Jackson Street School Report Card 2017
The full Right to Know Cover Letter can be accessed here and can be read below.
The full Jackson Street School Report Card Overview can be accessed here and can be read below.
Right to Know Cover Letter
Dear Parent or Guardian:
We are pleased to enclose the 2017 Massachusetts Report Card Overview – our school’s “report card” according to the MA Accountability section of the MA Dept. of Education. Report cards answer important questions about a school’s overall performance and contain specific information about student enrollment and teacher qualifications, student achievement, accountability, how a school is performing on the state test, MCAS, relative to other schools in the district and the progress made toward narrowing proficiency gaps for different groups of students.
In this report you will find the following important information about our school:
Student enrollment and teacher quality: This section of the report card provides information about the students and teachers in our school as compared to the district and the state. If your child attends a school that receives federal Title I funds, you also have the right to request the following information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teachers:
- Whether your child’s teacher is licensed in the grade levels and subject areas they teach
- Whether your child’s teacher is teaching under an emergency license or waiver
- The college degree and major of your child’s teacher
- Whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications
Assessment results: This section of the report shows how our students are performing on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests as compared to the district.
School and district accountability information: This section of the report contains four important pieces of information:
- Next Generation MCAS – Average Scaled Score tell us how our school’s achievement over time compares to the district and the state. Our school compares favorably to the other schools in the district and in the state of MA. for the most part (slightly under in math compared to the state.
- Legacy MCAS (CPI). The Composite Performance Index (CPI) is a number from 1-100 that represents the extent to which all students are progressing toward proficiency in a given subject. Our school compares favorably and sometimes a bit better, to the other schools in Northampton and in the state of MA.
- The Transitional Student Growth Percentiles (SGPs measure the gains in student achievement from year to year – comparing the same cohort. Our school SGPs are higher than the other elementary schools in the district and in the state of MA in English Language Arts and higher in math than the pother schools in Northampton and slightly lower than the state in math.
- Finally, there is data on our school’s enrollment compared to the other schools and to the state as well as our teachers and classrooms, attendance and discipline.
To improve student achievement in our school, we are analyzing our student assessment and progress data – reviewing not only MCAS results, but also our classroom assessments (through math and English Language Arts curriculum), teachers’ observations and student work. We know that MCAS is just one measure of achievement. We are also participating in school and district-wide professional development towards improving practice in the classroom. Lastly, we continue to connect with and understand students through relationships with families, believing strongly in the home-school connection. We are a “Growth Mindset” school – “mindful” of providing support to students and adults in approaching their work in this way.
We are grateful to your for your continued involvement in helping us improve our school. Some of the ways JSS families and volunteers are involved in our community are through encouraging your child’s learning at home, attending parent-teacher meetings and other special meetings, serving as a volunteer in our school or district, and encouraging other parents/guardians to become involved.
But most of all, we encourage you and thank you for being there for your children every day and in every way – talking with them, reading with them, taking walks with them and having fun together.
For more information about our school’s report card or to request information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teachers, please feel free to contact us at 587-1510.
Sincerely,
Gwen Agna, Principal