Star Ratings, Real Results: What’s Behind CCSD's Surge

Clark County School District celebrates unprecedented academic achievement with 136 schools improving by at least one star rating on the 2024-25 Nevada School Performance Framework. Superintendent Jhone Ebert discusses this amazing growth with Assistant Superintendent Kristofer Huffman, who breaks down the NSPF ratings system and what drives student success.

Hear from principals whose schools made remarkable gains: Lene Thorsen-Peters (Sandy Miller Academy), Melonie Poster (Carroll Johnston STEM Academy), and Kim Gray (Darnell Marshall Elementary), whose school jumped from one to four stars. Spring Valley High School Principal Tara Powell and senior Emma Behrens share their five-star success story and inspiring "Can, period" philosophy. With 48 schools now holding five-star status, this episode reveals the collective effort behind CCSD's transformation

Transcript

What The Star Ratings Measure

Jhone Ebert 0:01

The times are changing, and not just because Daylight Savings is around the corner. With the recent release of the Nevada School Performance Framework, or what is also known as the School Star Rating, we at the Clark County School District experience fantastic academic growth across so many campuses. But what is the Nevada School Performance Framework? And what does it truly tell us about academic performance? We will talk with district leadership to break down the elements of this framework, and we'll also have conversation with our school leaders and students to help understand how they achieve their growth this year. I'm Superintendent Jhone Ebert, and this is the Destination District Podcast. Welcome back to the Destination District, a Clark County School District podcast. Thank you to all of our returning listeners. And if this is your first time listening, we're excited to have you. We are back again in the fantastic Vegas PBS podcasting studio. The Nevada School Performance Framework, or NSPF, is Nevada's public school star rating system designed by Nevadans for the Nevada Public Schools and developed in accordance with federal guidelines. But to understand what this system is all about, I've invited Kristofer Huffman, Assistant Superintendent Assessment, Accountability, Research, and School Improvement for the Clark County School District to be with us here today to take a deeper look into those ratings. Christopher, thank you for joining me.

Kristofer Huffman 1:32

Thank you for having me today.

Jhone Ebert 1:33

This is exciting. And, you know, can you just break it down in simplest terms of what is the Nevada School Performance Framework?

Kristofer Huffman 1:46

Absolutely. So the Nevada School Performance Framework, in the most simplest terms, are the report cards for how schools are doing, looking at how proficient our students are, what kind of growth they're making, and some other key factors, including student engagement, chronic absenteeism, performance in English language proficiency. So there's a lot of pieces that go into it, but in simplest terms, it is our report card.

Jhone Ebert 2:12

And who doesn't love a good report card? Right? Yes. Yeah. So that report card turns into the elements that you were describing mathematics, literacy, we know chronic absenteeism in there. They all go into a star rating. And our listeners may have heard something called an index score. What is the index score?

Kristofer Huffman 2:33

Sure. So the index scores are the actual points that are accumulated as we look at the different pieces of the NSPF. So there's five different buckets within the NSPF, depending on whether you're elementary, middle, or high school. Those might change a little bit. Every grade level or every level has scores that are based off of proficiency ratings, their performance compared to other peers and attendance. But then we also look at different aspects. For example, in high school, we look at graduation rates. But in elementary school, middle school, we might be looking at English language proficiency, how students are doing in terms of their attendance at school and just their general growth.

Index Scores And CCSD’s Big Gains

Jhone Ebert 3:15

And so those numbers, the index score kind of ranks all of our schools. How did CCSD do this year compared to previous years?

Kristofer Huffman 3:25

So this year CCSD had tremendous growth across the board.

Jhone Ebert 3:29

Tremendous?

Kristofer Huffman 3:29

Tremendous growth.

Jhone Ebert 3:30

Okay. What does that mean? Tremendous. That's a nice word, but can you give me some numbers?

Kristofer Huffman 3:34

Absolutely. So when you look at star ratings, we're rated on one to five stars. This year we had 136 of our schools improved by at least one star rating. 50 of our schools increased by 20 or more index points. So that was huge for us just to be able to see that growth. And we have some great successes in terms of schools increasing more than one star rating as well.

Jhone Ebert 3:57

136.

Kristofer Huffman 3:58

136 schools. That's a lot. Yes.

