Measuring up: this district support team closed its achievement gap by moving all schools toward synchronized, standards-based reform

Leadership, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Jeanie Cash, Frank Infusino

How many times have we heard the statement, "All children can learn?" We have either become immune to this phrase, or when we hear it, we think, "You don't have our students. If you did, you wouldn't make that statement." But research over the last decade has indeed proven that all children can learn. The challenge, then, becomes closing the gap between those students who are achieving and those who are not.

Let's start with a story that may be helpful. Recently a minister sponsored a cake-baking contest. On Mother's Day, he requested that all men in the church, regardless of whether or not they had ever cooked, bake a cake and enter it in the contest. There was to be a prize for the ugliest cake, the best tasting cake, the most creative cake, etc. Later it was discovered that the winner claimed his victory by going to the best chef in the congregation, one he knew was widely acclaimed for her advice on how to achieve a winner.

A master pastry chef can tell you how to bake the perfect cake. We all know that the ingredients are a critical factor. We also realize that just using the right ingredients is not enough. The master chef will talk about quality tools, the exact measurements and the correct oven temperature. Add the chef's own personal touch, creativity, and the result? A mouth-watering concoction that even the most avid dieter can't refuse.

We know that implementing systemic change is not as easy as baking a cake. But bear with us as we "rattle the pots and pans" in cooking up a plan to increase student achievement.

Creating the recipe

Four years ago, the Chino Valley Unified School District was that visually unappetizing cake that no one wanted to taste. Neither the community, the county nor the state looked upon us with mouth-watering delight.

The raw material was in place--committed principals, energetic teachers and concerned parents. School staff and community members certainly wanted success for their children. Yet all 20 elementary schools were searching aimlessly for improvement in student achievement and a standards-based instructional program. They had no central direction, no guidance and little support. They were trying to bake cakes without recipes.

Six schools were identified and participated in the II/USP program in Cohort 1. Later, an additional two qualified. The first year of the II/USP program, we were both new to the Ed Services Department. When we came on board, the superintendent emphasized to us that increasing student achievement was to concentrate especially on closing the achievement gap between the schools "in the valley and those in the hills. The superintendent provided support, encouragement and resources throughout the process, a must for any change effort to succeed. In 1999, API scores at underperforming schools ranged from 452 to 632. The 2002 scores reflected a significant increase, ranging from 618 to 733.

The remaining schools showed an average API growth of 53 percent between 1999 and 2002.

How did we do it? How did we go from being an underachieving district to being the district housing schools with the highest test scores in the county? How did one II/USP school, Marshall Elementary, become both a California Distinguished School and a High Achieving Title I School in two years? What are the ingredients we have identified in making our schools "appetizing," in moving them toward levels of high achievement in spite of socio-economic or linguistic barriers?

Ingredient one: District support team

It starts with the master chef. Four years ago, the newly hired superintendent made it one of his first priorities to hire a team to close the achievement gap. As "the new kids on the block," we decided our first priority would be to make a personal visit to all 32 schools. The purpose of this visit was to ask two questions: What does a strong district support team look like to you? What immediate needs can we help you with?

Taking the feedback from the schools seriously, we began immediately to change the image they had of district administrators and to focus our immediate attention on support for lowest achieving schools. Rather than having each of our identified II/USP schools embark on independent plans for improvement, we determined to meet weekly with the external evaluators and use these II/USP program schools as lighthouses for moving the entire district toward synchronized reform.

During our planning, the Phi Delta Kappan (1999) published an article that identified 11 standards for district offices to use in moving toward a standards-based accountability system. Those 11 standards, summarized below, became our mantra in leading these schools to reform.

To increase student performance, an effective district accountability system must:

* not be driven by a single indicator;

* evaluate each school in terms of its own context as well as in comparison to other schools;

* include monitoring of and support for equitable and substantial learning opportunities for all students;