Clarification: Although the second paragraph in Capo Unified's letter to parents mistakenly claimed students surpassed federal performance goals in English and math, the first paragraph of the letter indicates otherwise. It says:
The purpose of this letter is to inform you that CUSD has been identified for Program Improvement Year 3 according to the criteria of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)/No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). This legislation supports Capistrano Unified School District's efforts to provide a strong standards-based educational program for all students. ESEA/NCLB identifies those districts that receive funds under ESEA/NCLB, Title 1 Part A, as Program Improvement (PI) districts after two consecutive years of not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) within specific areas and subgroups. California determines AYP by considering the percentage of students scoring at the "proficient" or "advanced" level on the California Standards Tests for English-language arts and mathematics and the Academic Performance Index (API).
Original story, headlined "CUSD Officials' Math a Little Fuzzy," updated Nov. 2 at 5 p.m.:
Maybe it’s the new math?
Last week, parents in the Capistrano Unified School District received a letter offering confusing information on whether CUSD students met state proficiency targets in English and math.
One portion of the letter reads: “Seventy-six percent of the students tested were proficient or advanced in English-language arts and 74.8 percent were proficient or advanced in math, surpassing the state academic proficiency targets of 78 percent (English-language arts) and 78.2 percent (math).”
When Patch asked how scores of 76 percent and 74.8 percent could "surpass" goals of 78 percent, school district spokesman Marcus Walton said: “There was a mistake in the initial letter sent to parents. As the numbers indicate, the district did not surpass the proficiency targets this year."
A corrected version of the letter was posted Wednesday on the school district’s website, saying 76 percent and 74.8 percent were “near” the state’s targets.
The purpose of the letter was to inform parents that Capo Unified is in its third year of “program improvement,” a euphemistic label for failing to meet academic achievement goals set by the government. Most other Orange County school districts are also on program improvement.
CUSD was first labeled a program improvement district in 2010 for not meeting standards of the No Child Left Behind law, which requires all students to be at least proficient in English and math by 2014, according to the district.
Specifically, the district’s English learners and disabled students didn't meet their targets in 2010. The same is true this year, according to the state Department of Education.
The numbers show that several subgroups did not meet their “adequate yearly progress” goals, including:
- African-Americans
- Latinos
- American Indians or Native Alaskans (math only)
- Poor students
- English learners
- Disabled students
School districts placed on program improvement must take steps to reverse the situation. The district plan to achieve its targets can be found here.
Twenty-two of Orange County’s 28 school districts are on program improvement. A school district exits program improvement when it meets its goals for all subgroups for two consecutive years, according to the Orange County Department of Education.
Thank you for that advise- I am going to ask for a job description for Vicki and Rhonda. Would I send that to the District or to CUEA and/or CSEA or all three? Your comment "Negotiations are driven by labor laws which are strictly enforced." The reason for filing a complaint- is that there is a substantial amount of written documentation that gives rise to a legal question as to whether or not Disclosure Laws were followed. You are correct- statutes tell you when labor negotiations can start and stop. I have e-mails from OCDE which show that labor negotiations were continuous and ongoing which is while I filed a complaint.
Easy for you to say when you are not the person facing "Criminal Liability".
I think it would be helpful for the district to explain what areas the scores are failing to meet the standards. Did they have a sudden influx of Native American students that only speak Apache or Eskimos that only speak Inuit or Aluet? Or are the low scores because of a terrific program for Disabled Students that has attracted students into the district and they haven't had enough time to help those kids along? I'm sure within the many categories listed, their is something the district can say to put the numbers into perspective. After all, CUSD is a gold medal winner of the Daily Beast list of best schools, despite the dubious status as a "Program Improvement" district.
I agree that Finland is a system that is working very well and has every element that, if implemented here, would have nothing but positive results.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html?c=y&page=5&device=ipad
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html It's a great article. If you go to the Education Nation web site, you will find some excellent videos about the Finnish school system. We can learn a great deal. Here, also, is a link to a Denver newspaper article on Colorado's new "tenure" law. http://www.skyhidailynews.com/article/20100614/NEWS/100619968 "The new law requires teachers to be evaluated annually, with at least half of their rating based on whether their students progressed during the school year. Beginning teachers will have to show they've boosted student achievement for three straight years to earn tenure. "Teachers could lose tenure if their students don't show progress for two consecutive years. That won't be a possibility until 2015, however, because lawmakers slowed down the process under political pressure from the teachers' union. Teachers can appeal dismissal all the way to the state Supreme Court, and school districts have the burden of proving why they should be terminated. "Under the old system, teachers simply had to work for three years to gain tenure, the typical wait around the country."
Are you sure it is Brea-Olinda. Their test scores for Enlgish learner fell by 103 points (below our API for the same category) and their socio-economic disadvantage students API decreased by 34 points and their scores were below ours for that category also. And the scores for Black and African American student and American Indian and Alaska Native fell. If you look at CUSD API scores they improved in all categories except Black and African American which went from 814 to 811 and American Indian and Alaska Native which went from 855 to 846 and students with disabilities which went from 647 to 646. All other categories of students improved their API scores.
Brea-Olinda "not in PI"
Students with disabilities may qualify to take the modified version of the test http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sr/participcriteria.asp
"All students in grades 2-11 participate in the STAR Program, including students with disabilities and students who are English learners. However, parents may request in writing to the principal that a student not be tested. Also, the Individual Education Programs (IEPs) of some special education students specify they should not be tested, while other students are eligible for testing accommodations, if those are included in their IEP. All English learners must take the STAR tests in English unless excused by their parents."
“I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race. We have to plan for our collective future –- and the first step begins with the social, emotional, and intellectual tools we provide to our children. As humans, our greatest tool for survival is our ability to think and to adapt – as educators, storytellers, and communicators our responsibility is to continue to do so.”
It is also worth noting that there are no private schools in Finland. This notion may seem difficult for Americans’ to grasp - tuition free higher education. There are no private universities, either. This means that practically every person in Finland attends public school, whether for pre-K or a Ph.D. And, perhaps the best part of their system is that there is no tuition. Can you imagine graduating from college and not having any school loans to pay back, because your education was FREE? The bottom line is that we could learn a great deal from the Finns. If only we had the political will.
The Patch has published erroneous information and corrected it on occasion (haven't seen the apology part). Many posters on these boards have posted misleading and erroneous information. Some have corrected themselves. Many have not.