Report on Progress - February 2012

To date, three Memoranda of Understandings (MOU) in the area of Quality of Education have been negotiated and approved by the plaintiffs and School Board. The MOUs in place to date include; Student Achievement, Student Discipline and Assignment to Programs and Classes.


Each MOU includes provision for semiannual meetings (February and July) of both parties to provide data updates and review progress toward aspirational goals and means and methods set forth in the memoranda. This report and supporting data includes the following elements referenced in the MOU.


Student Achievement
Evidence of School Improvement Plans including data on black student achievement relative to white and other students in general, strategies and interventions to improve black student achievement, and school-based individuals responsible for implementation
Equitable allocation of resources Data to support the above using district data systems such as EDS/Portal/Reporting Services


Student Discipline (Behavior)
Evidence of School Improvement Plans including data relative to black student discipline relative to white and other students in general, behavioral strategies and interventions to improve student behavior, and school-based individuals responsible for implementation
Evidence of School-Wide Behavior Plans to include positive behavioral supports and professional
development in the implementation of the plan through the use of data for identifying the
underlying causes of negative behavior through problem solving (PS/RtI:B)
Data to support the above using district the data systems such as EDS/Portal/Reporting Services.


Assignment to Programs and Classes
Evidence of School Improvement Plans including data relative to assignment of students by race to exceptional education programs, accelerated classes, countywide programs, AVID, and/or gifted programs, means and methods to achieve continuous improvement, and school-based staff responsible for implementation. Data related to black student participation in exceptional education programs, accelerated classes, magnet/application programs, AVID, and gifted services.


Administrative Staff Assignment and Faculty
A new MOU regarding Administrative Staff Assignment and Faculty has been finalized and approved by the School Board on January 24, 2012. This MOU has an annual reporting date of October and data related to implementation of the means and measures will be presented separately at that time.




FCAT Results
Disaggregated student achievement data is reported by the Florida Department of Education in the annual Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports for the district and individual schools and can be accessed at http://schoolgrades.fldoe.org/default.asp. Additional FCAT demographic data is available through the FCAT Demographic Report website and can be accessed at https://app1.fldoe.org/FCATDemographics/Default.aspx.


Supporting Data - Three year longitudinal AYP charts are prepared annually by the PCS Research
& Accountability Office. This data was reported in the July August 2011 report. New data in this format will be reported in the July/August 2012 report.

Three Year District and State AYP Chart
Three Year Pinellas Schools AYP Charts


Graduation Rate
During the four year period from 2008 to 2011 the National Governors’ Association (NGA) graduation rate for black students has increased from 53.33% to 63.81%. Supporting data is provided disaggregating the graduation rates by race and gender at the district and school level.


Recently, the FLDOE reported graduation rate data using the new federal formula which excludes certain groups of students including students transferring to adult education programs and exceptional student education (ESE) students earning a special diploma. The Federal Graduation Rate reduces the 2011 overall Pinellas graduation rate from to 80.1% 65.2%. The state level report is attached and the district is currently preparing detailed documents disaggregated by race and gender at the district and school level. This data will be included in the July/August 2012 report.


Supporting Data

FedGradRate-1011 _FLDOE Report_Feb_2012.pdf



ACT/SAT Scores
In 2011, the ACT Math scores for black students increased from 16.2 to 16.6 and the ACT Reading scores for black students increased from 16.4 to 17. The ACT Composite Score for black students increased from 15.7 to 16.2.

In 2011, the SAT Math scores for black students increased from 423 to 425 while SAT Critical Reading scores for black students declined from 436 to 430. Consequently the SAT combined score for black students also declined from 859 to 855.


Supporting Data
ACT Trends 2011.pdf
SAT Trends 2011.pdf


Advanced Placement (AP) Exams
The Advanced Placement Exam scores become available each July. The 2011 results were included in the July/August 2011 report and will be included July/August 2012 report.


Supporting Data
Longitudinal AP Exam Report 2010.xls
Multiyear AP Exam Comparison All High Schools through May 2010.xls


School Improvement Plan (SIP)
As the MOUs call for, each school is to include data on black student achievement relative to white and other students in general, strategies and interventions to improve black student achievement, and school-based individuals responsible for implementation. This requirement is communicated to all school principals during annual SIP technical assistance and during the 2011-12 school year, the district continued to support schools with the development of their school improvement plans. The district designed the district support based on input from the schools, district leadership, and the state and district requirements for school improvement plans.


The support to schools in 2011-12 included a template with individual school data pre- populated. The template followed the state required format for school improvement plans. In addition to providing the state required data to the schools, the district template provided drop down options for each of the goal areas in the school improvement plan. The inclusion of the data and drop down options allowed schools to spend less time mining data and more time problem solving to determine the best strategies for their school. The pre-population of the school improvement template specifically included the data and goals for Black students.


