Superintendent Ned Clooten and the Devils Lake School Board met Monday, Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. in the Sports Center of the DLHS campus to discuss Student Outcome Goals, the new online student resource Choice Ready Dashboard and the superintendent implementation plan and evaluation, as well as proposed renovations for Central Middle School.
The Devils Lake School Board met Monday, Oct. 27 at 5 p.m. in the Sports Center on the DLHS campus. Following the Call to Order, Pledge of Allegiance and approval of the agenda, board members and Superintendent Ned Clooten discussed continuous improvement of Student Outcome Goals, including the number of students taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a multi-aptitude test that helps determine a student’s eligibility and suitability for military service, as well as Post Secondary Ready, a demonstration of the Choice Ready Dashboard for individual students and review of the superintendent implementation plan, evaluation and proposed renovations for Central Middle School.
The overall goal is for students to be “Choice Ready,” a component of the North Dakota Accountability system, which is designed to measure whether high schools are producing students who are ready for success upon graduation, ensuring that all graduate with the knowledge, skills, and disposition necessary to succeed in their chosen paths, whether that be post-secondary education, the workforce, or military service.
According to Clooten, two years ago 60% of the general student body were taking the ASVAB test; that increased to 65% last year and this year it’s at 66%, although the goal was to reach 70%.
However, Clooten pointed out that Native American students performed well regarding ASVAB, increasing from 35% two years ago to 38% last year and this year to 45%, a seven percent jump. “And we’re looking again to jump up five percentage points next year,” he said.
With economically-disadvantaged students, there was an even higher jump by this year, moving from 35% two years ago to 37% last year to 48% this year, an eleven percent jump.
Clooten also observed that an “abnormal number of students are opting to not take it at all,” the reasoning being that they don’t want to sign up for military service, but Clooten said that students are not always aware of how the test can be of benefit in other ways. “We want to make sure that we have students … understand that this is an aptitude battery test, helps you understand what you’re good at and what you might enjoy,” he said. “We’re trying to get that message out the best we can.”
Now that there’s access to practice tests and study partners, students have often improved their scores when retaking the ASVAB test. “I think what we haven’t really been overcoming the hurdle is just the idea of taking it at all,” Clooten said.
Clooten added that one possible incentive in taking the ASVAB test is that it’s now associated with the North Dakota State Scholarship. “So we are seeing second, third attempts, and we are seeing kids increase their scores,” he said.
The next Student Outcome Goal focused on Post Secondary Ready. “We’re going to increase the number of students who have met the requirements of Post Secondary Ready, either with the ACT score, or they’ve met at least one of the additional indicators,” Clooten said, adding that they’re not just looking at seniors’ results, “which are pretty good right now,” but also trying to target younger age brackets like juniors, encouraging those students to consider AP courses or increase their GPA, by even “a couple hundredths of a point.”
Currently, Clooten noted that the junior class appears to have dropped from 44% last December to 38%, but they will revisit the data in February and report on the progress of the juniors again.
“Overall, we’re sitting at about 66% choice ready with our graduates,” Clooten said, adding that Native American students also increased in being choice ready, moving from 18% last December to 22% currently in October, aiming for a goal of 23% by this December. Economically-disadvantaged students also increased from 15% last December to the current percentage of 25%.
Another new tool in helping high school students become choice ready is the Choice Ready Dashboard, an online resource that individual students can use to determine what they need to accomplish their goals. “We can actually see a kind of summary or a chart of every kid,” Clooten said, adding that the Dashboard can also see data by different grade levels or other demographics. “What’s nice about this Dashboard is that it’s interactive. … If I know that I have some community service and it’s showing zero hours, as a student … I could actually have that information show up then for our administration (to review and approve).”
The meeting then turned to the Superintendent Implementation Plan and the motion was carried to accept the plan. A motion was also carried to approve the Superintendent Evaluation. The board also reviewed a slideshow featuring artist renditions of proposed renovations for Central Middle School before they adjourned for the evening.
The next school board meeting will be held on Nov. 24 at 5 p.m.
