Harrison Schools Confident After Evaluation

Critical analysis usually doesn't sound exciting, but the Harrison Central School District has been looking forward to being evaluated by the Tri-State Consortium for three years.

Harrison became a member of the Tri-States, a group of 42 high-achieving school districts in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, three years ago. The program is designed as a method to exchange ideas, look deep into educational curriculum and eventually evaluate a particular aspect of individual school districts.

It is a chance to show other schools things that have worked, as well as hear feedback on areas that could use improvement.

An evaluation team from the Tri-States came to Harrison for three days from March 10-12 to meet with students and staff. Although aspects of the program continue year-round, visits are a huge part of a school's evaluation and only happen once every three years.

"We come in with a critical eye," said Executive Director of Tri-States Martin Brooks. "But we are not coming in saying the work needs to be done because it's not going well."

This year, Harrison administrators chose to evaluate their math curriculum. The subject was chosen partially because the district teaches math differently than many other schools because students are not separated into advanced placement classes until the later years of high school.

"It was somewhat of a risky choice to do math, but we also have invested great resources, time, energy and focus on that," said Michael Greenfield, Harrison assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "So we decided to put that on the table for investigation."

Advanced placement is a highly-debated topic in school districts across the country. Some feel that quickly splitting students into advanced placement classes gives high-achieving students a better chance at success. Others feel that picking advanced students too early isn't fair.

"We all have that experience," said Greenfield. "It's a very personal experience because we can all remember when we were selected or not selected."

Although school administrators did not know how other schools would react to Harrison's math program, feedback was surprisingly positive.

"The evaluation team members left saying that they had an emotional experience coming here. What they meant by it is that many math teachers work in an environment where some students can do math and some students can't do math," said Greenfield. "What they saw here is that it's possible to reach far more learners and to open doors."

A written evaluation will be sent to the Harrison School District in April. Although it will likely list some areas that could use improvement, the district appears confident in what it has already learned from this year's evaluation.

"I guess what we've learned is that parents, students and administrators are aligned," said Greenfield. "We are saying the same things about the district, there's a lot of pride in what we've accomplished."