CUMBERLAND – Cumberland County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Amy Griffin presented 2010-2011 accreditation and adequate yearly progress (AYP) results to the School Board on Monday evening. According to the official notifications, all three schools are fully accredited but the division did not make AYP.

The results are the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessment scores from 2009-2010, state accreditation, and federal adequate yearly progress designations, according to Dr. Griffin.

She also presented the Board with plans to address the specific areas of need based on the data received.

“These reports will come out officially, I think, next week,” explained Dr. Griffin about the results. “…All three of our schools are fully accredited and we are very proud of that.”

Elementary School

Cumberland Elementary is fully accredited but did not make AYP.

State accreditation “current” scores in grades three-five English are 82 percent; math is 89 percent; grade three history is 97 percent; fifth grade history is 98 percent; grade three science is 90 percent; and fifth grade science is 96 percent.

“The Elementary School did not make AYP due to English,” explained Dr. Griffin. “…For the total population for the three years we made it but for the subgroups, we did not.”

Federal AYP status scores for the Elementary School are English 79 percent; math 87 percent; history 97 percent; and science 83 percent.

“Our main emphasis at the Elementary School this year is the reading,” she continued.

Middle School

Cumberland Middle School is fully accredited and also did make AYP.

State accreditation current scores are in English 88 percent; math 88 percent; history 93 percent; and science 94 percent.

“The Middle School increased in each area but especially in science,” Dr. Griffin noted.

Federal AYP status scores for the Middle School are English 85 percent; math 86 percent; history 93 percent; and science 84 percent.

“We are very proud of them,” said Dr. Griffin about the school's gains and meeting AYP.

High School

Cumberland High School is fully accredited but did not make AYP.

State accreditation scores are in English 84 percent; math 85 percent; history 96 percent; and science 84 percent.

Federal AYP status scores at the High School are English 93 percent; math 85 percent; history 96 percent; and science 83 percent.

The high school, according to Dr. Griffin, met all annual measurable objectives (AMO) except for the “Federal Graduation Indicator” from the graduating class of 2009, which was 67 percent.

The annual measurable objective is 80 percent, she said.

“You are going to see the accreditation and the AYP numbers differ because the state and federal government differs. The federal government calculates our averages different than the state,” she described. “The state, they run like 12 different formulas and whichever one comes out the highest is the one they use.”

But the High School met the SOL benchmarks.

“They don't go by the graduating class of 2010,” she said. “They go by the class before that. The class of 2009.”

Dr. Griffin noted that the division does know the Federal Graduation Indicator numbers for next year and that that requirement would be met.

“We're working with that because we want a 100 percent but that is a great gain that we needed,” she said.

Plans For Improvement

Throughout the academic year, the division as a whole will be working on rigor, communication, and a “culture and climate of high expectations and support,” Dr. Griffin said.

Specifically at the Elementary School, the focus will be reading and at the High School students will be writing a lot more even in classes such as math.

Related to staff development, teachers will also have to meet a few new requirements, according to the presentation.

Goals for teachers include that they be able to design and implement lessons that are “rigorous and relevant.”

Also, teachers will have to use support materials that require technology so that students and teachers increase their usage.

Staff development workshops are also being created, Dr. Griffin noted, that supports the school division's areas of focus but also decrease the amount of time that teachers have to spend in after-school meetings.

Faculty meetings are now being targeted towards staff development and workshops because those are meetings that teachers are already required to attend.

Other staff development requirements include teachers attending at least one Monday Technology Workshop and submitting a product to be used in the classroom; participating in four “Peer Rigor Focused Observations” and providing reflective feedback; attending and taking Cornell Notes on four School Level Faculty Meetings that are based on school needs; and finally attending and taking Cornell Notes on two Division Level Meetings that are based on the division's areas of focus.