Friday, February 5, 1999

Leesburg, Florida

Plan In Place To Improve Weaknesses

By MARCI ELLIOTT
Daily Commercial Staff Writer

TAVARES The four top administrators of Lake County Schools said they were already working on action plans to correct some of the system's weaknesses before the finalized SchoolMatch Report came out last week.

"There are no surprises - and really, there shouldn't have been," said Maureen Backenstoss, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "A lot of it is rehashing data we already had."

Backenstoss and her staff prepared an Action Response Plan to the SchoolMatch audit to address the recommendations the SchoolMatch team made, such as high dropout rate, overcrowded schools, and board policies and procedures.

"Some of these have to be answered at the schoolhouse door," Backenstoss said. "But there are some good points. Lake County wants to be a WorldClass school - and you don't become one unless you invite people to come in and take a look at what your schools are doing."

Backenstoss referred to the recommendation of WorldClass Schools of Lake County, a local business group dedicated to helping improve public education. WorldClass recommended the SchoolMatch study last year.

"It always helps to have a group that doesn't have any political agenda come in and take an objective look at the school district," Backenstoss said.

"There is some very valuable information in it, because it was done with a different mindset. The School Board is listening."

Superintendent Jerry Smith said the SchoolMatch Report would help link Lake County Schools with the local business community, since WorldClass Schools recommended the study.

"They endorsed the concept immediately," Smith said.

"We were already aware of a lot of the things in the report, including the weaknesses and needs for improvement. But our proposed Action Response Plan shows we were already working on many improvements. Many school districts dread their reports, but we didn't," Smith said.

Deputy Superintendent Fred Colvard said the Lake school district could benefit by networking with similar districts around the country.

"That's the major issue," Colvard said.

"We can always learn from someone with a different approach. I'd like to talk to the other districts about the good things they're doing in their schools - not their troubled areas. The positive things other districts are doing can help us. Any time we do that, we open the doors of opportunity to expand our horizons," he said.

Jerry Cox, assistant superintendent for business and support services, also said Lake County Schools could learn a lot of things from the other districts.

"Learning from others is always an effective tool," Cox said. But all four administrators said the Lake district has taken a proactive role in addressing the recommendations the SchoolMatch report made.

In a proposed Action Response Plan the staff plans to present today, 12 specific areas of recomendation in the SchoolMatch Report are already being addressed or will soon be in the works.

"Many things are already in progress," Cox said. "For example, in their recommendation about policies and procedures, we've already separated administrative policies from board policies.

"We had a workshop for that," Cox said.

And Cox pointed out that four new schools are under construction, with opening dates targeted in August this year - a proactive measure to combat overcrowding and to eliminate portable classrooms.

The SchoolMatch Report recommended building some new schools smaller, but Cox said that would add a higher administrative cost.

"For every school, there has to be a principal and assistants, a bookkeeper, and other administrators," he said. "From an economic point of view, how much can we afford?" Cox said.

"The only thing that will drive people to do something different is economy.

"The SchoolMatch Report's recommendation to consider alternative education programs to help reduce the Lake County School District's high dropout and absentee rates has been addressed by four programs," said Cox.

These include a contractual arrangement with LifeStream Behavioral Center to provide an academy for students expelled from mainstream schools; the Lee Adult Center to give former students a second chance to graduate with a diploma or GED; Griffin Middle School for students who need extra supervision; and Lake Technical High, the new school that links high school students with job training to give them a jump-start in careers.

"The benefits of these programs are hard to measure, but the real value may be in the schools these students left," Cox said. "It's a real benefit to the students in those classrooms to have less disruption."

Cox said there were other benefits to be gained from the SchoolMatch Report.

"SchoolMatch is something we asked to be done," Cox said.

"The superintendent wanted to know where our deficiencies were. We're waiting for the (school) board to give us blessings - we're already working on improving many of these things," he said.

A. SchoolMatch is a private company in Westerville, Ohio, that examines school districts around the country. It looks at test scores, teacher absences, student attendance rates and other information.

A. This Audit of Educational Effectiveness for the Lake County School District was commissioned by the Lake County School District and the Florida WorldClass Schools Organization as a means of improving the quality of teaching and learning in the school district.

A. It cost $50,000, paid for by the school system.

A. It was lauded for preparing students for college. Students exceeded the mean scores on SAT and ACT tests and were well represented in Advanced Placement classes (however, AP instruction needs to be improved). The pre-kindergarten early intervention program was praised. The school system staff was commended for its dedication, the system lauded for promoting gender equity, the board commended for its focus on policies, and qualities, such as visible principals, student recognition, low vandalism, open libraries, homework and student expectations were noted.

