Community Values

If Parents Were At the Bargaining Table…A Community Values Paper

 

Submitted to the SVSD Bargaining Team by Snoqualmie Valley PTSA Council - April 2011

 

 

Introduction

 

The most successful enterprises always know who their primary customer is, and there is a shared and deeply felt commitment to that customer across all parts of the organization. Parents believe that our children are the customers of the educational product the school district is delivering. We don’t have a seat at the bargaining table, even though we are the primary caretakers of the customers – our kids – who will be directly affected by the teacher contract. Parents aren’t asking to be at the bargaining table, but we do want the opportunity to be spokespeople for what we believe is in the best interests of our kids.

 

The following report represents key educational values that if used to influence policy will empower our teachers and principals, improve outcomes for all Snoqualmie Valley students, and unite our community.  The purpose of this report is to communicate what parents in the Snoqualmie Valley value most in their child’s education.  Our purpose is not to “negotiate” on any contractual specifics, but simply to relay the nature and depth of parents’ feelings on this important topic.  Our sincere hope is for the information in this report to be constructive, and not destructive, during negotiations.

 

We commit to always push the boundaries of this conversation, explore ideas and work together towards finding the best possible path to success for all Snoqualmie Valley students.  Your willingness to allow this conversation to take place speaks volumes about our shared commitment to securing the best educational outcomes for our kids.

 

Process for obtaining input

 

Data for this report was collected through a survey that was sent to every parent via email, beginning February 28^th and ending March 13^th.  The survey was also made available to parents through individual PTSA newsletters and websites throughout the two weeks the survey was open.  Almost 1,200 parents took the time to respond to the survey and convey their thoughts.  As a PTSA we fully support and encourage parents to communicate their ideas and/or concerns regarding their child’s education. 

 

Reading and understanding this report

 

The format of this report closely follows the format of the survey itself.  Parents were provided with five separate “Value Statements.”  They were then given three questions to answer regarding each of those statements.

 

1.  Rate the importance of that value on a 1-10 scale

2.  Rate how well SVSD delivers that value on a 1-10 scale

3.  Provide examples of how they believe that value is, or could be, best delivered

 

(It is important to point out that examples provided in this report are not word-for-word from the survey results.  We received 173 pages of comments from parents, so we read each and every comment and tried to separate them into what we could see as emerging “themes.”  After reading and sorting all the comments we paraphrased what we saw as common and repeating suggestions and tried to communicate those ideas most effectively.)

 

Value Statement #1:  Parents want to have the most effective teachers in our kids’ classrooms every day to maximize effective learning time.

 

 

1.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates it is extremely important and 1 indicates it is not at all important, rate how important this value is to you.

 

90.3% of parents rated this value as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

Less than 1% of parents rated this value as a 3 or below on a 10 point scale.

 

 

2.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates excellent and 1 indicates poor, how good a job is Snoqualmie Valley School District doing in delivering this value to you and/or your child(ren)?

 

46.2% of parents rated the School District as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

6.3% of parents rated the School District as a three or below on a 10 point scale.

 

 

3.  What is the single biggest thing the SVSD should continue to do, or do differently to deliver this value effectively?

 

Hiring/ Evaluation & Accountability / Reward / Removal System:

• Reward the best teachers; make sure we keep them.
• Pay special attention to hiring the strongest possible math and science teachers.
• Build a teacher evaluation system that takes into account teacher effectiveness and student outcomes.
• Get feedback from parents and students about the teacher and classroom experience and factor these findings into teacher/principal evaluations.
• Give administration more tools and flexibility to reward excellent teachers and remove ineffective ones.
• Change our RIFing process to take into account teacher effectiveness; RIF less effective teachers first.

 

Learning time/schedule:

• Monitor and aggressively protect learning time with the primary teacher in the classroom; minimize teacher time out of classrooms for training, district work.
• Keep looking for ways to optimize learning, minimize disruptions during each and every school day. Suboptimal learning conditions/schedule discontinuities that parents still voice strong concern over are the Friday schedule, the too-early start times for middle and high schoolers, and the idea that our school days are not long enough.
• Look at school breaks and consider reducing some, e.g., mid-winter break, to reduce the learning disruptions during the school year.

