Armed with more information about schools, military families can take action to improve them
In a recent blog, I highlighted many ways that you could help share Military Families for High Standards’ message from becoming familiar with the Military Student Identifier (MSI) to learning about school improvement.
My goal was not only let you know about the resources out there but also give you tangible ways you could help to improve your child’s education experience at your current school, and future ones.
The good news is, states are now required to identify their lowest-performing schools and provide targeted supports to raise student achievement. This is valuable not only for those students attending those struggling schools, but all families, attending all public schools because more information is now available in a clear, helpful, and more accessible way. This is also especially valuable for military families who regularly relocate and access new schools. So how can you access this information and what should you do with it?
Firstly, your state’s education website can keep you in the know. Head to your computer and explore the website for your state’s education agency. On the site you should be able to find the school that your child is currently enrolled in. If you don’t know where to start, there’s a great resource that I want to share with you.
The Department of Education has created an index of State Contacts that not only provides your state’s education page, it also provides contact information for each state’s department of education, the higher education agency, special education agency and adult education agency. Click here to access the index.
Secondly, your state’s report card can tell you a lot of information. Just as your child’s school report card tells you how they are performing, where their strengths are and where they need to focus improvement, the state report card will offer you the same kind of information about how your child’s school is performing. You can also look to a new report, Check State Plans: Promise to Practice which can tell you, if you’re in one of the 17 states listed, what your state is going to do to work to improve low performing schools.
Thirdly, knowing how your child’s school is doing can help you paint a full picture and minimize frustrations in ensuring a successful school transition. You have a personal understanding of what has gone on in that setting during your child’s enrollment. Now see how that activity, those programs, the efforts and the curriculum measure up to the expectations the State has on school performance. This will help you have a clear sense of what your child has experienced in relationship to other school settings. It will allow you to look from where you are to where change-of-station orders will be sending you.
Lastly, take a look at the report card in the state you are relocating to. By following the above steps, you can have a good understanding of what what’s being offered in this new school and how it’s performing in comparison to the last school.
You will be able to compare school quality, as well as to explore the approach that setting has for school improvement or implementing the MSI benefits.
Often families have little choice in where their children will attend school. However, if you do have some leeway, this methodology will help you select what appears to be the strongest option. If your family is bound by limited choices based on housing availability and location, this methodology gives you the power to know up-front what you will be met with at the schoolhouse gate and what programs you need to access and advocate for to make it a successful transition for your student.
· View the school’s website.
· Check their performance on the state’s report card.
· Look for school improvement strategies in place.
· Check for MSI concurrence.
Follow these steps and you will be ready for a successful school enrollment.
Be sure to share this valuable information with others!
This piece was originally published on January 24, 2019 on Medium. The original post is accessible here.