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DAYTON–The Innovia Foundation presented follow-up data compiled from several community surveys given last spring, at a meeting at the Youth Building on November 9.

About 50 attended including several who represented the Innovia Foundation, the Center for Educational Effectiveness, the College Spark Foundation and the Dayton School District and Board. Community partners from The Club and the Kiwanis were also represented.

The purpose of the gathering was to present data compiled as a result of the survey together with other statistics mainly from the Healthy Youth Survey, the American Community Survey, the U.S. Census and reports from Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). During the meeting, several small groups of attendees were formed to go over the information on five data boards set up around the room with a facilitator from one of the organizations to discuss the data, and make notes of reactions questions and any gaps regarding the information presented.

The data boards represented Dayton School District residents which was clarified to mean anyone living within the school district boundaries. The first data board was on Community Profile. One section showed the population by age group from 2010-2019 and showed a slight growth in residents over 60 years old and slight decrease in those aged 18-59.

Another section showed the education level in 2019 for those 25 years and older and the percentage of each level that were living below the poverty line. Of note, 70% of residents have some college up to a Bachelor’s Degree or higher. Also, notable data point was that 27% of high school graduates or the equivalent were living below poverty.

The next section presented the type of internet subscription by household income in 2019. Those who made less than $20,000 were at 49% for having broadband versus 50% for dial-up internet. The percentage of those with broadband over dial-up went up to 86% for income up to $75,000 and 93% for over that amount. Participants thought a definition of broadband internet would be helpful.

The last section broke down the industry of employment for those 16 and older and the changes from 2010-2019. Those in agriculture went down notably from about 18% to 5%. The industries that employed the most of about 20% each were in public administration and healthcare and social assistance. Another strong industry that employed about 10% was education.

Emerging fields during this period were in information and wholesale trade both at around 5% in 2019. Attendees asked the question that was noted about whether the boundaries include Starbuck and the school there, but no answer was provided.

The second data board was Community Supports. In the first section of the information showed poverty indicators from the 2014-15 school year through the 2020-21 school year based on school children who qualified for the National School Lunch Program and those from households at the Federal Poverty Level. Those eligible for the lunch program dropped 9% in those years from 63%-54% and those in poverty dropped from 22% to 14% from 2021 to 2019 which is last year in which that data was provided.

The next section showed the percent of students in classes with teachers with more than five years’ experience for three school years from 2017-18 until 2019-20. The percentage went from 67% to 91% with teachers having an average of just over 17 years’ experience by 2019-20.

Meeting participants asked what relevance this data holds and thought that experience is not always an indicator of a good teacher. From the Healthy Youth Survey from 2018 given to students in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12, the next sections showed that 64% of students had a supportive adult they could turn to when they felt sad and hopeless and 15% said they never felt sad and hopeless. Meeting participants had strong positive reactions to this data.

Also shown was the percentage of students involved in any afterschool activities. Students in grades 8 and 9 reported participation of only 36% and 41% respectively and those in grades 10 and 12 were 64% and 76%. Attendees said they would like to see these numbers higher with more opportunities for kids.

School Feedback was presented on the next data board taken from the community Education Effectiveness Survey given last spring.

The first section reflected ideas asked of the staff about their perception of readiness for change for themselves and their perceptions of the same for their colleagues. The facilitator pointed out that ideally a discrepancy between those perceptions of self versus colleagues shouldn’t be more than 25%. The first idea was “welcoming new ideas and change” and was the only one showing a high discrepancy with 84% for self and 48% for colleagues.

The second one was “the willingness to work at changing my school for the better” at 98% for self and 78% for coworkers. Lastly, was “the willingness to be held accountable for student learning” at 95% for self and 75% for other staff.

The next section showed the student response about their plans after high school with separated responses compiled for middle and high school students. 48% of middle school students and 31% of high school students thought they would attend a four-year college. 9% of students in middle school thought they would attend community college and 0% said they would attend vocational school. 21% of high school students thought they would attend either a community college or a vocational school. For middle school, 9% said they would join the military and 7% of high school students had plans for joining the military. Of those that said they’d work full-time, 4% of middle schoolers and 11% of high schoolers chose that option. 10% of middle school and 8% of high school students chose “other” as their option and 22% for each group said they didn’t know.

The last sections presented parent feedback about whether Dayton School District meets various criteria of effective schools. The first of the two sections showed a comparison between the same portions of the survey done in 2018 and 2021, and the second section reflected only the 2021 results with specific response percentages shown.

