This month I delivered my State of Education address in Sacramento and then took the message on the road to groups of educators in San Jose, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, and San Diego. My hope is that all of us — education professionals, parents, and students — begin thinking long term and consider innovative solutions to meeting the many challenges of preparing our diverse student population to succeed in a demanding and dynamic global economy.
Closing the achievement gap is both a moral and economic imperative, and we face this imperative at a time when we also face the need to educate all students to higher standards, when we must improve our students' knowledge of and achievement in math and science, and when we face the retirement of a third or more of our teacher and principal corps.
I am proposing a multi-pronged strategy for developing highly effective teachers and school administrators to meet the needs of our classrooms over the next decade, including expanded professional development, new pathways into the teaching and school administrative professions, expert teacher coaches in our most challenging schools, and restoration of teacher recruitment and incentive programs.
While I do believe the state has a role in responding to the impending shortage of teachers and administrators, I am also urging a reevaluation of the state’s role in education as we look forward to the coming decades. It is important that we adhere to our world-class standards and high expectations for student success, but we must allow districts the flexibility to deliver those standards in ways that make it relevant to and meet the needs of different students. With more and better research-based data upon which to base decisions, local education agencies should be encouraged to meet students where they are, and do what it takes to achieve the best educational outcome for every student.
This month I also spoke to a conference of California Partnership Academies, which is engaged in the kind of partnerships with business, higher education, and community organizations that I hope to see expanded throughout California. Such partnerships are essential to our efforts to engage students by bringing real-world relevance to our academic content standards, and to better prepare students for the challenges of college and the workplace.
Also in February I released preliminary results of the 2005 California English Language Development Test (CELDT), taken by more than 1.3 million students who are English learners. While I am pleased that 47 percent of English learners in California’s public schools scored at early advanced or advanced overall in English proficiency, the results underscore the challenge of ensuring that all English learners are prepared with the foundation in English that will help them succeed more in academic subjects.
I’m particularly pleased with the increase in the number of English learners who were reclassified over the past year. While we still have a long way to go, this positive movement is worth noting. We do, however, continue to see a noticeable gap between the percentage of English learners demonstrating English proficiency on the CELDT and the percentage of English learners being reclassified by local school districts. It is critical that California school districts continue to review their reclassification procedures as well as the current academic support they provide to English learners.
With the most diverse student population on the planet, California should be poised to lead in a global economy, where the ability to communicate well with cultures around the world will be essential. I am optimistic that, working together, we will be able to prepare all students to succeed in the demanding world they’ll face.
Summer Programs Available for Visually Impaired, Deaf & Blind Students
During the months of June and July in 2006, the California School for the Blind (CSB) will continue its commitment to sharing responsibility for the education of California’s children who are blind, visually impaired, or deaf blind by offering summer programs to students who are not enrolled in CSB during the regular school year.
CSB is now accepting applications for three special summer programs for students from local school districts.
- The 6th Annual Tech Academy will be held during the week of June 19-23, 2006. Preference for enrollment will be given to students aged 14 through 18. Based on the needs and experiences of these students, they may receive instruction on the following devices and programs: Braille input and output devices, Internet access using Braille Note, Jaws, and ZoomText, speech output screen access software, screen magnification software, Windows keyboarding commands, Braille embossing using an Index Basic-D and Juliet Pro 60, printing using Epson, HP, and Canon printers, Open Book and Kurzweil, Optical Character Recognition (OCR) programs.
Training on the computer will include navigating through menus as well as creating, editing, printing, and embossing documents. The students will leave more confident in their abilities to record homework assignments and notes for class, organize files, and prepare print and Braille copies of their class work.
- Introduction to Braille will be presented from June 19-23, 2006, and serve functionally blind students ages 7-10. Intensive instruction in the Braille Code will be augmented by Braille challenges, games, and contests. Students should be at or near grade level and be able to accommodate quickly to living away from home.
- The Summer Transition Education Program (STEP) held from July 9 – 28, 2006, is a cooperative venture between the California Department of Rehabilitation and the CSB. Participants in this program are public high school students who are also clients of the Department of Rehabilitation.
