Strategies
Detailed For First Year of Proposed Blueprint For Improving Student
Achievement in City Schools
More classroom time for students, more
useful training for teachers, and more books for all first-grade
classrooms highlight first-year prevention and intervention strategies
under the proposed Blueprint to improve all student reading and math
achievement in San Diego City Schools.
The strategies were presented to the Board
of Education on Tuesday, Feb. 29 by Superintendent Alan Bersin. Bersin
also gave trustees a detailed cost accounting for the first year of the
multiyear Blueprint, estimated at $50 million, or about 5% of the district’s
$1 billion annual budget. Funding would come largely from existing
district programs intended to improve low academic performance, but which
have failed to produce acceptable results over several decades. There
would be no layoffs of teachers or other employees with credentials, but
there could likely be job losses among school aides. The district would
expect to hire approximately 200 additional teachers under the Blueprint
plan, if approved.
The Blueprint was introduced at the Dec.
14, 1999, board meeting. A vote on the proposal, titled Blueprint for
Student Success in a Standards-Based System, is expected on March 14.
The Blueprint addresses the problem of
social promotion, a practice where more than 40% of district students at
some grade levels have been promoted to the next grade even if they do not
read or compute math at the level required for success in that grade. The
Blueprint would be a comprehensive effort that over time would offer
continuous help at every grade to boost the literacy and math skills of
all students, and provide substantial extra help for the lowest achieving
students so that they can read and calculate with power. The results would
be better academic success for the district’s 141,000 students.
The strategies for the 2000-2001 school
year being presented today are the result of ongoing discussions among
administrators, teachers, parents and the community, both in small-group
meetings and televised forums. There will be additional community meetings
during the next two weeks before March 14 to explain the strategies.
The first-year approach would begin
prevention strategies for helping all children so that more would learn to
read and do math on their first effort. It would also begin intervention
strategies for students who begin to fall behind at a particular grade or
who are already behind, and would include intensive help at several
district schools with large numbers of low-performing students.
The following prevention strategies would
take place at all schools:
- $5,000 for every first-grade classroom
for extra books and materials.
- A two-hour daily literacy class for all
students in grade 6 that would include reading and writing of memoirs,
poetry, short stories, and historical fiction. This course is called
"genre studies."
- Sustained professional training for all
teachers in kindergarten and grade 1 to expand skills.
- A peer coach—a teacher who guides
colleagues to improve teaching techniques—at all schools. Most
schools would have peer coaches full time.
The following intervention strategies would
take place at all schools:
- A literacy/mathematics core, of two
hours of literacy and one hour of math, at grade 6 in middle school,
at grade 7 in junior high, and at grade 9 for all students who are below
grade level. Class size would be 20 students. All teachers would
receive sustained instructional training.
- A literacy/mathematics block, of three
hours of literacy and one hour of math, for all students at grade 9
who are significantly below grade level. Class size would be 20
students. All teachers would receive sustained instructional training.
- The two-hour daily literacy class
("genre studies") at grade 7 in middle school, at grade 8 in
junior high and at grade 10 for all students who are significantly
below grade level in reading.
- Classes before or after school at grade
3, grade 6 in middle school, grade 7 at junior high, and grade 8, for
students significantly below grade level. Class size would be
20 students. All teachers would receive sustained instructional
training.
- Literacy and math summer school classes,
or classes between sessions at year-round schools, at grades 1, 2, 3,
5 or 6, and 8, for students who are below grade level. Teachers
would receive special instructional training two afternoons each week.
The following additional strategies would
also take place at selected schools:
- A special summer academy called Junior
First at four schools for students who would be entering the first
grade but who need extra help. This would be an experimental academy
to see if the extra summer help would benefit students.
- A longer school year by 24 days, an
extra peer coach, an extra $3,000 in every first grade classroom for
materials, and a special parent training and involvement program for
eight of the district’s lowest performing elementary schools. These
schools would be known as Focus Schools.
- An extra peer coach and an extra $3,000
for every first grade classroom for 11 low performing elementary
schools.
The estimated cost of the Blueprint for the
first year would be $50 million. The bulk of the funding would come from
monies redirected from long-running district programs which were designed
to raise low student achievement. These numerous compensatory education
and integration programs have not resulted in adequate improved student
achievement, and the superintendent recommends they now be used for more
focused Blueprint strategies.
No school would suffer an overall loss of
funding as a result of the Blueprint. However, schools would have less
discretion over how to use some of their funding because they would be
directed to carry out the Blueprint strategies. The superintendent said
there would be no layoffs of teachers or other personnel with credentials,
such as nurses and counselors. However, there could be layoffs of
classroom aides who have been funded with money that would be redirected
toward Blueprint strategies for more classroom instruction, more teachers
and more teacher training, and more classroom books and materials.
The Blueprint would not affect the
opportunity for secondary students who are reading or computing math at or
above grade level to take elective courses. In most cases, it would still
allow students reading or computing math below grade level to have the
opportunity to take an elective course during each year of their secondary
education.
The Blueprint has evolved through the
efforts of hundreds of district employees in consultation with many
parents and other members of the San Diego community who are concerned
about the future of the district’s children.
Superintendent Bersin said, "We are
attempting a dramatic reform that can serve as a model for other school
districts throughout our nation which are struggling with the common
challenge of increasing all student achievement in order to prepare their
graduates for successful futures. I salute the courage of our employees in
tackling the issue of achievement in a systemic fashion, and in
understanding the need to redirect financial resources as necessary.
"I regret very much the job loss for
any individual, and I pledge that the district will do its utmost to place
those affected in vacant positions in the district or help them secure
employment in the community.
"But at the end of the day, all
decisions that we make must put our students first."
Note to media: The
terms "below grade level" and "significantly
below grade level" are new descriptions for student achievement
based on standardized reading scores. Formerly a student who achieved "below
grade level" was referred to as a student in the second quartile
(Q2), and a student who achieved "significantly below grade
level" was referred to as a
student in the first quartile (Q1). Q1 represents the lowest 25% of
achievement, and Q2 represents achievement in a band between 25% and 50%.
