Twelve studies find that overall gains in charter schools are larger than other public schools; four find charter schools’ gains higher in certain significant categories of schools; six find comparable gains; and, four find that charter schools’ overall gains lagged behind traditional schools.
Source: Charter School Achievement: What We Know, July 2005 Update
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http://www.uscharterschools.org/cs/r/view/uscs_rs/1713
This is a charter petition for the Bowling Green Elementary Charter School in the Sacramento City Unified School District. Bowling Green was an existing elementary school that had participated in and already begun substantial restructuring efforts prior to "converting" to charter status in 1993. The school was one of California's earliest charter "conversion" efforts and several portions of the charter are seen by many as being exemplary.
Editors Note:
The following is the charter petition for the Bowling Green
Elementary Charter School in the Sacramento City Unified School
District. Bowling Green was an existing elementary school that had
participated in and already begun substantial restructuring efforts
prior to "converting" to charter status in 1993. The school was one
of California's earliest charter "conversion" efforts and several
portions of the charter are seen by many as being exemplary. Some of
the stronger elements include:
- The school started with a substantial base of restructuring
experience and was able to clearly identify barriers to their
continued restructuring efforts. These are presented in the
rationale portion of the Introduction.
- A comprehensive description and framework for the school's
instructional program, based on a combination of both research and
successful practice. Other sections of the charter also provide
detail on how the school plans to continue to address the needs of
special needs and limited English proficient students.
- An analysis of the students to be served and their current
levels of achievement.
- A clear explanation of the school's broad goals for its
students, aligned with districtwide school performance goals. The
charter also contains a specific description of, and timeline for,
how it will develop these broad goals into a more comprehensive
student and school assessment system.
- A detailed description of the specific assessment tools that
the school will use to measure student progress. This description
is not merely a list of popular assessment "buzzwords." Instead
the description shows that the charter developers have a strong
grasp of the different types of assessment tools that will be
used, how they will be used, the strength and weaknesses of each.
The charter also contains a helpful table listing the specific
assessment instruments to be used for each of the major goal
areas. The charter may be lacking, however, a description of what
specific goals it expects to attain and how progress toward these
goals will relate to the charter review and renewal process.
- A broad description of how the school will be governed. Here
too, the description of the governance structure is grounded in
substantial research and thought about how decisions should be
made in a school and how this process can support the school's
instructional program. The description also outlines how the
school's governing body will relate to existing site level
decision-making structures and processes. (Additional information
that other charters may want to include are a description of how the governing body
would be constituted, who the founding members would be,and how
and when the bylaws would be drafted and adopted.)
- Descriptions of how the school's relationship with the sponsor
district will and will not change, including specific examples to
illustrate important changes.
- A draft budget that reflects a competent and careful analysis
of the resources available to the school under charter status and
which shows how resources will be reallocated in support of the
school's change efforts.
Despite the clarity and detail provided in its charter, staff and
leadership at the Bowling Green Charter school have struggled
to protect the autonomy and authority specified in its charter
document. The clear provisions and detail, however, have often proven
extremely helpful when the school engages in activities to protect
its autonomy.
Several other provisions of the charter have also proven difficult
to implement, including the extremely high level of consensus
required in governance decisions, provisions include the 80 percent
vote of confidence required for maintaining the site principal, and
the mixed adherence to provisions in existing labor agreements.
The full text of the charter follows.
A Charter School Petition Submitted
to the
Sacramento City Unified School District Board of
Education
from Teachers at Bowling Green Elementary School
I. INTRODUCTION
II. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ITEMS FOUND IN
47605 (B) OF THE CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT OF 1992 AND OF THE ITEMS
REQUIRED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
III. OTHER CHANGES TO
CURRENT RULES, REGULATIONS, AND POLICY
IV. DURATION OF THE
CHARTER
V. AMENDING THE CHARTER
VI. SIGNATURES OF
TEACHERS
AMENDMENT 1
I. INTRODUCTION
Rationale for Submitting this Charter Petition
We feel strongly that every student can learn and that every
teacher can become an excellent teacher. The current system, however,
does not encourage dedicated staff members to work together to help
their students soar. Instead, we find a system that very successfully
sorts both teachers and students into those who can and those who
can't.
