Wednesday, January 21, 2004
|
Wednesday, January 21, 2004 |
|
Rising Starr earns $127,000 with 'Pay for Performance' prize Rising Starr Middle is among 68 schools statewide that will receive a portion of the $5,702,222 approved by the State Board of Education for Pay for Performance (PfP) awards. The school will receive an award of $127,956.28 for meeting exemplary performance objectives during the PfP 2002-2003 cycle. This is the third consecutive year that Rising Starr has received PfP. The PfP program is a voluntary school improvement program designed to promote exemplary school achievement as well as faculty collaboration. Awards are made to schools, not to individuals. Successful schools receive awards using the number of persons in positions requiring certification to determine the distribution of the budgeted grant total appropriated by the Georgia General Assembly. Participating schools must undergo a series of rigorous examinations by a PfP reader panel. Members of the reader panel are exemplary educators recommended by local school system superintendents. The final composition of the panel is representative of school systems in the state. To attain a PfP award, a school must identify and subsequently meet a comprehensive set of exemplary performance objectives. Members of the PfP Evaluator Panel score initial applications and final reports. Performance objectives must be developed in four categories: academic achievement, client involvement, educational programming, and resource development. Taken as a group, the total set of performance objectives must be exemplary and comprehensive in scope. They must also have impact on a significant portion of the school population and show promise for improving the educational program(s) in the school. Applications must also describe clearly the method of measurement that will be used to evaluate each performance objective as well as the criteria that will be used to determine whether or not each objective has been achieved. Schools with approved applications have a school year to achieve their performance objectives. At the end of the school year, on June 15, a final report must be submitted which documents status for each performance objective in the approved application. To be eligible for a Pay for Performance award, at least 80 percent of the performance objectives specified in the approved application, including at least 50 percent from state-mandated assessments, must be achieved. Rising Starr is also one of the first four schools in Georgia to be named an exemplary middle-grades school as part of a recognition program originally developed by the National Forum to Accelerate middle-Grades Reform. Rising Starr has been awarded the recognition of Georgia Lighthouse Schools to Watch. In 2002, the National Forum selected Georgia as one of three states to replicate the national Schools to Watch program as a way to introduce the Forums criteria for high-performance and identify middle-grades schools that meet or exceed that criteria. Rising Starr and the other three schools, Hart County Middle (Hart County) Chapel Hill Middle (Douglas County) and Mercer Middle (Chatham County), were selected by state leaders for their academic excellence, responsiveness to the needs and interests of young adolescents, and their commitment to helping all students achieve at high levels. In addition, each school had strong leadership, teachers who work together to improve curriculum and instruction, and a commitment to assessment and accountability in order to bring about continuous improvement. School selection was based on a written application showing how the school met various criteria developed by the National Forum, including student performance. Finalists were visited by state teams who observed classrooms, interviewed administrators, teachers, parents and students, and looked at sample lessons and student work. The schools represent urban and rural communities. Rising Starr will be featured in a video that will be distributed and used by both the National Forum and the Georgia Middle School Association, will be on the websites of both of those organizations, as well as the Georgia Department of Education Web site, and will serve as a mentor for other schools aspiring to this status.
|
||