No Child Left Behind

Blue Ribbon School

In 2004, St. Barnabas Catholic School was named a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education. The application process includes information about our school programs and offerings and the requirement that our students place in the 95 percentile as measured by the ISTEP+ test.

St. Barnabas' excellence in education is a result of its strong commitment to Catholic education, exemplary teaching by its dedicated staff, and cooperative partnership with parents in meeting the needs of its students. Blue Ribbon status is not an individual's award; it is a shared award, shared by the commitment of top quality educators, parents, students, and the entire St. Barnabas Parish staff and community.

For more information about the National No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon process, visit U.S.Department of Education

Teacher Advancement Program (TAP)

Since 2002, St. Barnabas School has been involved in the TAP program as part of Project EXCEED through the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

The Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) is a systemic approach to restructuring a school. By attracting, retaining and motivating our best teachers, its ultimate goal is to increase student achievement. The four TAP principles that are activated in a school during implementation are:

  • Performance-based compensation
  • Instructionally focused accountability
  • Ongoing, applied professional growth
  • Multiple career paths

Ongoing, applied professional growth takes place each week during the school day within cluster group meetings, led by a Master Teacher. In a TAP school, the cluster groups are the basic unit for teacher professional growth for all teachers. The general purpose of cluster groups is to develop the teaching capacity, insights and abilities of all members. There are three main areas within which cluster group meeting topics fall:

  • Assessment of student learning
  • Curriculum
  • Pedagogy measured by the TAP teaching standards and performance rubric

The goal of cluster group work is to increase each member's teaching proficiency in order to increase student achievement. Classroom activities and student learning are constantly the focus of cluster group work.

You can learn more about TAP at www.talentedteachers.org

Value-added Growth

As part of the measurement for the TAP program, teachers at St. Barnabas School study the results of each student’s assessments for both proficiency and progress. It is important that not only are students passing the state assessment, ISTEP+, but that they are achieving measurable gains each year, moving toward the Pass+ category.

ISTEP Avg Pct Pass - All Tested Grades E/LA and Math

 

Year

   

95th
Percentile

   

State Average
(Public and Nonpublic)

   

Saint Barnabas School
C295

 

2007-08

   

92.9%

 

73.3%

 

96.1%

 

2006-07

   

92.5%

 

72.6%

 

94.8%

 

2005-06

   

92.6%

 

72.9%

 

94.6%

 

2004-05

   

92.5%

 

71.7%

 

91.4%

 

2003-04

   

92.0%

 

71.0%

 

92.6%

 

2002-03

   

90.4%

 

68.7%

 

93.3%

 

2001-02

   

88.7%

 

65.4%

 

86.7%

 

2000-01

   

88.8%

 

65.4%

 

90.1%

 

1999-00

   

89.7%

 

66.4%

 

89.7%

 

1998-99

   

88.5%

 

66.2%

 

85.7%


This graph from the Indiana Department of Education shows that 4 of the past 5 years ours students have placed in the top 95 percentile in the state as a measure of proficiency.(http://mustang.doe.state.in.us/SEARCH/snapshot.cfm?schl=C295)

As a means to measure the value that our teachers bring to the classroom, student growth is measured from year to year and attributed to individual teachers. For the past 3 years, St. Barnabas teachers have received the highest rating possible and have received the maximum performance-based pay.