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Show Olson gives other side Educator replies to Clipper Editor: This article is submitted in response to Judy Jensen's loosely reported account in the April 1 6 edition of the Clipper of the meeting held on April 11 at the West Bountiful School. She tided her article, "West Bountiful Boun-tiful parents demand fair treatment." During this meeting, parents stated their opinions, pro and con, of the school's extended day schedule. Some expressed a desire to see a traditional schedule re-established at their school. Ms. Jensen did not attend the meeting. Instead, she gathered data from me via the telephone, as I suspect she did from West Bountiful School patrons critical of the extended day program. The result was a report that only remotely conforms to what was actually said at the meeting. I am motivated to respond because of her mischievous selection of minor fragments of our conversation con-versation and her distortion and omission of a number of essential points communicated to her in our telephone conversation. West Bountiful parents need an accurate account of the school district's position. No one has said the West Bountiful School, at which enrollments are indeed declining, cannot return to a traditional schedule. The issue basically centers upon the question of how soon changes can be made. My opposition is simply that changes should occur according to a reasonable time frame and in an orderly way that is fair to all concerned: concern-ed: students, teachers, parents and citizens at large. A hasty, poorly planned change could have a long term detrimental effect upon the school and community. A number of parents at the meeting felt that the extended ex-tended day schedule was responsible for the low composite com-posite score fifth graders achieved last October on the Stanford Achievement Test. My response at the meeting was that while the delivery system, i.e., extended ex-tended day schedule, was a factor to be considered in identifying the problem, it was only one of several factors fac-tors that could be related to test scores. Of equal or greater importance is the alignment of the test with the local curriculum. The SAT was designed for nationwide comparisons and was not keyed to the curriculum of any individual state or school. The West Bountiful School employs the Utah State Core Curriculum. Student mastery of this cur-i cur-i riculum is best measured by the Levels Tests designed in accordance with the Core Curriculum. Other testing factors include the effectiveness of the principal and staff in creating a climate in which students take their studies seriously and strive to achieve; the organization of individual teachers in planning lessons focused on Core Curriculum standards and objectives; the actual conditions under which the tests are administered; and the socio-economic level of the community. At the conclusion of my statement, I noticed that the final factor in my sequence caused a flurry of discussion discus-sion in the audience. It later showed up prominently in Ms. Jensen's article. My comments at that point were intended to be general observations about factors commonly com-monly related to test score analysis. They were not meant to refer to West Bountiful or any other particular community. My point that test scores can be affected by many factors is borne out by new and significant test data which reached my desk the day of Ms. Jensen's call. I gave her the data, but, for reasons of her own, she chose not to include it in her article. The Davis School District administered the Stanford Achievement Test to all sixth graders in early March to help in the placement of students in seventh grade. The same West Bountiful students who as fifth graders scored at the 39th percentile, percen-tile, after five additional months in their extended day school, achieved a composite mean score at the 50th percentile on essentially the same test, scored this time with sixth grade norms. Their 11 point span of improvement im-provement compared very favorably with other schools in the district. A significant point that Ms. Jensen chose to ignore is the plan being developed by a committee of West Bountiful teachers and parents under the direction of Principal Talmadge Robinson to modify the extended day program for the 1991-92 school year. Their plan is to place the first grades on a conventional schedule; move social studies into the specialty area, thus allowing allow-ing more time for the basics: reading, writing, spelling and math; and to set up a more simple and balanced schedule of specialty classes: science, social studies, art, healthy lifestyles, and computer. These steps are being be-ing planned in response to concerns expressed by parents. Ms. Jensen did mention a second West Bountiful School committee, this one organized to study and respond res-pond to parent concerns and schedule preferences. Members include Mrs. Jackie Miller, PTA president; Mrs. Michele Toller, PTA vice president; Mrs. Sherrie Johnson; Mrs. Ann Thompson; Mrs. Lucille Eastman; Mrs. Kay Maxfield; Mrs. Jackie Holbrook; Mrs. Christell Hunter; Mrs. Madaleen Pekarcik, Mrs. Leslie Zabriskie; Mrs. Carole Matheson; Mrs. Leona Lakman; Roy Warren; and Principal Talmadge Robinson. Mrs. Miller and Mr. Robinson tried to select people representing repre-senting a balance of preferences and to provide geographic representation. They are at liberty to assign additional members. The committee's assignment will be to do the bidding bid-ding of the majority of school patrons with regard to the future schedule to be employed at the school. They are subject to the school board's policy which includes patron participation in the decision-making process. (This nearly always necessitates a well-managed survey of the school's patrons, staff and administration); administra-tion); an application submitted to the Board by Oct. 30; a decision from the Board by the end of November; and, if approval is given, implementation of a schedule change at the start of the following school year. This policy has worked effectively in eight other Davis County school areas requiring schedule changes. At this point in time, no school in Davis County has requested re-quested a change from an alternative schedule back to a conventional schedule. However, there is a proven process pro-cess in place for doing so. The committee's first meeting is planned for April 24. While the committee is doing its work, interested people should note that there are a number of extended day schools functioning successfully in other parts of the district and state. The West Bountiful School, regardless of the schedule, has excellent teachers, a knowledgeable and sensitive principal, a strong PTA with very able leadership, and a community of capable and supportive parents. The Board of Education and the district administration administra-tion are very much aware of conditions and feelings in West Bountiful and can be relied upon to address judiciously the needs of students in that community. Russell Olson Area Director Davis County School District |
