(June 10, 2008) Although overall student performance in California leaves much to be desired, there are public schools —including some with socioeconomic challenges — that are well on their way to getting every student to grade-level proficiency.
The California Chamber of Commerce has been working closely with two organizations that have laid the groundwork for identifying the high-performing schools using objective criteria and learning how those schools are helping students succeed:
The California Business for Education Excellence (CBEE) Foundation works to demonstrate that education achievement standards can be met.
Just for the Kids-California (JFTK-CA) provides a free website, www.jftk-ca.org, that presents data on how students at schools throughout the state are performing on state accountability tests. The website database has become the largest in California to show, over time, student test results at individual schools.
Based on those results and other criteria, CBEE and JFTK-CA have developed an honor roll of schools that are showing significant academic improvement.
Starting this week, the CalChamber will begin regularly highlighting some of the California public schools that are high performing and getting closer to the goal of moving all students to grade-level proficiency.
A special report also offers suggestions on how business people, parents and educators can get involved in helping more schools better prepare students to succeed, both academically and in the working world.
Staff Contact: John Hooper
Honor Roll School
Teaching 'Bell to Bell' Helps Students
Succeed in Manteca
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David O’Leary, principal of New Haven Elementary School in the Manteca Unified School District. |
Just six years ago, standardized test scores showed socio economically disadvantaged students at New Haven Elementary School in Manteca were below or barely above minimum target proficiency levels in language arts and math.
Since then, the same tests show the disadvantaged students have been improving steadily. In 2007, disadvantaged New Haven students tested well above the minimum proficiency level. If the trend of the last few years continues, disadvantaged New Haven students will consistently score above that minimum level.
Meanwhile, close to 60 percent of the student body as a whole is testing at grade level.
Behind the steady progress for the K-8 school is a philosophy that focuses on teachers, explaining proficiency standards in parent-teacher conferences and clear objectives, says principal David O’Leary.
The 626-member student body is about 40 percent Hispanic and 46.8 percent white. Students qualifying for free/reduced school lunches make up 42.8 percent of the student population and socioeconomically disadvantaged students make up 43.3 percent of the student body.
New Haven has been the top-scoring school in the Manteca Unified School District for the last four years, O’Leary reports.
Among the keys to performance have been looking at the needs of individual students and an emphasis on making full use of the 6 to 6.5 hours a day that students spend at school.
Concentrating on the individual student rather than worrying about blocks of students meant “the achievement gap took care of itself,” says O’Leary.
And by making sure to “teach bell to bell,” the school staff maximized learning time for students without impinging on extracurricular and family activities.
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