This month I was pleased to announce that a record 377 public elementary schools were selected as 2006 California Distinguished Schools.
Chosen from 190 school districts in 40 counties, these "best of the best" schools also were selected from the largest number of eligible elementary schools to date.
I was delighted to be able to telephone the principals personally to tell them the news. From listening to their stories, it is obvious they are all deeply committed to ensuring their children learn and thrive. These deserving school leaders and their teachers, staffs, and students have worked extremely hard to achieve academic success and this recognition.
Congratulations also go to California’s 35 nominees for the 2006 national No Child Left Behind - Blue Ribbon Schools Program. These schools will be honored along with the 2006 California Distinguished Schools on May 26 at an awards ceremony and dinner at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. For a list of honored schools, please visit the CDE California School Recognition Program Web site.
Also this month was the fourth annual "On the Right Track 4: Strategies From Improving Schools and Districts" conference, hosted by CDE in collaboration with WestEd. This year’s symposium included presentations from three districts engaged in systemic reform: Hesperia Unified, Napa Valley Unified, and Oxnard Union High School District. The symposium provides a valuable opportunity for Program Improvement school and district teams in the early stages of reform to interact with and learn from similar schools and districts that have developed successful strategies to improve student achievement. Ten Program Improvement schools representing various geographic regions and diverse student populations presented their strategies for success.
Gearing up for the May Revision of the Governor’s budget, I along with the education coalition am engaged in ongoing meetings with the Legislature and Governor. We want to make very clear that a commitment was made to repay the debt owed to our schools and we expect the Governor’s promise to be kept. There are ongoing discussions over how best to repay the debt, but we will hold firm in the demand that it be paid in a reasonable time frame.
Finally, I want to extend to all of you my and my family’s heartfelt appreciation for the many good wishes you have extended to us following my wife Doree’s surgery. We are truly overwhelmed by this tremendous outpouring of support from friends and colleagues.
Chief Business Officer Training Program
The State Board of Education in March approved the training criteria and provider application process for the state’s Chief Business Officer (CBO) training program. This program is intended to serve 350 candidates annually with a $3,000 state contribution per candidate. Because the legislation establishing the program was in response to the increased number of local educational agencies experiencing financial difficulty, training priority is given to applicant districts that are under state administration and those whose financial statements have been certified as qualified or negative within the past five years.
The first round of recommendations of state-approved training providers will be made to the state board at its May meeting. Following approval of the state-approved training providers by the board, school districts and county offices of education will be notified and given instructions on how to apply for training and incentive funding. School districts and their CBOs who apply to participate in the training program must receive approval from the state board. It is anticipated that the first approval of trainees will be given by the state board at its July meeting.
Online Training for Special Needs Students and Parents
The Diagnostic Center, Northern California (DCNC) offers an online training program for use by local educational agencies and parents of students with special needs. It is entitled, "Transition Basics," and is designed to help parents and their children become active participants in the Individual Transition Plan process to prepare for life after high school. The training, divided into six units, is designed to be read sequentially; however, each unit can be viewed separately. Each unit has activities for parent and child involvement. This online training is updated regularly to reflect changes in law and can be accessed on the DCNC Web site [http://www.dcn-cde.ca.gov] (Outside Source). For more information, call Ron Kadish, Director, State Special Schools & Services Division at 916-327-3850.
Reminders on Student Activity Buses
With the arrival of spring, school districts throughout California are preparing to send students on activity and graduation trips. A popular mode of transportation used by many school districts is School Pupil Activity Buses (SPAB) vehicles. When such vehicles are used, it is important that school district administrators are familiar with SPAB requirements in order to assure parents and the public that bus carriers and drivers are in compliance with applicable California laws and regulations.
The California Department of Education (CDE) recommends that school district administrators take the following precautions:
- Check with the California Highway Patrol’s division motor carrier safety unit to see if the company you are using has certified SPAB vehicles and drivers. You should also ask the highway patrol for the SPAB carrier’s latest terminal inspection rating. If the rating is unsatisfactory you should not use that bus company.
- Check with the bus company to see how many of their buses and drivers are SPAB certified and how much insurance the company carries. Remind the company that you will only accept certified buses and drivers for your trips and that you will have school district personnel at the trip location to check.
If you have any questions regarding SPAB requirements or use please contact your local office of the California Highway Patrol or John Green, Manager in CDE’s Office of School Transportation, at 916-375-7100.
