At the May 30 Board of Education meeting, the governance team (SOCSD administration and school board members) reviewed critical data as part of its continuous improvement cycle. The governance team believes that data should be collected, analyzed, and presented in a manner that helps to improve the quality of education for students. To this end, the instructional staff is using the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as a framework to make data more meaningful and purposeful. ESSA is a federal law that, when applied responsibly, can promote accountability, school improvement, educator development, and student supports.
Public schools have, in recent years, struggled with the concept of accountability – especially in light of poorly designed and implemented legislation such as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. ESSA is an improvement over past efforts to promote accountability since it examines new ways to identify schools for support and interventions. South Orangetown, has been identified as a school district in “Good Standing” and this is good news. However, SOCSD stakeholders know that this designation does not tell the whole story and the administration must “dig deeper” by disaggregating the data to ensure that all students are receiving the best education possible.
In reviewing the data, the administration made no mention of statewide high-stakes testing as a measure of accountability. Why? Because standardized-test scores are generally accepted to be a poor measure of organizational effectiveness. The SOCSD Board of Education is committed to using data that are aligned with strategic objectives of importance to our community. These broader measures of student success (beyond test scores) are measured by indicators such as reduced levels of chronic absenteeism, improved high school readiness, and college and career readiness factors. These are much better predictors of a high-quality education than high-stakes testing. Further, we will consider how school climate affects our students’ ability to access their educational program. Research suggests that the quality of the school climate may be the single most predictive factor in any school’s capacity to promote student achievement; If we want achievement gains, we need to begin by improving the school climate (Schindler, et al, 2016).
To promote, measure, and improve school climate, our school district has taken the following action steps:
- Adopted a Guidance Planning Document that emphasizes Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), restorative practices, and trauma-sensitive practices;
- Established a Family Engagement Center (FEC) and school-based Prevention Centers at TZHS and SOMS (in progress);
- Administered the USDE School Climate Surveys to students, parents, and school personnel;
- Analyze survey results (in progress) and other pertinent data (e.g. chronic absenteeism data, school violence index, suspension data) with the Pupil Personnel Support (PPS) Team (under the direction of Dr. Karen Tesik) and created an associated action plan to address areas of need.
Reference
Shindler, J., Jones, A., Williams, A.D., Taylor, C., Cardenia, H. (2016). The school climate-student achievement connection: If we want achievement gains, we need to begin by improving the climate. Journal of School Administration Research and Development 1(1), 9-16.