Introduction
The Plainview Public Schools draw students from both the Plainview and the Brunswick communities. The school facilities are located in Plainview, which is a rural community in Northeast Nebraska, approximately 35 miles northwest of Norfolk. With a combined population of approximately 1,350 people, the communities’ livelihoods are heavily dependent upon local agriculture. Many community members drive to Norfolk or other surrounding communities for employment opportunities. Major businesses within the communities include the Husker Ag ethanol plant, Sidump’r Trailer Company, Meuret Grain Company and the Plainview Area Health System.
The challenges that the school faces are very similar to those of other rural Nebraska districts. A declining rural population continues to have an adverse effect on school enrollment numbers. Where class sizes typically ranged in the 35-45 student range ten years ago, the elementary classes now hover in the 20-25 student range. The elementary school has gone from a multiple classroom environment to one that, after the 2010-2011 school year, will likely support only one elementary classroom per grade level. As the current elementary classes move into junior high and high school, multiple class sections may no longer be needed. The secondary school has employed a block schedule for many years. As enrollments continue to decline, the ability to provide adequate class offerings within a block schedule may become an issue.
With approximately 40% of the district’s students qualifying for free or reduced lunches, the poverty issue is a continual concern as student programs and student progress are evaluated. The district has about 18% of its students qualifying for special education services, which is just slightly above the state average. Educational Service Unit #8 in Neligh provides many services to the district, including technology, staff development training, curriculum support and special education. The service unit’s Eastern Learning Center in Norfolk is utilized by the Plainview district to provide educational opportunities for special education students whose needs cannot be adequately met within the learning structure of the local facilities and expertise of the staff. Ethnicity does not play a major role in the district’s demographics as approximately 97% of the district’s students are white, non Hispanic. At this time there are no students that require ESL services.
The district has many positives. One of the most prevalent is the district’s financial stability. Property valuations, keyed by the ethanol plant’s existence, have risen to a point where the district has become non-equalized and is able to operate its programs without substantial state aid support. The district has recently moved forward with a major purchase of computers for staff, and elementary and secondary students. Our vision is to move into a 1:1 computer initiative for our students in grades 7-12. This, in itself, will provide many new challenges and opportunities for the district’s students and staff alike. The district is in its second year of operating a pre-school program for four year olds and in the first year of operating a junior kindergarten program for students that are five years of age, but are not quite ready to meet the challenges of an all-day kindergarten program. It is hoped that as both programs develop, the district will see its young students transition more easily into the rigors of the elementary curriculum.
A veteran teaching staff provides for stability and consistency in student learning. Our staff at this time averages almost 17 years of teaching experience in the Plainview school system. In a staff of thirty-four teachers, fourteen have earned a master’s degree.
The school district enjoys positive support of parents and community. The community is proud of the school and its past accomplishments and recognizes the school as an important part of the community’s growth, development and ability to attract people to live in the community. Parents are active supporters of the school, often communicating with teachers through the district’s student management system, email, telephone calls and personal visits. The school appreciates the fact that approximately 90-95 percent of the elementary parents and 60-70 percent of the secondary parents participate in parent-teacher conferences.
The district is in its third year of offering/requiring students to attend an “Advantage Program” if they are struggling in any of their classes. An extra period is scheduled at the end of the regular school day and teachers are available to assist students with their homework. Students failing or near-failing in any of their classes are required to attend. The program is available to both elementary and secondary students. The goal in maintaining the Advantage Program is to take away students’ opportunities to choose to fail.
Student Performance
Our mission statement “Plainview Public School is dedicated to educating, encouraging and empowering all students for success in an ever-changing society” truly embraces the school’s vision for our students. The three “e” words that are prevalent in the mission statement contain an interesting mix and entanglement of what we believe education is all about. Neither is more important than the others, nor should one necessarily have added significance because it is listed before another. We feel we do a great job of “encouraging” our students. Our curriculum provides for varying levels of ability and readiness to learn through our Option A, B, and C program for high school students. Option A is generally geared toward students who are considering attendance at a four-year college, Option B toward those students considering attendance at a two-year college or a trade career, and Option C toward students who require additional help because of a special need. Our special education curriculum supports students through additional classroom assistance and work release (vocational) options. In the elementary school, our Title I mathematics and reading curriculums offer students increased encouragement as they begin the rigors of learning. Our Advantage Program, both in the elementary and the secondary schools also provides for “encouragement.” The focus of the Advantage Program is to show students we are serious about their learning and that we feel failure is not an option. When students are not allowed to fail without paying the price of exerting additional effort we feel they become more focused on the learning at hand.
The second “e”, empowerment, is the result of providing students with the resources and the support to learn. A solid curriculum, taught by experienced and dedicated teachers, propels students as they move from class to class and grade to grade. The district is committed to finding the resources to provide programs that improve and compliment the regular classroom opportunities for students.
Educate, the third “e”, is really a combination and a culmination of the other two e’s. When students are encouraged and empowered by a caring staff, supported by a board of education committed to education and nurtured by caring parents, education will follow.
