Tuesday’s Nome school board work session concentrated on two things: social-emotional learning and the Alaska School Climate and Connectedness Survey, or SCCS. With the survey already completed, the board gathered in the Nome Elementary School library to discuss results.
The SCCS is a statewide survey that measures things like positive school climate and how connected students feel to adults and peers. Nome Public Schools was one of 29 districts who took the survey to take a data-driven look at school climate and student perceptions.
Going through the results, Board member Barb Amarok was quick to bring up the students’ relationships to adults and each other. The survey said 49 children don’t feel like they have somebody to talk to, and 74 students feel nobody would miss them if they were absent from school.
186 students from Nome Public Schools took the test. In response, District Superintendent Shawn Arnold added that Nome also faces challenges with transient students. “We know most of our students are coming from BSSD, so we know we have this constant turnover.” He says that turnover could make it hard for students to get to know teachers and vice versa.
Arnold continued to say that Nome Public Schools will progress. But progress will take time. “It’s all about small wins and progress,” he says. “There is no magic bullet that can fix a problem over the course of one school year.”
Jenni Lefing with the Alaska Association of School Boards (AASB) talked to the board about the survey results, reminding that the test is just a snapshot. And when taken in future years, can be used as a way to measure growth or decline of certain attitudes.
A small effort towards improving student relationships with staff is something called “looping.” The technique involves a teacher keeping the same class for more than one grade. Board member and former first grade teacher Keith Conger estimates that teachers gain five weeks of improved teaching time when they already know their students. Another effort includes Nome Public Schools adding a counselor position.
The next school board meets next for a regular session Tuesday, August 23rd.
