I would like to respond to our letter grade the WV Department of Education assigned us today. After multiple trainings, professional development sessions, and collaborative evaluations of the A-F grading system for schools, I strongly believe the grade “F-PR” is not an accurate representation of the positive impact our school and teachers have had to meet our mission.
On the report, provided by WVDE, we received a total of 678.69 points. This number of points qualifies us, and should have assigned us a letter grade of a “C.” In the report, our English and Math scores increased from the previous year. In addition, our school scored higher than the State Average in Observed Growth, Adequate Growth, and improvement of Low Performing students in Math. Additionally, our school scored higher than the State Average in Observed Growth and Improvement of Low Performing students in English. This is a huge SUCCESS and demonstrates of us striving to continuously meet the needs of our students. We are a solid C.
The WVDE assigned us an F-PR because our student participation rate on the Smarter Balance was below 90%. According to the data that was collected, we missed the participation rate by only 16 students. However, there is a lot of contradicting data that says otherwise. The important piece is that we have filed numerous appeals to the State level, but all have been denied. Please understand, no one in our County knew that the participation rate calculations changed. The fact of the matter is, the WV State Department of Education FAILED our County leaders as well as Riverside High School by neglecting to inform us of these changes. We reviewed 585 PowerPoint training slides from last year and NONE of them defined the change in participation rate. The only time it began to mention it was on June 8th with the WVBOE made updates to Policy 2320. This was after our testing window closed. In all the trainings, the WVDE never told the change that the participation rate will be calculated in all 3 grade levels instead of just the 11th grade students like they have been in the past. In all my years of state testing, the 11th grade was the only one that has ever counted. With a huge change in accountability, why did the WVDE not tell inform principals?
Would it make sense if the Major League Baseball Commissioner makes a statement right now after game 7 to say the Cubs did not win the world series because now every single member of the entire team has to bat? Since every player did not bat, the Cubs now lose and Cleveland Indians win.
Would it make sense for a teacher to give a student a letter grade of an F even though the student only completed 88 Percent of the test and all the answers were correct?
Unfortunately, at this time, a lot of things do not make sense, but I want you to know, we will not quietly accept this letter grade as a measure of our school. Attached is a fact sheet that gives you more information about the differences we are making each day and each year.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me.
Sincerely,
Valery Harper
Principal of Riverside High School
Riverside High School
Home of the Warriors
Fact Sheet
School
Demographics:
1201
Students
56%
Low SES
OEPA
Monitoring Report 2016
- Accomplished
in ALL ratings or better
- Distinguished
in 2 categories
Graduation
Rate: Continuous Improvement each year
2014:
70% 2015: 77% 2016: 79% 2017: 87%
Number of
Ninth Grade Student Retentions: Continuous Improvement each year
2013:
81 2014: 73 2015: 53 2016: 34
Number of
Students who drop out of school each year
2013:
70 2014: 62 2015: 47 2016: 31
Smarter Balanced
by Grade Level in Math:
9th
Grade: + 7% 10th
Grade: +13% 11th Grade:
- 1%
Smarter
Balanced by Grade Level in English:
9th
Grade: +12% 10th
Grade: +16% 11th Grade:
-2%
Smarter
Balanced student learning Growth average in Math:
9th
Grade to 10th Grade: 5 % increase
10th grade to 11th grade: 5 %
increase
Smarter
Balanced student learning Growth average in English:
9th
Grade to 10th Grade: 19 % Increase
10th grade to 11th grade: 15 %
increase
ACT Scores
2015:
Highest scores in the school history
Number of
students enrolled in AP Courses:
6 different AP
classes total enrollment 115
Number of CTE
completers:
31 total for
2016, not including Carver
Number of
students enrolled in Carver Career Center:
120 students
17 programs
Number of
students enrolled in College Courses:
189 enrolled for
the entire year
We offer 5
different college classes and 1 dual credit class
American
Chemical Society Exam 2016
- Chemistry
2 increased 4% last school year
- Chemistry
1 increased 6% last school year
- Highest
scores in the school history
Band Ratings
1st
time in the school history to receive a Superior Rating in 2016
JROTC
- 217
cadets, in 2011 we only had 65 cadets
- Recognized
by the WVDE State Board in 2016
- State
Champions in 2014, 2015 and 2016
- Brigade
Champion out of 347 schools, 16 states, in 2016
Marshall
SCORES Competition 2016
- 3rd place
overall best school
- 1st Place
- Army
Physical Fitness Test
- One
Rope Bridge
- Information
Technology Concepts
- 2nd Place
- Military
Map Reading
- Effective
Teaching Strategies
- Literary
Analysis
- Spanish
3
- Web
Programming
- 3rd Place
- News
Writing
- Literary
Analysis
- Spanish
3
Baseball
State Semi-Finalist in 2015
