WELLMAN
When state education report cards came out in November, Mid-Prairie found itself looking at marks at the low end of the range: the elementary and middle schools were rated ‘acceptable’ …
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WELLMAN
When state education report cards came out in November, Mid-Prairie found itself looking at marks at the low end of the range: the elementary and middle schools were rated ‘acceptable’ and the high school ‘needs improvement.’ While the high school’s report was startling, as it had been receiving ‘commendable’ scores for years, this was business as usual for the two elementary schools; ‘acceptable’ was where they had always been, and administrators found that acceptable.
But not anymore. They’ve woken up.
“You go from like, oh, we’re doing as well as everybody else. I can’t think of anything in my life where I heard that 65% was great, right?” East Elementary principal Greg Jergens said, explaining the mind shift underway at the district during the school board’s work session Monday.
That report card prompted the district to work with experts at Grant Wood AEA to craft a five-year strategic plan to “move the needle forward,” not “a thing we’re going to do, but how we’re going to do things.” That work is underway, and administrators shared with the board the work they’ve done and progress they’ve made on figuring out where they want to go and how they’re going to get there. Ultimately, the district would like to craft a blueprint to share with the public.
Administrators outlined three goals at the Jan. 27 meeting: 80% of students preK-12 will be proficient in reading; increase attendance to 90% or greater in our district; and 100% of Mid-Prairie students will participate and demonstrate readiness for life beyond high school.
“Glaring data” revealed these were areas the district needs to address.
At present, about 65% of elementary students are proficient in reading. Overall, about 14% of students miss more than 10% of school days – and those numbers are considerably higher for students with disabilities (26%) and those of low socio-economic status (27%). Just under half of students participate in work-based learning while in high school.
Part of the district-wide mind shift is reflected in the new vision statement, “Every student, every day.” Administrators aim to work toward their three stated goals at every grade level, beginning with preschool. They also aim to see every student as “their student,” whether that student is in their classroom or building or not, and help them appropriately.
Mid-Prairie’s middling marks aren’t due to staff not working hard, administrators say; rather, they’ve perhaps been using teaching practices that are not as effective as they could be. West Elementary principal Robin Foster said long-accepted practices for teaching reading haven’t produced great results, and now they’re starting to teach reading “in a very different way.”
“We have learned so much more,” she told the board. “We know better, we do better,” she said, acknowledging that it will take time to adapt better practices and see students become stronger readers. “We’re starting kids where they’re at, and they will grow, but it’s going to take time,” she said.
Developing a strategic plan to provide an excellent education for every student is “uncharted territory,” superintendent Brian Stone said.
“Our report card wasn’t where we wanted it to be, but it is fair to say we’ve got good people here to make it where we want it to go,” he said. “We couldn’t ask for better people to go to battle with than the people we have.”