A. Drop-out rates. The four year cumulative drop-out rate is 25.97 percent (the lowest is Tavares High at 24.4 percent and the highest is Umatilla High at 40.6 percent). The effectiveness level for Lake's population group is a drop-out rate of 10.4 percent or lower. Also a concern: Working relationships between the board and superintendent; crowding in schools; student access to technology; fragmented data collection for the school system.

A. Since July 1998, SchoolMatch has collected and analyzed Lake County School District data in a similar fashion to that which has assisted several hundred school systems throughout the country. The SchoolMatch site team conducted an on-site visitation of the Lake County School District from Sept. 16-18.

A. A few years ago, SchoolMatch assumed the responsibility of working directly with school systems. In initiating the Audit for the Lake County School District, SchoolMatch involved five on-site consultants, its databases, and editorial support staff. The visiting consultants include:

Dr. William L. Bainbridge, president and CEO of SchoolMatch, former superintendent of three school districts in Ohio and Virginia, and former assistant to the Ohio superintendent of public intruction. He was named Educator of the Year by the Ohio PTA.
Dr. Shirli M. Billings-Vioni, executive consultant at SchoolMatch, previously superintendent of three school systems in Ohio, Minnesota and New Jersey, former director of secondary schools for the Cleveland (Ohio) public school district, and former dean at Ohio's Central State University College of Education.
Dr. Sherry A. Lahr, associate professor of education at Ashland University (Ohio), former superintendent and administrator in four school districts, former regional director for curriculum technology integration for a major national curriculum software developer, and the first and only female president of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators.
Dr. Steven M. Sundre, executive vice president of SchoolMatch and former executive director of the Accrediting Commission on Education for Health Services Administration, Washington D.C., Kellogg Fellow and former graduate faculty member, the Ohio State University College of Medicine. He earned his Ph.D. in educational leadership and organizational behavior at The Ohio State University, where he received the Thomas Holy Award in educational research.
Dr. Donald R. Thompson, past president of the American Association of School Administrators and previous superintendent of schools in Montgomery County (Ohio) currently serves as the executive director of the Montgomery County (Ohio) Scholarship Program.

A. Superintendent Jerry Smith; Deputy Superintendent Fred Colvard; executive secretary to the Superintendent for Administration Louise Parker; executive secretary to the Deputy Superintendent Doris Lemonovich; Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Maureen Backenstoss; executive secretary to the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Dolores Hawthorne; Assistant Superintendent for Business and Support Services Jerry Cox; Program Specialist for Testing Barry Farley; Supervisor of Student Services Jay Marshall; teacher union Vice President Tom Harris; citizen representative Marlene O'Toole; Teacher of the Year Susan Ryan; Supervisor of Legal Affairs and Pupil Accounting Pam Saylor, Esquire; Pupil Accounting Secretary Donna Cuyler; Program Specialist for Reading Jane Sewell; Community Relations Director Peggy Campbell; Program Specialist for Writing Mim Hall; and Program Specialist in the ABACUS Program Dan Preston. Principals who hosted site visit team members were gracious, open, and most helpful, SchoolMatch says.

A. It was compared to similar student and staff demographics nationwide. Using a variety of data sources, including SchoolMatch records, data available from the U.S. and Florida Departments of Education, professional judgment and research techniques, SchoolMatch auditors examined a wide range of performance indicators in the Lake County School District. These indicators range from test scores to student and staff attendance to public support for the school system (without which no school system can succeed). In each case, the results have been compared against those of the best of student and staff demographic populations.

LAKE SCHOOL OFFICIALS SAY...

Lake County Schools' top four administrators answered three questions about the SchoolMatch report:
What was your overall impression of the report? What surprised you? Where do you go from here?

