Online learning deadline extended until August 27
Business August 24, 2021
HAYESVILLE, NC – Clay County Board of Education opted to allow parents who wanted to move their children to online learning can do so until August 27.
Councilmember Kelly Crawford made the motion to extend until the 27 after some discussion on the best date. It was a unanimous vote.
“I want to reiterate with that, that’s it unless there’s a medical exemption. Once [parents or students] do that, they’re remote all fall,” Crawford clarified.
Initially, parents had until August 18 to move their children to online learning. Since that date, six parents came forward asking for the option. Three requests came from the elementary school, two from the middle school, and one from the high school.
The school system instated a mask requirement for students on August 18, 2021, before they returned in the fall.
“Our data shows that most of our kids are not successful fully remote, so that’s upfront. About 15 percent of our students have shown that they can be successful or have the support structure necessary to be successful in a fully remote environment,” Superintendent Dale Cole commented.
He added his recommendation that if the board lengthened the remote option, students must be remote for the entire semester. The back and forth between online and in-person creates additional stressors on students and teachers.
“When we voted to provide remote learning, it was going to be conditional for those who truly needed this option and not for those just wanted it to opt out of class for some reason,” Councilmember Reba Beck stated, “that doesn’t seem to be an issue.”
The move doesn’t apply to children in quarantine—the school system’s required by law to instruct the students who must quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure. Also, approved medical waivers let students enter homebound instruction based on their needs.
Clay County Board of Education voted to move law firms concerning foreclosure notices in the county. The previous firm wasn’t providing efficient communication concerning issues such as land foreclosures in the area. No one at the firm has responded to an email since February 2021.
The administration is in talks to hire a new firm out of Ashville, NC.
End of Year Assessments demonstrate marked improvement for CSS
Clay County Schools, News June 8, 2021
HAYESVILLE, Ga – Following a year of unknowns, students in Clay County Schools showed resiliency and ability to bounce back despite the pandemic.
At the start of the year, diagnostic tests revealed that online learning had significantly affected math scores. Some grades were more affected than others. Principals from each school presented the end of the year assessments for reading and math.
In K-2, overall, the scores increased in tier 1 (proficient or exceeding grade level) from 32 to 69 percent and tier 3 (at-risk) students dropped from 6 to 3 percent. Kindergarten jumped to 95 percent in tier 1 and the goal is typically 80 percent of students at proficiency.
In Math, proficiency for K-2 increased from 19 to 66 percent and at-risk students dropped from 5 to 2 percent.
At the elementary schools, grades 3-5, tier 1 grew from 35 percent to 57 percent and tier 3 shrank from 28 to 15 percent. Third grade reading proficiency reached 81 percent, up from 47 percent at the start of the year. Fourth grade reading demonstrated some improvement but continues to have opportunities for enhancement. Tier 1 increased from 28 percent to 47 percent. Fifth grade reading in tier 1 increased from 35 to 45 percent. It also has areas for growth available.
Overall math placement showed marked improvement with proficiency growing from 17 to 58 percent at the beginning of the year. At risk students dropped from 29 to 8 percent by the end of the year. Third grade math jumped from 12 percent on grade level to 66 percent on grade level. Fourth grade math ended the year with 61 percent proficient and only 7 percent at risk. At the start of the year, 43 percent of fourth grade students were at risk in math. Fifth grade math ended with 49 percent of students on grade level and 13 percent at risk.
Hayesville Middle School completed the I-Ready diagnostic before Spring Break, so a little earlier than the primary and elementary schools. Principal Heather Plemmons spoke about the need to find methods to properly motivate middle school students to complete and do well on tests. She thinks the approach to motivating children needs to improve to alleviate diagnostic stagnation.
Overall placements for students in reading indicated a decrease in tier 1 from 42 to 40 percent. Tier 3 grew from 34 to 40 percent. The data compared to middle of the year data to end of the year data. Seventh grade demonstrated some tier 1 gains in reading, but sixth and eighth remained almost the same.
