At the August 28th, 2019 Hamilton Southeastern Schools board meeting, there was one topic that surprised me in that it didn’t get more attention by the school board. What surprised me even more was the willingness to set goals that strive to be average in a district that is rated as high performance and one of the best.

The school board presented three goal areas for the administration and district. The three areas that were presented are: The goals that were presented are:

• 1A. The language arts academic achievement gap between the highest performing student group and the lowest performing student group will be reduced by 6% in this academic year without compromising the achievement gains of the highest performing group.
• 1B. The math academic achievement gap between the highest performing student group and the lowest performing student group will be reduced by 8% in this academic year without compromising the achievement gains of the highest performing group.
• 2A. The sense of belonging for HSE students in grades 3-12 will increase to a level consistent with districts of similar demographics.
• 2B. Teachers’ perceptions of the overall school climate will increase to a level consistent with schools districts of similar demographics.
• 3. HSE Schools will maximize the use of its current and potential facilities in order to provide excellent learning environments for all HSE students.

The wording of the last goal was reviewed and adjustments are being made to it. The other bullets, however, were close to what is likely to be final.

The first two bullets are about reducing the achievement gap. This is a good goal, although you would hope that they would also work to improve on the highest performing group and not just the lowest group. The achievement numbers for 1A and 1B are based on the iLearn scores. The 6% was based on what it was believed would be needed to make the gap more in line with other schools after 3 years of similar improvements.

It is bullets 2A and 2B, however, where concerns should be raised. It was stated that HSE school district is compared to other schools of similar size. In doing this, it was stated by Dr. Combs that HSE ranks around 30% and 40%. The goal is to get this to 50%. Said differently, HSE students are currently indicating that they feel they belong less than most schools – we are ranked below average. Similarly, our teachers perception of the overall climate is worse than a majority of the schools of similar size. The goal is set to get this to 50% or average. More schools below and above.

We are shooting to be average. Why wouldn’t we be shooting to be better than average. Even 51% would mean more of our students feel like they belong than the average school and more of our teachers have a good perception of our district’s climate than teachers at other schools have about their districts.

To mean it seems it seems like we currently have a grade of a D and F and are striving for a C. In a high performance school district, I would hope we could work to try to be at the top for giving our kids a sense of belonging as well as building a climate where all of our teachers feel a sense of belonging.

As the board revisits these goals, I hope they don’t accept average as acceptable. In fact, I hope they start asking questions as to why we are scoring below average now.

As the board revisits these goals, I hope they don’t accept average as acceptable. In fact, I hope they start asking questions as to why we are scoring below average now.

UPDATE: Changes were made to the goals so that it is no longer targeting average, but rather “average or better”.