From Staff and Wire Reports
LUCERNE VALLEY — Lucerne Valley Unified School District's two school principals shared recently released California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress results and discussed plans for continuing to move scores upward.
High school, middle school principal Douglas Ferber said that the CAASPP results showed that many of the changes made by previous principal Patricia Courtney were bearing fruit. Longtime teacher Cindy Lazenby agreed.
"Mrs. Courtney did a lot of work trying to get us to go where we are to go," Lazenby said.
With the help of teacher Brandon Barkley, the high school is continuing work on improving its Math offerings. One example, Ferber said, is the high school has begun offering Algebra II, which helps students go farther in their math studies.
"We were in a gunfight with a shovel (when the program ended at Algebra I," Ferber said.
With several changes in place, Ferber is excited about what's in store for students in the near future.
"I think the testing this year will be a proud moment for the folks," Ferber said.
"Our high school can be proud of itself," said school superintendent Peter Livingston.
Several categories improved, according to LVES principal Mary Eller in her presentation. The school performed better than Joshua Circle and Hollyvale in the Hesperia Unified School District performed in some 3rd and 4th grade categories.
"Every grade level made a gain," she said. "Math had good gains in every grade level. (However), we need to continue to move students toward mastery."
She also outlined ways the school is continuing to move upward. New tools and programs are making a difference, including a National Geographic program used in the classroom and Lexia Learning. Zearn Program and Next Gen Math also play a role, Eller said.
Eller also announced that the school recently receive a bronze medal for its implementation of PBIS, which is a new way of dealing with behavioral issues and giving positive reinforcement for good student behaviors.
"We're moving forward," Eller said.
School board member Mavrick Von Haug, a former five-time MMA champ, challenged Eller and the school district to reach higher. Instead of comparing scores to other area schools, we should be looking at similarly sized schools in other parts of the country.
"We should be comparing on a national level rather on a local level," Von Haug said. "We don't want to sugarcoat anything. Are the kids learning or not?
Board member Tom Courtney, who has been on the board for more than 20 years, said he liked that the scores were moving up but hoped for more improvement.
"We can't brush the horse the same way and expect it to shine more," Courtney said. "We have to find a way to excel. I want to see kids do better."
Livingston said teachers need to hold teachers accountable, and the administration and other district officials need to make regular visits to school sites. When he was a teacher an administrator visited his classroom and made a helpful suggestion after noticing a student was slacking off, he said.
Livingston also noted that the discussion was a healthy way to toss around ideas. Others agreed.
"As teachers we want to work together from kindergarten through 12th grade," Lazenby said. "These are all our kids."
"We're all on the bus," Ferber said. "We're all moving forward."
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson said last month that California students made significant progress in the second year of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) online tests, with the percentage of students meeting or exceeding standards increasing at every grade and in every student group. Nearly half the students tested met or exceeded standards in English language arts, and nearly four in 10 met or exceeded standards in mathematics, Torlakson said.