Students are graded.

Tuesday, February 01, 2000

Students are graded. Why not schools?

The results of a fall 1999 Parent Satisfaction Survey were reviewed Wednesday night and Austin Independent School District No. 492 received a passing grade.

Heidi Schara reviewed the results of the survey at the Austin Board of Education meeting at Ellis Middle School.

"I’m very excited about the results," Schara told board members. "You should be proud of your district and you should feel proud that parents are so proud of their school district."

An overall 80 percent rate of approval buoyed Schara’s feelings about the results of the survey, but there was more to review.

According to the results, a majority of parent respondents to the survey "strongly agree" or agree that the education staff at Austin Public Schools is helping their children reach their potential in a number of curricular areas.

Ninety percent of the parents agreed that staff is helping children understand the world through science.

Slightly less than 90 percent agree the education staff helps students use fine arts for expression.

Almost 85 percent of the parent respondents agreed their children are prepared for the next grade level.

However, one third of the parents indicated the school is "not meeting the needs of students with high academic potential. Parent responses from middle and elementary school children reinforced the survey response with comments suggesting high potential students are not challenged.

Almost 80 percent of parents agreed the school is meeting the needs of students with disabilities.

However, one-third of the parents said they do not receive useful information on the academic progress and achievement of their children. These parents said information regarding poor or failing grades is not provided until it is too late to improve the grade before the semester or quarter concludes.