Survey says: Conway El. is getting better all the time School completes its second PIRC survey in three years and results show marked improvementBy Lloyd Jones Editor Lloyd@conwaydailysun.com CONWAY - Things are better at Conway Elementary School, and it has proof.The school, selected in 2006 to take part in a pilot program through the Parent Information Resource Center in Concord, has been taking a hard look at itself by involving parents and faculty over the years. In 2007, the school participated in its first 65-question survey with staff and parents. Two and a half years later, the same survey was conducted and the results show glowing improvement.Conway El. Principal Brian Hastings and the school's family liaison Mandy McDonald presented their information to the Conway School Board at its March 8 meeting. The duo explained how gains were made."Hard work by everyone," Hastings said, smiling. "We kept the needs of our students first. When you make decisions in the students' best interests, everybody wins. ... This was a complete team effort. People in our building have worked their tails off trying to make this school better for students, and this shows the hard work has paid off. I'm very proud of this staff and the work that we have done together. We also have a great PTO. We will continue to improve as we go. We're not done yet by any means, we're just getting started. It's been a team effort has stepped up."Hastings paused for a moment and then continued."When this project began we were going through a challenging time as a school," he said. "People kept asking, how are things at Conway El.? What's going on? That challenge brought out the best in us as a school. I often thought about my (late dad during that difficult time. My dad used to say, 'Brian things are better left unsaid.' When I was playing hockey he would say, 'Do your talking on the scoreboard, put the puck in the net - when the chips are down keep your nose to the grindstone and work even harder.' Our school is stronger than ever and we are improving. I think this survey clearly shows that."The school had emphasized strong connections between the home and school."Home connections and partnerships with parents is one of our core beliefs as a school," Hastings said. "There is very strong research indicating students are more successful in school when parents are involved in their child's education. This has been an emphasis for our school."In the fall of 2006, a comprehensive 65 question survey went out for all parents and teachers looking at all aspects of education. McDonald said Betsy Gemmecke, former director of the School to Career, nominated Conway El. to be part of the five-year program with PIRC at no cost to the district. The Academic Development Institute created the survey that Conway El. used to look at itself."I was more than happy to do this because I knew it would give me some information as to how we were doing in terms of parents and staff perceptions," Hastings said. "... What the survey does is it gives you an idea of what you're doing well and what you're not doing well. One of the things we've identified is we need to be more consistent with homework, that's one of our improvement targets."Last fall the survey went out again to see if any gains had been made."In addition to this committee's improvement targets," Hastings said, "as a school, we have a strategic plan that involves all staff (other committees include math, science, social studies, interventions wellness, technology, welcoming and respect and responsibility). We worked on a number of areas including student achievement and staff collegiality and morale."I was thrilled with the gains that this school community has made over the past couple of years," he continued. "The survey indicates strong parent support an a large boost in many areas including student achievement in reading and math along with morale amongst staff. In many ways, this is our report card as a school. An independent survey filled out by nearly 90 percent of our families and 100 percent of our classroom teachers is going to give you the real story. This is something you can't fudge, it is what it is."Some ares of strength and growth on the survey were:•Opinions of parents/teachers really count - parents jumped from 82 to 88 percent and teachers increased from 52 to 92 percent over two years.•Programs are provided for parents and teachers to assist them in their roles - parents jumped from 68 to 84 percent and teachers increased from 48 to 88 percent.•Students receive help when they need it - parents jumped from 82 to 92 percent and teachers increased from 76 to 92 percent.•Students are treated with respect - parents jumped from 85 to 92 percent and teachers increased from 84 to 96 percent.•Student are encouraged to do their best work - parents jumped from 94 to 96 percent and teachers remained at 96 percent.•The importance of reading is stressed - parents jumped from 86 to 92 percent and teachers remained at 100 percent.