As California schools head into the busy semester's end, here in Sacramento the pace also intensifies in May, with budget negotiations beginning in earnest and hundreds of bills either killed or passed in the movement from one legislative house to the other.
The May Revision to the Governor's budget provided mostly good news for education given the overall budget picture, although for the most part districts will likely experience next year's funding as status quo. As all of you know, our state needs to find ways to significantly increase the investment in our schools if we are to maintain competitiveness in the global economy.
I commend the Governor for funding the 4.53 percent cost-of-living adjustment for all kindergarten through grade twelve education programs, and am particularly pleased that he supported my funding request to support the collection of quality individual student data in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS), a system that will at long last allow our state to track individual student achievement over time. The Governor's proposal included $65 million over two years to support local educational agencies in gathering and providing the quality data essential to the success of this system. I will work to make sure this funding remains in the final budget signed by the Governor.
The May Revision also reflected a welcome commitment to school nutrition, providing $25 million for meal reimbursement rate increases, a top priority of mine.
I also applaud the Governor's efforts to enhance career technical education (CTE) and counseling in high schools. As we expand career-related education options, however, I want to be certain that we do not return to the day when students were "tracked" onto a less rigorous pathway that limits their options for successful futures. In a time of frequent career changes and exponential advances in technology and information, it is critical that all students be prepared with the solid foundation in literacy and analytical and critical thinking skills they will need to succeed.
With this goal in mind, I am pleased that bills I am sponsoring to expand funding for California Partnership Academies (Senate Bill 830 [Kehoe]) and to provide professional development for teachers in science have passed critical legislative hurdles and have moved out of appropriations committees to the floor of the Legislature.
Early this week I was joined by representatives from the California Science Teachers Association, the American Electronics Association, TechNet, and The Exploratorium in San Francisco to promote Senate Bill 960 (Alquist), that will invest $11.3 million a year to enable 4,525 teachers annually to participate in high quality science professional development. Teachers who are new to the teaching profession, who have recently changed teaching assignments, who are assigned to high priority schools, or who are assigned to schools that are under state sanctions will have priority for the professional development.
Also this month I was delighted to announce the launch of the California School Service Award Program. Classified employees play key roles in creating a school environment that promotes student achievement, children's safety, and health. I often say classified employees are the glue that holds our schools together.
For the first year (2008), only employees at elementary schools will be eligible. In subsequent years, all public school service employees will be eligible. The nomination process for 2008 will start at the district level where each elementary or unified school district will select one employee in each of four categories to be nominated. The four categories are food service, maintenance operations and transportation, paraeducator and instructional assistance, and office and special services. The nominees will be submitted to the California Department of Education (CDE) in October. Committees will then announce two semifinalists in each category. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction will announce the winners in January and host an awards luncheon for the winners in February.
The award program is sponsored by the CDE in partnership with the California School Employees Association, Service Employees International Union, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, Association of California School Administrators, and business and industry organizations.
We honor teachers with the California Teachers of the Year award and we honor schools with the Academic Achievement and Distinguished School awards. It is time we honor our classified employees as well.
Honoring Teachers
This month's Highlights honors Cheri Gabler, one of San Diego County's Teachers of the Year 2007. Ms. Gabler teaches chemistry at West Hills High School in Santee and is a veteran educator with 23 years of experience.
Ms. Gabler will be the first to tell you that not all students find the subject of chemistry as exciting as she does. After all, measuring the sublimation of dry ice is not everyone's idea of fun. Undeterred, she works to make the material interesting and accessible to her students.
"It is my job to create an environment that encourages participation and inspires learning," she says. "I use a variety of strategies and techniques-including demonstrations, lab activities, games, analogies, and team work. We practice and review difficult concepts until they are less overwhelming. I model enthusiasm and show the fun in learning."
"Her classroom is, indeed, a wonder to behold," says James Peabody, regional director of the Regional System of District and School Support. "Beware if you walk into her lab-you might find cans imploding, liquids bubbling and changing color, students deep in conversation about their data, and a polite request for you to put on a pair of goggles."
"Ms. Gabler has developed protocols for high school chemistry labs that are used across the county," Peabody says, "and because of her expertise, she is annually invited to help write the Golden State Exam and grade the student responses."
