When it comes to leading a school, there are several indicators that a head must keep on their radar. These indicators vary according to context; in many schools throughout the States, one of the most crucial gauges is the amount raised through fundraising. Michael, Coco and Gala’s dad, told me recently that the majority of my counterparts in New York (aka fundraisers-in-chief) spend their evenings soliciting fat checks from families—I don’t envy them for a second.
Thankfully, other equally objective indicators exist that perform the same function—answers to satisfaction surveys, for example. I am also—obviously—extremely attentive to the quality of the teaching staff we recruit, and it’s only possible to recruit the best if our school has a good reputation and our staff is happy to work here. A school has to create a buzz; it should stir interest and attract a growing audience of ambitious, talented teachers who want to work there. Nowadays, when The École posts a job opening, we have up to 250 applicants.
Finally, one of the indicators that is particularly tricky to determine objectively—as a bilingual school that does not prepare its students for a final exam—is the quality of the education we provide. For that reason, we decided that all our 4th to 8th Grade students would take MAP Growth tests (along with 9 million other young Americans). These tests present a double challenge for us. First, they only cover the American side of the curriculum (and are entirely in English), whereas our students spend half their time studying the French curriculum (in French). Second, we adamantly refuse to teach-to-test and stick instead to our custom-designed American curriculum, even if the content does not align with standardized testing.
Without going into too much detail, this is how the MAP test works: the child signs in, and the algorithm poses a “standard” question that a student in their grade should be able to answer at that particular time of the school year. If the child answers correctly, the next question is more difficult. If they get it wrong, the next question is easier. And so on until the end, when each student is assigned a precise score in two subject areas: math and reading.
Our students’ results from this fall, which you can see above, are mind-blowing. MAP Growth enables us to compare their results with several groups. The yellow columns below (Norm) correspond with the “standard” student outlined above and the expected grade level results. The green columns correspond with the average score of students in New York independent schools. Finally, in red are the results of the students from The École.
We can see that as soon as our students finish 4th Grade—the year where they become irrevocably bilingual at The École—our students’ scores are well above the norm – to be hoped for – but also surpass the scores of other comparable schools in New York. Our students have very strong math skills—we’ve known it since last year—but they are also better at reading, even though – allow me to repeat myself – they are learning two languages simultaneously!
Congratulations to our students and to our teaching team, without whom none of this would be possible. Personally, I have to say, this is the kind of indicator that makes me happy – way more than any check could – even a fat one!