Taylor AllbrightJulie A. MarshEupha Jeanne DaramolaKate E. Kennedy
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Hawthorne School District (HSD) is a small district serving a working-class suburb of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Eighty-seven percent of students are from low-income families, 71% are Latino/a, and 21% are African American. HSD employs critical practices and policies to promote learning, making it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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Gridley Unified School District serves more than 2,000 students in a small rural town in California. The median annual household income in Gridley is just over 60% of the state average. Located in a close-knit community, Gridley Unified has created a culture of support to promote student learning, making it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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Clovis Unified School District (USD) serves about 43,000 California students, with sizeable groups of Latino/a and Hmong students and 40% of all students being eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Clovis USD’s unique culture and its specific approaches to supporting student learning have made it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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Chula Vista Elementary School District (CVESD) is California’s largest elementary school system with over 30,000 students, 90% of whom are students of color and over one third of whom are English learners. CVESD has made significant investments in capacity building and focused on continuous improvement, making it one of California’s “positive outlier” districts in which students performed better than predicted on California state tests from 2015 through 2017.
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Supporting the achievement of all students requires a strong commitment to equity, ensuring a stable high-quality educator workforce, providing access to professional development, and a focus on deeper learning and social and emotional learning. Seven California school districts provide examples of successful approaches to this work.
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A recent LPI study identified more than a hundred California school districts in which students across racial/ethnic groups are outperforming similar students in other districts on new math and reading assessments that measure higher order thinking and performance skills. Many of these districts also are closing the gap on a range of other outcomes, including graduation rates. The critical question is: How did they do it?”
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In 2013, California enacted far-reaching education reform. It included a bold, new approach to equitable funding, a more holistic vision of student and school success, and community engagement in decision-making. Although its size and scale put California in a league of its own, the lessons from this decade-plus effort to reimagine, enact, and implement a better system offer guidance for all those looking to make—or influence—education policy.
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Historically, U.S. schools have been rated based largely on student performance on an annual summative test. With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), state accountability systems now feature additional measures of student and school success, including academic growth. These factors are critical if we are to create accountability systems that recognize the contributions that schools make to student progress, while reducing bias against educators and schools serving students in diverse, high-poverty communities.
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Under the Every School Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are able to use 5-, 6-, and even 7-year graduation rates in their accountability systems. This expanded measure of student success creates new opportunities for students who need extra time to earn a diploma, often the most vulnerable in our schools, including English Learners, students with special needs, and homeless and transitional youth.
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Thanks to the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), states are beginning to develop accountability systems that are focused on multiple measures of student success, including one key driver of inequity—the overuse of suspension, particularly for students of color, as a discipline tactic.