"A command of the subject matter is only one of the attributes of a good teacher. Being able to connect with your students and recognizing his or her learning style," she says, "are equally important."
"An outstanding teacher must enjoy being with students. Students are more likely to learn and care about their work if they feel valued and respected," she says. She makes an effort to get to know her students as individuals and is interested in their lives outside of the classroom. "I take the time to watch them run track or hear them sing in the winter concert. These connections carry over into the academics and can be what motivate less enthusiastic students to try."
Ms. Gabler received her Bachelor of Science in Zoology, graduating summa cum laude from San Diego State University in 1981; her teaching credential in 1984, and her Master of Arts in Education at the same university in 1989.
California School for the Deaf, Riverside
The California School for the Deaf, Riverside (CSDR) provides a comprehensive educational program and a variety of extracurricular activities for deaf and hard of hearing students from local educational agencies throughout southern California. Over the past few months, the CSDR has been involved in a number of activities that have benefitted students from local district programs. These include:
- Deaf Academic Bowl: The CSDR recently took five students to Tucson, Arizona, to compete with fifteen other state schools for the deaf across the western region of the United States. The team included three seniors, one junior, and one sophomore student. The CSDR's final record was three wins and four losses.
- Camping/Snowboarding: Twenty CSDR high school students hit the slopes at Mountain High in Mount Baldy for this special privilege.
- Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Training: Thirty-five CSDR staff completed the 20 hours of CERT Training on May 4. The training was conducted by the City of Riverside Fire Department with the goal of teaching CSDR staff how to respond to potential disasters. Training in disaster preparedness, disaster fire suppression, disaster medical operations, light search and rescue, and CERT organization and simulation were provided.
Federal Requirement to Directly Certify Students for Free Meals
By July 1, 2007, local educational agencies participating in the National School Lunch Program with enrollments of 10,000 or more students must implement a system to directly certify students in households who receive Food Stamp and/or California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program benefits so that they also receive free school meals without further application.
This requirement is part of the federal Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, which amended the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Food Stamp Act to require that local educational agencies implement a system to directly certify students receiving Food Stamp and CalWORKs benefits for free school meals.
The California Department of Education is collaborating with the California Department of Social Services and the California Department of Health Services to create a state-level data match between children participating in the Food Stamp and CalWORKs programs and enrolled students whose demographic information resides in the California School Information Services' (CSIS) statewide student database. The results of the data match will be made available to local districts through the CSIS, which will provide a system download feature to interested local agencies. The downloaded information will allow districts to retrieve a list of their currently enrolled students who qualify for free meals through Direct Certification.
The first state-level data match will be available by mid-August to all interested districts. The CSIS will target its focus on assistance and training to districts with enrollments of 10,000 or more that are not currently directly certifying eligible students. The CSIS will inform CSIS coordinators what the data submission requirements are for Direct Certification and the steps to retrieve the list of eligible students. Food service directors and CSIS coordinators will need to work closely to obtain the Direct Certification list. The deadline to submit data for the first Direct Certification match is August 3, 2007.
The CSIS will work with CSIS coordinators throughout the implementation of Direct Certification. CSIS coordinators will receive e-mail notification of the status of the Direct Certification program including deadlines and the dates the student lists will be available to download.
If you have any questions regarding the implementation of Direct Certification, please contact Kari Sachs, Staff Information Systems Analyst, Nutrition Services Division, at 916-323-1582 or 800-952-5609 or by e-mail at ksachs@cde.ca.gov.
A World Full of Language: Supporting Preschool English Learners
The California Department of Education (CDE) is pleased to announce that a bronze Telly Award has been awarded to A World Full of Language, a DVD released in May as a companion to the new resource guide Preschool English Learners: Principles and Practices to Promote Language, Literacy, and Learning. Both the guide and DVD were developed by the CDE Child Development Division, through contracts with WestEd.
The Telly Awards honor outstanding local, regional, and cable TV commercials and programs, as well as the finest videos and film productions. The Telly Awards is a highly respected national and international competition with more than 13,000 entries annually from the United States and foreign countries.
