SHS Implementing 88 of 89 Recommendations

Educational improvement is a moving target. For Suffield, the pace of movement this year is frenetic. With three different consulting reports on Superintendent Karen Baldwin’s desk, as well as long-range planning mandated by the state, school administrators will spend a majority of their time preparing for and implementing change in 2012.

For Baldwin at least one report, from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), seems to be well in hand. The NEASC report, completed in 2007, identified 89 areas of improvement for .

Baldwin noted that “89 recommendations is not a lot considering the size and scope of [Suffield High School].”

These recommendations needed to be addressed before March 1, 2012. But between delivery of the report and the deadline, the school system has seen a new principal arrive at the high school and turnover at the superintendent position.

At the Suffield Board of Education meeting on March 6, Suffield High School principal Donna Hayward reported that the school has met or is meeting 88 of the 89 recommendations, with the last recommendation being implemented soon. It is a state requirement that schools report back within five years of the original report as to how they are taking steps to meet the NEASC suggestions.

The NEASC report identified needs in the areas of communication, curriculum alignment, long-range planning, higher-order thinking, advisory areas, improved teaching and learning and other concerns. As of the two-year milestone in 2009, only 34 recommendations had not been addressed.

Hayward reported that among changes are a new newsletter, more counselor meetings, the consistent use of rubrics and a redesigned report card, to be unveiled in the fourth quarter of the current school year. In addition, data teams are used to facilitate learning and curriculum coordination, which is now seamless from kindergarten through 12th grade. Data teams have also focused on the analysis of subgroup performances and concentrated on 21st century skills.

“With the long-range planning done in conjunction with the Superintendent’s office, we are well on our way to being prepared to meet the new state standards and better prepare our students to be successful after graduation,” Hayward said.

The town’s board of education hired consulting firm Blum Shapiro to look at the school system top to bottom in 2011. Hayward and Baldwin have been charged with making other modifications to the district in conjunction with the consultants’ views.

“The NEASC report is much different than the Blum Shapiro report,” said Hayward. “[The NEASC report] looks at the school-level and academic needs. [Blum Shapiro’s report] is more of a business operation report, but together they give us a look into how we can better improve.”

Baldwin commented that the district is doing well overall. According to the 2010 strategic school profile, Suffield ranks above the state averages in CMT/CAPT test and SAT test scores. Suffield’s average SAT scores were 540 in math, 528 in reading and 529 in critical writing, as compared to the state averages of 510, 505 and 510 respectively. The national averages for each of these SAT results are 516, 501 and 492.

At the lower grade levels, the results were not as solid. Baldwin noted that less than 70 percent of third-grade students read at or above goal.

“There is room for improvement at all levels and we are taking the steps necessary to reach these goals,” she concluded.