SCHOOL VIEWS
marc ecker
Fall parent conferences are now over, and we have passed the first
milestone of our new promotion-retention board policy.
Whether or not your child has been identified as at risk of being
retained, this policy reflects a major shift in how schools look at
students who are not meeting district established academic standards. Our
district has gone to great lengths to develop multiple measures of
academic progress. When determining a student’s progress toward
established standards, it is clearly more reliable to use a variety of
assessments. That is exactly what we have done. We use not only the SAT
exam, which is administered every spring, but also our reading and math
benchmark tests and the most recent grades earned by the student.
The notification element of the policy begins with the fall conferences,
but continues throughout the year at the designated reporting periods.
Parents who have children that fall into the “possibly at risk” or
“seriously at risk” category are informed by the teacher at the
conference. The promotion criteria our district uses is above the 40th
percentile on the SAT, 70% correct on the math and reading benchmark and
satisfactory grades on report cards reflected by “A’s, B’s, C’s, S’s and
O’s.”
Teachers and administrators will be using these measures to assist them
in identifying students who are in need of academic help. The success of
our efforts with at-risk students is tied to good communication with
parents and, of course, an effective remediation program.
Accountability for academic achievement must be accompanied by efforts to
fix deficiencies. Students who have a history of poor grades and test
scores not only need to be held to our rigorous academic standards, but
must be given the opportunity to learn the basic skills required in their
subject area and at their grade level.
It is our intention to hold once again a remediation summer school
program. We are planning for a four-week July remediation summer school
and a two-week “smart start” program just prior to the beginning of
school in the fall.
In addition, we are hoping to offer two six-week before or after-school
remediation segments following the winter break. It is our intent to
maximize the remediation program offered by the Fountain Valley School
District and minimize the number of students who may very well find
themselves retained in the 2000-01 school year.
Indeed, I am concerned about several aspects of this new law.
Little or no data exists that clearly links the retention of students to
successful future academic or career experiences. It is the remediation
element of the accountability legislation that can make the difference
for students.
Yet, Sacramento has failed to provide the sufficient funds for effective
intervention techniques.
Although the challenges in efficiently implementing our new board policy
are great, I am quite pleased to observe in the classrooms a renewed
focus on academic standards. When I speak with students, parents and
teachers, I am energized by a pervasive seriousness to teaching and
learning. The community appears to be very supportive of our district’s
efforts to stand above the crowd in seeking the very best for the
students we serve.
* MARC ECKER is the superintendent of the Fountain Valley School
District.
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