Mill Creek High SchoolJim Markham Principal Dr John Green AreaSuperintendent

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) has developed an accountability system for improving schools called the Results-Based Evaluation System (RBES) RBES fairly and systematically measures a schoolrsquos progress providing a process that clearly communicates expectations reviews monitors and supports school performance and evaluates that performance

The Mill Creek High school council and school leaders collaborated on the highlights included in this accountability report which also serves as the schoolrsquos annual report The report provides consolidated information on the schoolrsquos effectiveness based on multiple measures and student characteristics Please review this report to learn more about the schoolrsquos improvement efforts and progress

CONTENTSKey Results on Improvement Plans

2009ndash10 Results ndash Senior Reportndash SATndash Gateway

Assessmentndash Georgia High School

Graduation Tests and Adequate Yearly Progress

ndash Advanced Placement Exams

2009ndash10 Highlights

Staff Data

Student Data

School Safety Perceptions

Accountability ReportResults-Based Evaluation System Issued 2010ndash11

Goal To meet or exceed academic standards on the SAT the ACT and Gateway assessments

Result Mill Creekrsquos SAT scores increased by 44 points to 1586 surpassing the school district state and national SAT averages We met our ACT goal with a composite score of 24 We increased our passing percentages on the Gateway on all subtests We are particularly proud of our science performance on the Gateway increasing passing rates from 54 in 2008ndash09 to 90 in 2009ndash10 The percentage of students achieving in Effective and Excellent ranges was above 50 for Gateway subtests in social studies sciencelanguage arts and social studieslanguage arts A total of 702 Mill Creek students took 1439 AP Exams up 46 percentage points from the previous year The percentage of students making a ldquo3rdquo or better (on a 5-point scale) increased by 68 points There were 183 Mill Creek AP students designated as AP Scholars the third yearly increase in a row

Our Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) results met nearly all of our objectives for student subgroups To ensure that all students reach their potential we will provide additional mathematics support for students who are not successful Passing rates in writing increased by 3 points for a passing rate of 97

Goal To reduce the percentage of students missing 16 or more days of school during the year

Result Mill Creek met this goal reducing the percentage of students with high absenteeism by 3 percentage points from 15 down to 12

Key Results from 2009ndash10 Local School Plans for Improvement

Local School Plans for Improvement are plans developed locally by school administrators teachers and parent advisory groups These plans outline school goals

Tell us what you think about

this report

Click here to complete a

questionnaire online

2009ndash10 Results SATA popular college-admissions test the SAT features complex read-

ing passages and math concepts and a writing section The table to the right shows average scores and percentages of students taking the SAT at our school compared to the district state and nation The graphs below compare Mill Creek studentsrsquo scores to the Gwinnett state and national averages on the SAT

2009ndash10 Results High School GatewayTo earn a regular diploma Gwinnett high school students must pass both GCPSrsquos High School Gateway and the Georgia

High School Graduation Tests Given in the 10th grade the Gateway essay test covers content in social studies and science as well as language arts skillsmdash writing grammar and spelling To ensure that more students meet the standard on the high school Gateway GCPS is offering additional resources tutorials and practice opportunities through the school system website While many students are successful on the test on their first try those who are not have seven additional opportunities to take and pass the test before graduation

2009ndash10 Senior Report

2009ndash10 SAT Averages

Students Completing

HSdagger

Number of Seniors Planning to Attend College or

Postsecondary School

Number of Honor

Graduates

Number of Seniors Taking Advanced Placement (AP)

Courses

Number of AP Courses Taken

by Seniors

Seniors with Dual Enrollment

Mill Creek High 761 704 182 385 1129 12GCPS 9331 7773 1890 4217 11304 116

daggerReflects system-reported data as of August 2010 Student information self-reported as of April 2010

Critical Reading Math Writing Total Tested

Mill Creek 526 548 512 1586 82GCPS 508 528 496 1532 74Georgia 488 490 475 1453 64National 501 516 492 1509 37

100

80

60

40

20

0

Science Social Studies ScienceLanguage Arts Social StudiesLanguage ArtsPerformance Levels

ExcellentEffectiveMinimal but passingFailing

Percentages shown may not add up to 100 due to rounding Percentages 6 and below are not labeled Reflects spring administration

2009ndash10 Results Advanced Placement (AP) ExamsAdvanced Placement (AP) courses are challenging college-level classes taught by specially trained high school teachers

