District Advisory Committee??

In an effort to involve all District stakeholders (students, parents, staff, school board, and community members) I am tossing around the idea of developing a "District Advisory Committee" whose purpose would be to discuss any and all issues relevant to our schools. We would likely meet on a quarterly basis with an agenda that limited our discussion to a few selected topics. Any member of the District would be able to suggest items for the agenda and the agenda would be posted one week prior to the scheduled meeting time. I want to make an effort to involve as many individuals in our school as possible and to provide an avenue where questions can be asked, answered, and discussed in a meaningful manner. What is the point to the blog post? Well, let me know what you think... Would we get enough involvement? Would it be worth it?

Big Question

Alright, so the blog has been quiet lately while I have been contemplating the context of my next post. I have decided to ask for some reaction and/or reflection to some "academic surveys" I had our Middle and High School students complete. As you may or may not know, we have been looking into the apparent fact that our student body seems to be composed of students doing very well and students doing poorly; in short, little or no "middle ground" students in the mix. In order to solve this issue and to hopefully begin to understand a student's perspective on why simply turning work in complete seems to be such a challenge for some. I can say with complete certainty, that students not turning work in was something I constantly strived to "fix" in my own classroom. With that being said, I also know that this situation is NOT unique to Prairie Farm Schools. Below, you will find the survey and the results for Middle and High School; the student's answers appear below each question and the number in parenthesis reflects the number of students that answered similarly and the answers in italics are responses that 5 or more students listed as an answer. Please look over the results and feel free to provide any input you feel relevant. I will be discussing the results with our students this week on Thursday and Friday during Panther Time and hope to have some student involvement in formulating some approaches to help us figure this thing out. An item that I noted is that our students, for the most part, certainly see their ownership of this situation.
(Please excuse the formatting; I took the time to make it readable only to see that after I hit "publish" it came out like this...)

MS Academic Performance Self-Evaluation
Please answer the following questions as clearly as possible; we hope to use this information to enhance the opportunities for all students.

Have you ever failed a class or been failing at any point during a quarter? YES NO
If you answered “yes” can you explain why?
Frequent absences (1) Too difficult (2)
Didn’t turn work in (12) Not paying attention (1)
Late work (1) Failed big project (1)
Lack of effort (2)
Poor test grades (4)

List and explain anything that you feel would help you raise your grade(s). (You can explain things that would be helpful both before you were failing and after; if you have NEVER failed or been failing a class, please still take the time to answer this question.)
More work time (14) Correct mistakes (2)
Better/ clearer instruction (7) Try harder (11)
Complete work at home (8) Extra credit (2)
Panther time in morning (1) Less homework (2)
More help (6)

What areas of school are most important to you? Are there any ways we can enhance or improve these areas?
Sports (7) Art (3)
Phy Ed (18) FCE (2)
Math (18) Band/ Choir (5)
Lunch (10) Language arts/ reading (5)
Science (11) Business (1)
Academics in general (4) Study hall (1)
Social Studies (5)

Answers to 2nd part (ways to improve areas):
Better equipment (2)
More time to ask questions

Are there any things that you would like to see incorporated into our school? Are there things that we currently do, but you would like to see more of? (In academics, athletics, co-curriculars, etc.)
Computer classes (1) Group work (1)
Dances (2) Field trips (3)
Open gym (2) Foreign languages (3)
Outdoor activities (1) Powder puff FB (2)
Activity days (2) Track facility (2)
Longer study hall (1) Golf team (1)
Dress up days (1) Hands on activities (1)
Intramurals (3) Tutors (1)
Art club (1) Laptops (1)
Soccer (4)
More help (2)


HS Academic Performance Self-Evaluation
Please answer the following questions as clearly as possible; we hope to use this information to enhance the opportunities for all students.

Have you ever failed a class or been failing at any point during a quarter? YES NO
If you answered “yes” can you explain why?
Not understanding (8) Not explained well (5)
Too much homework (3) Distracted (2)
Low test scores (7) Frequent absences (5)
Didn’t try/ turn things in (17) Too much weight on single item (2)
Lost paper/ teacher didn’t grade (3)

List and explain anything that you feel would help you raise your grade(s)?
(You can explain things that would be helpful both before you were failing and after; if you have NEVER failed or been failing a class, please still take the time to answer this question.)
Less homework (15) Study groups (2)
Better explanation/ clearer assign. (14) No tests (1)
More help (4) More extra credit (16)
More time in class to do work (15) Computers (2)
Turn in all work/ on time (6) Less worksheets (1)
Talk with teachers (4) Panther time (1)
Coordinate test dates (1) More effort (3)
Fair grading practices (4) Engaging classes (5)
Tutors (1) Retake tests (5)

What areas of school are most important to you? Are there any ways we can enhance or improve these areas?
Sports (9) Art (2) Tech ed (5)
Phy Ed (11) Ag (2) Graduating (2)
Math (20) Band/ Choir (2) Preparing for future (4)
Lunch (1) English (7) Panther time (1)
Science (15) Theater (1) Foreign languages (1)
Academics in general (8) Psychology (1)
History (5) Computers (3)

Answers to 2nd part (ways to improve areas):
Improved teaching methods Hands on activities (2)
Valuable feedback Computers
Book clubs Field trips
More poetry Guest speakers
Creative outlets Flexible scheduling
Intramurals Tutors
More ITV/ on-line opportunities Extra help
Group work Less homework

Are there any things that you would like to see incorporated into our school? Are there things that we currently do, but you would like to see more of? (In academics, athletics, co-curriculars, etc.)
Better Technology/ computer classes (14) Foreign languages (5)
Intramurals (4) On-line/ ITV classes (2)
Improved athletic equipment/ facilities (11) Open campus at lunch (6)
More school spirit (1) More class choices (5)
Softball (3) Flexible schedule (2)
Hockey (3) Support for co-currilculars (1)
Soccer (2) Drama club (1)

The Discussion

I thought it would be appropriate to outline the aim and purpose of this blog. First, we plan to utilize it as yet another method to disseminate information and solicit input form District residents. Second, the blog can also be used as a virtual comment box; that is, feel free to post questions, discussion topics, suggestions, or anything that you feel warrants attention. We would like to know the thoughts of all of the people involved in our school and community.
Please feel free to post any comment you wish!

Some questions for discussion:
1) What should be the aim of schools; what do you want your school to do?
2) What are the characteristics of successful schools and successful students?

We Are Working!

Well, it turns out that there was a problem with the comments... To make a long story short, I believe that the problem is solved. To address the issues raised regarding 21st century skills; I could not agree more. The issue that faces our school, and many others, is budget. Simply put, technology costs prohibit the District from making the BIG moves quickly. I can say that we have a decent plan in place and will be making many technological improvements in the next few years. The issue will quickly become getting staff and students to "take the plunge" and try something new with the technology... The goal is to make students responsible consumers AND producers of information; we are at a time where anyone can create web content simply and easily... The focus should be quality web content.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Prairie Farm Schools Blog. I hope to use this blog as a method to quickly disseminate information, ask and answer questions, and seek input from residents of Prairie Farm Schools. Please log on often!
Lets kick things off by asking a question: "What do you think are the biggest issues facing our schools and our students?"
Be the first to comment!