Below are the results of our student survey question: “How Does OTA Compare to Your Old School?” As a brand new school we had a priceless opportunity to ask all our students to compare their experience at OTA with their recent memory of day to day life at other schools (though in the end we asked students in grades 2-8 only). We also asked students to rank their favorite—and least favorite— subjects. That data coming soon.

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We think the results of the Student Survey question are as important as the California Standards Tests (CST) that measure skills and knowledge in Math & English/Language Arts. Those tests are useful (and our 2011-2012 results are encouraging); but they do not measure whether the joy of learning that all children bring to Kindergarten is being kept alive, and nourished, at OTA. This student survey question does.

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At our Orientations we promised parents that children would like coming to school at OTA. That their days would be filled with a variety of challenges (“many ways to be smart”— music, math, science, robotics, sports, seminar, art, and the Core Knowledge humanities strands); that we would have tools to help children find work that neither frustrates (too difficult) nor bores (too easy); that the focus would be on that work (power-bestowing projects and a Learn->Create->Share progression), not on the teacher’s lecture or an endless round of worksheets. The CST doesn’t tell us if we’re keeping those promises. This student survey question does.

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