Dear Lafayette parents and families,
This December, the Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) released a new citywide School Report Card that includes information about how every public school in DC performed in the 2017-2018 school year. At Lafayette, we want to make sure that all of our families understand the School Report Card, how our school performed, and our upcoming plans to ensure each and every one of our students has access to an excellent education. You can find our school’s report card at https://dcschoolreportcard.org/.
OSSE’s School Report Card and the School Transparency and Reporting (STAR) Framework
In 2015, President Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), a new federal education law to replace No Child Left Behind (NCLB). As a result of this new law, OSSE created a citywide plan that includes goals for student achievement and a new accountability system, the STAR Framework. OSSE also created a new School Report Card to provide families with a range of information, including school points of pride, academic performance, attendance, and each school’s rating on the STAR Framework. You can find resources from OSSE on the School Report Card here, and more information from DCPS here.
Explaining the STAR Rating
The STAR Framework first measures a school’s performance for all students across multiple areas of performance. The maximum points that can be earned for each area is shown in the chart below (up to 95 points this year). Schools earn points based on their students’ performance in each area compared to students across the city. The STAR Framework also measures performance for specific student groups including students with disabilities, students who are at-risk, English Learners, and each racial/ethnic group in the school. The school’s overall STAR Rating is based on its overall score which is calculated by combining the school’s performance of all students and the performance of each student group.
| Academic Achievement | Academic Growth | School Environment | English Language Proficiency* | Graduation Rates | Total Maximum Possible Points | |
| Elementary/Middle | Up to 30 pts | Up to 40 pts | Up to 20 pts | Up to 5 pts | N/A | 95 |
| High School | Up to 40 pts | N/A | Up to 39 pts | Up to 5 pts | Up to 11 pts | 95 |
*if applicable
STAR Rating by Score:
- 5 Stars: 80 – 100 score
- 4 Stars: 60 – 79 score
- 3 Stars: 40 – 59 score
- 2 Stars: 20 – 39 score
- 1 Star: 0 – 19 score
Our School’s Rating
For the 2017-2018 school year, our school received a 4 STAR Rating (73.9%). Our score highlighted many of our successes, but also found some weaknesses in a year where we had some losses in our PARCC data. While we respect the STAR framework and appreciate the opportunity for transparency in our student data, I also want to emphasize that this is one metric to assess our students’ school experience. There are so many ways that our students achieve in social emotional learning, in real-life experiences, and in high quality instruction that are not captured in this particular framework. The STAR framework also does not necessarily reflect the incredible partnering between our families, community and school that make our school community so special.
Still, we are always reaching higher to ensure excellence for every one of our students, and we need to reflect on the areas we can grow and take targeted steps to do so.
Our Data and Our Plan
The table attached here shows our exact breakdown of points in all areas of the framework. Each metric of the framework is worth a certain number of points based on the data from the 2017-2018 school year.
Highlights:
- Our students achieved all 30 pts possible in overall academic achievement
- Our students with disabilities are performing at a rate of 7/10 on all metrics. The district average is 4.7/10
- Our black students outperformed our white students on all metrics .86/1.25 to .74/1.25.
- Our Hispanic students were performing at the same rate as our white students .71/1.25 and .74/1.25
- Our school environment metrics earned almost full points (in-seat attendance, re-enrollment, and attendance growth)
Areas for Growth:
Growth on PARCC –
Math – we struggled in student growth on PARCC
- Some students moved from a 5 to 4 or a 4 to a 3 in PARCC.
- Median growth showed that students did not grow as much relative to other similarly performing students
ELA – We made huge growth in median growth (how students grew compared to similarly performing students)
- We struggled with growth to proficiency – students who are not yet achieving at a 4 or 5 on PARCC (n = 38)
English Language Learners
- Struggled on PARCC – ELA and Math overall achievement and growth metrics
- Struggled on ACCESS (standardized test of language proficiency)
Our Next Steps
We are committed to growing and improving together with our families and school community in order to achieve our goal of providing an excellent education to each of our students. We have already started to address these gaps in the following ways:
Math Growth on PARCC:
- Added a math coach to work on curriculum, instruction, and coaching teachers
- Added instructional minutes back into 5th grade math block
- Refocused the work of our math specialists
- Adding differentiation opportunities for our students achieving above grade level
English/Language Arts (Growth to Proficiency)–
- Revise and implement robust intervention cycles
- Added iReady online learning to support comprehension
- Added additional research-based intervention programs to support struggling readers
English Language Learners :
- Shored up our in-house data and testing measures
- Added an additional ELL teacher (2)
- Additional family outreach to newcomer families
I look forward to the progress I know we will see for each of our students, and I am grateful for the opportunity to work alongside each of you. For any questions or for information about upcoming feedback sessions and opportunities to get involved, please contact me at . Please also join us at the LSAT meeting on Wednsday, 12/12 at 7:30 am. We will also be offering an additional community meeting opportunity, date and time TBA.
Sincerely,
Dr. B