The DVD provides information, in both English and Spanish, on how children acquire English as a second language, and offers research-based strategies teachers can use to support English learners. It begins by presenting the two paths to learning English as a second language. The DVD focuses on five strategies preschool teachers can use to support young children's language acquisition, followed by five strategies that move young English learners toward literacy. The DVD is formatted into chapters so that the viewer can see it in its entirety or in sections. The DVD also has closed captioning.
Ordering Information: Copies of this DVD are available from the CDE Press. Orders may be sent to the California Department of Education, CDE Press, Sales Office, 1430 N Street, Suite 3207, Sacramento, CA 95814-5901; Fax 916-323-0823. The ISBN for this DVD is 978-0-0811-1673-5.
Visitor's Guide to High Performing Elementary Schools
The California Department of Education (CDE) Visitor's Guide to High Performing Elementary Schools (Visitor's Guide) features searchable dynamic profiles of elementary schools recognized in one or more award programs-California Distinguished Schools, Title I Academic Achievement Award schools, and Blue Ribbon schools. The Visitor's Guide offers glimpses into some of California's most effective elementary schools. These schools welcome visitors to their sites to share the strategies and best practices at the heart of their success. Schools can be searched by location or by one of the six signature practice categories. The Visitor’s Guide to High Performing Elementary Schools is available on the CDE Web site.
School Facility Program Grants
- The California Department of Education (CDE) has been working with the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) on assessing the adequacy of the School Facility Program grants to fund complete schools. As part of this effort, the CDE has provided the OPSC examples of 60 complete schools the OPSC can use to assess the adequacy of the school facility grants.
The CDE has also prepared a brief overview of the state's role in funding school construction that is helpful in understanding the current concern on the adequacy of the school facility grants. This report was presented to the State Allocation Board on May 23, 2007, and will be discussed at the June 27, 2007, board meeting. A copy of this report is available by contacting the School Facilities Planning Division (SFPD) at 916-322-2470.
There are many deadlines approaching for school facility funding programs:
June 5: Charter School Facility Program applications due to the OPSC
July 2: Qualified Zone Academy Bonds application due to the SFPD
August 3: Career Technical Education application due to the SFPD
September 7: Small High School Program Academic Reform Strategy due to the SFPD
For additional program and contact information please visit the SFPD Web site.
California State Championship School Bus Roadeo
On May 27, 2007, the California Association of School Transportation Officials, in partnership with the CDE, held the 18th Annual State Championship School Bus Roadeo in Galt. The California State Championship School Bus Roadeo is an annual competition of the top school bus drivers in the state. The roadeo course consists of eight demanding driving events followed by a challenging written test.
The competition is open to both public and private sector school bus drivers who must first qualify at one of two state regional roadeos. The top competitors from both the public and private sector will move on to the national competition at the 37th School Bus Driver International Safety Competition to be held in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 14 and 15, 2007.
The 2007 California State Championship School Bus Roadeo winners are:
Mr. Antonio Perez
San Diego Unified School District
Ms. Laura Taylor
Monterey County Office of Education
Mr. Corey Patton
San Diego Unified School District
Ms. Brandy Acevedo
Monterey County Office of Education
Mr. Martin Lopez
Los Angeles Unified School District
Mr. Joshua Morgan
San Diego Unified School District
Intel Award
Congratulations to Balboa Elementary School, San Diego Unified School District, for being recognized as one of only six schools in the nation to receive the 2007 Intel School of Distinction Award for Mathematics Excellence. The annual awards recognize schools for implementing innovative math and science programs. The Intel Foundation and sponsoring companies distribute $1 million in grants and awards to winning schools.
To honor their extraordinary commitment to educational excellence and innovation, each of the six winning schools receive a $10,000 cash grant from the Intel Foundation and an award package including curriculum materials, professional development resources, hardware, and software valued at more than $160,000 per school. Balboa Elementary will be a role model to schools across the nation.
National School Change Awards/Principals Leadership Institute
Congratulations also go to Signal Hill Elementary School and Principal Karen Williams for being honored with a 2007 National School Change Award. A total of 127 nominations were received from 31 states, and six winning schools were chosen. The awards are given by the National Principals Leadership Institute at Fordham University. The Institute will hold its Tenth Annual National Principals Leadership Institute (NPLI) July 14-21 at Fordham University's Lincoln Center Campus in New York, focusing on leading and sustaining school change. For more information please visit the NPLI Web site (Outside Source).