The program focus is on career awareness and exploration, computer technology, independent living skills, and orientation and mobility. Also scheduled are experiential trips to the Orientation Center for the Blind in Albany, the Living Skills Center in San Pablo, and Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael and job shadowing experiences. Weekend experiences allow students time to enjoy the Bay Area’s recreation/leisure options (e.g., kayaking, tour of Alcatraz, Golden Gate Park) while putting into practice skills learned in the daily classes. Using public transportation, budgeting money, working as a team, demonstrating rules of etiquette, and socializing appropriately are just a few of the skills practiced during the weekend activities.
For further information on these three programs, please contact Dr. Stuart Wittenstein, Superintendent, CSB, at 510-794-3800.
Honoring Teachers
This month Highlights honors California Teacher of the Year Kenneth Dyar, a physical education teacher at Cecil Avenue Middle School in rural Delano, Kern County. When it comes to engaging and connecting with students and using innovative techniques to make content standards relevant to students’ lives,
Dyar is a true model of success. He also understands and imparts the importance of developing good citizenship and imparting positive values of generosity, community service and family involvement in school.
Dyar’s class instruction is individualized, including Personal Fitness Plans, use of heart rate monitors, and student fitness and activity logs. Students are assessed on the mastery of standards as measured through performance on a variety of different benchmarks, and on improvement. "Without exception, every single 8th grader who graduated from my class has left in better physical condition than when he or she entered," Dyar writes. And students have had fun in the process.
To encourage fitness as a family activity, Dyar hosts "Aerobic Night" for students and their families at the school. To prepare for the event, students have to teach an aerobic routine to their families. After three weeks of "practice," the students bring their families on campus to do aerobics together. "Students enjoy watching their parents huffing and puffing away," Dyar says. "And when the exercise is over, free fruit and water is supplied to all." Last year, the event drew more than 1,200 participants. Dyar also supplies his students with monthly "family Fitness Calendars," full of "quick, fun, no-money activities that families can do together. Activities include, "place a section of newspaper on your chest and run around for 15 minutes, using only your movement to hold the paper up."
At the end of each month, the parent signs and returns the calendar, and their child is given a new calendar.
Dyar also has worked with local organizations to provide free health-related information and services, highlighted with a student Swing dance performance, attracting 800 people early on a Saturday morning. "We provided a much needed service for the community, and we put our kids in a position to ‘show off’ something they learned. And we all had fun!" Fun is an integral part of Dyar’s program, and the result is students who adopt a healthier lifestyle by choice.
"Many teachers I know have said that their job is not to entertain the kids," Dyar writes. "I disagree! I am entertaining the kids while I am teaching them. I want them to understand that learning is fun, change is fun, being healthy is fun, and they should keep having fun for the rest of their lives."
School Nutrition by Design
March is National Nutrition Month and the timing is perfect to release School Nutrition By Design, a publication listing the recommendations of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Advisory Committee on Nutrition Implementation Strategies.
The Committee membership represents school board members, superintendents, principals, teachers, food service directors, parents, students, agriculture experts, nutrition and health experts, and advocates all working toward one goal: to provide a set of implementation strategies to improve the quality of food and beverages sold or served on school campuses. Superintendent O’Connell will be sending two copies of the document to each school district along with a request that the district identify one individual that can take the lead in spearheading efforts to implement strategies to improve the school nutrition environment in their district. School Nutrition By Design provides realistic recommendations for making positive changes in the school nutrition environment without costly mandates. The approach each school district takes can be "designed" according to their specific circumstances. Look for the Superintendent’s package in mid-March. For more information on School Nutrition By Design, contact Phyllis Bramson-Paul, Director, Nutrition Services Division, at 916-445-0850.
Model Middle Schools
Four middle schools were designated in February as California’s 2006 Schools To Watch—Taking Center Stage model middle schools. All of the models have replicable practices in academic excellence, responsiveness to the developmental needs of young adolescents, fair and equitable education for all students, and organizational processes and procedures that foster and sustain academic growth.
California’s Schools To Watch—Taking Center Stage program is a collaborative endeavor of nine organizations that form the California Middle Grades Alliance: the California League of Middle Schools, the Association of California School Administrators, the California School Boards Association, the California Teachers Association, the California Middle Grades Partnership Network, the Curriculum and Instruction Steering Committee of the California County Superintendents Educational Association, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), and the California Department of Education.
