Laurel elementary school earns ‘Excellent’ rating

LAUREL – Faculty, staff, administrators, students and parents may describe Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School as “good,” “great,” or even “excellent.”

Now the school is officially classified as such by the Nebraska Department of Education.

The school district received high marks from Nebraska’s accountability system classification, called AQuESTT (Accountability for a Quality Education System Today). The system classifies schools based on state test scores, particularly the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS). NSCAS ELA and Mathematics are given in grades three through eight. NSCAS science assessments are given in fifth and eighth grades and Nebraska juniors take the ACT assessment.

LCC’s Elementary was one of only 27 percent of schools in the stateto receive an “Excellent” ranking, while the district’s middle school received a “Great” classification and its high school a “Good” ranking.

“Student achievement as measured by the state assessments continues to show meaningful progress and improvement year over year,” said Superintendent Jeremy Christiansen. “At LCC School, our students continue to score at or above the state averages in all academic areas at the elementary, middle school and high school levels.”

The data indicates effectiveness within the curriculum and programs but also in ongoing efforts to identify and provide targeted support and interventions for students at all achievement levels, he said.

Although the rankings are positive, Christiansen said, administrators and teachers will continue to focus on continuous improvement.

“While our assessment results and ratings showed student and school growth and improvement, the reports also highlight and provide insight for focused efforts and opportunities to improve,” Christiansen said. “Our local school improvement efforts will analyze and use this information to adjust and further strengthen our educational program.”

This year the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) had the opportunity to set new cut scores, the scores that determine levels of proficiency. This happens anytime there is a new assessment or a significant change in an existing assessment. The English Language Arts assessment was new for 2022.

State and federal law require the NDE to annually classify and designate schools to provide signals for specific supports. Nebraska’s system, AQuESTT - helps ensure all students across all backgrounds and circumstances have access to opportunities and access. AQuESTT annually classifies schools and districts as Excellent, Great, Good, and Needs Support to Improve.

A breakdown of classifications indicated that 303 (27 percent) of schools were classified as Excellent, 437 (40 percent) were Great, 288 (26 percent) were Good, and 76 (7 percent) were designated as Needs Support to Improve.

There are definitely fluctuations in ratings from year to year which makes it prudent not to emphasize any given year of data, Christiansen said.

“As can be the situation in rural schools with smaller enrollments, the data linked to just a few students can result in changes in assessment and demographic data from year to year,” he said. “We look closely at trend data over time to identify program strengths and opportunities for improvement, particular at the secondary level. Unfortunately, the summary high-level data can be challenging to interpret and truly measure the year to year gains.”

AQuESTT recognizes and rewards school initiatives that support student learning, the school environment and educators including those that supported student success through positive school partnerships and relationships; helped students successfully transition between grades, schools and programs; provided student access to comprehensive instructional opportunities; helped students prepare for college and careers; used multiple assessments to measure student learning; and supported education effectiveness.

AQuESTT encourages schools to build a system for continuous school improvement that supports students, educations and the school learning environment.

More information on assessment and accountability results can be found on the Nebraska Education Profile, nep.education.ne.gov.