The Putney School Longitudinal Study

In keeping with our desire to provide a unique and enriching experience for students at The Putney School, we are initiating a longitudinal study that will help us to find out what we are doing that works, and what needs changing.

As the name implies, the study will collect data over a long period of time, from arrival at Putney, through students’ four years here, and on through college and beyond. School policies and practices will be observed from a broad time perspective to identify correlations that may not be obvious in the short term. Some of the areas that we are interested in for inclusion in the study are: personality traits, cultural competence, health behaviors, course/activity/work job selections, and living conditions. We want to see how these and other factors relate to class attendance, academic success, days lost from illness, stress level, well-being, and career and life success.

In order to obtain data for our study, we need participants.

Our plan is to begin the study with entering 9th graders this September. We are asking freshmen (sorry upper class folks, wish we could include you!) to consider taking part in what we believe will be a groundbreaking project that will yield invaluable information about The Putney School and about progressive education.

Follow the links for more information and for consent and assent forms.

• Letter from Judith Petry
• Student Assent Form
• Custodial Parent Consent Form