Students have the option of taking an AP exam at the end of the school year Many colleges award credit for passing the exams or allow a student to be exempt from certain college courses Students exposed to the demanding AP curriculum are well prepared for the rigors of college coursework The table below shows the percentage of classes taken at Mill Creek High that were designated as AP classes compared to the county average The chart also shows the percentage of optional course-specific AP exams taken as well as the percentage of AP exams scored 3 or better (on a 5-point scale) In 2009ndash10 264 of Mill Creek students took one or more AP courses compared to 278 of all GCPS high school students

2006ndash07 2007ndash08 2008ndash09 2009ndash10Mill Creek GCPS Mill Creek GCPS Mill Creek GCPS Mill Creek GCPS

AP as Percentage of Total Classes Taken 47 54 53 62 66 73 86 88 AP Exams Taken 590 728 658 746 680 773 726 770 AP Exams Scored 3+ 586 644 597 631 583 618 651 575

Mill Creek

Mill Creek

2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

bull In the table above only results for subgroups that meet the state-set minimum number of students are used to determine AYP

Mill Creek High achieved AYP

All Students

Asian Pacific

Islander Black Hispanic

American Indian Alaskan White

Multi- Racial

Students with

Disabilities

Limited English

ProficientEconomically

Disadvantaged

Math Participation Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedMath Performance Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedEng Lang Arts Participation Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedEng Lang Arts Performance Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedThis school achieved the statersquos graduation standard for all students

2009ndash10 Results Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) and Adequate Yearly ProgressSchools earn Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status by meeting a series of performance goals that every school system and

the state as a whole must achieve under the federal No Child Left Behind Act In Georgia AYP for high schools is determined using results from the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) in English language arts and mathematics These tests measure the knowledge and skills of students by assessing how well students have learned the statersquos curriculum content stan-dards To make AYP high schools must meet state-set student achievement goals and graduation standards for all students and for all subgroups that have 40 or more students or 10 of the students in grade 11 whichever is greater (with a 75-student cap) In addition schools must test 95 of all students and of all subgroups with 40 or more students Georgia reports achievement scores for every subgroup with 10 or more students However the state only considers results for subgroups that meet the state-set minimum number of students in determining a schoolrsquos AYP status

The GHSGT is a curriculum-based test used to measure high school studentsrsquo learning Mill Creek High students continue to do well on the GHSGT with percentages of students meeting and exceeding standards above the system averages in both English language arts and mathematics The school made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) meeting all of the statersquos academic goals testing participation requirements and graduation standards

As it was across the county science was a focus area for Mill Creek as we worked to improve on performance on the 2008ndash09 administration of the Gateway The science department implemented a number of interventions to support learning throughout the year resulting in a dramatic increase in the passing rate from 54 up to 90 We also posted an increase in the percentage of students scoring in the Effective or Excellent ranges in science from 14 up to 41

During the 2009ndash10 school year our goal was to increase our studentsrsquo engagement level as well as the amount of time our students were engaged in critical thinking collaborating and summarizing activities School administrators collected data during more than 200 classroom observations revealing that students were engaged for approximately 739 of the time Collaboration and summarizing activities were observed during 18 of the walk-through observations with critical thinking being observed during 32 of the walk-through observations

Additionally making certain our 9th graders made a successful start in high school was another area of concern We instituted a summer program in an effort to improve overall freshmen passing rates The 9th grade summer program consisted of an orien-tation and instructional planning session for rising 9th grade students and their parents In 2008ndash09 a total of 13 of the fresh-men class failed three or more courses In the readinesstransition programrsquos first year we were able to reduce the percentage of students failing three or more courses to just over 10 a small but promising reduction For the 171 participants in the summer program the percentage of students failing a course first semester was lower than the rate for students who did not attend

After reviewing GCPSrsquo study of 10403 studentsrsquo school attendance and the impact of unexcused absences on test performance we have begun our own effort to find the impact of unexcused absences on the academic performance of Mill Creek students

In the chart to the right only subgroups with 10 or more students are reported Results for groups smaller than the state minimum are not considered for AYP The dotted lines on this graph represent the statersquos AYP standard in Math and English Language Arts in 2010 The standards will increase to 100 by 2014 The chart to the right reflects spring and summer test administrations

Math AYP Standard

English Language Arts AYP Standard

Percentage of Students Meeting or Exceeding State Standards

A Message from the Principal About Student Achievement and Academic Initiatives

Mill Creek High School

Gwinnett County Public Schools 437 Old Peachtree Rd NW bull Suwanee GA 30024-2978

wwwgwinnettk12gaus2010 Gwinnett County Board of Education

Dr Mary Kay Murphy 2010 Chairman Dr Robert McClure 2010 Vice Chairman

Carole C Boyce Louise Radloff and Daniel D Seckinger J Alvin Wilbanks CEOSuperintendent