Math indicated a slight gain in tier 1 with an increase of 2 percent from 33 to 35 percent. At risk students decreased by 1 percent. Sixth grade math had the biggest improvement with 39 percent testing at proficiency up from 29 percent. Seventh grade proficiency decreased from 36 to 32 percent and at-risk students increased from 32 to 36 percent. The students three or more grade levels behind grew by 10 percent. Eighth grade had another slight increase in proficiency from 32 percent to 36 percent and at risk dropped from 46 to 38 percent.
Around 15 remote learning students at the middle school often opted to not take the diagnostic tests. Most likely, they didn’t have anyone ensuring they took the test. Clay County Schools only had students in person for four days a week for one period and hopefully, next school year, it will be easier to find struggling students.
Clay County Schools learning diagnostics demonstrate marked improvement
Clay County Schools, News February 14, 2021
HAYESVILLE, NC – The first I-Ready diagnostic showcased the learning loss impact associated with online learning, but the mid-year tests displayed across the board improvements.
At Hayesville Primary, the tier three students, or those at least two years below grade level, decreased by three percent from the August diagnostics in reading. The students at or above grade level, tier one, increased by 10 percent in reading. First grade reading earned the greatest increase by 11 percent.
At the halfway mark, reading was a little behind on median progress at 38 percent. Typically, the administration likes to be at 50 percent at this time of year.
In grade kindergarten through second math, the tier three students dropped by eight percent, and the tier one students increased by eight percent. The median growth for math was slightly higher than reading at 41 percent.
The primary school also implemented new reading and math curriculum this year. Test scores tend to drop during curriculum application years.
Superintendent Dale Cole reminded everyone that last year from March on all students were fully remote and they started the 2020-2021 school year with only two days of in-person learning. Later in the Fall term, North Carolina moved to four days of in-person instruction with one remote day.
Hayesville Elementary School, grades three through five grew into tier one by 17 percent and shrunk tier three by nine percent. Third grade significantly expanded tier one from 39 to 72 percent in reading. As for math, tier three students dropped by 12 percent and tier one increased by 20 percent overall. Fourth grade math reduced tier three students by 28 percent, moving several students out of the at least two years below grade level category.
At the Hayesville Middle School, they too saw a drop in tier three students by five percent overall in reading. Seventh grade achieved the biggest increase to tier one by 11 percent. In math, tier three decreased by 4 percent overall. Sixth grade experienced the most significant drop in tier three while seventh grade substantially grew into tier 1. However, eighth grade tests appeared stagnant due to difficulty getting students to participate, only 61 of 95 students took the I-Ready diagnostic.
Hayesville Middle Assistant Principal Heather Plemmons commented, “If the pandemic has shown use anything, it’s the value of teachers.”
Assistant Principal Heather Plemmons
The high school presented the fall term end of course test (EOC) scores in biology, English, math, and ACT/Workkey. In biology, 57 students took the test and 56.14 percent were proficient. Out of that number, 21 were predicted to not meet the standards. The school looked into the four people who were expected to test well and found that 2 were remote students.
In english II, 39 students took the EOC and 38.46 tested proficient. Three more were expected to earn a passing grade and one of those was a remote student.
14 students sat for the math I EOC and 42.86 percent were proficient. Five other students were predicted to test well, and two of those were remote. In math III, 81.82 percent earned a proficient score with eight more students expected to pass but did not. Two of those students were remote.
The ACT/Workkeys had a 74.68 percent proficiency which was a 13 percent increase over a two-year period.
All schools are working to continue to improve students’ knowledge and test scores through after school tutoring and check-ins. The high school also has mentoring programs with 12 mentors and 78 students participating. A credit recovery program is also in place for high school students that didn’t pass their EOC. Essentially, under the guidance of a teacher, students can work on the standard that they didn’t earn a passing score, and retest just for proficiency in that standard. The program keeps students on track to graduate.
