TJ Administrators presents proposed changes for 2010-2011 to community.
Photo courtesy of Danny Showers
The Denver School Board believes that individual school performance is a crucial aspect of education in DPS, and therefore it is highly stressed in many areas, with the chief measurement being the School Performance Framework evaluation (SPF). Presently, TJ remains in the yellow or “on watch” category of the SPF, meaning the school does not meet the district’s expectations in certain areas. On February 11th, TJ faculty, parents, and alumni congregated to discuss why this deficiency exists.
Principal Sandra Just assured the assembly that TJ is a better school than what may be reflected in the SPF, and that her staff has every intention of proving that to the community. “TJ has a proud history. As we plan our celebration of 50 years in this community, it is important to reflect on how to build and strengthen our core values and priorities,” she said.
The first issue brought up during the meeting was CSAP, which remains to be TJ’s weakest point on the SPF. More specifically, TJ has an unacceptably high racial gap on the CSAP, meaning the differences in scores between different races are significant. “The gap is a reflection of student grades at TJ,” said Assistant Principal Scott Lessard. “TJ has great cultural diversity and integration. The challenge is getting everybody to excel.”
One way the TJ community hopes to reduce the gap is through CSAP tutoring courses taught by Intervention Teachers Wauneta Vann and Liz Buffington. The courses occur every Wednesday during excel for approximately 45 minutes, and have been taking place since January. “Our hope is that it will help students who are on the edge move up to the next level in CSAP,” said Buffington. “We do a lot of group work, activities, and games covering the central ideas that CSAP assesses.”
The meeting also discussed TJ’s deficient scores on specifically writing and math on the CSAP. In CSAP math, TJ scored 10% lower last year than the year before. Presently, TJ is classified as not meeting expectations in math, and is “approaching” district expectations in writing. Lessard noted that progress is already being made to improve CSAP writing by implementing more vocabulary in all language classes. “Language comes first,” said Lessard. “All English classes are doing more grade-appropriate vocabulary. We strongly believe vocabulary development will improve the scores. We’re putting all our eggs into that basket. So far, it’s been proving to be effective.”
After reviewing TJ’s performance on the CSAP, the group discussed strides being made to improve ACT scores by creating an ACT prep class. Lessard noted that TJ’s present ACT scores are quite good, but still have room for improvement. “I would argue that kids who participate will raise their scores anywhere from 2-5 points,” said Lessard. “Our ultimate goal is to increase the number of students who get at least a 20 on the ACT by five students. The district’s line in the sand is for over half of the school’s students to get at least 20, so we’re hoping to exceed that.”
The ACT prep class is primarily an online course that will be led by Science Teacher Kirk Hammond and Math Teacher Lispin Kuruvilla. The class will be one day per week for seven weeks, and is reserved for Juniors. “The class has 50 slots, and most of them are filled. But there’s still room for anyone who wants to join,” said Lessard. “It seems to be quite popular. People want to do it.”
Community night attendees also commented on the vast improvement TJ is making in AP courses, including an overall increase in attendance, participation, and passing of AP tests. Over the past few years, TJ has made a 60.7% increase in scores above three on AP tests.
In addition to escalating AP participation, TJ is also excelling in overall attendance, with the average being approximately 88%. This is just short of the district expectation of 90%. However, TJ’s attendance rates are presently some of the highest in DPS, and currently exceed all schools except for East High School. “Most high schools don’t meet the district expectation in attendance,” said Lessard. “It’s a tricky category.”
Following the meeting’s discussion regarding the SPF came a short video created by the Computer Magnet concerning TJ’s plan to achieve excellence. The video, presented by a culmination of students and teachers, affirmed that TJ, “…must reaffirm and strengthen our core elements, and deepen areas where we are not meeting our academic expectations.” In order to improve these areas, the video proposed a plan to exemplify TJ’s potential.
The initial aspect of the plan is the creation of a pre-magnet program for 8th graders attending Hamilton Middle School, where they will be taught the 9th grade curriculum. This would allow incoming students from Hamilton to enter the program at a higher level, providing them with the opportunity to expand their knowledge of technology even further. This program is expected to commence this upcoming Fall semester.
The plan also proposed weekly core instruction meetings at TJ, where teachers would meet and develop unified plans that would “…ensure student academic success.” These meetings would use data regarding student success and progress to create plans best suited for student achievement. Principal Just stated that examining data is something that the TJ staff is steadfastly committed to. “Looking at data helps us to understand our strengths, and also to identify areas where growth is needed. It helps us to create a comprehensive plan,” said Just.
The video also mentioned the formation of “…enrollment courses in partnership with Arapahoe Community College,” and “a two-week AP summer seminar program for students taking an AP course to prepare students with skills for success.”
Along with a plan to improve student achievement, the video also presented academic additions that TJ will be offering. This included a “Career and Technology 21rst Century Foundations of Communication” class that will be taken by all incoming 9th grade students. This class will teach a plethora of communications and technology skills, including web page design, desktop publishing, blogging, and video production. Not only will students enrolled in this course gain “…technology communications skills that will put them head and shoulders above their peers,” but they will also receive three college credits upon completion of the course.
As a community, the video exhibited the intention for TJ to become a “…true center of this community.” In order to do this, TJ will require that all students [beginning with the class of 2014] must carry out at least 80 total hours of community service. This graduation requirement is intended to “create a mutually respected environment” within TJ.
After the video, the meeting came to a close. “Our goal is for our school to excel,” said Lessard. After all, as Lessard stated during the meeting’s closing, “TJ is a great school.”
[flashvideo file=http://www.spartanedition.tjjournal.com/video/TJ_Plan.flv /]