Like previous years, school improvement plans were reviewed by peers. This required each school improvement plan to be reviewed by another school based administrator. The review included a peer review checklist which required each plan to have goals and objectives for the continuous improvement of Black students in the areas of reading, writing, math, science, graduation, relative rate of discipline, and enrollment in advanced courses. In addition to the peer review checklist, two professional development trainings were provided to school based administrators on how to analyze the data and develop their school

improvement plans. This included the reading, writing, math, science, graduation rates, discipline, and enrollment in advanced coursework objectives for Black students.


Individual school SIPs may be accessed at www.flbsi.org/SIP/ by selecting Pinellas, the individual school and clicking the view school improvement plan (read only) link.


Supporting Data
Bradley Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) Required Objectives.pptx
SIP_Peer_Review_Checklist 2011-2012docx.pdf



Equitable allocation of resources
Through a variety of local, state, and federal funding sources like Title I, School Improvement Grants and other resources, schools monitored under the Florida Differentiated Accountability system and those receiving a school grade of “D” receive additional human and financial resources. The majority of these schools have large populations of black students


Supporting Data
Support for Schools 2-21-12.doc



Quality of Education – Student Discipline (Behavior)



Suspension Report
The indicator of discipline required as a goal in the FDOE School Improvement Plan template is suspensions, both out-of-school and in-school suspensions. Pinellas County Schools’ Research and Accountability Office has developed yearly suspension reports since 2006. A supplemental suspension report is compiled to specifically compare black and non-black students. These reports are based on historically archived data on a date certain for each report. The main report includes changes from the previous year and these reports are the most consistent and reliable suspension data available. All the suspension reports are posted on the district
Research and Accountability website and the links to all of the current and past year reports can
be found with the supporting data below.


Since 2010, suspension reports are only compiled at the end of the school year. In previous years, reports were also completed at the semester. The end of year data for the 2011-2012 school year will be included in the July/August 2012 report. Historical data can be found on the district Research and Accountability Suspension Reports Web Page.


Supporting Data
Suspension Reports Web Page – PCS Research & Accountability


Discipline Trends
During Bradley mediation, a graphical report of Discipline Trends including suspension and arrest data from the Educational Data Solutions (EDS) system has been shared in recent years. This report was originally designed by the Directors of School Operations (a position that no longer exists in Pinellas County Schools) and to date can still be compiled by staff in the MIS office. This report is included for consistency with the previous Bradley MOU Reports and will continue to be included as this report captures arrest data by school. Data in the two reports may vary slightly as the MIS graphical report is developed from dynamic data pulled on a specific day and not the same “date certain” used for the Research and Accountability Suspension Reports.


The arrest data in this report includes arrests entered by School Resource Officers when the offense and the arrest occurred on the school campus and the student was enrolled at the school. Based on the district level data found on the first page of the report, the percentage of black students arrested through February 14, 2012 is 50.6% (239/472) down from 58.0% (523/902) for all of the 2010-11 school year.


Supporting Data
Discipline_2012-02-14.pdf


Disciplinary Reassignments and Expulsions
The area Superintendents have developed summary reports related to reassignments and expulsions. Disaggregated data by race was included for the past four years in the July/August 2011 report. Reported below is a comparison of first semester reassignments from the 2010-11 to the current 2011-12 school years. The total number or reassignments of black students has declined from 99 in 2010 to 98 in 2011 while the total number of expulsions of black students has declined from 7 in 2010 to 4 in 2011.


Supporting Data
Reassignment Comparison 1st Semester 2010 and 2011 All Schools.pdf
Expulsion Comparison 1st Semester 2010 and 2011 All Schools.pdf


School Improvement Plans
As the MOU calls for, each school is to include data on black student discipline relative to white and other students in general, behavioral strategies and interventions to improve student behavior, and school-based individuals responsible for implementation. This requirement was communicated to all school principals during annual SIP technical assistance. The 2011-12 FDOE SIP template used by all Pinellas schools has been designed for support the inclusion of suspension data and schools were instructed to include disaggregated data on the number of black students suspended. Schools were also encouraged to include an additional goal in the SIP related to development of the school wide behavior plan and training.


Supporting Data
Information on the Bradley MOU SIP goal requirements and the 2011-12 SIP Template can be found above in the Student Achievement section of this report.


School-Wide Behavior Plans and professional development


In order to align our practices to students’ needs as well as to the Florida Department of Education vision, we are transitioning from a “Response to Intervention for Behavior” model to a “Multi-Tiered System of Supports” (MTSS). MTSS provides a layered approach to core curriculum and instruction with supplemental and intensive interventions for all students. This approach allows us to differentiate the type of resources and supports schools require to reach the goal of 100% student success.


Pinellas County Schools continues to implement a district wide core curriculum that aligns to a Multi- Tiered System of Support. All schools submit a School Wide Behavior Plan to their Area Superintendents. School Based Leadership Teams (SBLT) review the plan at least three times a year, using the PBS Implementation Checklist (PIC) and the Benchmarks of Quality (BOQ) to monitor progress and fidelity of implementation.


