1623 Sterns Road l Temperance, Michigan 48182  l   (734) 850-6000 l Fax (734) 850-6099 l www.bedford.k12.mi.us

Annual Education Report

August 10, 2012

Dear Parents and Community Members:

We are pleased to present you with the Annual Education Report (AER) which provides key information on the 2011-2012 educational progress for Bedford schools. The AER addresses the complex reporting information required by federal and some requirements of state laws; however, our staff is available to help you understand this information. Please contact the Assistant Superintendents office for district information or your building principal for help if you need assistance.

The AER report contains information and data regarding:  Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), Student Assessment Data− Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP), Michigan Merit Exam (MME), Michigan’s Alternative Assessment Program (MI-Access), National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and Teacher qualification data.

The AER is available for you to review electronically by visiting this web site or you may review a copy at the Administration Building on Sterns Rd. or in the principal’s office at your child’s school.
Additionally we are required to report on the following topics.

PROCESS FOR ASSIGNING PUPILS TO THE SCHOOL

In 2011-12 school year, the process of assigning students for the coming 2012-13 school year dealt with four (4) elementary buildings (K-5th), one (1) Jr. High School (6th-8th) and one (1) Senior High School (9th-12th).  Elementary students are assigned to an elementary building according to geographical boundaries that are determined by the district.  Population demographics/density is one variable considered when developing the boundaries. Consideration is given to elementary building transfer requests within the district.  Young Fives and specific special education programs are housed in various elementary buildings throughout the district.  The Bedford Public Schools host Monroe County Intermediate School District cross categorical special education programs at both Douglas Road Elementary and Jackman Road Elementary.  These programs service students from around the county as well as Bedford resident students.

All 6th grade students who will be remaining in the district for the following year will attend the JrHS for 7th grade.  All 8th grade students who will be remaining in the district for the following year will attend the SHS for 9th grade.  The Bedford Public Schools host Monroe County Intermediate School District cross categorical special education programs at both the Jr. High School and Senior High School.  These programs service students from around the county as well as Bedford resident students.  Students, Kindergarten through 12th grade seeking Schools-of-Choice within Monroe County may enroll according to the guidelines. 

THE STATUS OF THE 3-5 YEAR SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN

The 2011-2012 school year, was the second year of our newly created district-wide school improvement plan.  One of Bedford Public Schools major accomplishments was receiving district wide accreditation in all seven global standards during the 2009-10 school year and completed our last 3-5 year school improvement cycle.   A part of Quality Assurance Review requires us to produce an update report regarding the actions we are working on during this 5 year cycle.  We have completed a few of the sub sections of the action plan and are making good progress on the rest.  We continue to focus on alignment of our curriculum to district common assessments and data collection.
District Goals:

1. Improving Instruction and the Learning Environment.
2. Math:  Number System and Operations in Base Ten.
3. Reading:  Constructing Meaning from Text Using Inferential Thinking.
4. Writing for Communication:  Effectively communicating ideas in writing through a variety of genre.
5. Science:  Improving Student Physical science Understanding K-5.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF EACH SPECIALIZED SCHOOL

PLEASE NOTE:  There are no specialized schools within the Bedford school system.  We do have an alternative education program that is a branch of the SHS to meet the needs of expelled students and/or students wishing for a non-traditional school setting.

IDENTIFY HOW TO ACCESS A COPY OF THE CORE CURRICULUM

Copies of the core curriculum are available through the principal’s office and at the Michigan Department of Education website:

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MichiganCurriculumFramework_8172_7.pdf.
The new Common Core Standards
http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/mathematics/
http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards
(You may also find the parent friendly Common Core Standards documents on our district website.)
Our curriculum is aligned and implemented according to the Michigan Curriculum Framework.
We are in the process of transitioning from the Michigan Curriculum Framework to that of the more national Common Core Standards.  We are focusing on essential standards, objectives and skills to meet the needs of our students for academic success in the classroom, on state and national assessments.

AGGREGATE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT RESULTS FOR ANY LOCAL COMPETENCY TESTS OR NATIONALLY NORMED ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

The district uses a variety of ways to measure and report on student progress and achievement.  Developmental progress is recorded through samples of student work, teacher observations, Michigan Literacy Progress Profile (MLPP), District Common Math Assessments, and the MEAP.  Detailed MEAP information is provided through the link in paragraph one.  One of our challenges and focal points from our NCA QAR visit is to develop a data collection and management system for all of our different local and state data.  Currently, we are working with Pearson Corporation with the Inform data warehouse but are not at a place where we are able to easily and effective compile district wide data.  We are making progress and should reach our goals by the end of the 5 year cycle.
The Senior High School uses the Pre-ACT (Plan), ACT, PSAT and the SAT.  The specific breakdowns of these scores are reported on the H.S. Annual Report for the years of 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

IDENTIFY THE NUMBER AND PERCENT OF STUDENTS REPRESENTED BY PARENTS AT PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES (PTC)

We value the ongoing participation and support of our parents. 
Parent-teacher conferences at the elementary level are extremely well attended.  Teachers schedule meetings with the family of each of their students in late fall.  The meetings focus on the particular students’ progress up to that point in time to determine areas needing to be focused on for the remaining part of the school year.
PTC attendance: (2009-2010) 99%  (2010-2011) 99%   (2011-2012) 99%

The attendance at the parent-teacher conference at the Jr.H.S. does show a decrease from the elementary as parents try to provide more opportunities to their children for independence.  We strongly encourage all parents to attend the PTC to maintain the contact and consistency of communication.
PTC attendance:  (2009-2010) 60%   (2010-2011) 60%  (2011-2012) 61%

Parent-teacher conference attendance significantly decreases at the SHS.  We would prefer parents, especially those of students who may be struggling academically to attend.
PTC attendance:
(2009-2010) 13% (Approx.)    (2010-2011) 17%      (2011-2012) 12.43%

Recap of the Annual Year Progress for Bedford Public Schools
For the 2011-2012, all of our Elementary buildings as well as the JrHS “Met Adequate Yearly Progress” ( Met AYP) in English language arts and mathematics. 
For the 2011-12 school year, the Senior High School (SHS) did not meet the AYP requirements.  Specifically our subgroup students with learning disabilities did not achieve a high enough graduation at the end of their 4 years of High School.  We did see at least a 10% growth in the area of reading and math as required by the state.  We also feel that, it is important to keep in mind that an entire building is labeled as not meeting AYP even if only one subgroup in one criterion didn’t make a percentage set by the state that does not look at the whole child. 
This year the State of Michigan decided to change how a district is deemed to have met or not met Adequate Yearly Progress specifically if any criteria is not met at any level: In the state report AYP report the Elementary, JrHS and the Senior HS, for the overall district was rated as “Not Met.”  The Bedford Public Schools did not meet AYP because of the SHS sub group issue. We will not sit back and rest on our past success or this year success at the elementary and JrHS levels; we will continue to work for educational improvement at all levels and in all buildings.
We appreciate the continued support of parents, staff and our community in this effort.  We are proud of the professional team of individuals who provide instruction to the achievement and success of our students.   We are looking forward to additional growth in student accomplishments in the 2012-2013 school year.
Sincerely,

Dr. Ted Magrum
Superintendent of Education
Bedford Public Schools