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    Ranking Columbus City Schools by Family Engagement Surveys

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    There are many ways to assess schools. The Ohio Department of Education routinely measures school performance through standardized testing. Other standards of measurement include economic need, financial expenditures, graduation rate and remediation rate.

    Then there are Family Surveys.

    Many school districts ask for feedback by sending surveys to families. Some districts hire a third party to implement the surveys, not only to encourage participation, but to ensure the process preserves anonymity in case there is any fear of reprisal against a student.

    The results of the Columbus City Schools 2012-2013 Family Engagement Survey (PDF) (the most recent survey) indicate that over half of the system’s schools lacked the minimum number, fifteen surveys, to include or report data. Only fifty-four schools were included in the report indicating less than 15 surveys were completed for sixty-two schools.

    This could support several premises: that parents may feel they go unheard, or they fear retaliation against their student, or that things are going swimmingly so there was no need to respond. CCS does state that “if the number of surveys completed is less than 10% of the total enrollment in the particular building the data may not accurately reflect the condition”.

    Regardless, the district ranked the results and the top three and bottom three are unexpected.

    In reading these results, remember that a score of zero would be the mean or average. When the district processes the scores, it assigns a color code to the results. Scores that are green are positive scores; scores that are red are negative scores.

    Hitting the very bottom at #54 out of the 54 schools in this report is Indian Springs Elementary School in Clintonville.

    ISE’s lowest score was -5.06 for “I receive information on child development.” Followed by -4.70 for “I receive information on health and nutrition.” Also notable are its scores of -4.00 or lower in almost all areas of feeling welcome or school involvement and communication. Of the 25 questions asked, 19 of the questions scored so low that they were categorized in the red “Substantially different than district” mean. The only question that scored high enough to be in the green “Noticeably or Substantially different than the district” mean was “My child’s teacher asks to meet with me face to face at least once a year to talk about how my child is doing.” The 10% rule does not apply here as it was one of two schools that had over 100 surveys turned in. The other school was Maize Elementary who finished at #30.

    #53 is Liberty Elementary School on the southeast side of Columbus.

    Liberty’s lowest score was -4.01 for “When I volunteer at the school, I am given training, if needed, and resources to do my task well.” Followed by -3.65 for My child’s teachers adjust their teaching styles to meet my child’s learning style.” Of the 25 questions asked 17 scored in the red and they had no areas that scored in the green. Their highest score was -0.83, “I am given information about services to support my child’s learning and behavior needs and enhance his or her talents”.

    Very few Middle or High Schools are included in the districts report, presumably due to the lack of responses. However, Yorktown Middle School is #52 and located on the East side.

    Yorktown had 13 red scores out of the 25 questions. Its lowest score was -4.13, “I am asked about my child’s talents and strengths.” There were no green areas in the response tabulations. Its highest score was a -0.03, “When my child’s school communicates with me, it is easy for me to read or understand.”

    What do the three schools at the bottom have in common? Not much. They couldn’t be more different. The two elementary schools are polar opposites on paper and the third school is a middle school. The consistent low area in common for these three schools is that respondents do not feel welcome or involved in school level improvement planning or in school event planning or attendance. Respondents indicate that they don’t feel like their child has the academic support needed to meet his or her individual needs. The low scores probably indicate an overall building climate issue but definitely indicate families do not feel engaged. Clearly the 10% rule may apply to two of the three schools, but ISE has some work to do in order to improve its Family Engagement scores.

    Moving on to the top three. Number three is Fairwood Elementary School located on the south side of Columbus.

    Fairwood’s highest score was 5.79, “I am given information about community services that help with families’ needs”. For the 11% that answered, this has made an impact and a difference. Nicely done #3. Helping with a families stability will help engage them in education. Additionally, it received high scores in all the areas where the three bottom schools did poorly. It did not have one red area on their results. In fact they had no negative number results at all.

    Number 2 might be surprising; surprising in that as the only school in CCS with an A rating, you might think would be #1 in satisfaction. Clinton Elementary, located in Clintonville is #2.

    The notable back story in these results is that Clinton had just moved back into its beautifully renovated building. Clinton’s highest score was a 6.24 for “My child’s school is a safe place to learn.” A close second was a 6.17 for “I am invited to help plan family involvement activities.” It did receive one negative number, -0.52 for “I receive information on child development.” Otherwise 21 of the 25 questions all rated in the green.

    Earning top honors at #1 is the southeast side’s, year round, Woodcrest Elementary School.

    Every one of Woodcrest’s scores was in the green. Their lowest score was 1.16 for “When I volunteer at the school, I am given training, if needed, and resources to do my task well.” This number is still above the district mean and clearly very high compared to ISE who received a -3.40, the lowest score from all the surveys in this area. Woodcrest’s highest score was a 10.22, “My child’s school is very good about staying in touch with me.”

    Two of the top three schools have a similar demographics and the same ODE grade. But one is on year-round schedule and the other is on a traditional schedule. Clinton, on the other hand, could not be more different in terms of demographics and ODE grade. Things these three have in common is they appear to engage their school communities through a variety of activities, such as dances, family bowling, community volunteering and through other traditional school events.

    The surveys indicate that having informed, welcomed and invited families yields green range scores and an engaged school community. What CCS administrators need to understand is that every CCS family would like be very satisfied with the school their children attend. They want to feel welcomed, invited, informed and engaged. When the family feels taken care of, they trust you are taking care of their child.

    And when a family feels otherwise? The results speak for themselves.

    To read more updates on Columbus City School Issues, CLICK HERE.

    For more ongoing discussion on Columbus City Schools, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.

    Photo by Walker Evans.

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    Maria Kozelek
    Maria Kozelek is a long time Community and Education Activist. She worked on the ItsOKAYtoVoteNo campaign as well as contributes to RealCCSReform. She is a Social Media Manager and League Registrar for Buckeye Premier Youth and Mid-Ohio Select Soccer leagues.
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