Forty-five visitors came to Holyoke School District on Monday April 23, 2018 as a part of the SCAP, Student-Centered Accountability Program. SCAP was proposed by a group of Colorado rural school districts who believe that the quality of our schools should be calculated upon more than a once a year online assessment. Holyoke School District voluntarily joined the S-CAP coalition to help us target what we are doing well, and where we can improve. Evaluators came from many school districts in Colorado and from partners including the Colorado Rural Education Collaborative, Generation Schools Network, Battelle for Kids, University of Colorado - Denver, the Colorado Education Initiative, and the Colorado Rural Schools Alliance.
During their visit, the analysts conducted focus group discussions with parents, students and staff. Teams of evaluators visited classrooms in both buildings and spoke with students about what they are learning and our school environment. Data was collected from a staff survey, and our district will administer a social emotional on-line assessment to all K-12th grade students in May. Data from our first SCAP evaluation will be our baseline as we continue this project for the next three years.
At the beginning of the 2017-18 school year, Holyoke leadership and staff identified four specific goals for our schools:
- Foster a Positive, Inclusive Environment
- Enhance Professional Communication and Collaboration
- Establish and Implement an Aligned Curriculum that Optimizes Instruction and Ensures Student Learning
- Engage stakeholders as partners in the success of every student
As our first site review was only one day, the reviewers specifically focused on providing feedback on the district Learning Environment, Curriculum and Instruction.
Although most of the data from the review is not yet available, several visitors expressed that they were very impressed with the organization of the day and how prepared our district was for the review. Others commented upon our extensive use of technology and the welcome and inviting students and staff. Holyoke administration, staff and students are looking forward to hearing feedback on both our strengths and weaknesses, and will set goals based up what we learn. Grant funds has been secured through the program to pay for the on-line social emotion assessment for three years. The SCAP review will give us valuable information that will be used by shared leadership committees to achieve our mission to: "Graduate Every Student with the Necessary Knowledge, Skill and Character to Find Success in Life."