WJCC Disputes D.J. Montague's AYP Results

By Amber Lester Kennedy Saturday, August 13, 2011

The performance of one student might impact whether D.J. Montague Elementary School meets federal achievement benchmarks.

As of Friday, the Williamsburg-James City County school division was disputing a state assessment that the school had failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks for the second consecutive year. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) released AYP reports to the public Thursday morning that indicated D.J. Montague Elementary had failed to meet AYP, missing one of the 29 benchmarks used to evaluate schools. The school division believes an error has been made in the subgroup categorization of one student who didn’t pass the math test. The state is investigating whether a mistake was made.

To meet AYP, more than 86 percent of D.J. Montague students had to demonstrate proficiency on state reading tests and 85 percent must have passed state tests in math. The benchmarks have risen four percentage points nearly every year since 2001, with the ultimate goal of 100 percent of students being proficient in reading and math by 2014. Read more about the area’s AYP results here.

The benchmarks also measure how students perform in subgroups, which reflect student’s racial background, socioeconomic status and disabilities. If one subgroup does not have what the state considers a significant amount of students, it is not included in the measurements. At the start of each year, students are asked to disclose their ethnicities and are given the option to receive federally funded free or reduced meals. They can opt not to share that information or to decline the meals, making categorization difficult. At that point, teachers and administrators must choose how to classify the students.

On Thursday morning, WJCC released a public statement that said D.J. Montague had met the requirements. In the release, Superintendent Steven Constantino praised the school’s achievement, saying, “This is indeed a proud moment for everyone at D.J. Congratulations to the Mustang students, families and staff who have worked so hard with the District Improvement Team to reach this milestone. Especially notable this year was the 12 percentage point jump to 88 percent in the number of African American students passing the reading requirement. That’s the highest in D.J.’s recent history.”

When the division became aware that VDOE listed the school as having not met AYP (download the spreadsheet here), administrators reviewed their data and found what they believe is an error in the state’s categorization of one student who failed the math test. If they’re right, the school will have met AYP. Because of the small numbers involved, WJCC spokesman Greg Davy declined to say which subgroup’s number was incorrect until the issue is resolved.

VDOE Director of Communications Charles Pyle said each division is given access to preliminary test information by mid-July, giving divisions time to review the numbers and spot possible errors. The data is refreshed weekly as more information is received, so the department recommends administrators check the numbers after each update. VDOE also provides school divisions with a timetable of deadlines, letting them know when to expect new data and when the information will be released to the public.

“Our preference is that all of this takes place prior to the release of information to the public,” Pyle said. “We do allow corrections to be made afterwards because these records move forward. If the student is still in the system, we want the student to be identified correctly.”

Constantino said Friday that the administrators checked the VDOE website frequently and “we had what we believed to be the latest AYP results.”

Although it isn’t clear yet whether a mistake was made, Pyle said it isn’t unheard of. “Every year the school divisions get better about maintaining the quality of the data, but this is a human process, as well as a technological process,” he said. “Occasionally, there are discrepancies and errors, but usually we hear about those well in advance of the release of AYP results.”

He said that if the school division submits a correction and VDOE agrees it’s legitimate, they’ll input the data, refresh it and see if the school did indeed meet AYP. “Then we’ll change the rating,” he said.

D.J. Montague is currently in “School Improvement” status for reading. “School Improvement” is applied to Title I schools receiving federal funding based on the number of low-income students. Because of its status, the school is required to offer school choice to parents for a second year and offer supplemental services, such as tutoring. Teachers have also received professional development in assessment, and the school was led in the past year by Principal Lynn Turner, who previously served as principal at the division’s sole International Baccalaureate school, James River Elementary.

Because D.J. Montague is not in “School Improvement” status for math, it will not be sanctioned by the state with mandatory corrective actions.

Read previous articles about D.J. Montague’s efforts to improve here and here.