Jhone Ebert 4:01

That is a lot. And a lot of children in all of those schools. So is there, and you know, I don't want you to name off all 136, but are there some schools that really stood out in their gains this year that we can lift up right at this moment in time?

Kristofer Huffman 4:16

Absolutely. So we had three of our elementary schools increase by three star ratings. So they went from three by three. Three by three. Nice. Uh they went from one star to four star ratings. And so the that would be Darnell Elementary School, Goldfarb Elementary School, and Kim Elementary School, who went from one to four stars. In addition to that, we had 16 of our schools increase by two stars. And so just looking at the sheer number of how many schools not only increased but increased significantly, we had a large number of schools that did that.

Jhone Ebert 4:50

Is there anything else that we haven't touched on that the public needs to know about the NSPF?

Kristofer Huffman 4:56

I think the public needs to know that these, while these are reflection of the school, that's not just a reflection of the teachers and the students. It's also a reflection of the community because a lot of these factors, especially when we talk about student engagement, really looks at are our students coming to school, first of all, so that they can do the learning to grow and become proficient. So it is really a reflection of the community, not just of the building itself.

Jhone Ebert 5:20

Thank you so much, Christopher, for joining us today. And it was very helpful for us to have you break down what the Nevada School Performance Framework is. And I'm looking forward to our next guests who will talk about their individual schools and what they think of the rating in the stars.

Kristofer Huffman 5:38

Great. Thank you so much for having me today.

Standout Schools And Community Impact

Jhone Ebert 5:41

Student success is our core focus as we become the destination district. Although there is more work to be done, as we've heard from our conversation with Christopher Huffman, our results from this year demonstrate that investments made in public education are working. Great things happen in our schools when we're able to utilize high-quality instructional materials and ensure there are highly effective teachers in our classrooms. Joining me today to discuss some of their individual school success are Lena Thornston Peters, principal at Sandy Miller Academy of International Studies, Melanie Poster, principal at Carol Johnston STEM Academy, and Kim Gray, principal at Darnell Marshall Elementary School. Thank you all for being here today. And so, okay, all three of you are rock stars. Your experience, you jumped many stars, at least two stars, an index score of increase 30 points out of 100. Like, let that resonate with you for a moment. So, first and foremost, and I know I've spoken with you or congratulated you, called you on a Sunday night. Thank you for taking my call on Sunday. Um, so Kim, let's talk about how a school goes from one star to being a tenth of a point away from being a five-star school. That's incredible. And I imagine it was a huge team effort.

Culture, Materials, And Effective Teaching

Kim Gray 7:09

It was an incredible team effort. We had a 60-point gain, which is mind-blowing to you. Yes. Um, I have an exceptional leadership team. And I don't just mean my admin partner, but my instructional leaders. They are in classrooms every day supporting teachers. My teaching staff is uh incredibly talented veteran staff. And as veteran as they are, they had no problem jumping in, stepping outside of their comfort zone and really digging into the work. Uh, and then my community, um, when we were designated with a one star the previous year, they were nothing but supportive. This is not a one-star school. We love it here, our kids love it here. And that was nothing more than motivation to do better on paper for them. As you know, this the work takes time. And yes, we jumped 60 points in one year, but it really was a two-year process. And that process started with just building a culture of trust and being able to have open conversations and all of us owning that data because it's just not third through fifth grade, right? Like that work starts in kindergarten.

Jhone Ebert 8:10

Right.

Kim Gray 8:11

So we really banded together as a team and we dug in, and here we are.

Jhone Ebert 8:16

That is so wonderful. And I love your point, especially about it, it just doesn't happen in one year, right? I mean, you see the numbers in one year, but there was there was an on-ramp to all the work. And you know, you obviously and your team, and you alluded to hitting it head on. What was, you know, if you could pick one thing that you would offer to community members, to teachers, to other principals across the district, what would that be?

Kim Gray 8:45

You have to have strong relationships with everyone in your school community. If they don't trust you, you're not getting anywhere.

From One To Four Stars: Darnell’s Leap

Jhone Ebert 8:52

So communication, being transparent, and always being available. Always being available. Yeah, like you were on Sunday night. Yes, like that. Thank you. I really appreciate that. Go team. So let's talk now. Let's move to Sandy Miller and all the great work that has happened at your school and experience you experience a move from a two-star to a four-star school. And was there anything that you did differently based on your previous NSPF scores to, you know, help that achievement?

