Preliminary ‘Lowest-achieving schools’ list goes to State Board of Education
Published: March 9, 2010
State education officials Monday placed 188 public schools on a “preliminary list” of the “lowest 5 percent of the state's persistently lowest-achieving schools.”
Released just days after California lost out on the initial round of the federal Race to the Top program that spawned the ranking, the list is composed of three tiers:
135 Title I, program improvement schools that receive federal anti-poverty aid
48 Title I-eligible middle and high schools in program improvement whose districts don’t apply for the aid
five program improvement high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent for the last four years
When it meets in Sacramento Thursday, the California State Board of Education will review and finalize the list for submittal to the U.S. Department of Education. Despite the stigma associated with the listing, schools included could benefit if they apply for federal School Improvement Grant funds intended to raise student achievement. Schools receiving the SIG money can receive between $150,000 and $6 million over the next three years, depending on their enrollment and the prescribed turn-around strategies they pursue.
“This is an opportunity to make dramatic changes at chronically underperforming schools,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell said in the press release announcing the list. “The intervention choices provide an opportunity to make systemic changes that improve teaching and learning. As a result, we will help prepare thousands of students for a brighter future.”
“Identifying the state’s persistently lowest-achieving schools is a significant step forward in ultimately transforming these schools and meeting the needs of our students,” agreed State Board President Ted Mitchell.
Laws enacted earlier this year as part of California’s RTTT application commit the state both to establish a list of the persistently lowest-achieving schools and to restructure them to elevate student achievement. No timelines were established in the legislation, but officials urged school districts with schools on the list to apply for SIG funds in the current cycle. Applications are requested by June 1, with funding decisions expected in July, and implementation in the 2010-11 school year.
Schools that receive funding will be required to implement one of four federal turn-around strategies:
“school closure”: students are sent to higher-performing schools
“restart”: a school closes and reopens under a charter school operator or education management organization, or a local educational agency converts it to a charter school
“turnaround”: firing of the principal and teachers, with an option to rehire fewer than half of them
“transformation”: could include replacing the principal, using student test scores in evaluations of teachers and administrators, and extending learning time through longer school days or a longer school year
The annual requirement to notify teachers by March 15—next week—that they may be dismissed in the following school year could complicate implementation of some of those options.
Much more remains unsettled. For example, Deb Sigman, director of Curriculum, Learning and Accountability at the California Department of Education, confirmed in a conference call with reporters that no provisions exist by which schools can exit the list. It’s also unclear whether new listings are required, or how often.
Easy link:
Read CDE’s press release and find links to the preliminary lists.