Mountain Vista Middle School qualifies for school improvement funding
- Lake County News reports
- Posted On
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The California Department of Education has released performance data for the 2017-18 school year, identifying Mountain Vista Middle School as one of six Lake County schools that meets the criteria for comprehensive support and improvement, or CSI.
CSI is based on four measures, both the raw numbers and the growth or decline they represent when compared to the previous year. The measures are English language arts test scores, math test scores, suspension rates, and chronic absenteeism rates.
The other local schools listed are Blue Heron School, Carlé Continuation High School and the Highlands Academy community day school in the Konocti Unified School District; Lakeport Elementary School; and Upper Lake Middle School, according to the California Department of Education.
This is the first year the state has used a new assessment tool to determine CSI status, and some California school administrators are concerned that the narrow, short-term focus does not accurately reflect a school’s overall performance, nor does it recognize performance trends over time.
However, at Kelseyville Unified School District, administrators say they welcome constructive criticism and view the CSI designation as an opportunity to keep improving.
“Mountain Vista Middle School offers students a great education,” said district Superintendent Dave McQueen. “With regard to the CSI designation, the Department of Education measures very specific criteria that concentrate on growth over a one-year period. A third of our students turn over every year at Mountain Vista Middle School – eighth graders move on to high school and we get a new batch of sixth graders – so a one-year comparison doesn’t really tell us much, there can be big fluctuations. However, that doesn’t mean we can’t improve. We can always improve, and once a school meets the criteria for CSI, it gets four years of additional federal funding under the Every Student Succeeds Act. This will allow us to improve even faster.”
McQueen described areas for improvement as well as Mountain Vista Middle School extracurricular and elective offerings that enrich the student experience but are not reflected in the State assessment.
He also noted that Mountain Vista Middle School test scores were higher than some schools that did not qualify for CSI, because the State considers not only the scores themselves, but whether they were better or worse than the previous year.
In describing the challenges facing Mountain Vista Middle School, McQueen highlighted the Lake County teacher shortage. A third of the school’s teachers were either new to the district or new to teaching last year.
“We have a strong mentoring program so new teachers have plenty of support, but there’s no substitute for experience. That will come with time. The good news is that we have so many enthusiastic new teachers,” Kelseyville Unified Director of Student Support Services Tim Gill said,
McQueen also pointed to the fact that 79.2 percent of Mountain Vista Middle School students are socioeconomically disadvantaged.
“We know that a solid education can help our students overcome poverty, but the struggles some of these kids face right now can make it hard to concentrate on school—can make it hard to even get to school,” he said.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing at least 10 percent of school per year. The Mountain Vista Middle School chronic absenteeism rate is 18 percent, which is double the state average.
McQueen suggested that the true measure of Mountain Vista Middle School should include not only the criteria measured by the Department of Education, but also the programs and services that enrich students both inside and outside the classroom, from electives that include a robotics class in partnership with the University of California at Davis to the AVID College and Career Readiness class, and from extracurriculars like sports and music to membership in the many clubs on campus.
“We believe one of the reasons graduation rates at Kelseyville High are going up is because of the AVID program at Mountain Vista Middle School,” McQueen said.
The school also utilizes a progressive approach to discipline that allows students to better understand their mistakes and to make amends, rather than simply being punished. Mountain Vista Middle School typically reserves suspension for students who engage in violent behavior or are guilty of drug offenses.
McQueen said, “We’ll continue to provide excellent training for our teachers and to give extra support to students who need it. Basically, we plan to work on the areas we need to improve and reinforce the areas where we’re doing well.”