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Prestigious partnership is designed to boost literacy and narrow achievement gap

SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement to congratulate the Rowland Unified School District in Rowland Heights on being selected for a five-year partnership with the Ball Foundation, based in Glen Ellyn, Illinois:

"The Rowland Unified School District is one of only two districts in the nation selected for this prestigious program," O'Connell said. "I congratulate Rowland Unified Superintendent Dr. Maria Ott, as well as the rest of the district's leaders, teachers, paraprofessionals, and students for this distinction. I look forward to seeing the progress in student achievement that will result from this special partnership.

"I also want to commend the Ball Foundation for being a leader in envisioning a high-performance education system that recognizes all children can learn at high levels, regardless of their socioeconomic background. This is the foundation upon which we all must find solutions to narrow what we see in California as a disturbing and persistent achievement gap that exists not only between rich and poor students, but also between students who are African American or Latino and their peers who are white or Asian."

For more information, please visit Rowland Unified and Ball Foundation Partner to Increase Literacy Achievement for All (Outside Source).

O'Connell is addressing the achievement gap by holding an unprecedented meeting of the minds of national education stakeholders during his Achievement Gap Summit this November. For more information, please visit Closing the Achievement Gap - Initiatives, Projects, & Programs.