Earlier this school year, the State of California awarded Bowling
Green Elementary School a SB1274 grant to demonstrate the
restructuring of a low achieving public elementary school in a large
urban district. The goal of restructuring is to increase student
performance, both academically and socially for all our
students.
As we began implementing the restructuring activities, however, we
found, as did the district's own Special Committee for School-Based
Decision Making, that the system is constrained by too many
established routines and arrangements. In its May 29, 1992, report to
the Board of Education, for example, the Special Committee identified
four major categories of impediments to site-based decision-making
and restructuring. They are 1) centralized administration and
programs, 2) state law, 3) governing board policy, and 4) collective
bargaining requirements.
Given where our district is today, we feel that in order to: 1) fully
implement the SB1274 restructuring activities in a timely manner and
2) transform our school into one where every teacher and every
student can soar, it is necessary to eliminate impediments that fall
into these categories. Becoming a charter school allows us to do
that.
Benefit of a Charter School to Our District
The recent state legislation that authorizes up to 100 charter
schools represents an unprecedented opportunity for the SCUSD Board
of Education to take the initiative in school reform. Never before in
modern state history has a school board been given the authority to
override state education code! This is recognition that the "system"
is part of the problem.
The Charter Schools Act of 1992 encourages school boards
and schools to think outside the "box" to find solutions. A major
stipulation of the legislation is that we stay within existing
funding levels. Another is that we create a school where all students
can be academically successful, especially those who traditionally
have not been successful. One hundred out of the approximately 8,000
schools in California will have a chance to experiment.
With that in mind, this charter petition proposes to create a
demonstration school within our district based on W. Edwards Deming's
principles of management. Deming suggests that 95% of the problems in
an organization can be traced to a faulty process or routine in the
system. Deming, an American, is widely credited as the person most
responsible for turning post-war Japan worldwide economic power. He
is also seen by many as the father of total quality management.
According to Deming's principles of management, an organization must
always focus on quality. He sees quality as pride in workmanship and
taking joy in one's work. When these conditions exist, there is also
continuous improvement of the system.
Source of Problems in Organizations:
Special Causes (5.0%)
Procedures/Routines in the System (95.0%)
Moreover, such a demonstration school can serve as a safe
laboratory for trying ideas that today might never get off the ground
in our district due to the cumbersome bureaucratic rules and
structures now in place. In this way, our charter will benefit the
district as a whole. In our SB1274 proposal, we underscored this
point by using Peters and Waterman's description of a skunk works as:
"a safe harbor in an organization for a project
team to try innovation. The members of the skunk works team are
generally just a bit out of the mainstream in terms of having the
same rules to follow as the rest of the organization. Industry is
filled with examples of large organizations with successful skunk
works. These organizations take pride in their skunk works. It
allows the organization to depart in a safe way from the ordinary
to create innovation while maintaining order in the rest of the
organization. A skunk works also protects the project team from
internal organizational threat."
(In Search of Excellence, 1981)
Finally, the approval of our charter petition will help us
implement our restructuring demonstration in a timely manner before
voters decide on the voucher initiative in June, 1994. We want to
show that public education can work when managed differently. We feel
that it is important to demonstrate to the taxpaying public that our
public school system can work in Sacramento for ALL students when
certain rules and regulations that impede our efforts are eliminated.
The Limited Nature of this Charter Petition
The charter that we seek is limited in nature. We intend, for the
most part, to work within existing conventions. We will
1) continue to operate as a school in the Sacramento City Unified School District,
2) continue to be district employees, and
3) continue to educate district students.
