Editor’s note: Off to a strong start
By:
Brian Taylor
Published: March 17, 2011
Spring is all about beginnings, and so is this issue of California Schools.
We have an interview with California’s new superintendent of public instruction and a feature story on transitional kindergarten, a blend of preschool and traditional kindergarten that can help children born in the fall get their schooling off to a good start.
And we have CSBA staffers such as Cindy Akin, who often gets a predawn start on her workday at home, previewing the e-mail messages awaiting her arrival at the association’s headquarters.
“When I know what’s waiting for me at the office, I can begin planning what I need to do as I’m driving to work,” Akin, a consultant in CSBA’s Policy Services Department, told staff writer Carol Brydolf for “Early Risers, Watchful Eyes and Collegial Collaboration.”
It’s a marked departure from California Schools’ usual focus. Our stories generally look outward, at the hard work going on in school districts and county offices of education around the state. This time, encouraged by CSBA President Martha Fluor’s interest in recognizing good work wherever it’s found, we opted to shine a light on some of what CSBA’s staff members do to facilitate our members’ efforts. No single story can capture all that work, but the staffers featured are a representative sample.
“CSBA is a bit leaner than it was in the years when the state economy was booming,” Brydolf reports in her story. “With a roster of 97 full-and part-time employees, there are 20 fewer workers now than in 2008. Like so many of its members, the association has learned to do more with fewer resources in recent years.”
The state faces similarly straitened circumstances (see the Note from CSBA for more on that), but the new state schools chief is trying to mitigate the worst effects of the money crunch on schools’ core mission.
“California’s students have been making slow but steady progress toward narrowing the achievement gap, and I’m committed to continuing the Department of Education’s work and focus on this issue,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson says in the interview. “We will continue to build on that progress, in part by identifying best practices that [school districts and county offices of education] have adopted, and sharing that information across the state.”
The Rescue Union Elementary School District, Lake Tahoe Unified School District and Los Angeles Unified School District are three possible models when it comes to transitional kindergarten, as staff writer Kristi Garrett discovered in her research for “Preppy K Goes Mainstream."
“Senate Bill 1381, signed into law last fall, gradually moves the [kindergarten] birthday cutoff from Dec. 2 to Sept. 1, giving children who turn 5 in the fall a new option,” Garrett explains. “Schools will receive average daily attendance funding for students in transitional kindergarten, which will now be part of a two-year kindergarten program. The curriculum will be aligned to the kindergarten content standards, but delivered at a pace more appropriate to the child’s age and stage of development.”
“We’ve been in a fix-it mode in education,” where intervention comes after achievement gaps are already apparent, David Swart, Rescue UESD’s assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, told Garrett. “Rather than fix it, why not get [kids] off to a strong start?” Swart asked, going on to explain what his district has been doing for its youngest students.
Also off to a strong start is CSBA President Martha Fluor, as she shows in her first column for California Schools. “Come Together … Right Now” extends her interest in recognizing good work to the grassroots group Educate Our State and some school board and CSBA Delegate Assembly members who are involved in it. They’re by no means the only individuals or organization working to unite the voices of Californians in support of high-quality K-12 public education but, like the CSBA staffers and the new schools chief, they embody the hard work and strategic thinking that’s needed in what Fluor calls “this critical period for public education.”
So let’s keep the dialogue going, as Fluor urges. After all, it’s off to a strong start.
Brian Taylor ( btaylor@csba.org ) is the managing editor of California Schools.