State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Names 310 Schools
for Prestigious Title I Academic Achievement Awards
SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today named 310 California schools as the 2005-06 Title I Academic Achievement Award winners. For the list of awardees, please visit 2005-06 Academic Achievement Award Recipients.
"This award is a prestigious recognition for each school that has worked hard to improve its students' academic achievement in spite of their disadvantaged backgrounds," said O'Connell. "There is a clear record of schools staying on track and improving year after year. For the first time, more high schools are receiving this award. Also, the fact that we have a number of special education or specialty schools on the list shows me that we are making steady progress in helping more students improve academically."
Of the 310 winners, 39 schools are in their third consecutive year of receiving the award, and 16 schools for the fourth consecutive year. In addition, 21 high schools are on the list, the highest number ever in the 22-year history of the award program. Furthermore, the list includes a school exclusively for special education students and 16 other specialty schools.
Title I is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 designed to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students. The Title I Academic Achievement Awards Program recognizes schools that are demonstrating success in ensuring all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California's academic content standards. These standards define the knowledge, concepts, and skills students are expected to acquire at each grade level. In addition, the awardees provide support and serve as models for other schools, especially other Title I schools that have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for two consecutive years and are designated for Program Improvement.
The criteria to qualify for the award have changed slightly, namely the Academic Performance Index (API) requirements are higher this year. Title I schools must demonstrate the achievement level of twice the schoolwide API growth target and twice the API growth target for the socio-economically disadvantaged subgroup for two consecutive years. Schools must also have made AYP for two years in a row. At least 40 percent of the enrolled students must meet the poverty index. There are nearly 5,900 Title I schools in California. Of the 338 schools eligible to participate in the awards program this year, 310 completed the necessary paperwork for participation.
Representatives of the winning schools will be honored at a banquet during the State Title I Conference scheduled for May 1-2, 2006 at the Hilton Orange County/Costa Mesa Hotel in Costa Mesa.
Two schools among the 310 state awardees received a National Title I Distinguished School Award in January during the National Title I Conference in Dallas, Texas. They are Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District and Lincoln Elementary School in the Oakland Unified School District. Francisco Bravo is also a National Blue Ribbon School nominee for 2005-06.
Francisco Bravo had the greatest percentage of students at or above the proficient level for AYP in reading, language arts, and mathematics. Lincoln Elementary made the most progress in closing the achievement gap among numerically significant subgroups in the school.
For more information about the Title I Academic Achievement Awards, please visit Title I Academic Achievement Awards Program.
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