Collecting meaningful data is key to evaluating the efficacy of any educational program. The numbers are now in for Year Two of our assessment and, we are proud to report, that partner teachers as well as participating students have told us much the same story as in Year One: SPIRIT SERIES works!

For the second year in a row, we can report positive program impact in every one of the SERIES’ nine goals. Teachers, evaluating their students both before and after SERIES residencies, report a two-year average student improvement of over 25% across all of the program’s goals, with reported student improvement goal-by-goal ranging from 15% to 38%. And teachers report comparably strong student growth regardless of geographic region or demographic group.

Students also quantitatively assessed their SPIRIT SERIES experience. Reporting to us after their residencies for the past two years, 90% of participant responses have been positive.  Students self-report that their greatest gains have been in literacy and higher order thinking, the key cognitive skills promoted by the SERIES curriculum.

Our goal is to track a three-year rolling average that allows us to see where we are doing well and where we can focus even more attention to improve student growth. We take our cue from Socrates, who teaches, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” This data is one important way that we can practice self-examination and continue to provide transformative experiences to every student we serve. Our children and school communities deserve nothing less.
See the full results here.