Lene Thorsen-Peters 9:26

Well, I want to piggyback on what was said over here, is it really is not a one-year process, it's a multiple-year process. So very much a team effort. I'm very proud of our team, and we jumped by 45 and a half points, and we are just honored and proud to have that highlighted. It's really the work is very strategic. It requires a lot of data analysis by all of us, not just the admin team, but our teachers, our special education teachers, our strategists, even our instructional assistants are involved in that work. People may not know, but in IB School, we are an IB school. That's the International Baccalaureate Program, which is a very inquiry-based type of instruction. It's very hands-on and it's very constructivist, experiential. We write our own curriculum at our school, and that makes the the there's a lot of pressure in terms of making sure that what we are creating for our students is meeting their needs. So I think this work has been ongoing since uh COVID, ups and downs, and ensuring that what we have for them is meeting their needs. And that is a reflective process that we have, I think, refined better in the last couple of years, and again, pulling in other team members at the school that are a part of that process. And I think for us, especially providing the professional learning for our staff, and that includes everyone, our instructional assistants, everyone, on the best practices for our building.

Jhone Ebert 10:55

When you you talked a little bit about coaching and working with teachers, do you differentiate the support, you know, with a brand new teacher? I can I can imagine a brand new teacher coming in versus a veteran teacher. How do you make sure that you meet the teacher's needs?

Lene Thorsen-Peters 11:12

Absolutely. That's been a really important piece for this last year. We have had a very elaborate mentorship program at our school where we have a variety of backgrounds on our teachers and new to district teachers, teachers that have taken different pathways. You know, we have we're fortunate in in CCSD, we have the paraprofessional pathway. We have all kinds of programs that we can lean on to help us find good teachers for our schools. But they all need time to grow and they all need mentorship. So we recognized that just the admin in the building were not going to be able to meet the need. And so we were leaning on our veteran teachers to ensure that they were supported. So we did a lot of planning for mentorship and executing those plans, um, lesson studies, peer coaching, and different models, not only within a grade level but cross-grade level, to help them grow in the ways that they needed to to meet the needs of our students. That was extremely important.

Jhone Ebert 12:13

Principal Poster, how are you doing down there? I'm doing wonderful. Thank you. Great, so wonderful to see you again. So at your school, you have zone students and you also have magnet students that come from all over the valley to your school. And we heard about trust, climate, culture, you know, neighborhood. How do you build that within your school? And you've been there how many years now?

Melonie Poster 12:36

This is my fourth year.

Trust, Transparency, And Teamwork

Jhone Ebert 12:37

Fourth year. And so, what's that trajectory look like in in your community with being diverse across our valley because we have open enrollment now and and the time that you've been there?

IB Approach And Data-Driven Instruction

Melonie Poster 12:48

So this has actually been a very uh a fun journey because when we walked in the door, most of us that that are still in my building right now walked in four years ago. We walked in with, you know, anywhere from 40 to the second year, 60 openings. So we had to, there's a resilience with our within our building, our theme is being fearless. And so all of us that remained, it was we have to work on work on our climate and culture and belief in our kids, belief in each other. And it doesn't matter what the obstacle was in front of us, it doesn't, it we have to have the high expectations for ourselves and our students. So looking back four years ago, our priority was safety. Our priority was that climate and culture, consistency, communication, collaboration. And then that has shifted over the last couple of years. We are fortunate enough that last year was our first year in Magnet. We spent a lot of time, a lot of emphasis on really honing in on recruitment of quality teachers. We, in our building, many of our teachers have come from outside of the Clark County School District to come in to Nevada and teach with us and remain with us. And I think that that just it was being strategic with who we brought to the table to be our math teacher, uh, similar to what was already said. It was important that we had a lot of first and second year teachers, teachers from different pathways of learning. So as we recruited, it was important for us to bring in quality veteran teachers that we could use to support the newer teachers. And then last year, as our first year of Magnet, it was how do we still maintain this consistency because we still have a long way to go? How do we ensure that we are utilizing our tier one materials and utilizing our PLCs to collaborate, but then also kick it up a notch? And so innovation became the driving force last year of making sure that we're talking about how do we ensure that our programs, our HMH, our Carnegie is at the rigor and hands-on that a magnet school is expected of that is expected within our magnet school. And so we started looking at things differently. We started to collaborate within all departments with each other and to make sure that we were looking within our program and going, how do we elevate it? So now our focus is it's continuing. It's was very specific looking at last year, our focus in, you know, just making sure that tier one is there. And now how do we ramp up the rigor?

