Feel good, perform well, or both? Monroe County school board members recently had lessons in subjective feelings and objective measurements.
Students at the district’s high schools conducted surveys labeled “A Day in The Life.” Previously, Robert Aleman and Ali Beth Wilson presented a survey of facts and feelings gathered at Coral Shores. At the March meeting, Marathon High School students Anthony Iarocci and Marisol Diaz shared their survey of more than 300 Marathon students.
The two surveys had similar results. More than 50% of students in both studies had part-time jobs and, of those, about 30% work nearly 20 hours a week. Over 30% of students drive themselves to school.
The survey was given to all levels, from freshmen to seniors; the numbers would be higher among juniors and seniors.
Despite those work hours, more than 40% of the students participate in sports. About 10% take part in clubs or performance activities.
In both studies, a near majority of students reported being online between one and four hours a day.
School board members focused on the students’ opinions of favorite and least favorite academic classes. Electives were universally favored, along with language arts. Math won the label of “least favored.” When pressed, the students said, “Math is okay when it’s numbers, but when it’s letters and symbols, it’s not so great.”
This subjective measurement contrasted with the data-heavy progress monitoring report from Lori Reid, director of assessment and accountability, and Heidi Roberts, district literacy coordinator. They reported on the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking at the mid-year point in the school year.
Monroe County students consistently score well above state norms in both reading and math. While the lead is substantial, Mindy Conn, school board chair, questioned why the lead hasn’t grown. There was a general discussion of teaching strategies and methods of sharing successful strategies as measured by student progress on standardized tests.
“The ‘Day in the Life’ presentation reminded us that there is so much more to a student’s education than how they perform on standardized assessments,” said school board member Sue Woltanski. “While we review data, we need to remember to stay focused on the needs of the ‘whole child.’”
By state statute, one third of a teacher’s evaluation is based on learning gains from test scores.
In other matters, the search continues for a new superintendent for the school district. Board members will conduct interviews and public meet-and-greets with candidates during April. The process culminates with a decision in early May and the new superintendent begins work on July 1. A list of the current candidates, 16 at presstime, is at keysschools.com/Page/7476.
