Tekamah-Herman School not Meeting Adequate Yearly Progress

By Brandon Lavaley, Tekamah-Herman Superintendent

With the release of the State of the Schools report for each district in the state, there are certain to be questions arising about how we are preforming at Tekamah-Herman Schools. While there will be letters distributed to many of you in the near future, I wanted to take the opportunity to briefly explain where we are now and where we believe we will be in the near future.

Tekamah-Herman Schools, as most other districts in the state, will be on the list of schools not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Federal legislation known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires that each district meet AYP or face requirements to improve student achievement. The AYP goal for the 2014-15 school year was 100% proficiency, meaning every student in grades 3-8 and 11 met the proficient standard in reading and math. While this is a goal we certainly strive toward, it is very difficult to meet given the multitude of variables in each student’s education.

Although we did not meet AYP of 100% proficiency, we showed improvement, many areas of significant gains, over last year’s scores in ALL areas at ALL grade levels. As a district, we are extremely excited about the strides we made over the past year and couldn’t be more proud of the hard work our students and staff put in to earn such results. Additionally, we had 35 perfect scores recorded on the state assessments (NeSA) by individual students.

The teaching staff is focused on making instructional decisions based on individual student data from various assessments given throughout the year. The staff also makes preparations for the assessments so the students have the opportunity to achieve as highly as possible. If you have a student in school, please take the time to review individual NeSA results with him/her and discuss ways that they might be able to improve.

The district has made several recent improvements that we believe benefit our students learning and achievement, including but not limited to: new reading curriculum in the elementary, professional learning communities among our staff members, 1:1 laptop initiative in the high school, and “data days” for staff to review individual student data. Looking forward, core curricular areas will continue to be evaluated and adjusted to meet the needs of our students and the standards set by the State Department of Education. The Continuous Improvement Committee, composed of teachers and administrators, meets several times throughout the year to evaluate the district and propose improvements, where needed.

Finally, outside involvement and participation by patrons is encouraged in our schools. A community engaged in the education process helps support our students, reinforcing the importance of what happens at school on a daily basis. Thank you for your continued support of Tekamah-Herman Schools and the education the students receive.

Brandon Lavaley, Tekamah-Herman Superintendent