California has some of the finest schools in America, but it also has some schools that face difficult challenges. The model middle schools designated under this collaborative program not only educate their own students well but also have accepted the responsibility of helping other schools.
This year’s designees are:
- Gaspar De Portola Middle School, San Diego City Schools, San Diego, San Diego County, Principal Elizabeth Gillingham
- R. H. Dana Middle School, Wiseburn School District, Hawthorne, Los Angeles County, Principal Matthew Wunder
- McKinleyville Middle School, McKinleyville Union School District, McKinleyville, Humboldt County, Principal Douglas Oliveira
- Toby Johnson Middle School, Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, Sacramento County, Principal Patrick S. McDougall
Formal recognition will be given to the model schools, which join 10 other schools selected in previous cycles, at the annual California League of Middle Schools Conference in San Jose, March 9-12. There, the four schools will be given their first opportunity to showcase themselves and network with other middle schools from around the state.
A virtual tour of all previously designated model middle schools (Outside Source) is available on the California League of Middle Schools Web site.
Apply Now for Math and Science Partnership Grants
Eligible organizations are encouraged to compete for $13.2 million dollars in California Mathematics and Science Partnership (CaMSP) program grants.
The funds must be used to establish partnerships among qualified organizations to help boost student achievement in math and science by providing ongoing training for teachers in these fields. The grants will help meet a critical need for excellent math and science teachers in California’s classrooms. The federal No Child Left Behind Act, Title II, Part B is the funding source for the CaMSP grants. Currently funded CaMSP programs are not eligible to apply for additional funding. This third round of funding for eligible applicants, or cohort 3, is designed to provide long-term professional learning activities to the teachers in this cohort over multiple years.
Eligible organizations must form educational partnerships among: a "high-need" local educational agency; engineering, math, or science department of a university; nonprofit private schools; county offices of education, public charter schools, public or private elementary or secondary schools, or a consortium of them; business or industry organization; another engineering, math, science, or teacher education department of a university; nonprofit or for-profit organization with a proven track record of improving the quality of math and science teachers; or local parent organizations.
A "high-need" local educational agency is defined as serving a student population where at least 40 percent of the pupils qualify for the National School Lunch Program. CaMSP is an in-depth professional development program for classroom teachers to enhance their knowledge and teaching skills of math and science through professional learning activities. Eligible partnerships must file their applications by March 30, 2006. California Department of Education staff will select a panel to review the applicants and will score them based on their vision and goals, action plan, evaluation plan, partnership management plan, and institutional change and program sustainability. For an application, please visit the CaMSP Grant Program Introduction Web site.
Summer and Saturday Meal Waivers
The Summer and Saturday School Meal Waiver forms are now on the CDE web site. Pursuant to AB 1392 (Umberg), schools must meet a new set of criteria in order to apply for a waiver of the requirements of the State Meal Mandate, effective January 1, 2006. Schools meeting one of the following three conditions may be granted a waiver:
- A Summer Food Service Program Site is operating within one-half to one mile of the summer school site, and is operating during a timeframe that provides adequate time for the children to reach the Summer Food Service Site and eat a meal before it closes; or,
- The cost of providing meals during the summer school session will result in a financial loss to the school district; or,
- The entire summer school session is less than two hours long including breaks and recess.
PLEASE NOTE: The financial analysis conducted to meet Criteria 2 listed above must include a projection of future meal program participation based on either of the following:
- The meal service period beginning after the commencement of the summer school session day and concluding before the completion of the summer school session day. In other words, districts must project profit or loss based on serving a breakfast or a lunch during school hours and not before or after the school day.
- The school site operating as an open Summer Seamless Option or a SFSP site, and providing adequate notification thereof, including flyers and banners, in order to fulfill community needs under the SFSP.
All public schools and schools operated by the County Offices of Education that plan to offer summer school should visit the Waivers Web page to learn more about the new criteria. For further assistance, contact Rae Dalimonte, Analyst, Nutrition Services Division, at 916-445-0850 or by e-mail at rdalimon@cde.ca.gov.
