Friday, March 22, 2013

Read the East Valley School District's mostly dire teacher survey on the K-8 transition

Posted By on Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 12:28 PM

Change, good or bad, is rarely easy. And "seismic" change, as the East Valley School Board wanted when it began to swap out middle school for a K-8 model, is bound to be even rougher.

So when the teachers union surveyed a large portion of teachers on how well the transition was going, the result was a resounding 'pretty-darn-crappy.' Around 85 percent of the teachers said they did not agree with how the change had been conducted.

But last week, the school board unanimously voted to continue moving forward anyway. Board chair Kerri Lunstroth says the evidence is clear that the change is already having a positive impact. With such a big change, you'd expect to see test scores dip — but that didn't happen. 

"We’re seeing reduced discipline problems," Lunstrtoth says. "We’re seeing kids staying in schools... I can walk into our schools and the energy is there." 

But if you want to see what some of the teachers think, spend some time exploring the next few documents. The first is a simple set of bar graphs, the second shows (mostly) positive responses, and the third document lists where teachers have been seeing problems.

Teacher Survey Results about the K-8 Model

Positives of the K-8 Model

Problems with the K-8 Model


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Daniel Walters

A lifelong Spokane native, Daniel Walters was a staff reporter for the Inlander from 2009 to 2023. He reported on a wide swath of topics, including business, education, real estate development, land use, and other stories throughout North Idaho and Spokane County.His work investigated deep flaws in the Washington...