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.