Table 1: Demographic information for Billings Senior High School

Narrative: Evaluation of the total enrollment data trends over the past five years indicates that our current interventions to improve freshman and sophomore transitions are warranted. Blocked classes, mentoring, the Freshman Academy, teaming, Bronc Café, and Novanet are providing opportunities for greater academic success and improved relationships between students; we continue to investigate ways and means to improve transitions grade to grade for all grade levels. Large classes of freshmen for the past two years have necessitated classroom sharing for teachers and additional sections of freshman/sophomore core courses. Crowding continues to be an issue even with the availability of the Freshman Academy.  

Narrative: While our disaggregated data indicates our school’s diversity, when this data is analyzed with our test scores and AYP data, it indicates that we need to continue to target key subgroups to improve our school’s AYP status. Diversity is also evident in our school’s academic subgroups, but concerns have arisen regarding our declining enrollment in upper division Math coursework. Counselors and teachers at Billings Senior high school emphasize the value and importance of taking rigorous curricula for all students.

Table 3:  2006-07 Drop Out Data

Narrative: Data for math scores indicate consistent achievement overall for Senior High school students and the data has fluctuated in expected ways due to the changing numbers of students in the sophomore classes and the influx of students into our building after the closure of Crossroads, our alternative school, in 2005. Interventions in our Math department such as trailer classes for Algebra, vertical teaming professional groups, and cross-curricular vocabulary education have helped Billings Senior reach proficiency levels at an overall school level and make steady improvement in our Special Education subgroups. We remain concerned about our economically disadvantaged subgroups and are investigating computer-based remediation and additional interventions to improve math performance. As a staff, we recognize the importance of math education and are committed across all curricular areas to equip our students with the skills to problem-solve and use and understand numeracy and mathematical concepts. We are currently exploring more cross-curricular planning between math and science coursework and working vertically with feeder schools to best transition future students to the rigors of high school mathematics. Again data for this test is influenced by changing numbers in the subgroups, specifically the rise of enrollment of economically disadvantaged students. 

Additional testing data is collected and acted upon regularly not only at the classroom level, but district wide in the form of mandated math and English testing as well as grade level math and reading placement tests. Data is disseminated and communicated with concerned parties (parents, department chairs, counselors, teachers, and students). In 2006, our district participated in the Montana Writing assessment, a state level writing test with a standard score set at 2.5. Our junior class participated in this test and earned and overall average of 3.1 which is significant not only due to the fact that we’re very proud of our students’ achievements, but also because of our staff wide involvement and use of the 6 traits model of writing. 

            Additional testing data is available to staff to make decisions on students’ strengths and to facilitate placement in courses. Students at Billings Senior High school will take the following tests during their high school experience, unless otherwise indicated by individualized educational programs.

            NWEA Testing in Math…for RIT and placement information (grade 9 and 10)

            Measured Progress for Math…for placement (grade 10)

            ACT/SAT….Optional, seniors planning on attending college (grade 11 and 12)

            Montana Writing Assessment…Junior Year

            NWEA Testing in English…for RIT and placement information (grade 9)

            Reading Level Assessments…for placement/intervention information (grade 9)

            MontCAS Testing in English/Math/Science…AYP status (grade 9)

            To further facilitate reaching our chosen goals and to improve and maintain our Annual Yearly Progress benchmarks, Billings Senior Faculty and Staff meet as an entire staff and in professional learning teams and in curricular areas to share strategies, evaluate previous scores, and identify weaknesses and strengths in our current curriculum. While such information dissemination and discussion is vital to our growth and effectiveness as educators, we also utilize data gathered in the form of staff, student, and parent surveys, or needs assessments, to dictate our planned professional development. As a school and community, all shareholders are aware of the value of testing, but we strive to be cognizant of the fact that students are more than just an accumulation of tests and realize that our mission to serve our students includes more than teaching skills and reaching academic benchmarks. In the next section of this report, we’ll examine how our professional development reflects the diversity of pressures facing educators today and how our planning reflects not only our school’s data indicators, but also our community’s needs and preferences.