Focus Leader: Theresa Meyers
Secretary: Avis Minger
Focus Group: Bay Area

Notes From WASC Meeting---11/16/04


We looked over the various graphs and brainstormed as to what we thought the results indicated.

Why are kids coming in with less than the expected number of units for their grade level?
-Some of them have failed classes at other schools.
-Some of them are kids who are having trouble academically and are coming to us for a second chance, a different approach to learning.
-Some of the students who come to us are students who are struggling and need to make up ground they have lost in other school settings.


Student Mobility

We all agreed that the increased attendance at Connecting Waters was probably due to better publicity this year, and also to word of mouth from satisfied parents. More families are finding out that they have an alternative choice to a traditional public school.


Student Population by County

The only thing we could come up with for the disparity here is that some of the counties have competition from other charter schools for the available homeschool population.


Ethnicity

Our student participant wanted to know why we felt this demographic information was necessary. We thought it was interesting because our own student ethnic breakdowns did not necessarily reflect the percentages shown.


Math--Why is there difficulty/How can we improve?

-Many parents tend to focus on reading more than math.
-Many parents are not as aggressive in pursuing academic competence in the lower grades, feeling it is less important than other things such as positive attitude, self-esteem, etc.
-Parents don't always understand how to read the test scores and what they mean.
-Math requirements have gotten more difficult and demanding, as in standards for one grade moving down to the one below it, etc.


Math Proficiency

-It seems obvious that algebra needs to be a focus.
-Many parents have a hard time teaching math, especially the upper levels, and they transmit their anxiety about it to their kids over time.
-Some parents keep switching curriculum, trying to find something that works for them.
-Math seems to be a problem generally for homeschooled kids.
-We have a desperate need for math tutors, especially for the upper grades.


Overall observation that came up at this point was that there are a number of parents for whom how their child is doing relative to others is simply not an important criteria.

Another overall observation was that the document needs editing in the written portion. There are a number of wrong words, not incorrectly spelled, but just the wrong word for the sentence meaning, so this needs to be checked by something other than a spellchecker.


CAHSEE

-Whenever you have a test like this there is a huge level of anxiety on the part of many students, and this can affect performance greatly.
-A solid Pre-Algebra foundation will actually get most students past the math portion.
-Is it possible for students to access their CAHSEE test to see where they made mistakes?
-Could why so few have taken the test have something to do with the changing requirements and new enrollments in the upper grades?


Transcript Analysis

-Seems to indicate that some students are coming to us from difficult beginnings in other schools, looking for a second chance.
-There are elements of the transcript analysis graph that don't make sense (ex. What does -150 mean?) The last sentence on the transcript analysis page doesn't make sense. It seems to contradict itself.


Algebra by Grade Level---explanatory sentence doesn't make sense.


Post-Graduate Surveys

Some of these findings could simply be a reflection of financial realities of family situations. Fewer people can afford private schools, even if they can get into them academically.

People are realizing that they don't necessarily have to pay the extra money to get degrees if they have the training for the job they want. May be exploring other routes to the same end.


General comment on computer learning: We shouldn't make the mistake of assuming that just because a student can manipulate math software successfully that they actually understand and can perform the operations and understand the underlying concepts.