SCHOOL VIEWS -- James Tarwater

We are pleased to report that 95% of our 7,200 parents attended Ocean

View School Districts first parent-teacher conferences of the school

year. The partnership of our parents is critical in fulfilling the “Pupil

Promotion and Retention” legislation that requires school districts to

address academic deficiencies of every student.

Building on the theme of Success for All, Ocean View developed three

objectives in implementing its student Promotion and Retention Plan:

accurately identifying students’ performances and achievement based on

the school district’s multiple measures of assessment for all grade

levels; notifying all stakeholders (teachers, parents, students); and

intervening to provide assessment-based instruction that ensures all

students’ performance and achievement levels meet or exceed grade level

standards in reading and literacy, writing, and math. Teachers spent the

first five weeks of school making in-depth assessments. Students

potentially at risk received an assistance plan that reflected the

appropriate instructional interventions and strategies needed to improve

their performances.

All fourth- through sixth-grade students and identified seventh- and

eighth-grade students received a new assessment tool called “Degrees of

Reading Power.”

The DRP Literacy Project supports all students by matching appropriate

reading materials to the individual student’s skill level. This allows

students to work on their specific needs, developing more fluency and

comprehension. To promote the importance of reading, and create a rich

print environment, the State awarded every school district $29 per

student for the purchase of library books. Ocean View received nearly

$275,000, which provided approximately 1,000 titles for each of our 15

schools.

This year, the district is devoting part of the instructional day to

free, independent reading. The payoff has been that students are

demonstrating a renewed love of books. This supports the goal of the

Governor’s Reading Award Program: that parents read to their children

every night. Parents also sign a weekly chart, noting the number of pages

read, and return this to the child’s classroom so that it can be tracked

by the teacher. The district’s goal is that our 9,900 students will have

read 30 million pages by the end of the school year.

Ocean View recognizes and respects that its parents are the vital link to

the district’s provision of a quality education for every student. A

standards-based instructional program depends on the constant monitoring

of the student’s academic progress. To accomplish that, parents must have

regular contact with classroom teachers and the district itself.

Ocean View is pleased to announce that it now operates a Web site of over

250 pages and 850 items. By logging on to www.ovsd.org, parents can find

the following: school newsletters, school calendars, registration

handbooks, parent support groups, volunteer information, school

accountability report cards, SAT/9 test scores, educational programs,

school board meeting dates and agenda indexes, employment postings and

applications, and parent and student resources, to name just some.

Ocean View is proud of what we achieve, but our achievements are not due

to complacency or satisfaction with the status quo. Our program is what

it is because of the continuing teamwork and dedication of the parents

and staff in our district.

James R. Tarwater is superintendent of the Ocean View School District.