	Jerry Smith, Superintendent "The SchoolMatch Report provides us with a road map of where we need to be. It's a
snapshot of the good things our schools have already been doing - and recommendations for things we need to improve. "We were already aware of many of the weaknessess - for example, the dropout rate - but we have a proposed action plan that shows ways to improve those areas. We've already held workshops with the board. It's a new environment now. "All the players are on the table, so we can move forward. Many school districts dread these reports, but we didn't. We welcome the opportunity to improve the things that need to be improved."
	Fred Colvard, Deputy Superintendent "I didn't find much information we didn't already know. The major
issue is we can network with other school systems similar to ours. I'd like to talk to them about the good things they're doing, not the troubled ones, that could help us. "The report was like a picture - worth a thousand words. Coming from someone on the outside, it gave us a different perspective. That may be the stongest concept. There were no surprises. "We keep our door open to improvements any time. My mission is to provide everyone - student, parent, and employee - with a key...one that will open doors of opportunity to expand our horizons."
	Maureen Backenstoss, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction "A lot of (the report) is rehashing
data we already had. But I'm glad for the opportunity to see things brought to our attention from an outside group with a different mindset. Having someone look at our system objectively can be very valuable. "There were no surprises - but really, there shouldn't have been. We've already been working on many of the (problem areas), some more formally than others. "We've developed an Action Response Plan that addresses the areas SchoolMatch made recommendations on. We're ready to move forward."
	Jerry Cox, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Support Services "Being looked at by any other
group is always helpful. It's good to know a lot of the good things we're doing and to share them with other districts. That's always an effective tool. "A lot of the things SchoolMatch recommended were already in place, such as seperating the board policies from administrative policies. "Some of the recommendations may not be effective from an economical point of view - for example, building smaller schools would be higher in administrative costs. "We already have a nontraditional task force and four alternative programs in place."

TWO THINGS FOR CERTAIN

What people notice about the school system varies, the SchoolMatch report shows.

For example, parents, teachers and adminstrators, perception surveys received in the SchoolMatch offices touched on various areas, but all three groups perceived only two elements in place within the Lake County School District:

School evaluation procedures are in place to measure progress toward school objectives.
The principal is visible, accessible.

After that, shared perceptions aren't so commonly shared.

However, teachers and administrators perceived the following elements to be in place in the school system:

The building administrators establish school objectives and communicate them clearly to staff and community.
The building administrators initiate professional development activities.

A. SchoolMatch believes discussions among leaders of the following school systems and leaders in Lake County regarding effective school practices would be helpful. Comparable school disticts are Baldwin County in Bay Minnette, Ala.; Bibb County in Macon, Ga.; Rialto Unified in Rialto, Calif.; Sumner County in Gallatin, Tenn.; Washington County in Hagerstown, Md.; Kenosha in Kenosha, Wi.; Gaston County in Gastonia, N.C.; South-Western in Grove City, Ohio; Aiken County in South Carolina and Ector County in Odessa, Texas.

A. The School Board will devote a segment of today's 9 a.m. workshop at the Tavares district office to discussion of the results.

Lake School District's Plan of Action

PROBLEM	RECOMMENDATION	ACTION PLAN
1.School Board relationship with superintendent and staff needs improvement.	Hire an outside facilitator.	New School Board was elected; board says problem is solved.
2.School Board needs to improve policies.	Adopt policies in five areas: accountability, high expectations, school climate, data-based decision-making and student access to technology.	Board policies have undergone extensive revisions since report.
3.Data collection in district is fragmented.	Establish position of chief information officer.	Management information systems now collects data.
4.Students need better access to technology.	District should provide technology equity to all students and focus on lowest achievers.	Title I funds can be used for computers for at-risk students at school level.
5.Overcrowding in schools is strikingly evident.	Build new schools and eliminate portables.	Four new schools are under constructions; board is pursuing more sites.
6.Dropout rate is high.	Efforts need to be made, such as alternative education, mentoring and work/study options.	High school principals are starting school improvement plans to decrease dropout rate.
7.Middle School math and reading declining.	Achievement needs to improve.	Recent test scores have shown improvements; district has already begun focusing on low achievers.
8.High school testing program needs improvements.	Norm-Referenced Testing should be reintroduced.	Norm-Referenced Testing will be given in grades 3 through 10; so will FCAT.
9.Advanced Placement courses must become more effective.	Consider teacher training, adhere to guidelines, reduce grade inflation and establish districtwide rules to guide grading practices.	Plan has developed to increase passage rates for all high school Advanced Placement exams.
10.Teacher absence slightly above effective level.	District should review teacher absence data and reduce absences.	New merit pay program is now in place to help encourage teacher attendance.
11.District does not communicate well with staff.	Develop a clear plan to better communicate with staff.	The Curriculum Department has strategic plan that will be presented to the board.
12.Data needs to be disaggregated.	Disaggregate and analyze data for special populations in school district.	Programs are already in place or will be soon; emphasis continues on early grades.