Carver Middle School recognizes the unique  intellectual, social, and emotional needs of its  students. Our mission is to provide a safe  environment with challenging and diverse learning  opportunities; to address the specific developmental  needs of our students; to instill a desire for lifelong learning; and, to empower our students in an ever-changing world. This report card gives us an opportunity to share information beyond the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) and to include other school initiatives that have recently taken place or are currently taking place in the school.

All middle school teachers have been developing curriculum maps for the past three years. The maps are living documents and allow parent(s)/ guardian(s), students, and members of the community to see what is actually taught in each classroom. The maps are available for review on the school’s website (www.carver.org). As a result of the mapping process, all of our courses are fully aligned with the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks.

In providing a safe environment and meeting the social, emotional, and intellectual needs of our students, the school has initiated two new programs. First, we have started training students in the “Second Steps Program” designed by the Committee for Children. It is our hope that the program will result in the development of increased student empathy, greater sensitivity to diversity within the school, reduce incidents of bullying-type behaviors, and improve student decision-making skills. Secondly, the school has implemented a grades seven and eight Looping Program where students and teachers stay together for 360 days rather than the traditional 180 days. Among the benefits associated with looping programs are: reported increases in student empathy, closer relationships among students and with their teachers, and improved student achievement.

Additionally, one goal in the School’s Improvement Plan for the coming year will be to participate in a school evaluation conducted by the New England League of Middle Schools (NELMS). The school’s instructional and assessment practices will be included in the evaluation. Teachers, parent(s)/guardian(s) and students will be asked to participate in the assessment through surveys developed by NELMS.

As you review Part I of the Report Card, you will see that 100% of the teachers at the middle school are licensed (certified) to teach in their subject area and that 95.8% are considered HIGHLY QUALIFIED by NCLB standards. All teachers are required to be HIGHLY QUALIFIED by the 2006 school year.

CMS’s mathematics teachers and most of the special needs teachers are considered HIGHLY QUALIFIED in the area of mathematics. Some of this is due to their participation in professional development activities, such as the one that they began last summer. All CMS math teachers and four special needs teachers participated in an exciting professional development program designed by the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. As a result of this program, teachers began to rethink the instructional practices they use in their classrooms and have worked together throughout the school year planning lessons and making some significant changes in instruction. This process is ongoing and the teachers are looking forward to demonstrating some of those changes to parents at our open house this coming fall.

Part II of the Report Card summarizes how CMS students performed in mathematics and English Language Arts on the 2004 MCAS tests. The No Child Left Behind Act has a goal of all students being PROFICIENT in these subject areas by 2014 and it is student performance on the MCAS tests that is used to judge the progress being made towards that goal. Grades six and eight were tested in mathematics and grade seven was tested in English Language Arts.

As you review the grade six results, you will see a slight decline in ADVANCED and PROFICIENT scores and a slight increase in the percentage of students scoring NEEDS IMPROVEMENT and WARNING when compared to the grade six performance in 2003. This group of students is the largest class to come to the middle school in many years and they have struggled with their progress in math on the MCAS. As fourth graders, 2% of these same students received ADVANCED scores and as sixth graders, their percentage rose to 8%; however, the rest of the performance levels did not demonstrate adequate progress.

All students who scored in the WARNING range and IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT have been placed on Individual Student Success Plans that are designed to address their specific deficit areas in mathematics. Additionally, these students are now on “looping” teams and will have the benefit of having the support of the same math teacher for two years. This two-year relationship should result in teachers being better able to address individual student needs in mathematics.

The scores for grade seven in English Language Arts showed a significant improvement from those of the previous seventh grade. ADVANCED scores doubled (from 4% to 8%) and PROFICIENT scores rose by 10%, (from 55% to 65%.) The increase in the ADVANCED and PROFICIENT categories is reflected by the significant decrease IN NEEDS OF IMPROVEMENT scores (from 37% to 22%.) The WARNING percentage did not show any significant change (from 4% to 5%.) All students who scored in the WARNING and low IN NEEDS OF IMPROVEMENT range have been placed on Individual Student Success Plans.

Students in grade eight took the MCAS test in mathematics. ADVANCED scores in mathematics decreased from 13% to 10% and PROFICIENT scores increased (from 28% to 31%.) While the percentage of students IN NEED OF IMPROVEMENT increased by 6%, (from 35% to 41%,) the number of students who scored in the WARNING category decreased by that same percentage (6%). The two-year data analysis of this group reveals one significant piece of data. As sixth graders, 35% of this group received scores in the WARNING category. In grade eight that number has been reduced to 18%. While 18% is still a very high percentage of students to receive a WARNING score, the change from grade six demonstrates that these students are making significant progress.

Part III of the Report Card provides information about the school’s “Proficiency Index” (PI) scores and Adequate Yearly Progress in ELA and mathematics. As you review the data in Part III of the Report Card, you will see that CMS has made its Adequate Yearly Progress goals for 2004. Under the category of Adequate Yearly Progress in History, you will see that in ELA our school’s rating is “High” and our rating is “Moderate” in mathematics. In both areas we are considered to be “On Target” towards the 2014 goal of No Child Left Behind.

Sincerely,

Daniel Daly. Principal