Goals of this presentation: Present the data sources to date that aim to assess ARHS’

culture Differentiate between quantitative & qualitative data

Identify the need for additional qualitative data collection & analysis

Present the role of the CCC in developing, launching, and maintaining data collection & analysis (in effort to gain not only a baseline, but conduct ongoing research for climate change tracking & comparison purposes)

We share this presentation in hopes that the ETF will vote and take this proposal to the school committee

Climate

change?:The future of

gauging ARHS’

cultural temperature

Some (very general) questions

surrounding ARHS culture:

What is the current climate/culture of the high school? (classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, etc.)

Is there a need for “climate change”? What is going well? What needs further attention?

How will we know/measure/see the evidence of such change from year to year?

Examining culture & all its

complexities…

Culture

Values

Beliefs

CustomsPractices

Behaviors

…how do we best examine and document

something as complicated as culture in a

sustainable fashion?

Quantitative & Qualitative

Quantitative Qualitative

-survey/questionnaire/poll -interviews and/or focus groups)

-numerical data is used to

generalize

-observation/ participant

observation

-content or documentary

analysis

*Data which can be measured *Data which can be observed

Current data sources that

address this question

Survey results from a national survey

launched in December 2014

(quantitative)

MSAN student focus group results from

2013 (qualitative)

What other data exists? (This will be

explored- (e.g. is there available exit

survey information?))

Current data source: SurveyStrengths Weaknesses

Provides general

overview…

…but not specific to ARHS’ culture- the

survey questions may not tell us much about

what we want to know

Reaches many

stakeholders…

…yet the stakeholders/the experts* did not

play a role in survey question development,

nor the analysis process

Simple, quick process,

easy to implement

Costly, thus non-sustainable; the district

cannot afford to conduct this survey year

after year

Provides measurable

data

(statistics/numbers)

Does not provide the

narratives/details/stories (e.g. deeper

information) of what these numbers really

mean. The stats, thus, could be skewed and

misinterpreted.

Current data source:

2013 MSAN student focus groups

Strengths Weaknesses

Gathered narratives of

student experiences

Non representative sample (students from

the same group were interviewed)

Questions were

general to allow

students to interpret

and focus on

important factors

Who created the questions? Were the

stakeholders part of the question creation?

Focus group was conducted one time

Teachers were in the room (what did the

students not say as a result?)

Challenges

The current data is insufficient to serve as

a baseline

It is not yet a mainstreamed, sustainable

means of collecting data

Solution: Supplement data sources

& Improve data collection process

The data collected from the CCC-lead

research will address the general research

questions by collecting various sources of

qualitative data.

It will allow to collect baseline data as well

as data in future years. This will allow to

compare results from year-to-year and

note if/how the ARHS’ culture changes.

How do we do this?

Principal Mark Jackson’s statement at the ARPS

School Committee meeting 2-3-15:

“…how is it that we norm, in the same way that the

school climate survey will be normed, [how] do we

do the qualitative piece well, because I think it is

very revealing…kids talking about their on- the-

ground, lived experience”

What might this support look like?

The CCC proposes to: Recruit researchers (students, parents, teachers, admin,

staff & other community experts* )

Train researchers (through their participation in the research process)

In qualitative research design

In qualitative methods (e.g. creating questions for, and conducting focus groups)

In qualitative data collection methods

In qualitative data analysis (e.g. grounded theory)

Provide access to a principal investigator who will provide:

1) Internal review Board (IRB) access (e.g. consent and assent forms)

2) access to potential funding

CCC members’ expertise

Academic training (PhD & PhD candidates)

Extraordinary research experience

(Most importantly) valuable lived experience that

will serve to inform all stages of this research

process

Bonus: We work for free!

Benefits: Affordable: Low/no cost to the district

Sustainable: Because the researchers are LOCAL stakeholders, the research may continue year after year (and new researchers can join/replace at anytime)

Replicable: this process could take place at the elementary and middle school levels

Trend setting: Other districts may choose to use this model in their school systems

Informative: most importantly, the research provides necessary information to identify issues, and make changes that will work towards serving all students in our district.

Next steps The CCC encourages the ETF to vote to

take this proposal to the school committee where it could be added to the policy subcommittee’s agenda for consideration**

**Should the ETF vote to approve and carry forward this proposal, the CCC is available to make this presentation to the school committee or the appropriate subcommittee***

Potential Timeline

February 2015: Presentation at ETF meeting

March 2015: Presentation at School

Committee/obtain permission for CCC to serve

high school community with this initiative

April-May 2015 recruit participants/IRB (consent)

process

June 2015- formal training for participants, study

design decisions

Summer 2015- creation of data collection tools

September 2015 through June 2016- first year of

data collection & analysis