ThemissionofGwinnettCountyPublicSchoolsistopursueexcellenceinacademicknowledgeskillsandbehaviorforeachstudent

resultinginmeasuredimprovementagainstlocalnationalandworld-classstandards

Mill Creek High School4400 Braselton Highway bull Hoschton GA 30548(678) 714-5850 bull wwwmillcreekhighschoolorg

Jim Markham Principal

2009ndash10 Staff DataStaff Certification Level

Experience in Education

2009ndash10 Student Data

School Year09ndash10

Enrollment 3469+American IndianAlaskan Native 1+Asian 7+BlackAfrican American 13+Hispanic or Latino any race 13+Multiracial two or more races 4+Native HawaiianPacific Islander 0+White 61Special Education 8ESOL 2FreeReduced Lunch 22Average Attendance 95

+ Reflects changes in ethnic and racial designations set by the federal government As a result 2009ndash10 data is not comparable to ethnic and racial categories from previous years and is reported for one year only

Not Hispanic or Latino

Other 2009ndash10 Highlights Gwinnett County Public Schools is the 2010 winner of The Broad Prize for Urban Education the countryrsquos most prestigious honor for Kndash12 education

bull For the fourth consecutive year Mill Creek High was included on Newsweek magazinersquos list Best American High Schools

bull Mill Creek was recognized by the Governorrsquos Office of Student Achievement at the bronze level for the Highest Percentage of Students Meeting or Exceeding Academic Standards on the 2010 GHSGT

bull Seniors in the Class of 2010 were offered a total of $125 million dollars in scholarships not including HOPE Scholar-ships

bull One of Mill Creekrsquos special education teachers was named a finalist for the Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year award

bull Mill Creek students earned 70 Art Awards from the Scholastic Arts Awards hosted by Georgia State University

bull Mill Creek Academic Decathlon team participated in the State Finals for the third consecutive year

bull Mill Creek was again one of the top contributors to Relay For Life with contributions exceeding $32000 and our student campaign for United Way was the second largest in Gwinnett

bull Mill Creek had the greatest number of Governorrsquos Honors Program participants representing our traditional high schools for the second consecutive year

bull Mill Creekrsquos Orchestra took second place in the prestigious New York Orchestra competition

bull Mill Creekrsquos Special Education Department hosted the Special Olympics for the second consecutive year

bull A Mill Creek student was named a Gates Millennium Scholar bull The Competitive Cheerleading team won the AAAAA State

Championship for the second year in a rowbull Both our Baseball and Volleyball teams advanced in their

respective State Tournamentsbull Our Softball Menrsquos Track Team Menrsquos and Womenrsquos Swim

and Dive Lady Hawks Basketball Menrsquos Tennis and Menrsquos Cross Country teams all advanced beyond their regular seasons to the playoffs

bull The Mill Creek Ice Hockey Club Team won the State Champi-onship

School Safety PerceptionsBased on responses to 2009ndash10 RBES Perception Surveyhellipbull 789 of students agreed or strongly agreed that

they felt safe at Mill Creek Highbull 898 of parents agreed or strongly agreed that

their childrsquos school was safe Reflects voluntary responses to parent and student perception surveys

bull In the table above only results for subgroups that meet the state-set minimum number of students are used to determine AYP

Mill Creek High achieved AYP

All Students

Asian Pacific

Islander Black Hispanic

American Indian Alaskan White

Multi- Racial

Students with

Disabilities

Limited English

ProficientEconomically

Disadvantaged

Math Participation Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedMath Performance Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedEng Lang Arts Participation Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedEng Lang Arts Performance Achieved Achieved Achieved Achieved AchievedThis school achieved the statersquos graduation standard for all students

2009ndash10 Results Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) and Adequate Yearly ProgressSchools earn Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status by meeting a series of performance goals that every school system and

the state as a whole must achieve under the federal No Child Left Behind Act In Georgia AYP for high schools is determined using results from the Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) in English language arts and mathematics These tests measure the knowledge and skills of students by assessing how well students have learned the statersquos curriculum content stan-dards To make AYP high schools must meet state-set student achievement goals and graduation standards for all students and for all subgroups that have 40 or more students or 10 of the students in grade 11 whichever is greater (with a 75-student cap) In addition schools must test 95 of all students and of all subgroups with 40 or more students Georgia reports achievement scores for every subgroup with 10 or more students However the state only considers results for subgroups that meet the state-set minimum number of students in determining a schoolrsquos AYP status

The GHSGT is a curriculum-based test used to measure high school studentsrsquo learning Mill Creek High students continue to do well on the GHSGT with percentages of students meeting and exceeding standards above the system averages in both English language arts and mathematics The school made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) meeting all of the statersquos academic goals testing participation requirements and graduation standards