Growing the Clearinghouse for Multilingual Documents
The Clearinghouse for Multilingual Documents (CMD) is designed to provide translations of parental notification documents that schools and districts can draw from. State and federal laws have specific requirements that parental notifications be provided in translations. The goal is for the clearinghouse to become a resource that helps schools reduce local-level time and workload for translations of documents. The CMD is located on the CDE Web site: Clearinghouse for Multilingual Documents (CMD) - Parent/Family/Community.
Currently, more than 70 translated documents may be accessed from the CMD site. The CDE is working internally with its division offices to increase the number of translated state-level documents available on the Web. Our aim is to have a "second wave" of documents posted during the next three months. Also, the CDE is intensifying its efforts to encourage districts to provide information about translations which they have. The CMD system is set up to accommodate the input of information from authorized users.
We are also encouraging districts to link from the CMD site to translations already available on their Web sites.
The CMD is really a partnership of work and effort. Over the coming year we hope you will see the clearinghouse become a repository of helpful translations for districts, county offices, and charter schools.
Deadline Extension for California Kindergarten Survey
The California Kindergarten Survey 2006 is an online survey of kindergarten in California intended to provide comprehensive information about kindergarten programs including extended and full-day options. The filing deadline has been extended in order to include as many schools as possible.
Please assist in the creation of this state-wide database by requesting that principals in your district complete the survey at their earliest convenience. Completion of the survey takes less than 10 minutes.
Schools can access the California Kindergarten Survey 2006 at http://www3.cde.ca.gov/kindergartensurvey (Note: The California Kindergarten Survey 2006 is no longer available). For the password, use the LAST 7 digits (school code) of the school’s 14-digit County District School code.
Questions? Please contact the Elementary Education Office at 916-319-0878 or Education Programs Consultants, Onda Johnson at ojohnson@cde.ca.gov or Shobhana Rishi at srishi@cde.ca.gov.
Honoring Teachers
This month Highlights honors California Teacher of the Year Shelbi Wilson, who teaches English and Health, the Teen Mother program, yearbook, and volleyball at Abraham Lincoln Continuation High School in Riverside.
"I like knocking out each obstacle my students may face," Wilson says. "If they are hungry, I feed them. If they lack medical coverage, I help them get Medi-Cal. If they need extra help, I stay after school. If they are having problems with a parent, I make a phone call home." Rather than expecting her students to respond to a single formula or technique for academic success, she "meets them where they are," and finds ways to reach her students "where they are."
"My mother is a retired special education teacher who tricked me into thinking playing school was fun," says Wilson. "Learning was intricately woven into my daily existence. Failure was not an option. I vowed that when I was a teacher, every day, every hour would be spent teaching my students as if they were the smartest, richest, most capable advanced placement class in the world."
During college Wilson worked in a group home with supervisors who allowed her to start "shaping diamonds from what society had castoff as rocks." All kids could relate to getting smarter as a goal. Wilson realized they saw school as a small slice of heaven. One day, the school needed a substitute teacher. Shelbi was given the job. "We dissected fish, cats, and any other thing I could dream up," said Wilson. "I would drive around town to find fresh, uncleaned squid or catfish, or I would order cats ready for dissection. The principal showed me that, regardless of the circumstances, students can do anything if teachers are willing to go the extra mile for them."
Wilson reports that there is no typical day because students bring many issues with them. They have documented histories of poor attendance, defiance, and physical and verbal aggression. Yet Wilson maintains that "we are a family of ever-growing individuals." This aspect was illustrated when the Junior League sponsored a trip to the Governor's Conference for Women. On the bus ride to Long Beach, the girls talked about their future plans. After meeting the first female African American astronaut, one student was motivated to reconsider her job plan, saying, "I have to be much more."
As Teen Mom teacher, Wilson is a Lamaze coach, mom, mediator, advisor, legal counselor, problem solver, and then teacher. Outside programs provide books, parent education conferences, family and home support. Groups like the Inland Empire Latino Lawyers, Riverside and San Bernardino County Health Offices, and Junior League of Riverside return each year ready and willing to serve the needs of students. Wilson partnered with Riverside Health Foundation to create "X-Men," a male involvement program to educate young men by connecting them with the same community resources as the mothers. By going the extra mile for her students, she has inspired community partners to do the same.
