Development of students’ critical thinking, intellectual development and high expectations for students were the three top ranked priorities for parents who participated in a recent survey conducted by the Hopkinton Public Schools.
The percentages below are a rank ordering of items chosen by at 50% of respondents as “Utmost Value” or “Most Value”. The second number value displays a different rank ordering where respondents were asked to rank each item in order of importance. A total of 377 responses were received for the first survey.
- Development of students’ critical thinking 85% 1
- High expectations for educators 85% 4
- Intellectual development 81% 2
- Cultivation of responsibility 75% 6
- High expectations for students 75% 3
- Support for students and educators to meet high expectations 72% 7
- Development of students’ creative thinking 70% 5
- Student learning at the core of the district’s work 69% 8
- Support for learners’ needs 69% 9
- Curriculum currency and excellence 68% 11
- Development of positive self-image and self-esteem 63% 10
- Shared responsibility of educators and parents to educate students 61% 12
- Student social-emotional growth 59% 13
- Collaboration of staff, parents, and students to develop and attain goals 57% 14
- Ongoing professional learning 51% 15
- Artistic and musical development 55% 16
In an email to parents, Assistant Superintendent Mary Columbo said the School Committee used the data, along with the previously written mission, values and vision from the district’s Strategic Plan to create the draft District Philosopy below.
“The Hopkinton Public Schools’ vision is to be regarded by other school districts, institutions of higher learning and employers as a center of educational innovation that produces critical thinkers, creative problem-solvers, effective communicators and productive, healthy citizens.”
Taking the results one step further, the email said that in order to achieve this vision, the district defines its mission as enabling students and staff to learn, create and achieve together while embracing the following values:
- The primacy of learning
- Achievement
- Collaboration
- Innovation
- Integrity
- Social, emotional and physical well-being
A second survey was developed by the district’s Professional Learning Committee and was sent to both staff and parents in order to determine the professional learning emphases for this year. Under the Title IIA federal grant program, the schools are required to gather input from both groups in order to determine how the district will spend the grant funding for professional learning activities, such as workshops, conferences, consultants or collaborative work outside of school hours.
A total of 236 staff members and 458 parents completed the second survey and the areas with the highest rankings by both parents and staff resulted in the following area of focus for the coming year.
- Differentiating Instruction for All Learners (#1 by staff and #2 by parents)
- Responding to Learners’ Needs (#2 by staff and tied for #4 by parents)
- Technology Across the Curriculum (tied for #2 by staff and tied for #4 by parents)
- Integrating Writing in All Content Areas (#4 by and #3 by parents)
Because two of the staff’s tied selections for #3, Aligning to Massachusetts Common Core and Preparing for the Massachusetts Educator Evaluation, were ranked low by parents, these two topics will not be funded with Title IIA funds. However, both topics are required to meet state mandates and to prepare students for new MCAS tests based on the state’s revised curriculum.
“We will use district professional learning funds or regularly scheduled professional learning time for these areas,” said Assistant Superintendent Mary Colombo.
The top choice for parents for Title IIA funding was Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), but this area was ranked low by staff.
“We are not ignoring this area,” said Colombo. “We will be working through our collaborative curriculum process as well as the examination of data on our MCAS results over time to improve in this important area.”