Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Wawasee School Board members heard some good news Tuesday when Superintendent Dr. Mark Stock reported positive results in both a staff survey and in student ISTEP scores.
The staff survey, which was first given in 1997 and then again in spring 2005, asks questions about teacher responsibility, the best teaching practices, work climate and others. In every category, except morale, survey results show a positive gain.
"(The survey) is very important," Stock said. "This gets at the mission of what the schools are all about."
The teacher morale question showed a slight decline - about 2-percent - but questions about the work climate and personal job fulfillment both showed positive increases.
A possible reason for the reported decline is that the survey was given during the last two weeks of school, a time when teachers are under stress, Stock said.
Full survey results will be posted on the Wawasee blog, www.wawasee.blogspot.com, today.
ISTEP scores in grades 3, 6 and 8 show steady positive growth, with fewer students failing the test, and significantly more students passing with a "pass plus" rating, meaning their score is in the state's top 10 percent.
An average of all grade level's 2004 test scores (the most recent available) showed that 73 percent of students passed the English section, up from 70 percent in 2003 and 69 percent in 2002.
Students passing the math section increased to 77 percent, up from 72 percent in 2003.
Students in the Pass-Plus categories increased to 14 percent of testers in math and 8 percent in English. In 2003, 10 percent achieved a pass-plus score, and 6 percent achieved it in English.
The most significant change in test score averages occurred in the sixth grade, with 10 percent more students passing English and 9 percent more passing math since 2002.
Pass-Plus sixth grade testers more than doubled in both categories, with 23 percent in math and 11 percent in English. In 2002, just 6 percent of students in math and 5 percent in English were in the state's top 10 percentile.
A breakdown of all grade levels is available on the Wawasee blog.
In other business, Stock reported the school is working to find a way to keep a writing expert in the school corporation. Currently, the school employs Ruth Ayres as a writing workshop expert. Ayres is paid through a Dekko grant and federal funding, but the grant is set to expire after this school year.
Writing workshops, Stock said, are responsible for significant improvements in student writing and test scores in school districts where the program is implemented.
Wawasee School Board members are President Dallas Winchester, Vice President Mary Lou Dixon, Secretary Marion Acton, Brian Dawes and George Gilbert.