Jhone Ebert 15:31

That is amazing. And thank you for leading a school building, leading a middle school, and lifting everyone up. So I'm gonna open up this last question to everyone. And, you know, just wondering when you think about now you've made these great gains, how do you, and I think Kim, you mentioned a little bit, how do you make sure you maintain and then also increase?

Lene Thorsen-Peters 15:53

I think we have to really know who we're serving and who's in our buildings and know what their needs are academically and both socially and emotionally, and um work together to meet those needs. And that I think needs to occur on every level. I think we've all talked about a team effort and how important that is for nobody can do this work alone, and we as administrators are not doing that work alone. We have wonderful teams behind us and just realizing who we're serving. Stay the course, it it's working for us.

Kim Gray 16:23

I will say a lot of times when you make these kinds of gains, we tend to want to get comfortable, right? That one-tenth of a point is nothing but motivation for my staff to keep going, guys.

Melonie Poster 16:36

That's great. You want to round it out? Yeah, I think for us it's been a uh stronger emphasis and focus on data now that you know we have the data from last year to be able to find where those opportunities of growth are and using that data to make stronger, more specific strategic decisions.

Jhone Ebert 16:55

Great. Well, thank you all so much for being here. And we just I time goes by so fast. I I could sit here and listen to you guys forever. So when we return, we'll be talking with Tara Powell. She's the principal at Spring Valley High School and one of the fantastic students there. Emma, I am so excited to have a conversation with you as well. Our next guest is someone I have known for many years, and it isn't surprising to me that Spring Valley High School has had so much success in achieving their five-star status under her leadership. Tara Powell is the principal at Spring Valley High School, and she is also joined by senior Emma Behrens. Thank you both for taking the time to talk today about your school successes. Tara, I know that you're a big believer in building culture and relationships. How do those two things set the foundation for Spring Valley High School and how much of that can be attributed to achieving five-star status at your campus? Thank you for having me.

Tara Powell 18:00

Well, relationships are super important. It's the core of our work, and it's why, it's our why. So we had to start with building relationships, especially after we came back in 2021 from COVID, and we had to reset. And that's exactly what we did at Spring Valley. We reset, we recalibrated, and we adopted this canned period motto, um, meaning finding all the ways we can have children succeed. Take away those barriers, help them find their way, and propel into success. And that's exactly what we've done. But it's been an immense uh team effort. Talk about collective efficacy. Everyone has rallied together from the staff to the students, and together we're better. And here we are. It's been a labor of love for sure.

Jhone Ebert 18:44

That's awesome.

Tara Powell 18:45

That is so awesome. Can, period. Is that what I heard? Can period. It's defy it's not a motto. It defies can't. When we say can't too many too often, uh, it's it's not we can't do it yet. We've heard that before, but it's perfect mindset for us. It's finding all the ways we can, period, help students. And sometimes that's taking barriers away from adults, picking barriers away from kids, and finding that innovative way to get to the goal, which is student success.

Jhone Ebert 19:09

So, Emma, from your perspective, would you agree with what Principal Powell was just stating?

Emma Behrens 19:15

Oh, of course. Uh, you really feel that community on campus, especially with what she said, our like she said, it's not a motto, it's how we live our life with that can period statement, being able to just get through our day. And instead of instead of bringing the negativity, we spread that positivity. Instead of saying can't, we say can. And we say can to everything that um for our goals and for the places that we want to be, we can get there and we will get there. And it's all about that motivation that you really feel on campus.

Jhone Ebert 19:46

Well, I love that you're wearing the five-star shirt today as well. Did that achieving the five-star status, did that change the culture, the feeling with other students in the building? How, how, how is it like if I walk on campus today? Would I feel a difference if I were to walk on campus from last year? I was on campus last year.

