High
Performing Schools
Education Week’s Quality Counts 2008 determined that Vermont schools
performed 4th best in the nation in achievement and achievement
gains.
The determination was made using 13 indicators, including NAEP
scores, graduation rate, and recent improvement in achievement.
Educator
Staffing
69.6% of Vermont public school employees
are educators or instructional staff, fourth-highest in the country. Nation-wide, just 62.2% of school employees
are educators or instructional staff.
2007
Vermont NAEP Results
2007
NAEP scores (“The Nation’s Report Card”) show high achievement results for
Vermont students. Only Massachusetts has
a higher rate of reading proficiency among 4th graders, and no state has a
statistically significant higher rate of reading proficiency among 8th
graders than Vermont. Math scores were similarly strong. Only two states have a higher rate of
proficiency among 4th graders, and just one state rates better than
Vermont among 8th graders.
Highly Qualified
Teachers
90% of Vermont teachers in core academic
classes are “Highly Qualified,” a federal designation indicating that an
educator is suitably educated, trained and competent. In addition, Vermont is one of five states
where 100%
of teachers receive High Quality Professional Development annually.
Music and the Arts
Three Vermont schools have won Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts
Education “National School of Distinction” awards since 2001, and six more have
earned state-level recognition. Fourteen
Vermont music students have been awarded full scholarships to study at the
National Symphony Orchestra Summer Institute since 2000.
Education
Cost Growth Slowing
School leaders and voters are working
together to control costs. 95% of school
budgets passed on the first vote in 2008, approving budget increases
of less than 4.5% for the second consecutive year.
High
School Completion
Vermont schools have
made impressive strides in retaining and graduating their students. In the 1990s, Vermont decreased the number
of students who do not complete high school by 66%. By the year 2000, Vermont had the
highest high school completion rate in the nation at 88.2%!
Since then, the percentage of students who drop out each year has remained low:
Vermont is the “Smartest
State”
“For the second consecutive year, Vermont holds on to the top of
Morgan Quitno Press’s education rankings as the nation’s Smartest State. Vermont has earned this distinction by
demonstrating a strong commitment to students and teachers, an emphasis on
excellence in the classroom and support for efficient public schools.”
Opportunity
for Success
Quality Counts 2007
ranks the states on a “Chance-for-Success Index” that tracks the life-long
benefits of residents’ educational experience.
It includes some traditional indicators such as residents’ NAEP scores
combined with adult educational attainment, annual income, and availability of
reliable employment. It determined that Vermont youth have the 5th
best chance for success in the nation.
NECAP
Leadership
Vermont has developed
and implemented a common educational assessment tool in collaboration with New
Hampshire and Rhode Island for grades 3-8.
2007 was the third year of testing, and the results confirm Vermont’s
commitment to education. 70% of Vermont
students were found to be proficient or better in reading, and 63% were
proficient or better in math.
Youth
Risk Behavior Declines
A biannual survey administered to Vermont
high school students determined that:
Cigarette smoking is down
1999: 36% 2007: 16%
Alcohol
consumption is down
1999: 46% 2007: 39%
Marijuana use is down
1997: 32% 2007: 21%
Sources: American
Legislative Exchange Council’s Report Card on American Education (2003),
College Board, Editorial Projects in Education’s Quality Counts 2007, Education
Vital Signs 2007, Morgan Quitno Press, US Dept. of Education, Vermont Alliance
for Arts Education, Vermont Dept. of Education, Vermont Dept. of Health,
Vermont School Boards Insurance Trust, Vermont Superintendents Association
Employee
Wellness
More than 3000 Vermont school employees participated
in reducing health insurance costs by partaking in the Vermont School Boards
Insurance Trust “PATH to Wellness” pilot program this year. PATH is opening up to all schools in the
summer of 2008.
Renewable Energy and
Efficiency
Vermont schools lead the nation in the use of renewable fuels. 35 schools use biomass heating systems,
serving over half the students in the State.
The VSA’s School Energy Management Program works directly with schools
and helps them convert to renewable fuels and improve efficiency. This program saves local schools more than
one million dollars a year in energy costs.
More
Early Readers
Vermont 2nd graders are reading at
their highest level ever. The State Developmental Reading Assessment shows
that:
►The number of 2nd
graders below the standard has been cut in half since 1999.
►85% of 2nd graders are meeting
or exceeding the reading standard in 2007, up from 73% in 1999.
AP
Achievement
Advanced Placement
allows high school students to prepare for college by taking college-level
courses and earning college credit. Vermont
students taking AP exams scored a mean of 3.14 in 2007, 5% better than the
national mean. Vermont students’ achievement is
even more pronounced in some subjects:
|
AP Subject
|
VT Mean
|
US Mean
|
|
Calculus (BC)
|
3.91
|
3.70
|
|
Comp. Sci. (A)
|
3.40
|
2.83
|
|
Econ. (Macro)
|
4.00
|
2.75
|
|
Econ. (Micro)
|
3.69
|
2.98
|
|
World History
|
3.66
|
2.71
|
A publication of the VT Superintendents Association, the
VT Principals Association, and the VT School Boards Association
Contact:
Vermont School Boards
Association
2 Prospect St., Suite
4, Montpelier, VT 05602
(802) 223-3580