Clay County Schools going remote until February 7
Clay County Schools, News January 25, 2021
Online learning affects students math proficiency
Clay County Schools, News December 5, 2020
HAYESVILLE, Ga – According to data presented during the November board of education meeting, Clay County students are beginning to experience the online learning slide.
Two separate diagnostic tests, I-Ready and NC Check-ins demonstrated concerning statistics, specifically in mathematics. I-Ready diagnostics align with the curriculum. NC Check-ins breaks down the EOG tests and developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
“Math is a subject that is going to be much more impacted by infrequent attendance in school. Missing steps, lessons, that sort of thing, Math has taken the biggest hit,” Superintendent Dale Cole said.
I-Ready tested students in kindergarten through second grade in math and second through fifth grade in reading. Students took the first diagnostics between August 24 and September 4. The second test takes place after Thanksgiving, and results will be presented at the December 14 board meeting.
I-Ready breaks students into three tiers: one, two, and three. Tier One recognizes students who are at grade level or above. Tier Two represents students testing below grade level. Tier Three students are considered at-risk.
Last year in math, the I-Ready diagnostic placed 28 percent of students in Tier One, and now, 19 percent of students are Tier One. The number of Tier Three students decreased by three percent.
“There’s that expansion in Tier Two that shows a significant portion of students have fallen a grade level behind. With [COVID-19], they’ve gotten half the instructional time, face-to-face this fall,” Cole explained, “I do think there are some things you can do through online teaching, but math is harder.”
Fourth grade, in particular, exhibits several students falling behind in the curriculum, but the at-risk numbers drop from fourth to fifth grade. Eighth grade students shot up in proficiency from seventh grade.
However, in reading, the elementary students have demonstrated marked improvement from the last school year. Still, from year to year, the Tier Three students increased from first grade to second grade.
Current seventh grade students are a concern for Superintendent Cole in reading as several students moved down a tier from last year to this one.
NC Check-in Results
Students in third through eighth grade took the NC check-ins for reading and map. Fifth and eighth grade students took the science check-in. The tests were given in October and November and aren’t required by the state. NC Check-in tests to standards. Since the state dictates the standards, teachers might not have taught those at the test time.
“It gives us three data points to look at for our students. It’s dangerous to put all your eggs in one basket on one number – that number might not be accurate. We can look at our diagnostics, NC Check-in, and teacher grades,” Cole stated.
In reading, the average test scores across the grades fell around 60 percent, except seventh and eighth had a score of 59.4 percent.
Cole felt that an average score of 60 percent was decent for these tests, given that teachers had yet to teach all the standards.
In math, third and fourth tested with average scores of 40 percent. Fifth, sixth, and eighth received average scores within the 30 percent range. Seventh grade had an average score of 27.9 percent.
“We had much more of a concern for math. You’re going to see a big drop off for math as compared to reading,” Cole said. “Math is a struggle in online learning. I’m not going to make excuses; the scores are what they are. We’ve got to get better.”
He also hopes to see changes now that students will be back in the classroom for four days. Additionally, Cole urged parents to motivate and engage students to complete their work.
The average score for science in fifth grade was 59.2 percent and 67.6 percent in eighth grade.
The MTSS will provide students with tools to succeed.
Failing students are being encouraged to return to in-person instruction. So far, 30 students have returned to school. The number of failures in a remote cohort/online learning went down by 13 between the first and second progress reports. Students declining in all four subjects went down from 12 percent to 7 percent, but subject-specific failures went up at the middle school. In particular, math failures increased.
A mentoring program is in place at the high school to help students get back on track. Students and teachers will have weekly meetings, goal setting, and parent check-ins. Multi-tiered System of Support (MTSS) is being used to help students and teachers improve the quality of learning. It uses data to build “scaffolds” around each student to promote achievement. Some students will require more support than others. It focuses on instruction, curriculum, and environment.