score in English is 17.7 for the 2018-19 year and the average English score for Kimball students is 17.6, indicating 40 percent proficiency. The state average in Math is 18.9, with Kimball having 18.8, a proficiency rating of 50 percent. The average state Science score is 19.0 with Kimball students at 18.6, indicating 54 percent proficiency. In the past, Kimball has been above the state average for ACT scores, but over the past few years, these scores have been declining and are currently below statewide average.

The district also uses the NWEA or MAP testing program to evaluate student performance as it can measure the growth of individual students over several years and give specific areas of weakness to be addressed. These test results support the conclusions indicative of other testing. Alarmingly, there was indication of some negative growth on average, in Math and English.

The challenge for the staff, students and parents is to implement interventions that will produce improved student proficiencies and individual student growth.

“This is not a problem that can be fixed quickly,” said Reader. She said there is a trickle up effect that is difficult to overcome, as teachers spend time trying to “catch students up” on previous material, while they continue to fall behind because they are not able to absorb the new material that is supposed to be covered.

Reader stressed that no final decisions have been made and several options and ideas are being discussed. She also pointed out that, contrary to rumor, jazz band and show choir are not being eliminated, just moved, and that 72 percent of students participating in those programs are scoring in the Developing category academically.

Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Owens explained that the focus on academic improvement is districtwide.

“Interventions have already been implemented at the elementary level and now we need to bring that focus on improvement to the junior and senior High school,” she said. “We are so proud of our student participation and achievements in music and we are proud of the support these programs have, but the primary goal of our school is student academic achievement and that needs to be first.”