We are proud of the progress that all students at GCCS are able to achieve. As the data demonstrate, students within all subgroups were outperformed their peers in the Rochester City School District.
The subgroup data for students in the category of free and reduced lunch (FRL), now called economically disadvantaged (ED) by NYS, showed proficiency in ELA with scores above the state, county and district averages (except for the 2016-17 school year). In math, the same cohort of students showed proficiency above the state, county and district for all of the years indicated.
The subgroup data for students with disabilities (SWD) showed proficiency in ELA with scores above the state, county and district averages with the exception of the 2017-18 school year. During that year we scored slightly below NYS but above Monroe County and the RCSD. In math the same cohort of students showed proficiency above the state, county and district for all of the years indicated except for 2017-18 school year. There was a slight decrease during this year.
Our English language and multi-language learners (ELL/ MLL) cohort has always been small and their test data are often embargoed by NYS.
Within aggregate and non aggregate groups there have been a significant number of opt outs for the NYS ELA and Math test. For example, 38% of students in fifth grade opted out of the 2017-18 school year. These opt-outs, along with small sample sizes, can pose a challenge when looking at subgroup performance.
Although GCCS students outperform their RCSD peers, the gaps between subgroups within our own school deserve our utmost attention. Addressing and correcting disparate outcomes between students of different economic status, race, and ability must be our school's top priority. Some of this will come through increased professional development on culturally-relevant teaching, anti-bias training, and more consistent and documented response to intervention (RtI) programming. Many of these topics have been indicated as focus areas in the EL Education 2018-19 and 2019-20 work plans. While we have begun to tackle some of these pieces, there is much room for growth.
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) Elementary Accountability Report recognizes GCCS as a school in good standing. In fact, all subgroups of students reached the highest growth level (4); white students missed this designation by 1/10 point. The preliminary NYSED charter renewal report around subgroup performance can be found here while the interpretation document can be found here.
Our own internal assessment using the i-Ready diagnostic test shows phenomenal growth from our students with disabilities subgroup in both reading and math instruction. The NYSED charter renewal report does not include all students classified with an IEP due to opt outs and students who are too young to be tested by New York State measures. Therefore, this i-Ready growth report for 2018-2019 is a better indicator of our current results with students who are classified with disabilities.
In October 2018, the staff compared 2017-2018 NYS test data with Spring i-Ready diagnostic results and found a strong correlation in performance across all subgroups. This data will continue to be compared with 2018-2019 data in the fall of 2019.