November 13, 2006
New $15 Million Investment to Expand California Effort
to Improve Low-Performing School Districts
Grant to Improve Student Performance in Struggling Districts Across California
SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Education (CDE) and California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) announced today a $15.5 million investment from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to increase the number of students who graduate ready for college and work by strengthening the state's district improvement plan and offering more support to struggling districts across the state.
Using the guidance of CCSESA and its county superintendents, the grant will deploy school improvement teams to 15 school districts statewide. These districts will be selected to represent a diverse set of communities by geography, ethnicity, income, and special needs.
"We want to help all students realize their full potential, and we need an aggressive plan to improve our lowest-performing school districts," said Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. "California is nationally recognized for its high standards and leadership on education reform. This grant will help us continue down this path so we can prepare all our students to successfully compete in the competitive global economy."
This initiative is part of the state's plan to set high standards for districts and schools and provide strong support to help those that struggle to meet these standards. Already more than 160 of the 1,000 school districts in California have been marked for "program improvement," having missed the federal No Child Left Behind Act's "adequately yearly progress" benchmarks for two years in a row. The number is expected to grow by another 100 districts next year.
This project builds on the state's recently launched pilot program. CCSESA will use the best practices and lessons learned from this pilot group to eventually train and equip each of the 11 regional offices with the expertise, skills, and knowledge required to transform low-performing districts.
"The county offices of education are a natural partner in this work because we already provide academic and fiscal support to every district in the state," said Dave Long, CCSESA president and Riverside County Superintendent of Schools. "As we prepare to face a growing number of district interventions, we need to find a solution that will work on a large scale. This investment will help us to refine our improvement plan and provide the technical assistance needed at the local and regional level."
Districts around the country are struggling to implement effective support strategies for low-performing schools, making the challenge of a high-quality education for all students a difficult one. This grant will give counties and districts the capacity and the tools needed to provide this type of technical assistance.
"It remains our mission to graduate all students prepared for college, work, and citizenship," said Tom Vander Ark, executive director for education at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "As a state with one of the strongest accountability systems in the nation, California is ahead of the curve in establishing a model system of support for low performing schools and is in a prime position to be a national model for improving districts as well."
To date, the foundation has invested more than $1 billion to expand educational options for high school students by supporting the creation of more than 1,800 high-quality high schools in 42 states and the District of Columbia.
California's 58 County Superintendents of Schools and their respective County Offices of Education support the financial and academic soundness of every district and school in the state. The primary aim of County Superintendents is to work collaboratively with school districts to ensure that every student benefits from a quality education experience. CCSESA is a network formed by the state's County Superintendents in order to work closely with state authorities to implement programs efficiently, in response to the needs of districts and schools.
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Attachment
California District Improvement Initiative
The Imperative
- To ensure that all students have access to schools that help them attain their full potential, California is launching an initiative to improve state and district capacity and improve student performance in struggling K-12 schools across the state.
- California has been a national leader in education reform with its 1999 adoption of a strong accountability system, two years before the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. The state's high academic standards can make it difficult for schools to avoid a “needs improvement” designation.
- Currently, more than 160 of the state's 1,000 school districts are in program improvement for failing to meet NCLB requirements for two years, a number that is expected to grow by another 100 districts next year. Federal and California state law require state intervention in these low-performing districts.
The Solution
The California Department of Education (CDE) and California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) will use a $15.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to strengthen the state's district improvement plan and offer more support to struggling districts. The work includes:
- Refining the support and intervention model used for low-performing districts.
- Developing a regional infrastructure, or “backbone,” in 58 county offices of education to train and equip each region with the skills and tools needed to provide struggling districts with academic, fiscal, and human resource management expertise.
- Deploying trained intervention teams in 15 school districts that will diagnose and support seven major areas: governance; alignment of curriculum and assessments to standards; fiscal operations; parent and community involvement; human resources; data systems; and professional development.
- Planning for how to scale and sustain the support and intervention efforts as the number of districts needing assistance grows.
California District Improvement Initiative Time Line
2006
- Work of initial four-district intervention teams evaluated and best practices shared to refine 2007 outreach and support
2007
- Develop regional infrastructure in county offices of education
- Intervention teams established and expanded into 15 districts
- Data collection tools and online database available for team members to diagnose needs and apply appropriate interventions
- All 58 county curriculum and instruction personnel to learn about findings and best practices
2008
- Collect and evaluate data on second year of intervention in pilot districts
- Refine improvement plan and practices based on findings
2009
- Implement intervention practices on a statewide scale
- Develop statewide training for all intervention teams
- Publish report that can be shared with other states
