measures ...
School Level Leadership
Meeting the challenge of raising student achievement and closing the achievement gaps in Hawaii's schools depends on school leaders who effectively guide instructional improvement.The identification and development of effective school leaders has been significantly hampered by the lack of technically sound tools for assessing and monitoring leadership performance. The Vanderbilt Assessment of Leadership in Education (VAL-ED) fills this gap.The VAL-ED is an assessment which utilizes a multi-rater, evidence-based approach to measure the effectiveness of school leadership behaviors known to influence teacher performance and student learning. The VAL-ED measures core components and key processes. Core components refer to characteristics of schools that support the learning of students and enhance the ability of teachers to teach. Key processes refer to how leaders create those core components.The conceptual framework for VAL-ED is based on a review of the learning-centered leadership research literature and alignment to the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards (see figure below). Every item in the Principal, Supervisor, and Teacher Response forms represents a cross-section of one core component and one key process.
Reading by the Third Grade
This indicator tracks the percentage of students meeting or exceeding reading proficiency toward the end of 3rd grade as measured by the Hawaii State Assessment (HSA). This measure gives us a good sense on an annual basis of an individual student’s attainment as well as an entire school’s effectiveness at a critical stage in the educational journey. It is widely acknowledged that third graders who cannot read at grade level face ever-greater difficulty mastering other subjects from 4th grade onwards, since all such subjects require the ability to read and write. We will use this tool to identify schools that are doing a great job in preparing students for K-12 success and schools that are not doing so. Specifically, Foundation grantees working to impact Conditions and Competencies will be monitored using these indicators.
Individual Student Growth
This is our principal indicator for monitoring the achievement gap. This indicator tracks the percentage of students making one year or greater gains in individual learning measured against metrics determined in collaboration with the Hawaii Department of Education, P-20 and other key public education stakeholders. This indicator will help us to identify schools that may have large achievement gaps but whose teachers are helping struggling students to rapidly close those gaps. Specifically, Foundation grantees working to impact Conditions and Competencies will be monitored using these indicators.
Freshmen on Track
This indicator measures the percentage of freshmen who complete their courses during the freshmen year and move on to tenth grade on time and without special circumstances. We will use this indicator as an early warning signal to spot high schools with a high percentage of students who will probably not go on to graduate on time and who likely require assistance in strengthening the Culture, Conditions and Competencies at the school level.
Graduation Rate
This indicator measures the percentage of high school students who successfully graduate on time along with their cohort of students who entered 9th grade together four years earlier. Schools with high and rising high school graduation rates are a strong indicator of leadership that is successfully narrowing the achievement and preparation gaps in Hawaii.
Success Post-Secondary
This indicator is intended to measure the percentage of graduating high school students that successfully pass an apprenticeship or equivelant credentialling process for a living wage job and/or complete an associate’s degree within three years of matriculation or a bachelor’s degree within six years, using data available from the National Student Clearinghouse. We contend that the purpose of K-12 education is not to move kids from 3rd grade to 4th or 4th to 5th, but to ensure that all high school graduates secure the post-secondary education that they need to develop the skills necessary to succeed in the 21st century. This is a critical measure of the state’s preparation gap. We do not anticipate securing the workforce data any time soon due to complex privacy issues. We are working diligently to secure the Clearinghouse data and anticipate securing access in the coming months. In the meantime, this indicator reflects the University of Hawaii's calculation on the number of high school graduates who have been offered and accepted admittance into the University of Hawaii, either its Community College or 4-year degree programs.