 

Curriculum/ Teaching Styles/ Learning Environment:

• Introduce ways to challenge and engage all students at all levels.
• Teach our teachers how to teach to and connect with kids of all learning styles and levels of engagement.
• Look for more flexible and innovative ways to mitigate class size issues, e.g., look at more flexible ways to use EAs to mitigate class size issues, especially at the elementary level.
• Rationalize homework policy: what role does it have vis-à-vis classroom learning; is it always valuable; at what point does it become a drag on learning.

 

Training/Professional development:

• Support the most effective training programs and retain teachers who’ve received and are effectively using this training.
• Train and empower our principals and give them the time and resources to be educational leaders in their buildings.

·       Support teachers through hands on and consistent training that deals with application of skills needed to be effective. Provide self and peer reflection time to allow change and growth to occur

 

 

 

Value Statement #2:  Parents want the district to prioritize the use of its resources to invest in programs that have been proven to produce better outcome for all students.

 

 

1.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates it is extremely important and 1 indicates it is not at all important, rate how important this value is to you.

 

84.6% of parents rated this value as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

1.6% or parents rated this value as a 3 or below on a 10 point scale

 

 

2.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates excellent and 1 indicates poor, how good a job is Snoqualmie Valley School District doing in delivering this value to you and/or your child(ren)?

 

41% of parents rated the School District as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

6.7% of parents rated the School District as a three or below on a 10 point scale.

 

 

3.  What is the single biggest thing SVSD should continue to do, or do differently, to deliver this value effectively?

 

Facilities/ Materials/ Capital Expenditures:

• Capital expenditures should be dealt with as creatively as possible.
• Make sure capital expenditures are truly needed before placing bond proposals.
• Use district resources wisely, how many schools are overcrowded vs. how many schools have empty classrooms.

 

Programs/ Curriculum/ Technology:

• Invest in a consistent, cohesive high school math curriculum in which teachers are trained.
• Continue to invest in technology training for teachers so that the greatest value and benefit can be provided with the technology the district has already procured.  Technology is only useful if the user has the skills and knowledge to use it.
• Investments should be made in different programs to ensure all students’ needs are met.  For example, remedial math and HiC are equally important.  One is not more important than the other since investing in one and not the other does disservice to at least one group of students.  To be effective for all students there is a need for multiple programs which collectively provide benefits to each student. 

 

Personnel:

• In these difficult budget times, do whatever you can to retain our teachers.  But also recognize the importance of IAs who, support teachers by working with the children who need extra help.
• Invest in smaller class sizes, especially at the K-3 level.
• Reward staff and teachers who commit to programs that expand access to education.

 

Training/ Staff Development:

·       Give time for teachers to share their ideas and learning after taking training courses.  Set up opportunities for practice lessons to be performed while cohort teachers observe and report on the lesson's effectiveness.

• Create cohesiveness and team building at all schools.
• Invest in training to take place outside the normal school day.  It is important that teachers are in the classroom with their students.

 

 

 

 

Value Statement #3:  Parents want to be treated like partners in the educational process.

 

 

1.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates it is extremely important and 1 indicates it is not at all important, rate how important this value is to you.

 

89.3% of parents rated this value as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

1.5% or parents rated this value as a 3 or below on a 10 point scale

 

 

2.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates excellent and 1 indicates poor, how good a job is Snoqualmie Valley School District doing in delivering this value to you and/or your child(ren)?

 

50.5% of parents rated the School District as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

8.5% of parents rated the School District as a three or below on a 10 point scale.

 

 

3.  What is the single biggest thing SVSD should continue to do, or do differently, to deliver this value effectively?

 

One-on-one parent-student-teacher communication about an individual student’s performance/choices/potential:

• Communicate, communicate, communicate!  Teachers cannot communicate with parents too much.

• Reach out to parents more proactively about students when there is a need, e.g., when there are concerns about performance, if a child is not being challenged enough, or if, say, it’s course registration time and the teacher has some ideas about what class that student should be taking next.

• Get graded work back to students and parents in a timely, useful way.

• Update Skyward with grades much more frequently.  Weekly would be helpful.  Parents could then help keep students from falling farther behind.

• Use Sharepoint for posting assignments, homework help, test preparation, links to useful support information, even class notes.  Every teacher (MS & HS level) should update daily by end of school day.
• Elementary school teachers should update web pages weekly or send out weekly recap emails so parents are aware of what their students are learning on a continual basis.

