Lincoln Public Schools

A message from Susan Gourley,
superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools

The State Department of Education has released the annual State of the Schools report with information about how school districts across Nebraska are meeting standards established under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). NCLB legislation mandates that all states must set benchmark goals to measure whether districts and schools are making yearly progress – Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP – toward ensuring that all children are proficient in rigorous state standards in reading, math and science by 2013-14.

This fall’s report indicates that approximately 87 percent of the students in the LPS School District are proficient in all grade level standards. We have been improving our instructional practices, daily assessment and early interventions, resulting in improved success for our students and schools in meeting the standards.

However, the State Department of Education has identified several schools and grade levels for which LPS does not meet proficiency levels, and will be identified as “in need of improvement.” Because the School District has experienced two years in a row of not meeting all of the required targets, the state also has determined LPS is a district in need of improvement.

I believe it is important to keep perspective as we process the information in this year’s report.

Lincoln Public Schools is a district “in need of improvement,” not because we did not meet state standards – but because we did not meet our School District’s own rigorous standards.

Up until now in Nebraska each school district sets its own standards, its own method of testing students, and its own progress steps toward 100 percent proficiency. Lincoln Public Schools has set highly rigorous standards because we believe that ensures the highest possible education for our students. Our community has high expectations, our Board of Education has set policies to encourage high expectations, and we intentionally have set high standards and high proficiency levels to meet those expectations.

The designation from the State Department of Education of “needs improvement,” indicates that some of our students are not meeting the high levels we have set in our School District. But because of the difference in standards – from district to district – these scores cannot be used as a valid basis of comparison between school districts.

If you want to compare, please check our scores in other standardized tests - such as the ACT, PLAN and Iowa Tests of Basic Skills – in which we place well above state and national averages.

Marilyn Moore, associate superintendent for Instruction at Lincoln Public Schools, has prepared a linked document to help put this announcement in context. Marilyn is an expert in understanding the significance, implications and true meaning of NCLB. I believe she has done an excellent job explaining what the AYP scores mean – and don’t mean – for a school district.