By Mark Carlisle

Independent Newsmedia

The Litchfield Elementary School District is reviewing its advanced curriculum program and will decide by December if any changes are needed.

A survey sent out in the spring yielded largely positive feedback from parents of students in the Traditional Academy program. The main negative response was regarding the Traditional Academy’s Spanish program.

LESD governing board president Danielle Clymer said even though the program has produced good results, it’s worth reviewing it.

From left, Litchfield Elementary School District board members Kimberly Moran, Melissa Zuidema, Dr. Tawnya Pfitzer, Alayne Weathersby, board president Danielle Clymer and district superintendent Jodi Gunning sit at the dais during an August LESD board meeting at Litchfield Elementary School, 255 W. Wigwam Boulevard. [Mark Carlisle/Independent Newsmedia][/caption]“While it’s a very popular program, and typically they have the highest numbers of each grade level in those particular classes — so, it’s definitely a wanted program — but still, I think it’s appropriate to…(make sure) the programs are working and they’re effective and that money’s being spent wisely, especially because it’s on such a small group of kids,” Ms. Clymer said. She noted the program had not been reviewed in this way since its start in the district in the 2012-13 school year.

The district is now in the process of assembling a committee of Traditional Academy teachers to review the program. The district aims to have the committee formed by the end of August. This fall a survey will be sent out to teachers in the programs and parents will be surveyed again. After considering the results of the survey, the committee of teachers will prioritize any changes to the program they suggest and present those recommendations to the district’s governing board.

“I’m excited to get the teachers involved, because I know they have a lot to say,” said Gina DeCoste, LESD’s executive director of programs and instruction. “Especially teachers who have been teaching it for a while and have kind of watched the evolution of how things have changed and how things are done.”

Ms. Clymer encouraged staff to include one teacher from each school on the committee.

To enact changes for the 2020-21 school year, they must be included in the handbook that comes out in January. Therefore, any changes must be adopted by the board by January. The district plans to have the Traditional Academy teacher committee present recommendations to the board in a board meeting Tuesday, Nov. 12.

The Traditional Academy is an alternative curriculum program with more fast-paced and rigorous learning. Students must qualify for the program by an application process that considers academic data and input from the student and his or her teachers and parents. Students must meet or exceed grade level on all district and state data assessments to be admitted to the program, among other requirements.

Just under a fifth of the district’s students are enrolled in the Traditional Academy, which has programs at all 11 of the districts elementary schools and a program for sixth-graders at all four of the districts middle schools. The White Tanks Learning Center day school is the only district school without the program.

Each school includes 170-180 Traditional Academy students, according to Ms. DeCoste, except for Litchfield Elementary School, which has about double because it has two Traditional Academy strands. This puts the program’s total at more than 2,700 students. The district’s total student count, which includes special education, is estimated at 13,844.

Both Ms. Clymer and board member Melissa Zuidema said they knew Traditional Academy parents would be engaged and give good feedback throughout the process this fall. Ms. Zuidema said she’s been a Traditional Academy parent since it started in 2012-13 and is glad they’re reviewing the program.

In the spring parent survey, which received 1,006 responses, 91% of responding parents said they agreed or strongly agreed that their child was receiving a high-quality education through the Traditional Academy program. Ms. DeCoste was proud of this feedback and noted that it could not be compared to standard schooling in the A-rated district because they had not done a survey among non-Traditional Academy parents.

Among responding parents, 86% agreed or strongly agreed the program’s level of rigor was appropriate for their child’s grade level, 80% agreed or strongly agreed the amount of homework assigned was reasonable for their child’s grade level and 85% agreed or strongly agreed the program’s at-home projects were “a meaningful extension of my child’s learning.”

The feedback approval rates dropped when asked about technology and Spanish classes in the program. Only about two-thirds of parents, 67%, agreed or strongly agreed that Traditional Academy expanding their child’s use and knowledge of technology in the classroom.

Spanish

The lowest numbers were with the Spanish program, as only 39% of responding parents agreed or strongly agreed the Spanish program “has helped my child speak fluently for their grade level.” Almost a third of parents, 32%, disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement.

Out of 633 write-in responses on what Traditional Academy could do to improve, 45% of parents had positive responses with no changes recommended. The change most recommended was addressing concerns about the Spanish program, at 7%.

The Spanish program is not unimportant to parents though. Thirty-nine percent listed it as a reason they enrolled their child in Traditional Academy. When asked to choose a preference between Traditional Academy’s technology component and its Spanish program, responses were relatively split, with 58% of those that stated a preference choosing technology and 42% choosing Spanish.

With its poor survey responses in the spring survey, the Spanish program might be one of the first things to come under scrutiny by the teacher committee. Traditional Academy Spanish classes are taught by teachers from a company called Hispalia. It will cost the district $170,687 to contract Hispalia for the 2019-20 school year.

“I do know one thing people say is, ‘That’s a lot of money for a small group of kids, for a program that people maybe aren’t thrilled with.’ So, how can we make that better?” Ms. DeCoste said.

Other suggestions

Spanish was not the only concern mentioned in the spring survey. Fifty-nine parents said they wanted to see more technology used in the classroom and 58 said the program’s behavioral guidelines needed to be better followed by students.

Different parents suggested increasing or decreasing homework amounts in about equal numbers on each side.

Some parents suggested reduced class sizes, increasing the program’s rigor, stricter acceptance requirements into the program, more social interaction with other classes, more after school academic programs or tutoring and more field trips, among other suggestions.

Mark Carlisle can be reached at mcarlisle@newszap.com or found on Twitter @mwcarlisle.