March USD 224 Superintendent Report
by Brian Pekarek
March USD 224 Superintendent Report: Relating the Winter Olympic Games to the Upcoming Kansas State Assessments
During the Month of February, children, parents, and community members from all over the United States and the world have been watching the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada with excitement and enthusiasm. I believe that the experience of watching the Olympics is one that brings out the very best aspects of the human character and national pride within individuals of every country. It showcases the world’s best athletes on “center stage”, before the entire world in fair athletic competition. While thinking about the Olympic Games, as a life-long educator, I could see the similarities between this year’s Olympic Games and this year’s upcoming Kansas State Assessments. Although the winter Olympics will be over soon, the Kansas State Assessments will be coming up for the students of USD 224 starting in March. Although there are obvious differences to the state assessments and the Olympic Games, the purpose of my March Superintendent Report will focus on these similarities, and things that parents can do to help students achieve greatness in this “competition.”
Settling Nerves about the “Competition”: Just like the winter Olympic Games, the Kansas State Assessments are high stakes tests that measure what individuals can do in a particular setting. In this way, the students, staff, and parents can get nervous about these at times because teachers, students, parents, and community members want the students to do well in their “competition.” Just like Olympic athletes, it is important for parents and staff members to calm the students down and reassure them of their capabilities to do well on the tests. As parents, it is important to know when these tests are scheduled for your children, and make sure that the students are getting plenty of sleep and eating a good breakfast on the day of the test. Just like Olympic athletes, it is also important to know that some students thrive on the stress of these high stakes tests, some are not affected at all, while others become overly stressed. In this way, just as Olympic athletes calm themselves, the parents need to be aware of how this stress may affect their child by asking the child about the tests everyday and taking appropriate action to calm the child’s nerves if necessary (USD 244 has sent home information regarding the testing times of all of our students).
Overcoming our Weaknesses through “Training and Practice”: Similar to how Olympic coaches teach their athletes, the teachers at USD 224 Clifton-Clyde have been planning for the state assessments the whole year as well. Not only have we focused on teaching our state standards in reading, math, science, and social studies, but we have been teaching so that we can overcome any weaknesses that we may have on the tests as well. Just like the athletes that we see on television who work on improving their skills, we spent time this year working on our three weakest indicators in math and reading so as to be ready for state assessment tests. In addition to this, we used our MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) in order to correctly identify areas where we need to improve individual student learning both as a group and as individuals.
USD 224 Students are Taught how to “Win”: Just like athletes in Olympic competition who are to taught “how to win” in their respective events, the students at USD 224 have been trained about this as well. They have learned about the computerized nature of the state assessment test, the tools that they can use, and the manipulates that can help in their understanding. The students have practiced this procedure with the use of on-line assessments as well. Like the athletes on television, the USD 224 students have been taught “the rules of the game” so that they can perform at their peak level when testing comes.
As the 2010 Winter Olympics are winding down, schools around the state will be starting their state assessments in the months of March and April. With the help of the parents, community, and staff, our students should feel confident about taking the state assessment tests knowing that the staff of Clifton-Clyde has done their best in teaching them not only the material on the tests, but also about how to take the tests successfully. Just like Olympic athletes, our students should feel confident about achieving greatness in this “competition” of life as well.