• Minimize peer grading.
• Provide at least one more parent-teacher conference each year.

 

Collaboration between district and parents:

• Give parents a means to provide input to course guide offerings at middle and high school.

• Give parents and students a way to evaluate teachers and classroom experience on a regular basis.

• Use parent surveys, forums, suggestion boxes, focus groups, etc. liberally to give parents ample opportunity to voice their opinion.

• Have parent representation in all key district program decision-making, then be careful not appear to disregard parent input when decisions are ultimately made.

 

Parents in the classroom:

• Allow or seek parent involvement at middle school and high school levels.

·       Continue to use parent volunteers in the elementary school classrooms to effectively support students.

 

 

Value Statement #4:  Parents want every student in this district to have access to the same educational resources, no matter which teacher they have or which school they attend.

 

 

1.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates it is extremely important and 1 indicates it is not at all important, rate how important this value is to you.

 

80.5% of parents rated this value as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

1.5% or parents rated this value as a 3 or below on a 10 point scale

 

 

2.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates excellent and 1 indicates poor, how good a job is Snoqualmie Valley School District doing in delivering this value to you and/or your child(ren)?

 

41.3% of parents rated the School District as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

7.1% of parents rated the School District as a three or below on a 10 point scale.

 

 

3.  What is the single biggest thing SVSD should continue to do, or do differently, to deliver this value effectively?

 

Collaboration and communication in buildings and across district:

• Make sure our teachers and buildings can effectively address differences in students’ ability and learning styles.
• Collaborate across the district, so that curriculum is more consistently taught and there is a way to share best practices.
• Collaborate up and down grade levels so that there is curricular and student expectation consistency/continuity (this is especially important for incoming 6^th and 9^th graders).
• Share resources across schools, e.g., subject matter expertise, lesson plans.
• Enforce policies (e.g., discipline, behavior, party policies, etc.) consistently within grades, within schools, across schools.
• Make sure we have consistently high quality teachers at every grade level in every school.
• Make sure all students have equal access to programs that have proven to produce better student outcomes, e.g. equal access to teachers who have received the best training and professional development opportunities, equal access to areas of excellence and specialization that may reside in one building.

 

 

 

 

Value Statement #5:  Parents want students to graduate from high school with as much preparation as possible so that they have many choices available when they pursue their next desired step.

 

 

1.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates it is extremely important and 1 indicates it is not at all important, rate how important this value is to you.

 

89.7% of parents rated this value as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

1.3% or parents rated this value as a 3 or below on a 10 point scale

 

 

2.  On a scale of 1-10, where 10 indicates excellent and 1 indicates poor, how good a job is Snoqualmie Valley School District doing in delivering this value to you and/or your child(ren)?

 

39.1% of parents rated the School District as an 8 or above on a 10 point scale.

 

8.5% of parents rated the School District as a three or below on a 10 point scale.

 

 

3.  What is the single biggest thing SVSD should continue to do, or do differently, to deliver this value effectively?

 

Curriculum/ Programs/ Educational opportunities:

• Adopt curriculum policies/innovative staffing solutions that allow students to get the maximum core classes they need, at sufficiently advanced levels to qualify for their first choice after high school, whether that’s a four-year university, a two-year community college, or a vocational school.

• Make sure we’re preparing students for and promoting multiple options to continue education beyond high school.  We need to value, encourage and assist students in finding the educational opportunity that will help them identify and meet their life goals, whether it is to become a computer programmer, a hairdresser, a doctor, or a mechanic.

• Adopt curriculum policies/innovative staffing solutions that allow students to take the electives they need and want to keep school interesting and relevant and prepare them for their desired next step.

• Adopt more flexible/innovative policies about how we let kids fulfill their graduation requirements and make sure these options are communicated to families and readily accessible.

• Provide more access to counselors for direction on course selection and other choices that will affect students’ post high school options. Counseling help needs to be more accessible in terms of hours, responsiveness to inquiries, and friendliness.

• Make sure we’re using the most relevant, effective curriculum, technology and teaching strategies to ensure all students are truly prepared for their next step.

• Survey graduates prior to graduation and a year later to evaluate whether we are truly equipping our students to be qualified and ready for their next step after high school.