Welcome to our board meeting! We are so happy you made time to attend during our two-week break! I completed my 9th month as a superintendent last week and I am still smiling and so happy to be back in Sweetwater!
Over the weekend the San Diego Union-Tribune All-Academic Team was published. Sweetwater proudly has 484 scholar-athletes whose names were mentioned as participants in the winter sports of basketball, roller hockey, soccer, wrestling, or water polo. Students qualify for the All-Academic Team because they maintain a GPA of 3.0 or better. Congratulations to our scholar-athletes for achieving the balance of strong discipline in both academics and athletics! Special thanks to their coaches, teachers, and parents who support them.
Just recently I received an email citing an article entitled, “School conditions matter for student achievement, new research confirms.” We have known for quite some time that a teacher has the most significant impact on student learning. Research also confirms that school leaders have substantial influence on student achievement as well, only second to teachers. This specific article notes that a new study conducted on “New York City middle schools could make school climate the next frontier in the ongoing quest to boost student learning.” The study released last week found significant gains in key measures of school’s climate, like safety and academic expectations, can be linked to the equivalent of an extra month and a half of math instruction and in some cases a 25% reduction in teacher turnover. New York University’s Research Alliance say these finding could help shift the debate about what factors are most important in advancing student learning. Matthew Kraft, one of the researchers, said that measuring school climate is difficult and there are few studies that have looked at the effects of school climate and student achievement over time. This study zoomed in on 278 middle schools in New York City and specifically asked teachers (31,000 responses) about their school’s climate. Middle schools were chosen because they tend to have challenging school climates and serve students at a crucial moment in their social and academic development. The authors honed in on four measures of school climate: school safety and order, leadership and professional development, high academic expectations, and teacher relationships and collaboration. The study tracked those indicators of school climate over time and compared them with student test scores and school data on teacher retention.
The study found that if a school improved across the four measures of school climate, teacher turnover would decline and student achievement would increase. These findings directly support the direction we are moving as a district and it was the focus of Dr. Fulcher’s report on equity and culture at our last board meeting. We believe, and research validates, that school climate and capacity building provide crucial feedback that helps drive school improvement and are closely linked with important outcomes. As a district, we are paying close attention to school climate and culture. In other words, relationships between and among students, relationships between and among employees, and relationships between students, families and staff matter significantly in developing every aspect of our students’ academic and socio-emotional well-being. Ultimately, trust matters at all levels and among all stakeholders!
There is much work to be done in this area and as our effort expands, we appreciate everyone’s openness and willingness in addressing the teaching & learning, equity & culture, safe & clean facilities, and the professional development necessary to meet the needs of each student. Over the next three years we are going to do some things the same, some things will be different, and most of all, we will be better than ever in every way!
Together, we will do this and make it happen!
Thank you for the opportunity to serve and support all of you!
Sincerely,
Karen Janney, Ed.D.