Unless otherwise stated in this petition, existing district
policy, existing contract agreements, and existing state education
code will be applicable at Bowling Green School. Thus our petition
calls for retaining the same medical benefits, the same pay scale,
the same retirement benefits, the same seniority rights, etc. that
other members of the School Employees International Union (SEIU),
Teamsters, Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) or Sacramento
City Administrators Association(SCAA) receive. We also propose that
the processes for employee unions/associations to assist their
members continue to exist. Teachers and classified staff, for
example, may still grieve contract violations that are pertinent and
have union advocates for any matter not described in this charter.
ADA generated from our student population will continue to go to
the district general fund. We will use what is allocated to our
school based on established formula, except as noted in this charter
petition. There are existing formulas for allocating general and
categorical funds to schools. In other words, we will work within our
proportional share of funds. We do, however, ask for control over how
to use that allocation to achieve our academic goals. For example, we
intend to reduce the student to teacher ratio by using our allocation
differently.
Section 47605 (h) of the Charter Schools Act calls for the school
district governing board to give preference to petitions that
demonstrate the capability to provide comprehensive learning
experiences to pupils identified by the petitioner or petitioners as
"academically low achieving". Our successful SB1274 grant serves as
the foundation of this charter petition. The capability of that grant
was validated by leaders in California education. Of the over 800
proposals submitted for a SB1274 grant, the state's leading
educational leaders selected only 138. These final 138 proposals
represented the work of some of the best practitioners in the state.
Our proposal scored 19 out of a possible 20 points. They felt that it
had the potential to successfully raise academic achievement among
traditionally low achieving students. This testifies to the quality
of the plan described in this petition as well as to its potential
for success.
return to top
II. DESCRIPTIONS OF
THE ITEMS FOUND IN 47605 (B) OF THE CHARTER SCHOOLS ACT OF 1992 AND
OF THE ITEMS REQUIRED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
a. A description of the educational program of the
school,designed, among other things, to identify those whom the
school is attempting to educate, what it means to be an "educated
person" in the 21st century, and how learning best occurs. The goals
identified in that program shall include the objective of enabling
pupils to become self-motivated, competent, and lifelong
learners.
Key Features of the Educational Program When Fully Implemented:
- Integrated thematic instruction
- Efficacy instruction
- Mastery of standards adopted by teachers, parents, and students;
- Smaller student to teacher ratio
- Students assigned to a team of teachers
- An extended year round calendar of up to 210 days (with 180 regular days and 30 intersession days)
- Preschool through 6th grade.
Students to be Served
With a third month enrollment of 814 students, Bowling Green is
the second largest elementary school in the district. Approximately
8% of our students are orthopedically handicapped (O.H.). Our limited
English proficient student population jumped from 10% two years ago
to over 20% this year. Our student body is 39% African-American, 22%
Hispanic American, 20% Asian American, 18% Caucasian, and 1% Native
American.
Most students come from families with large economic and social
needs. Over half are from homes receiving Aid for Families with
Dependent Children; three-quarters qualify for the Free or Reduced
Price Lunch Program. Many students come from home environments where
educational success is not a high priority. Many of our parents want
help and guidance in raising children. In addition, our attendance
area has a high crime rate, destructive gang activities, highly
transient students, and a significant problem with drug distribution
and use.
The Educational Program
Existing Inadequate Program. Low standardized test scores
from the last six years suggest that the existing educational program
is not working for our students. Between 1987-88 and 1989-90, the
declining scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) and
on the California Assessment Program (CAP) caught the attention of
both the district and the state. Bowling Green was identified by them
as one of four schools in the district in need of a special program
improvement plan. The plan that was developed focused on tightening
up the existing program. The drop in scores leveled off in 1990-91
and has remained low, as shown in the following chart.