During the summer of 2011, professional development was offered to school teams designed to provide support in strengthening the school behavior curriculum and/or in developing systems for supplemental interventions.


Each school has identified a “Behavior Facilitator” who is provided bi-monthly professional development to deepen their understanding of the key elements of a fully implemented school-wide behavior plan, how to guide school based leadership teams in problem-solving with their data, and how to support
their schools in improving outcomes.


Professional Development for teachers has been developed to ensure a common language and vision of positive and proactive classroom systems of support. The core curriculum training is provided to all employees on-line. Schools may choose to provide this training at their site with the assistance of site- based CHAMPs Facilitators.


The Teaching and Learning Department has moved forward in ensuring that social-behavioral needs are embedded in the department’s Strategic Plan. Within the Aspirational Goal of providing a safe, orderly, and healthy environment for all students and staff, the department has included an objective that all schools will implement the school-wide behavior plan with 100% fidelity, as measured by both the Benchmarks of Quality scores and the outcome data, which includes suspension and office discipline referrals.


Supporting Data
District - PIC Implementation and Critical Elements Consolidated.pdf
PIC Implementation by Level consolidated.pdfTier 1 Critical Elements by Level consolidated.pdf


Quality of Education – Programs and Classes


School Improvement Plans
Each school is to include data relative to assignment of students by race to exceptional education programs, accelerated classes, countywide programs, AVID, and/or gifted programs, means and methods to achieve continuous improvement, and school-based staff responsible for implementation. Individual schools selected the type of courses or programs to address in their SIP based on the programs and courses offered at the school. Some schools may have addressed magnet of fundamental programs, while others addressed accelerated course participation or students assigned to exceptional student education programs.


Supporting Data
Information on the Bradley MOU SIP goal requirements and the 2011-12 SIP Template can be found above in the Student Achievement section of this report.


Exceptional Student Education (ESE) Classes (including EBD and Gifted)
To improve consistency in the ESE data, beginning with this February 2011 report the ESE data will be provided from the district FDOE Survey 2 date certain files. Data in previous reports was collected at different times and due to daily enrollment changes may not compare exactly with the Survey 2 data. Moving forward the Survey 2 data should be more consistent.


The number of black students with emotional/behavioral disabilities continues to decline, from
845 in 2010 to 750 in 2011. Overall the percentage of Black Students with Disabilities also declined from 32.5% to 30.9%


Data is also provided on gifted enrollment by school and race. The aggregated district enrollment of gifted students by race can be found on page 126.


Supporting Data
Bradley MOU Final ESE Graphs 2.23.12.pdf
School Gifted Count by Ethnicity 2 1 12.pdf


Accelerated Classes
Enrollment of all students and black students in accelerated classes continues to increase in several middle and high school courses. At high school, black student enrollment has increased in dual enrollment and honors classes, while black student enrollment was down by 24 students in Advanced Placement classes in 2011-12.

At middle school, the increases continue in high school credit Algebra I in 8th grade. In 2011-12, 1316 black students are enrolled in Algebra I comprise 29.6% of all middle school students within ethnicity compared to 27.4% of white students within ethnicity. Thus, the middle school Algebra I enrollment gap between black and white students has reversed with black students within ethnicity exceeding white students within ethnicity.


Data is included showing the black and white participation within ethnicity for all the courses listed above. Several supporting data sources are included at both the aggregated district level and for individual middle and high schools. In addition to the enrollment gaps described above, multi-year longitudinal enrollments for black and low-income students are provided as the school level as are raw data by all ethnic categories for the 2010-2011 school year.


Supporting Data
African American vs White Enrollment 06 07 to 11 12.pdf

Advanced Course Unique Student Enrollments by School by Course Type 02 24 2012.pdf


District Application Programs (Magnets, Fundamentals, Career Academies)
The application period for the 2012-13 school year closed on January 20th. The Acceptance Period ends on February 16th. Programs begin inviting students from initial waiting lists on March 5th. Data on the final acceptances by race will be provided in the July/August report or at an interim date if requested. Ongoing enrollment and dismissal data for these programs will also be provided at the end of the year in the July/August 2012 report.


Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID)
The AVID program was added to an additional 7 middle and high schools for the 2011-2012 school year. AVID is now in 30 middle and high schools and the remaining 5 middle schools sites will be added for 2012-2013 including all 16 traditional high schools and 19 traditional middle schools. The first 2 pilot AVID elementary sites will also be added in 2012-2013. The total number of students enrolled in the AVID elective has increased from 1942 in 2010-2011 to 2596 in 2011-1012. Black students continue to be overrepresented in the AVID elective with 832 or 32% of AVID elective participants being black which exceeds the total percentage of black students enrolled at the AVID schools which is only 19%.


Supporting Data
6 Year AVID Enrollment Summary 2011-12.xls
AVID Ethnic Distribution Bradley MOU.pdf