Irving ISD Department of World Languages
July 2014
2014 ESL Program Evaluation
High School
Irving ISD
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Irving ISD Department of World Languages
July 2014
2014 High School Findings
TELPAS
Only 42.55% of students in grades 9-12 made progress on TELPAS in 2014. Ninth grade has
the smallest percentage of students make progress, and 11th grade had the highest percentage.
Cardwell was the least successful campus with only 36.84 percent of their students making
progress. With the exception of Singley Academy, which had 55.79% of their students make at
least one year of progress, campus percentages of students with progress ranged from thirty
six to forty one percent.
STAAR
English I EOC
The district pass rate for English I was 17.76%, with no students scoring commended. The
lowest pass rate was at Cardwell, where only 13.73% of their LEP students passed the exam.
Singley had the highest percentage of students pass (25.68%). As a district, there needs to be
an increased focus on reading and writing across content areas.
English II EOC
The district pass rate for English II was slightly higher than English I (23.52%). Again,
Cardwell had the lowest scores (13.51%) while Singley had the highest pass rate (35.09%).
Singley was nearly eleven percentile points ahead of the other campuses.
Algebra I EOC
As a whole, Algebra I saw an increase in scores from the 2013 administration. Cardwell held
the lowest passing rate (45.71%) while MacArthur had the highest (62.96%). Singley had the
highest STAAR L passing rate (55.56%) while MacArthur had the lowest (20.0%). MacArthur
had the largest gap (almost forty three percentage points) in STAAR and STAAR L scores for
the Algebra I EOC.
Biology EOC
The district pass rate for Biology was 81.46%, however, the STAAR L pass rate was only
47.73%. The largest gap (nearly thirty nine percentage points) in STAAR and STAAR L scores
for the Biology EOC was at Irving High School. The other campuses had STAAR L passing rates
in the mid 50th percentile.
U.S. History EOC
The district pass rate for U.S. History was 81.07%, but the STAAR L pass rate fell nearly
twenty points lower. MacArthur had the highest percent of students score commended
(4.48% of LEP students taking STAAR and 14.29% on STAAR L). They were also the only
campus to have students score commended on STAAR L.
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Irving ISD Department of World Languages
July 2014
2013 Activities
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After school and/or Saturday tutoring focused on ELLs (newcomers and long-term) at
most high school campuses
o Writing to Learn Initiative (Cardwell)
o Writing Center (Cardwell)
o Content-based after school tutoring for ELLs (MacArthur, Irving)
Weekly classroom visits at each high school campus
o Focus:
 Fidelity of implementation of new curriculum, rigor
 Implementation of 7 Steps (Singley, MacArthur, Irving)
 Consistency in usage of linguistic accommodations for students
Monthly educational rounds with high school specialists.
o Each month we met at a different campus and spent time observing.
o Each campus presented a different focus.
Specialists were content focused to ensure a deeper focus on teacher and student
needs.
o Bronwyn Griffith focused on math, including Intensified Algebra and ALEKS at
all campuses.
o Terri Dodds focused on Read 180 at four campuses and ESOL and Social Studies
at MacArthur and Nimitz.
o Patry Lerwick worked with all teachers at Barbara Cardwell and Singley
Academy.
o In the absence of a specialist at MacArthur, the Secondary Coordinator worked
with teachers in all content areas at MacArthur.
Specialists monitored student and teacher data throughout the year.
Book Study/PD with High School Specialists
o RtI for ELLs
Curriculum aligned to grade level standards
o Resources: SpringBoard, Glencoe, Portals, Edge
Tutors at each campus
o Content focus aligns with college major/certification area
o During school day, after school, and Saturdays
7 Steps campus focus at MacArthur and Singley Academy all year
o Follow up in PLCS
o Campus visits with PD coordinators
o Follow up with administrators
7 Steps stage 1 implementation at Irving High School
o Campus visits with PD coordinators
o Follow up with administrators
Planned specialized trainings and PLC sessions with PD coordinators for each campus
Specialists conducted both content and language focused PD sessions (at the district
and campus level) for teachers in grades 9-12
High School ELL Student Summits at each campus (Fall)
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Irving ISD Department of World Languages
July 2014
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o Focus on program entry and exit, testing and accommodations, resources on
campus, JOURNEYS, college, financial aid
 Barbara Cardwell/Nimitz - October 25
 Academy – October 29
 Irving High – October 31
 MacArthur – November 1
Parent Roundtables at each campus
o Fall Dates:
 November 12 at Nimitz
 November 14 at MacArthur
 November 19 at Irving High
New Independent English Course
o ELAR taught through content
o AVID focus
o SAT/ACT prep built in
o Great Debate
 Participants sent to SMU for focused training in debate
o Independent English Debate
 Classroom Debates
 Campus Debates - May 15, 2014
 District-Wide Debate - May 29, 2014
 Winner: Irving High School
PLC observations at the elementary and middle school levels
o Focus: Essential components of an effective PLC
Classroom observations and campus visits at 2 elementary schools per cluster
o Focus: Effective small group instruction and differentiation practices
Development of a newcomer plan for students at SRC
o Purchase of iPods/Swivl technology
o Training/Implementation plan created with IT & PD Coordinators
Staffing guidelines sent to each campus for consideration in making master schedule
for 2014-2015
One-on-one pre- and post-conferences with principals & lead counselors about staffing
and guidance in scheduling and courses
o Review of master schedules for each campus
o Follow up and feedback sent to each campus
ESL Summer Enrichment Program
o Credit Courses
 ESOL 1a (1st semester credit)
 17 of 20 students earned credit
 Alg 1 ESL (1st semester credit)
 13 of 14 students earned credit
 Health
 35 of 35 students earned credit
o Enrichment Courses (84 Participants)
 Math Enrichment (Alg, Geometry)
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Irving ISD Department of World Languages
July 2014
 Real World Applications
 Forensic Science
 Theater
 Leadership
o Field Trips in July
 Perot Museum
 Dallas Museum of Art
 Holocaust Museum
 Fort Worth Museum of Science and History
 Dallas Zoo
 Dallas World Aquarium
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Irving ISD Department of World Languages
July 2014
2014 Plan for Action
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Continued parent meetings to explain data, accountability, and the importance of each
assessment
Parent Interest Inventories to select topics for quarterly parent meetings
Continued ELL Student Summit at each campus to explain data, accountability, etc. to
students
Targeted tutoring efforts at all campuses in each of the 5 tested courses
o Increase in number of tutors
o Content area trainings for tutors
Targeted instruction in each subject area at BCCCP
Targeted work with English and Algebra I teachers district wide
Effective Tier I instruction as the focus for High School Title III Specialists and
Coordinator
o PLCs at campus level
o District level PD
o Walk-through focus
o Increased focus on protracted ELLs based on data
Years in
US
0 years
1 year
2 years
3 years
4 years
5 years
6 years
7 years
8 years
9 years
10 years
11 years
12 years
13 years
14 years
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Number of
Students
57
125
145
92
78
77
61
59
64
271
284
187
71
12
4
Total
Students
Percentage
of Students
497
31.32%
1090
68.68%
Revised curriculum and assessments
o Focus: Targeted skills based on EOC data
PD for ESOL teachers
o Opportunities for PLC and planning sessions with their counterpart at each
campus
o Increased English content focus
o Alignment of grade level standards and curriculum being implemented
Ongoing progress monitoring to guide instruction
o District Benchmarks (DA 1, DA2, DA3, DA4)
o Failure Rates each six weeks
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