As it was across the county science was a focus area for Mill Creek as we worked to improve on performance on the 2008ndash09 administration of the Gateway The science department implemented a number of interventions to support learning throughout the year resulting in a dramatic increase in the passing rate from 54 up to 90 We also posted an increase in the percentage of students scoring in the Effective or Excellent ranges in science from 14 up to 41

During the 2009ndash10 school year our goal was to increase our studentsrsquo engagement level as well as the amount of time our students were engaged in critical thinking collaborating and summarizing activities School administrators collected data during more than 200 classroom observations revealing that students were engaged for approximately 739 of the time Collaboration and summarizing activities were observed during 18 of the walk-through observations with critical thinking being observed during 32 of the walk-through observations

Additionally making certain our 9th graders made a successful start in high school was another area of concern We instituted a summer program in an effort to improve overall freshmen passing rates The 9th grade summer program consisted of an orien-tation and instructional planning session for rising 9th grade students and their parents In 2008ndash09 a total of 13 of the fresh-men class failed three or more courses In the readinesstransition programrsquos first year we were able to reduce the percentage of students failing three or more courses to just over 10 a small but promising reduction For the 171 participants in the summer program the percentage of students failing a course first semester was lower than the rate for students who did not attend

After reviewing GCPSrsquo study of 10403 studentsrsquo school attendance and the impact of unexcused absences on test performance we have begun our own effort to find the impact of unexcused absences on the academic performance of Mill Creek students

In the chart to the right only subgroups with 10 or more students are reported Results for groups smaller than the state minimum are not considered for AYP The dotted lines on this graph represent the statersquos AYP standard in Math and English Language Arts in 2010 The standards will increase to 100 by 2014 The chart to the right reflects spring and summer test administrations

Math AYP Standard

English Language Arts AYP Standard

Percentage of Students Meeting or Exceeding State Standards

A Message from the Principal About Student Achievement and Academic Initiatives

Mill Creek High School

Gwinnett County Public Schools 437 Old Peachtree Rd NW bull Suwanee GA 30024-2978

wwwgwinnettk12gaus2010 Gwinnett County Board of Education

Dr Mary Kay Murphy 2010 Chairman Dr Robert McClure 2010 Vice Chairman

Carole C Boyce Louise Radloff and Daniel D Seckinger J Alvin Wilbanks CEOSuperintendent

ThemissionofGwinnettCountyPublicSchoolsistopursueexcellenceinacademicknowledgeskillsandbehaviorforeachstudent

resultinginmeasuredimprovementagainstlocalnationalandworld-classstandards

Mill Creek High School4400 Braselton Highway bull Hoschton GA 30548(678) 714-5850 bull wwwmillcreekhighschoolorg

Jim Markham Principal

2009ndash10 Staff DataStaff Certification Level

Experience in Education

2009ndash10 Student Data

School Year09ndash10

Enrollment 3469+American IndianAlaskan Native 1+Asian 7+BlackAfrican American 13+Hispanic or Latino any race 13+Multiracial two or more races 4+Native HawaiianPacific Islander 0+White 61Special Education 8ESOL 2FreeReduced Lunch 22Average Attendance 95

+ Reflects changes in ethnic and racial designations set by the federal government As a result 2009ndash10 data is not comparable to ethnic and racial categories from previous years and is reported for one year only

Not Hispanic or Latino

Other 2009ndash10 Highlights Gwinnett County Public Schools is the 2010 winner of The Broad Prize for Urban Education the countryrsquos most prestigious honor for Kndash12 education

bull For the fourth consecutive year Mill Creek High was included on Newsweek magazinersquos list Best American High Schools

bull Mill Creek was recognized by the Governorrsquos Office of Student Achievement at the bronze level for the Highest Percentage of Students Meeting or Exceeding Academic Standards on the 2010 GHSGT

bull Seniors in the Class of 2010 were offered a total of $125 million dollars in scholarships not including HOPE Scholar-ships

bull One of Mill Creekrsquos special education teachers was named a finalist for the Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year award

bull Mill Creek students earned 70 Art Awards from the Scholastic Arts Awards hosted by Georgia State University

bull Mill Creek Academic Decathlon team participated in the State Finals for the third consecutive year

bull Mill Creek was again one of the top contributors to Relay For Life with contributions exceeding $32000 and our student campaign for United Way was the second largest in Gwinnett

bull Mill Creek had the greatest number of Governorrsquos Honors Program participants representing our traditional high schools for the second consecutive year

bull Mill Creekrsquos Orchestra took second place in the prestigious New York Orchestra competition

bull Mill Creekrsquos Special Education Department hosted the Special Olympics for the second consecutive year

bull A Mill Creek student was named a Gates Millennium Scholar bull The Competitive Cheerleading team won the AAAAA State