•If a parent has a concern, the teachers listen and help - parents jumped from 82 to 91 percent and teachers remained at 96 percent.•Students get a solid grounding in basic skills and subjects - parents jumped from 85 to 94 percent and teachers increased from 80 to 92 percent.•Administrators at the school are helpful - parents jumped from 75 to 86 percent and teachers increased from 52 to 92 percent.Is there a proudest moment on the survey?"There's a lot of them," Hastings said. "There were a lot of positive things. When the survey began a couple of years ago and they approached us to work with them in partnership, I think at that time we had a very strong school, things were going well, but it was an opportunity to do a really comprehensive survey. What I really like about this is the survey wasn't administered by me the principal, it's sort of an outside survey, people can take home. The initial survey showed lots of strengths, but it flushed out lots of issues.""I think the proudest moment is looking big picture," McDonald added, "just like the climate and culture here, it's shifted, which is great. We had 87 percent of the surveys returned by parents which is absolutely incredible and 100 percent by teachers."McDonald said if there was a glitch in the survey it was that it only included teachers and not all staff within the walls at Conway Elementary."I think so many of the questions talk about classroom that support staff may not know what happens in the classroom," she saidAs part of the relationship with PIRC, Conway El. created a Family School Community Team, which is made up primarily by parents of students. The team met with staff recently and revealed the results of the survey, but the next step is to share the information with the parents. On April 7 at 5:30 p.m., the school will host a Spring Fling where Hastings and McDonald are inviting all of the Conway El. families to a potluck dinner in the cafeteria. There will be be activities going on for the children along with PIRC workshops for parents in various classrooms. Plus, all the information from the survey will be shared with those on hand.Click here for information about NH PIRC’s Solid Foundation Program described in this article.
Survey says: Conway El. is getting better all the time
School completes its second PIRC survey in three years and results show marked improvement
By Lloyd Jones
Editor
Lloyd@conwaydailysun.com
CONWAY - Things are better at Conway Elementary School, and it has
proof.
The school, selected in 2006 to take part in
a pilot program through the Parent
Information Resource Center in Concord,
has been taking a hard look at itself by
involving parents and faculty over the
years. In 2007, the school participated in its
first 65-question survey with staff and
parents. Two and a half years later, the
same survey was conducted and the results
show glowing improvement.
Conway El. Principal Brian Hastings and
the school's family liaison Mandy McDonald presented their information to the Conway
School Board at its March 8 meeting. The duo explained how gains were made.
"Hard work by everyone," Hastings said, smiling. "We kept the needs of our students first.
When you make decisions in the students' best interests, everybody wins. ... This was a
complete team effort. People in our building have worked their tails off trying to make this
school better for students, and this shows the hard work has paid off. I'm very proud of this
staff and the work that we have done together. We also have a great PTO. We will continue
to improve as we go. We're not done yet by any means, we're just getting started. It's been
a team effort has stepped up."
Hastings paused for a moment and then continued.
"When this project began we were going through a challenging time as a school," he said.
"People kept asking, how are things at Conway El.? What's going on? That challenge
brought out the best in us as a school. I often thought about my (late dad during that
difficult time. My dad used to say, 'Brian things are better left unsaid.' When I was playing
hockey he would say, 'Do your talking on the scoreboard, put the puck in the net - when the
chips are down keep your nose to the grindstone and work even harder.' Our school is
stronger than ever and we are improving. I think this survey clearly shows that."
The school had emphasized strong connections between the home and school.
"Home connections and partnerships with parents is one of our core beliefs as a school,"
Hastings said. "There is very strong research indicating students are more successful in
school when parents are involved in their child's education. This has been an emphasis for
our school."
In the fall of 2006, a comprehensive 65 question survey went out for all parents and
teachers looking at all aspects of education. McDonald said Betsy Gemmecke, former
director of the School to Career, nominated Conway El. to be part of the five-year program
with PIRC at no cost to the district. The Academic Development Institute created the survey
that Conway El. used to look at itself.
