From the Principal’s Desk
Mr. Kevin Dick
The weather is turning colder, as is usual for this time of year. A couple of morning announcements and reminders for students and their parents at this time are probably needed.
1. Students should enter the building from the doors that they enter for recess.
2. The recess doors close at 8:05, with that bell. After that, all students need to go through the front office.
3. No students should be dropped off IN the west parking lot, this area is reserved for only bus and day care transportation vehicles.
Thank you for your cooperation on these morning aspects of coming and going to school.
The reason for the recess door process is that some of our teachers doing duty have to get to their classrooms for an early class, and so they are no longer available after 8:05. Students coming after 8:10 will need a “tardy slip”, entry to class slip, to let teachers know what time they came to school, and that they did come through the office. The office is responsible for marking this attendance on Infinite Campus.
Another discussion that is timely now is some information about school attendance, a continued focus of our school improvement work at Pettigrew. At this time of year, some parents will get certain communication from school about attendance and will become concerned about this communication. Please know, for attendance monitoring and continued communication with parents about attendance status, it is the policy of the Sioux Falls School District that parents receive a letter of communication from the school when students have the given number of absences – 5 for the year, 8 for the year, and 10 for the year. After that, parents may receive another set of communications outlining further procedures that are the continuation of the district attendance policy, simply to continue to intervene in situations that the district considers excessive. The mark that the district considers excessive is more than 10 days of absence per year. Another point of interest for parents is that students are not considered “excused” or “unexcused” by the district and the state of South Dakota, who is ultimately responsible for monitoring attendance rates of schools in the state. However, providing documentation of medical appointments or visits to the school can sometimes adjust when these additional interventions become active. Suffice it to say, if students miss school for any type of medical appointment (dentist, orthodontist, doctor), of if they visit a medical office during any time of absence, providing this documentation (note) from the medical office to the school office is suggested, as this is documented on our end. Attendance is monitored and discussed in monthly meetings by an attendance team, and this type of documentation is a factor that is discussed by this team, as the individual records are observed. This is particularly important as the number of absences may surpass the “excessive” 10 days of absence level.
As has been previously discussed, PAWS is our new initiative this year, as we expect students to always exhibit our core values of: Positive, Accountable, Wise and Safe. One of our accompanying efforts to assist our school community in this focus is documenting all data in our SWIS data collection system. Each SWIS report that a student receives is communicated to parents, but it also feeds into our school-wide documentation system. Each month, a monitoring committee looks at this data to see areas that we should focus on for additional intervention. For the month of September, our data showed that in October, we needed to focus on the behavior of defiance in the classroom, exhibited toward adults. The documented reason for these reports was primarily to escape tasks that are expected by the adults in the school community. This caused us to focus our instructional efforts on the aspect of Accountability in our PAWS core values concepts. One of the core lessons we teach in the locations of our learning areas (classrooms) is found below. A key factor of this effort is found in the word respect. Respectfulness is something all parents want their children to exhibit, and it is a basic component of what Pettigrew expects of all our students. We share this information with parents for the purpose of collaborating with parents, as we work with our students in a team-working environment. Parents, please help us focus on this important aspect of basic citizenship by discussing these issues with your children. Also, all adults in our community, both staff and parents, need to model and exhibit respect to others, as we interact with our community members in and around Pettigrew.
Thank you for your continued teamwork, and as we continue to focus on this level of Social Emotional learning, we know that our efforts will reap successful dividends. As we all know, too, our school mission statement is clearly based on this area of success, in order to realize success in the other areas addressed in our mission statement. That statement, once again, is: To educate and prepare each student to succeed in a changing world by emphasizing growth in social skills, emotional well-being, and academic progress.
Learning Area PAWS
Positive
· Do your best and never give up
· Be respectful to all adults and classmates
Accountable
· Have a growth mindset
· Be engaged and participate respectfully
· Be prepared and do your work
Wise
· Stay on task
· Transition quietly in a timely manner
· Listen to and follow directions
Safe
· Use materials for intended use
· Use body control and stay in your own space
Student Proficiency Then and Now - Is it Really Different, or Did We Just Not Know?
By Dr. Jane Stavem, Superintendent
It's been said that in order to know where you're going, you need to understand where you've been. In education, understanding where we've been is crucial to improving the educational experience for our students.
One area where we've seen significant changes over the years is in the way we report student proficiency. This evolution has prompted us to reflect on how far we've come and whether these changes are truly transformative or if they've simply shone a light on information that was previously hidden.
If you're like me, you may have fond memories of your school days. You might recall your classmates, teachers, and the unique experiences that shaped your education. But how much do you remember about standardized test scores and proficiency levels? Chances are, not much. In fact, many of us never had those scores reported publicly, and it makes you wonder: Has anything changed, or is it just that we now know about it thanks to the changes that began with the No Child Left Behind Act?
The No Child Left Behind Act, passed in 2001, was a significant turning point in education policy. It required schools to report student achievement data, disaggregated by various subgroups, including race and socioeconomic status. This marked a shift in transparency and accountability in our education system, but it also raised questions about whether the emphasis on standardized test scores was fair to both students and schools.
Before this era of transparency, we had a vague understanding of who the top performers were in our graduating class, and we had little information about those who were struggling. We might have known the valedictorian, the star athlete, or the class president, but we had little insight into the individual strengths and challenges of our peers. The idea of proficiency, in terms of standardized test scores, was rarely discussed openly.
I think about my own class of 26 graduates from our small Nebraska community. Here’s the breakdown of what could be determined as proficiency based on our post-high school enrollments and who received special education services:
8 students received special services and did not go to a program after high school - 31%
3 students went to a vocational school - 12%
6 students completed a four-year degree - 23%
9 students completed a post-baccalaureate degree program - 35%
All of them are gainfully employed, some of them were big surprises as successful adults, and nobody vilified my school district because a quarter of my class was struggling readers.
Fast forward to the present day, and the landscape of education looks quite different. Our focus on reporting student proficiency and holding schools accountable for their performance has increased significantly. We have embraced data-driven decision-making, which has both benefits and challenges. While this increased transparency has shed light on achievement gaps and prompted schools to address disparities, it has also raised concerns about the narrowing of curriculum and excessive testing.
In asking whether these changes have truly transformed education, it's important to consider the trade-offs. Are we now more aware of student proficiency because it's being measured more rigorously, or are we simply more attuned to it due to policy changes and headlines? Moreover, are we striking the right balance between a focus on accountability versus the holistic development of our students?
As we continue to navigate the evolving landscape of education, it's crucial to remember that proficiency scores are just one piece of the puzzle. We must also recognize and value the diverse talents, passions, and aspirations of our students. The well-rounded development of young minds is a complex endeavor, and standardized testing, while valuable for assessment benchmarking, should never be the sole measure of a student's potential or success.
The changes in reporting student proficiency have undoubtedly transformed our educational landscape for good and for bad, and the true impact lies in how we use this information to support our students and schools.
Let's continue to focus on a well-rounded education for all while valuing the talents and potential of each of our students. Some of them may surprise us along the way!
Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to the Sioux Falls School District.
R.F. Pettigrew PTO
Email: rfp.president@yahoo.com
Website: rfpettigrew.org/pto
Location: 7900 West 53rd Street, Sioux Falls, SD, USA
Phone: 6053623564
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RFPettigrewPTO/?ref=share
