California Dreaming, Part N+1

[Victor Steinbok <victor.steinbok@verizon.net>]

ARTICLES & ANNOUNCEMENTS (CALIFORNIA FOCUS)

"Schools Chief Jack O'Connell Delivers State of Education Address: Calls 
for Reforms to Improve High Schools, Reduce Bureaucracy, Increase Student 
Achievement Gains"
Source: California Department of Education
URL (press release): http://www.cde.ca.gov/news/releases2004/rel14.asp
URL (full text and video of speech; details of initiatives): 
http://www.cde.ca.gov/stateofeducation/
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell delivered his 
first State of Education address today, calling the state of California 
schools promising, but identifying three main areas of priority to make 
K-12 education stronger: (a) improving high schools, (b) reducing 
bureaucratic burdens on schools, and (c) increasing student achievement gains.

Improving High Schools

"High school should be the gateway to opportunity for all students," 
O'Connell said. "Yet, the majority of California's 1.7 million high school 
students simply are not reaching the academic levels needed to succeed in 
the workplace, in college, or as effective citizens. Accordingly, I am 
proposing a series of tough, roll-up-our-sleeves measures aimed at 
improving high school student achievement."

O'Connell announced that he will sponsor legislation to improve student 
achievement in high schools by giving high schools more flexibility over 
their budgets if they agree to focus on five goals: (a) raising 
expectations; (b) improving high school instructional materials; (c) 
developing excellent teachers and high school leaders; (d) smoothing 
transitions from middle school and to college; and (e) creating a community 
of support for high achieving high schools.

In his statement regarding the development of world-class, standards-based 
instructional materials for high schools, Secretary O'Connell said, "The 
State Board of Education reviews and adopts standards-based textbooks for 
kindergarten through eighth grade. Elementary school leaders attribute much 
of their recent academic progress to new, focused classroom materials that 
support both novice and experienced teachers. When it comes to high 
schools, however, there is no state adoption or review process for 
instructional materials. Districts are on their own to choose among a vast 
variety of materials, and students are taught with books of varying 
quality. I propose a new system of statewide review and approval of high 
school instructional materials to ensure they are fully aligned to our 
standards. Districts would not be limited in the books they choose. But 
they would be guided to standards-aligned materials by a state 'seal of 
approval.'"

Reducing Bureaucratic Burdens on Schools

To reduce the bureaucratic burden placed on schools and districts, 
O'Connell committed to eliminate by July 1, 2004 all state requests for 
data that are not mandated or that have no legitimate operational need.

"I want to eliminate overlapping and duplicative requests for data and 
improve the quality of the data we collect, so it can help us improve 
instruction, target our resources, and work more efficiently to raise 
student achievement," O'Connell said.

He challenged the California State Legislature to place an embargo on 
imposing any unnecessary requests for data and called for the completion of 
the California School Information Services program within the next five years.

Increasing Student Achievement Gains

O'Connell committed to lead the fight to increase the gains in student 
performance made over the last five years by protecting California's 
accountability system, teacher training program, and class size reduction...

O'Connell stated, "Steady, sustained focus is the only reasonable way to 
truly improve our schools. So when you hear people bashing our schools and 
advocating to once again change directions, I hope you will greet that with 
skepticism. Know that while we may be progressing slower than we all 
wished, our schools are on the right path. I am committed to staying the 
course by fighting to retain, support, and expand those programs that are 
working to improve student achievement (our intervention teams at low 
performing schools, for example). Intensive professional development for 
teachers, support for paraprofessionals career academies, and rigorous 
curriculum for all students--all are working to help students reach a 
higher bar."

No Child Left Behind

In his State of Education address, O'Connell also announced that he will 
advocate in Washington, D.C. with other state school chiefs from across the 
nation to make the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 more flexible 
and workable for states. Specifically, he will fight to make the federal 
accountability system more like California's which judges schools on annual 
improvement, rather than requiring them to reach an arbitrary bar.

"High standards guided our California system of accountability long before 
NCLB," O'Connell said. "I intend to fight hard in Washington D.C. for a 
plan that better complements California's high standards system of 
accountability and is more flexible and workable in our schools."

__________________
Related story:
"State Schools Chief Details Initiatives at Sacramento Speech" (Sacramento 
Bee - 11 February 2004)
URL: http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/ca/story/8249657p-9180319c.html