Piner-Olivet Charter School focuses on academic achievement of student subgroups
Date: 01/21/2020
Author: Sheldon Reber
Exploring the academic data points of female English learner Latinx students was a focus of the Piner-Olivet Charter School team that convened at the Rooster Fellowship held in Healdsburg on Jan. 17. The team is part of the Rooster Fellowship’s Strand B: Behavior vs. Equity in Discipline. The Rooster Fellowship is made up of 37 participants from Sonoma County schools and is facilitated by Educational Services Support staff from SCOE.
The five-member Piner-Olivet Charter School team included Kirsten Sanft, principal; Allison Meyer, English and social studies teacher; Bryan Bautista, bilingual program assistant; Aracely Romo-Flores, SCOE director of continuous improvement; and Carmen Diaz-French, superintendent.
The school team is exploring ways to better engage these students and increase their academic achievement, said Diaz-French. “This work today will lead to changes in terms of having a broader focus at our school on why seventh and eighth-grade Latinx females are one of our subgroups that need the most growth.”
Cultural questions were discussed during the meeting such as the role Latinx parents and community play in their expectations that school should be a more traditional experience for their students. This was a data point the team wanted to research further and find out if it is true: Whether Latinx parents feel school is where students received direct instruction in rows and individual desks versus some of the innovative, future-focused classrooms that feature flexible seating, collaboration, and project-based learning.
“In addition, Kirsten Sanft, the principal, and the school site have already been doing a lot of work around restorative practices,” remarked Diaz-French. “The Rooster Fellowship helped focus the conversations we can have in our parent meetings where we talk about classroom expectations, academic achievement, and share data about their students.”
This can be very important work but only when you start seeing the statistically significant data, patterns, and trends said Diaz-French.
“With the work we’re doing today with the Rooster Fellowship, I see the potential for significant change in equity for our students,” added Diaz-French. “In this group, we’re really able to dial in and it gives us the time to reflect and ask the critical questions that we may not have time for at school. It will really help us gear up for success in meeting the specific academic needs of our subgroups, such as seventh and eighth-grade Latinx female students.”