Building A Magnet Culture Of Rigor

Emma Behrens 20:06

I mean, Spring Valley has a great community, like I said. We're all very, very motivated. Every student wants to make something of themselves. And you see that, and you really do feel that. Whether it was before we became a five-star school to after, we really do we share a sense of pride that our motivation and everything that we strive for is now publicly recognized. We're recognized for the efforts that we put in. And you do feel that when you step on campus. You really do. You feel the students, they want to talk to you. They want to make a, they want to make their interaction with you a moment. And it feels like everything we do on campus truly makes a moment.

Jhone Ebert 20:42

Oh, I love it. A moment, a moment. There we go. So, Tara, academically, how has this shift with the campus and the teachers and the community?

Tara Powell 20:53

It truly it's been a collective effort. Um, I have the most hard-working team members, staff members, and kids on campus. And we have just bound together to make sure that uh every single day that our kids are getting strong instruction about giving them that motivation, that pat on the back along the way, that relational capacity. Every kid that sits in a classroom isn't a name on a roster. There's someone's child. They have a story, and it they they deserve to be seen, valued, and heard. And that's what we've really focused on. And then we focused on so you focus on the basic needs, as we've talked about before, but then we focus on the instruction. Uh, one of my colleagues once said, Hey, Tara, don't take your foot off the gas. Well, I'm here today to say I didn't take my foot off the gas. My staff hasn't taken their foot off the gas. Great. Um, it's about accountability, but it's about giving kids what they need and they deserve it, which is strong instruction every single day to prepare for the next level. We have to act with a sense of urgency. We only have them for four years. And it seems like it goes by in a blur.

Jhone Ebert 21:58

So, final question: what makes CCSD a destination district for public education? What when I when we say that statement, in your heart and your mind, either of you, whoever wants to go first, destination district, Clark County School District.

Tara Powell 22:13

Well, I can speak to the Spring Valley High School and the Clark County School District. Like this is I have two children who are Clark County School District students. Uh, we have um we have immense educators, some of the best in the country. Um, and I've came from out of state. Uh my destination was Vegas. I'm not going anywhere if you're stuck with me. Awesome! Um, but I just think it's so diverse, and we have so many opportunities here and so many wonderful things happening. Being a five-star school, yes, like Emma said, it's being publicly recognized. But even before that status, there's so many awesome things happening at Spring Valley and all our schools across this district that need to be celebrated. Um, and there's a place for every kid. So foundation district.

Emma Behrens 22:58

Well, as a product of the CCSD process and working my way up, starting as an IB student in elementary school all the way to high school, I really feel like it's not just about what we're learning, but how we're learning it. It's about how each teacher puts like delicate and care into what they're teaching and how they're teaching it to their students. And like you said, we were talking to the Project Y and that project-based learning, you get this hands-on learning that you don't get anywhere else. And it's not just memorizing the information, but it's making that information muscle memory and just knowing it on the top of your head and making a difference in your community, especially in CCSD, is recognized and it's encouraged for every student. And you really see it through all these different success stories, making this district truly a place that you want to be.

Jhone Ebert 23:47

Thank you both so much. What a wonderful way to end this podcast. You've become a five-star school. And it's not just about the stars, but as both of you have noted, it's about the people, right, within the school building that make it all happen. So thank you both for being here today.

Emma Behrens 24:05

Thank you. Thank you so much. Go, Gris.

Maintaining Gains With Data Focus

Jhone Ebert 24:08

I couldn't be more proud that more than two-thirds of our CCSD campuses made broad year-over-year improvements in a variety of measures. This includes proficiency, right? Are our students on track to graduate? Their academic growth, did they grow during the year? English language arts, mathematics, graduation rates, advanced coursework opportunities, credit sufficiency, and of course attendance. 272 CCSD schools increased their index scores from 2024 to 2025 on the Nevada School Performance Framework. And an additional 20 schools earn five-star status to bring our total to 48 schools that will proudly hang their superintendents' honor banners this fall. This has been Destination District, a CCSD podcast recorded at the Vegas PBS Podcasting Studio. For more information about CCSD or to listen to previous episodes, visit CCSD.net. And remember, the destination is better when we get there together. Have a great day.