Championship for the second year in a rowbull Both our Baseball and Volleyball teams advanced in their

respective State Tournamentsbull Our Softball Menrsquos Track Team Menrsquos and Womenrsquos Swim

and Dive Lady Hawks Basketball Menrsquos Tennis and Menrsquos Cross Country teams all advanced beyond their regular seasons to the playoffs

bull The Mill Creek Ice Hockey Club Team won the State Champi-onship

School Safety PerceptionsBased on responses to 2009ndash10 RBES Perception Surveyhellipbull 789 of students agreed or strongly agreed that

they felt safe at Mill Creek Highbull 898 of parents agreed or strongly agreed that

their childrsquos school was safe Reflects voluntary responses to parent and student perception surveys

Mill Creek High School

Gwinnett County Public Schools 437 Old Peachtree Rd NW bull Suwanee GA 30024-2978

wwwgwinnettk12gaus2010 Gwinnett County Board of Education

Dr Mary Kay Murphy 2010 Chairman Dr Robert McClure 2010 Vice Chairman

Carole C Boyce Louise Radloff and Daniel D Seckinger J Alvin Wilbanks CEOSuperintendent

ThemissionofGwinnettCountyPublicSchoolsistopursueexcellenceinacademicknowledgeskillsandbehaviorforeachstudent

resultinginmeasuredimprovementagainstlocalnationalandworld-classstandards

Mill Creek High School4400 Braselton Highway bull Hoschton GA 30548(678) 714-5850 bull wwwmillcreekhighschoolorg

Jim Markham Principal

2009ndash10 Staff DataStaff Certification Level

Experience in Education

2009ndash10 Student Data

School Year09ndash10

Enrollment 3469+American IndianAlaskan Native 1+Asian 7+BlackAfrican American 13+Hispanic or Latino any race 13+Multiracial two or more races 4+Native HawaiianPacific Islander 0+White 61Special Education 8ESOL 2FreeReduced Lunch 22Average Attendance 95

+ Reflects changes in ethnic and racial designations set by the federal government As a result 2009ndash10 data is not comparable to ethnic and racial categories from previous years and is reported for one year only

Not Hispanic or Latino

Other 2009ndash10 Highlights Gwinnett County Public Schools is the 2010 winner of The Broad Prize for Urban Education the countryrsquos most prestigious honor for Kndash12 education

bull For the fourth consecutive year Mill Creek High was included on Newsweek magazinersquos list Best American High Schools

bull Mill Creek was recognized by the Governorrsquos Office of Student Achievement at the bronze level for the Highest Percentage of Students Meeting or Exceeding Academic Standards on the 2010 GHSGT

bull Seniors in the Class of 2010 were offered a total of $125 million dollars in scholarships not including HOPE Scholar-ships

bull One of Mill Creekrsquos special education teachers was named a finalist for the Gwinnett County Teacher of the Year award

bull Mill Creek students earned 70 Art Awards from the Scholastic Arts Awards hosted by Georgia State University

bull Mill Creek Academic Decathlon team participated in the State Finals for the third consecutive year

bull Mill Creek was again one of the top contributors to Relay For Life with contributions exceeding $32000 and our student campaign for United Way was the second largest in Gwinnett

bull Mill Creek had the greatest number of Governorrsquos Honors Program participants representing our traditional high schools for the second consecutive year

bull Mill Creekrsquos Orchestra took second place in the prestigious New York Orchestra competition

bull Mill Creekrsquos Special Education Department hosted the Special Olympics for the second consecutive year

bull A Mill Creek student was named a Gates Millennium Scholar bull The Competitive Cheerleading team won the AAAAA State

Championship for the second year in a rowbull Both our Baseball and Volleyball teams advanced in their

respective State Tournamentsbull Our Softball Menrsquos Track Team Menrsquos and Womenrsquos Swim

and Dive Lady Hawks Basketball Menrsquos Tennis and Menrsquos Cross Country teams all advanced beyond their regular seasons to the playoffs

bull The Mill Creek Ice Hockey Club Team won the State Champi-onship

School Safety PerceptionsBased on responses to 2009ndash10 RBES Perception Surveyhellipbull 789 of students agreed or strongly agreed that

they felt safe at Mill Creek Highbull 898 of parents agreed or strongly agreed that

their childrsquos school was safe Reflects voluntary responses to parent and student perception surveys