"I was more than happy to do this because I knew it would give me some information as to
how we were doing in terms of parents and staff perceptions," Hastings said. "... What the
survey does is it gives you an idea of what you're doing well and what you're not doing well. One of the things we've
identified is we need to be more consistent with homework, that's one of our improvement targets."
Last fall the survey went out again to see if any gains had been made.
"In addition to this committee's improvement targets," Hastings said, "as a school, we have a strategic plan that involves
all staff (other committees include math, science, social studies, interventions wellness, technology, welcoming and
respect and responsibility). We worked on a number of areas including student achievement and staff collegiality and
morale.
"I was thrilled with the gains that this school community has made over the past couple of years," he continued. "The
survey indicates strong parent support an a large boost in many areas including student achievement in reading and
math along with morale amongst staff. In many ways, this is our report card as a school. An independent survey filled out
by nearly 90 percent of our families and 100 percent of our classroom teachers is going to give you the real story. This is
something you can't fudge, it is what it is."
Some ares of strength and growth on the survey were:
•
Opinions of parents/teachers really count - parents jumped from 82 to 88 percent and teachers increased from 52
to 92 percent over two years.
•
Programs are provided for parents and teachers to assist them in their roles - parents jumped from 68 to 84
percent and teachers increased from 48 to 88 percent.
•
Students receive help when they need it - parents jumped from 82 to 92 percent and teachers increased from 76
to 92 percent.
•
Students are treated with respect - parents jumped from 85 to 92 percent and teachers increased from 84 to 96
percent.
•
Student are encouraged to do their best work - parents jumped from 94 to 96 percent and teachers remained at
96 percent.
•
The importance of reading is stressed - parents jumped from 86 to 92 percent and teachers remained at 100
percent.
•
If a parent has a concern, the teachers listen and help - parents jumped from 82 to 91 percent and teachers
remained at 96 percent.
•
Students get a solid grounding in basic skills and subjects - parents jumped from 85 to 94 percent and teachers
increased from 80 to 92 percent.
•
Administrators at the school are helpful - parents jumped from 75 to 86 percent and teachers increased from 52
to 92 percent.
Is there a proudest moment on the survey?
"There's a lot of them," Hastings said. "There were a lot of positive things. When the survey began a couple of years ago
and they approached us to work with them in partnership, I think at that time we had a very strong school, things were
going well, but it was an opportunity to do a really comprehensive survey. What I really like about this is the survey
wasn't administered by me the principal, it's sort of an outside survey, people can take home. The initial survey showed
lots of strengths, but it flushed out lots of issues."
"I think the proudest moment is looking big picture," McDonald added, "just like the climate and culture here, it's shifted,
which is great. We had 87 percent of the surveys returned by parents which is absolutely incredible and 100 percent by
teachers."
McDonald said if there was a glitch in the survey it was that it only included teachers and not all staff within the walls at
Conway Elementary.
"I think so many of the questions talk about classroom that support staff may not know what happens in the classroom,"
she said
As part of the relationship with PIRC, Conway El. created a Family School Community Team, which is made up primarily
by parents of students. The team met with staff recently and revealed the results of the survey, but the next step is to
share the information with the parents. On April 7 at 5:30 p.m., the school will host a Spring Fling where Hastings and
McDonald are inviting all of the Conway El. families to a potluck dinner in the cafeteria. There will be be activities going
on for the children along with PIRC workshops for parents in various classrooms. Plus, all the information from the
survey will be shared with those on hand.
Click here for information about NH PIRC’s Solid Foundation Program described in this article.
NH PIRC’s Karen Gerdts (left) is joined by
Mandy McDonald, Parent Liaison at Conway
Elementary School, at a National PIRC Conference
The NH Parents Make the Difference website is a collaboration between the Parent Information Center of NH and the
NH Department of Education. This website is supported with funding from the US Department of Education through
the NH State PIRC grant of the Natonal PIRC program.
© 2010 The Parent Information Center of NH