In the first section, positive responses of “almost always true” and “often true” went up for all categories between the two surveys with all responses showing about a 70% percent positive answer for all in 2021 in contrast to around 50% average in 2018. The criteria listed were collaboration and communication, clear and shared focus, high standards and expectations, effective leadership, supportive learning environment, parent and community involvement and monitoring of teaching and learning.

Participants in reviewing the results said the numbers show a positive perception by parents that the Dayton schools are effective. It was also thought that the questions may have been answered differently if the survey was given later in the school year when concerns over discipline policy and a negative school environment escalated. However, it was also noted that the survey was given just before that time and was thought that those concerns would have still been reflected in the survey.

Student Preparation was presented on the next data board and showed a steady increase from 75% in the fall of 2017 to 89% in the spring of 2020 of ninth grade students being on track for graduation. Students’ commitment to school was also evaluated based of the 2018 Healthy Youth Survey which showed results of whether student replies reflected low commitment in three areas. Students reported that “schoolwork is not meaningful” at 16% for middle school and 39% for high school, “learning is not important for the future” at 11% for middle school and 46% for high school and that they “cut school in the past month” at 18% for middle school and 22% for high school.

Also, for the 2018-19 school year, high school student participation in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses by subject reflected a strong interest of around 80% for information technology, health science and agriculture/food sciences.

Similarly presented was the percentage of high school students who completed a dual credit course for school years from 2015-16 to 2019-20. Those taking any dual credit and taking CTE-Tech Prep percentages went up about 10% each from just under 70% to 80% for the dual credit and 60% to 70% for CTE-Tech Prep. College in high school dropped off from over 20% to about 10% and Running Start has remained low from 5% to a couple of percentages higher. Participation in Advanced Placement (AP) for college credits was nearly non-existent at low single digit percentages. Meeting attendees expressed a desire to see more opportunities and classes offered to students to increase participation.

The final data presented was High School Outcomes. Here across all sections only percentages were given and not numbers. Meeting participants felt that with a small district even a few students can greatly affect percentages. The first section examined the 4-year graduation rate for 2019 and 2021 which showed a drop from 84% to 65% with 16% continuing enrollment in high school past the fourth year with 0% dropping out in 2019 and 26% continuing enrollment and 9% dropping out in 2020. The next section showed percentages of those enrolled in a two-year and four-year post-secondary program the first year after graduation for each year from 2015 to 2018. Enrollment in two-year programs went up from 23% to 38% and four-year programs went up from 36% the first year, then down to around 20% in 2016 and 2017 and up again to 33% in 2018. Next presented was that 45% of students who were eligible for Federal Student Aid completed the application in 2020-21.

Lastly, annual median earnings of high school graduates in Washington State was given which showed the highest earnings for those having finished an apprenticeship followed by higher earnings the more college education received. Attendees contributed to say staff at the school should ensure the student financial aid applications are completed by eligible students, and that students and their families should be made aware the funding is available for post-secondary education.

When the data walk was coming to end, attendees were asked to give their general impression of the information presented and how it reflects the community of Dayton. Jeannie Lyonnais remarked, “It’s a great place to live. I raised my children here and they still think it’s the best place in the world. The community supported everything they did.”

Another person offered that the Dayton community is “invested.” Then participants were asked to make a wish list for Dayton students. One person said, “A swimming pool!” She went on to list the reasons a pool is needed – community, kids, safety, exercise, life guard training, opportunities, a place for kids to go in the summer and competition.

Port Director Jennie Dickinson said, “I want them to know all of the career possibilities that are out there so they can spark their interest” and she later added based on concerns of the community that she “wants all children to feel safe and welcome.” Bryan Martin said he wanted “a dedicated neuro-diversity learning center” for those with different learning styles.

Rachel Hutchens said, “I want every kid to receive a rigorous education.” Pearl Dennis offered, “I want opportunities for involvement over a wide range of interests, not just athletics but all kinds of things.” Dayton School Board Director Jeff McCowen agreed with this and said, “A general increase in opportunity across the board.” Another suggested a mentorship program for all ages.

Attendees were left with an invitation to work together towards these priorities with the support of the Innovia Foundation and a local leadership council consisting of Bette Lou Crothers, Katie Leid, Anne Walsh and Sarah Meyers, as well as the Dayton School District.