Overall, we feel our students perform relatively well in both their academic and their extra-curricular ventures. However, as with most things, there are areas where improvement is needed and we are anxious and committed to moving forward in those areas. With our change to the norm-referenced Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment this year, we now assess students yearly in grades K-12. We are confident the MAP assessment will provide us with additional and more timely data to allow us to better meet our students’ learning needs. In the elementary grades, students are given the DIBELS assessment to provide us with data in the area of reading so that adjustments and assistance can be provided at an early age. Students in grades K-11 take part in the Ne-SA assessments in reading, writing, mathematics and will participate in the Ne-SA science assessments when they become available. Accelerated Reading (AR) and Accelerated Math (AM) tests are given to students in both the elementary and the secondary grades. In addition, high school students take the PLAN test, the ASVAB test, and juniors and seniors who are considering college are encouraged to take the ACT exam. Results of the ACT test provided us with some of the data that initiated a concern in our reading scores. Our school improvement goal “To improve student reading skills in all content areas. Technological skills will be integrated across the curriculum to assist in accomplishing this goal,” reflects a concern that our juniors and seniors have scored below the state average on the ACT test in the area of reading for the past eight years. Consequently, our ACT test scores will also provide a mechanism to evaluate if our reading goal is being met.
Since most of the students attending Zion Lutheran Elementary school in Plainview will eventually attend the public school, we work closely with Zion in staff development and curriculum issues. We provide Title I services to students at Zion as well as special education services. This past year, when we purchased a new mathematics series, Zion teachers and administration were involved in the selection process and in the staff trainings.
Challenges and Opportunities
At this time there are four main challenges that face the Plainview Public School district in the years ahead. The first is a challenge common to most rural districts in Nebraska at this time – declining enrollment. Plainview’s enrollment has dropped almost 100 students during the last five years. As a result, state aid is no longer being funneled into the district to help support existing or expanding programs. Luckily, with increases in property valuations, the financial impact of the declining enrollments is not a significant factor at this time. A larger consideration is the impact declining enrollments will have on course offerings, etc. as classes make the progression from 30-40 students to 20 students. Rather than having the luxury of offering two sections of most classes, it will become common to offer a class only once each year. That will have an adverse effect on our students’ ability to choose classes to fit their specific educational goals.
A second challenge is poverty. While a poverty rate of approximately 40% is not considered high by many Nebraska school districts, it does present challenges for rural areas. Along with poverty come the related issues of parents who have to work extra jobs to support their families, added pressure on family life, broken families, and parental support for education. These all take their toll on a school’s ability to help students realize their maximum potential.
Our district’s third challenge results from imminent retirements of experienced staff members. In the next 2-3 years several teachers will reach retirement age, or opt to utilize the district’s early retirement option. While this helps the district financially, it does pose some issues with hiring quality staff in areas where teachers are in short supply. At this time it is hard to predict what our options may be, but distance learning and on-line courses may have to become a more integral part of our curriculum and course offerings.
The fourth challenge our district faces is that of developing a data driven assessment system. This year we are switching from the Terra Nova test to the MAP assessment as our norm referenced test. Our goal in making this switch is to better use the data we receive through the assessment process. In order to maximize the process a great deal of staff development efforts will need to be put into the area of assessment and helping teachers learn how to understand and use effectively the data they have at their finger tips.
Three things come to mind as opportunities for the Plainview Public Schools. First, two years ago our board of education made the decision to start a pre-school program for 4-year olds. The board did this without the support of pre-school grant money from the state and through a commitment to help our young learners get off to a good start so that they are better prepared to meet the rigors of our elementary curriculum. This year our board approved starting a junior kindergarten class for those students who have gone through a pre-school setting and who are not yet ready for a full slate of kindergarten activities. Our goal in initiating the pre-school and the junior kindergarten is to optimize the learning opportunities for “all” our young learners so that they progress at a faster learning pace during their elementary years.
The second opportunity is actually listed as one of our challenges. The Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment offers a tremendous opportunity to our teachers and our school to better understand individual student learning needs and to guide us in reacting to those needs. Immediate assessment feedback to teachers, students, administration and parents will be instrumental in maximizing learning opportunities for all students.
The third opportunity is in a stage of infancy, although one we are very excited about. Our administration and staff have worked hard at selling the opportunities that can be afforded to students through a 1:1 computer initiative for our junior-senior high school students. We have just recently received a favorable vote by the board of education to move forward with the purchase of some new computers that will hopefully springboard us into a positive board decision on the 1:1 initiative next year. We feel that the increased exposure to 24/7 learning options will have a significant impact on preparing our students for the 21st century.
Conclusion
Although there are many past experiences and accomplishments that could be cited, we currently take a great deal of pride in the fact that we are on the threshold of opening up a whole new world of learning to students through the use of technology. We have worked hard to put our technology infrastructure in place so that it will support a 1:1 computer initiative. A recent purchase of staff laptop computers and computer carts for both the elementary and secondary students encourages us that we are now ready to take the next step in preparing our students for the rigors and excitement of 21st century learning.