30 September, 2004
“The bar is set very high”. These were the words of Stella SiWan Cheung, our evaluation expert, yesterday. Stella and Jason work together at ACET, The Action Consulting and Evaluation Team, and for the past three years we have worked with them to design an evaluation plan for Prairie Creek. This is the second year that they have written our Annual Report. Yesterday the teachers and I met with them as they presented the findings of our report based on all the data that we supplied them.
All in all, our meeting yesterday confirmed what most of our parents expressed in their surveys, 2003-2004 was a very positive year for Prairie Creek. The report is full of comments such as, “students, on average, made greater than expected fall-to-spring growth, student scores on the MCA’s were at or above national averages, students made significant fall-to-spring progress on the performance based assessment, (the Work Sampling Process), students indicated that they were engaged in reading four or more days at home per week, PCCS had high levels of parental engagement, and so on.”
As we discussed the report findings yesterday, we wondered together if our parents realized the many areas that we have been holding ourselves accountable. We have chosen to look at children’s growth in many more ways that the ones we are required to do, such as the MCA’s, Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments. I want to share these with you but, before I do, I want to issue a caution here. At Prairie Creek we believe in authentic, holistic assessment. Most tests are neither. But they do tell us something. We have chosen testing instruments that we feel we can live with here at Prairie Creek, the MCA’s being the exception, probably. We know our children very well at the school and do not look at them through such narrow lenses, so tread carefully here. Your children are passionate learners and thinkers, they are creative and caring and, because we believe in this sincerely, they are learning at their own pace, in their own way and after their own interests. Most tests are unable to determine growth in any of these things. However, I want to share our assessment strategies with you so that you know how seriously we take this whole subject and how thoughtfully we go about it. I welcome your questions after you have read this letter.
ÿ Reading: Our evaluation goal is “promote proficient and passionate readers.” We use the Woodcock Johnson Reading Battery to determine how well our children comprehend what they read. In the spring 89% of our students scored at or above expected national levels. This “test” is conducted in a one-on-one situation where the child is asked to supply the missing word in the sentence. It is quite informal and friendly and most of our children love the challenge. We only use this with our 2nd through 5th graders.
ÿ We also ask our children to fill out a Reading Survey which we designed to determine their interest in reading. One fun question asked if the child would be happy to get a book for a present and 76% said ‘yes’ to that question! Overall the results were very positive.
ÿ We have been using the Work Sampling system to assess Science, Math, Writing, and Social Development. Our goal was “at least 66% of students K-5 would be in the ‘in process or proficient’ level by year end. This tool is entirely based on teacher observation and work samples from the child, very much in keeping with our philosophy, and we feel it is quite useful. According to our records, 84% of our students were at the levels we anticipated in the spring. This year we will continue to use this tool in these same areas.
ÿ In addition to the tools that we use to look at Curriculum, the teachers and I, ably led by Laura, have been “mapping” curriculum areas these past two years. We have “mapped” math and science and this year will “map” writing. The Educational Resource Committee, ably led by Simon, will do an in-depth study of writing at Prairie Creek this year. Already this committee has met and the members, both teachers and parents, are reading extensively on the subject. I will write more about this topic of curriculum development and review later.
ÿ We also have a Creativity rubric that we use with children to help us determine how our children understand the creative process and deepen their creative experiences at the school. Our students show a high ability to generate a variety of ideas, and are challenged to seek out appropriate resources for the development of an idea.
ÿ State law requires our 5th and 3rd grade students to take the MCA’s in the spring of each year. Here, again, we achieved our goal of having our students score at or above national averages, overall. Our Annual Report will be posted on the Department of Education’s website and, if you check it out, you will be able to confirm all this information I am giving you. Please bear in mind that, as we have such a small group taking these tests, a large percentage of PCCS students in a particular category represents a small number of students relative to state numbers. The graphs may be misleading as there is not a significant statistical difference between the three groups, PCCS, Northfield and Statewide. This test is the one we have the least regard for at Prairie Creek for reasons which should be obvious to you if you have been with us for a while. It tells us very little about our children’s overall learning.
ÿ We also study parental participation in the school, which is why I bug you all so much about signing our volunteer book! I am aware that the results of this study fall way below the actual hours put in by parents because so many do not record their hours or sign in at events. However, on average, PCCS parents volunteered 42 hours a year per family. Last year our average was 33 hours. So, way to go parents! We are very happy to see that the greatest number of volunteer hours were in the classroom, then fundraising, field trips, and lunch, in that order.
ÿ We learned from our Parent Satisfaction Survey that we met our goals in all four areas, Community and Climate, Governance and Administration, Faculty and Staff, and Curriculum and Learning. The standard we set was an average of at least 2.5 on a four point scale on each of the domains and in the “agree and strongly agree” answers we scored at 3.32 and above. 64 out of 76 families returned their surveys. Your comments told us a number of things. You feel we could strengthen our math curriculum and that there may be too many projects for our children to handle effectively. You comment that our teachers’ consideration for the children is amazing, you appreciate the choices and freedom we give children and believe that we are staying true to our progressive mission. These comments and many others will be studied carefully by the Faculty and Board. We thank you for your candid remarks, both positive and negative, and we trust that by careful consideration of them we will make our school even stronger. This year we are studying our math curriculum and writing curriculum and we will pay more attention to how we articulate and explain our curriculum to parents.
So, as you can see, we have set the bar very high! It has been a year of extraordinary growth and success for our little school. Thank you to all who made this possible; our incredible teachers, parents, support and office staff and, of course, our remarkable children. I invite you to check out the report on the website and I welcome your questions. I will have a copy of the report in my office if you want to look at it at any time.
Volunteer Training:
Don’t forget the Volunteers Training on Thursday, 7th October at 6:30pm. Caroline will present ideas and strategies for effective parent helpers in the classroom. Learn how to be the best helper you can be in the classroom. All volunteers are required to attend.
HELP! We need a skilled parent to erect the cupboards (IKEA) on the walls of the Birches and Aspens. Please call Caroline if you can help us here. Thank you.