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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 201 2011 011 1
EDEN PRAIRIE
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news
Board does not see ‘reasonable progress’ on science scores BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
The Eden Prairie School Board does not agree with the school district administration’s assertion that reasonable progress has been made in science results for Eden Prairie High School. Staff asserted that the district was making reasonable progress toward the goals in science at grade eight and the high school but not at grade five. The assertion came in the executive
summary of an academic achievement monitoring report presented during last Tuesday’s School Board meeting. Board members discussed whether reasonable progress was actually made at the high school, where some improvements could be seen in overall scores but minority subgroups continue to struggle. Though Central Middle School students made broad gains in science, the picture was less rosy for students of color at Eden Prairie High
School. The science results are from the Science MCA-II, which students took last spring. According to the staff report, in grade five, scores for all subgroups but one (Asians) show results that were either stagnant or declining. At the eighth-grade level, all subgroups saw notable gains including an 18-point increase for all students and a 23-point increase for black
Science scores to page 10 ®
MCA-II Science scores Grades
% proficient 2009
2010
2011
54
48
50
5 8
58
63
67
HS
66
60
68
% proficient 2009
2010
2011
5
45
46
47
8
43
48
45
HS
50
52
54
State results
Source: Eden Prairie School District, Minnesota Department of Education
Is AYP DOA?
A COOL ACTIVITY
State advises taking Adequate Yearly Progress results with a grain of salt BY LEAH SHAFFER lshaffer@swpub.com
PHOTO BY KARLA WENNERSTROM
Even on an unseasonably warm October evening, Minnesotans will find a way to involve ice in activities. Young Life participants sliding on ice blocks down the Staring Lake sledding hill on Monday included Rachel Eisenreich and Haley Moquist. Eden Prairie’s Young Life organization is reestablishing in the community with a variety of activities. For more information, visit edenprairie. younglife.org.
Whirlyball could be on its way BY KARLA WENNERSTROM editor@edenprairienews.com
What is Whirlyball? The company’s website describes it as follows: “Agility. Speed. Strength. None of these qualities will be of any use in the highlycompetitive world of Whirlyball. Although it combines lacrosse, hockey and basketball with bumper cars, Whirlyball has caused great athletes of every stripe to laugh and holler their way to a crushing defeat. “If you choose to accept the challenge, you’ll use hand-held scoops to propel wiffle balls at your scoring target. In a team of five, and with the help of a professional referee, you’ll have a bang-up time trying to outscore the competition,” according to
whirlyball.com. Eden Prairie City Council members heard about Whirlyball during a workshop Tuesday. The discussion focused on possible changes to the city code regarding a liquor license to serve alcohol at such a facility. This activity isn’t new, says Nick Lambrecht of Whirlyball. It’s been in Chicago for about 20 years and is spreading across the country. The indoor activity is especially popular where the climate is chilly, Lambrecht said.
IN EDEN PRAIRIE
The business is pursuing a location in the former Bakemark warehouse/office
Council to page 10 ®
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Whirlyball is described as a combination of lacrosse, hockey and basketball with bumper cars.
Since the No Child Left Behind law has been in place, the list of schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress has grown. It’s grown to the point where most states in the country are ready to drop the AYP standards, including Minnesota. This year, Minnesota did not succeed in obtaining a temporary waiver from provisions of the law so last week, AYP reports were made public. “Minnesota is directed by state law to release AYP data this year – however we are hopeful that positive changes in how we measure, support and report school improvement are on the way,” said Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, in a news release. “Labeling schools as ‘failures’ or i mposi ng one - si ze -f its -a l l ma ndates is a fl awed way to address the unique challenges facing some of our schools.” In Eden Prairie, three schools are listed as not making AYP, Oak Point Intermediate, Central Middle School and Eden Prairie High School. In all three cases, those schools did not ma ke AY P bec au se cer t ai n subgroups of students didn’t make adequate progress. If even a single subgroup does not make AYP the school does not make AYP. For instance for both the Oak Poi nt a nd CM S on ly one g roup of students did not make AYP in math, those with limited English proficiency. At the high school, five groups (black students in reading and math, special education students in reading, and free- and reducedprice lunch students in reading and math) did not make AYP. In an e-mail to parents, Principal Conn McCartan offered some background on the results. “While five cells feels like a lot, we would have made our targets in all cells had we been able to have 19
AYP to page 10 ®
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