Closing the Achievement Gap

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San José Unified School District

• Closing the Achievement Gap
• Linda Murray, Superintendent in Residence
• Education Trust-West

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Successes Challenges
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SJUSD Academic Performance Index 1999-2003
Gap Reduced by 23
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of SJUSD Graduates who Satisfy UC/CSU
Requirements
Increased requirements
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Mean GPA for All SJUSD Graduating Seniors
1998-2004
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Graduation Rate Based on NCES Definition
1999-2004
Increased requirements
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Graduates Satisfying UCCSU Requirements in
2002-2003 Comparable Urban Districts in Northern
California Highest Performing Urban District
from Southern California
64
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Hispanic Graduates Satisfying UCCSU
Requirements in 2002-2003 Comparable Urban
Districts in Northern California Highest
Performing Urban District from Southern California
45
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SJUSD SAT9 CAT6 Matched Mathematics Scores at
Grades 3-9 for Students who Have Been Tested
with STAR Every Year Since 1998
Gap reduced by 43
CAT6 scores adjusted to SAT9 scale
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SJUSD SAT9 CAT6 Matched Reading Scores at
Grades 3-9 for Students who Have Been Tested
with STAR Every Year Since 1998
Gap reduced by 55
CAT6 scores adjusted to SAT9 scale
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SJUSD SAT9 CAT6 Matched Mathematics Scores at
Grades 4-9 for Students who Have Been Tested
with STAR Every Year Since 1998
Gap reduced by 24
Median National Percentile
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SJUSD SAT9 CAT6 Matched Reading Scores at
Grades 4-9 for Students who Have Been Tested
with STAR Every Year Since 1998
Gap reduced by 48
Median National Percentile
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SJUSD Median National Percentile Score for All
Students
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Seniors Who Have Taken at Least One Semester of
an Advanced Placement Course
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Average Number of Semesters in Advanced Placement
that have been taken by Seniors who have taken at
Least One Advanced Placement Course
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Hispanic Enrollment in Chemistry or Physics
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Hispanic Enrollment in all A to G Courses
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Pass Rate in A to G Courses for Hispanic Students
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Early Work in SJUSD

• Equity 2000
• Consent Decree
• Stanford Accelerated Schools
• Committee of 100
• Development of Life Long Learning Standards
• Development of Strategic Plan

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1996-The Beginning of the Journey

• 1996 Danforth Foundation grant to support a
  public engagement model
• Public Agenda, KSA Communications, and the
  Institute for Educational Leadership
• Model included Focus Groups, Communications
  Audit, and Community Conversations

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Setting the Stage for Focus Group Work in SJUSD

• Public Agenda facilitated focus groups
• 7 targeted school/community focus groups
• Interview guided discussions on student
  achievement, diversity, and community involvement

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SJUSDs Community Conversations

• A structured 2 hour school community dialogue
  involving 15 -20 key stakeholders - yearly
  involvement of 600 people
• An opening plenary sets the stage for the
  conversation (why we are here)
• Facilitated breakouts in school groups guide the
  Conversation around the main topic (Standards,
  Bullying, Caring School Climate, Community
  Involvement, College Going Culture)
• Feedback process that synthesizes data for action
  planning

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Structural/Programmatic Changes

• Master Schedule
• Block scheduling
• Shadow Classes
• Seventh Period/Zero Period
• T-Periods

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Structural/Programmatic Changes

• Coring
• Open Enrollment in A.P.
• Extended Day/Week/Year
• AVID
• Detracking/Mixed Ability Grouping in Grades 4-9
• Desegregated Classes in Grades 10 -12

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District Support

• PSAT/A.P. Potential
• Springboard
• Parent Outreach
• Credit by Exam for Middle School
• Standards Based Teacher Evaluation System
• Aligned Administrator Evaluation System

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District Support

• Data Reports
• One-on-Ones
• D F Reports
• Star and CAHSEE Data
• A.P./PSAT/SAT/ACT
• EAS-e/ Data Warehousing
• Edusoft

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Safety Net Programs

• Tutoring
• Mentoring
• After School Programs
• Cognitive Tutor/Nova Net
• Summer Bridges
• Alternative Education Programs

• Saturday Academies
• Summer Institutes
• Summer School
• Community Colleges
• Community Partnerships
• Business Investments

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Professional Development

• Differentiating Instruction
• Research-based Methods
• Subject Matter Training
• Coaching
• Clinical Model
• Teacher Expectations
• Cultural Competence

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SJUSD Success Voices of Students

• Having to do A-G requirements to graduate, it
  makes you think I have gone this far, why not
  just go to college.
• In the case of other high schools that dont
  have that, kids might not take the classes they
  are supposed to. When they find out all about
  college and want to go, they have to take all
  these other courses that they didnt take in the
  past years because they didnt know about the A-G
  requirements.
• -- Lorena Loera, Senior San Jose High School

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SJUSD Success Voices of Students

• Teachers sort of expect all incoming
  freshman will be ready to go to college. If
  A-G requirements werent applied, some people
  would take an easier route. It was that
  persistence that I had to keep doing well and
  the bar being raised so high that made me realize
  that I was college material.
• -- Cesar Lopez, Senior Lincoln High School

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SJUSD Success Voices of Students

• Hearing someone tell you that you can do it, it
  makes you think She thinks I can do it, I must
  be able to do it. Most adults at San Jose High
  School stress higher education they push you to
  be better and to aim higher because they know you
  can do it.
• -- Jose Santa Cruz, Senior San Jose High
  School