The pattern shown in the chart is also applicable to our math and
language scores. The scores have been consistently below the
districtwide averages. [graphic not scanned]
Educational Goals
Recognizing that the traditional approach and even tightening up
on the traditional approach was not working, the staff began
committing itself to an alternative approach based on the premise
that every student could succeed and develop fully in spirit, mind,
and body. The philosophy behind our approach is grounded in the
Efficacy approach developed by Jeff Howard and in the Integrated
Thematic Instructional approach developed by Susan Kovalik. Both
approaches assume that all students can and will learn. Both
approaches are described below after we briefly describe what it
means to develop fully in spirit, mind, and body.
In developing their spirits, students will grow in
confidence of themselves as competent learners. They will know
how to initiate new learning experiences to satisfy their need to
know. They will understand that risk taking and requesting help are
part of the learning process. At the same time, students' feeling of
compassion for themselves, others at school, and members of
the broader community will increase.
They will come to understand the value of their knowledge
to positively benefit themselves and others. They will develop skills
to: work together cooperatively, use the healing power of
humor, and resolve conflicts in nonviolent ways.
In developing their minds, students will become master
learners. As such, they will excel in oral communication,
reading, writing, mathematics, and problem
solving. They will also develop conversational skills in a second
language. As the breadth and depth of their knowledge grows, they
will become complex thinkers and problem solvers.
In developing their bodies, students will become as
physically fit as possible and learn how to understand and take care
of their bodies through exercise, nutritious eating habits
and healthy practices, such as abstaining from drugs. They will,
for example, demonstrate their level of fitness by covering a mile in
ten minutes.
Efficacy Approach
The Efficacy model has its roots in developmental psychology and
social psychology. One of the major ideas is: smart is not something
you are, it is something you get by working hard; knowledge is
constructed. Efficacy assumes that everyone has the brains, but not
everyone knows how to get smarter. The first step is believing you
can get smarter. If you believe you can, then you will work hard. If
you work hard by keeping focused, by staying committed, and by
developing alternative strategies when you encounter an obstacle,
then you will get smarter.
Think you can -- Work Hard -- Get Smarter
keeping focused
staying committed
developing alternative strategies
The model also states that you don't get smarter unless you are
challenged in your Zone of Development (ZOD). This is an area a
little beyond your current abilities and knowledge. Goals in the ZOD
are difficult but they are something you can obtain if you work at
it. when you are successful, you will feel excited and proud of
yourself - because you know it was not easy. On either side of
the ZOD are the "Too Easy" Zone and the "Too Hard for Now" Zone. In
the former, you get bored. In the latter you get frustrated. The
Zone of Development is where you get smarter and develop.
Other strategies of the Efficacy approach which help you get into
and stay in your Zone of Development include:
- using the strong side over the weak side, attribute theory,
- using feedback to find your personal learning zone,
- developing and using a support group.
The underlying theme of these strategies is that the
responsibility for development and the ability to develop rests with
each individual. The strategies are the skills and attitudes that we
are teaching at Bowling Green so that our students and our teachers
develop and get smarter in their personal Zone of Development.
Integrated Thematic Instructional Approach
If Efficacy is the motivational and self-empowering aspect of our
educational program, then the Integrated Thematic Instructional (ITI)
approach developed by Susan Kovalik is the pedagogical process that
we believe describes how learning best occurs.
The ITI approach combines the accumulated knowledge in the
following three areas: brain research, teaching strategies, and
curriculum development. When we use knowledge from these three areas
and incorporate them into lessons, there is a greater chance that
development will occur.
Moreover, the Life Skills that are part of the ITI approach are
also empowering. Those skills include: perseverance, patience, sense
of humor, curiosity, common sense, cooperation, effort, friendship,
problem solving, flexibility, caring, initiative, and responsibility.
Kovalik asserts that the curriculum and the instructional
strategies used in today's traditional classrooms are
brain-antagonistic. Traditional instruction is heavily weighed toward
using only two intelligences: logical-mathematical and linguistic.
There are at least five other intelligences that are often neglected
in schools. Howard Gardner identifies them as: spatial,
bodily-kinesthetic, musical, intrapersonal, and interpersonal. The
brain learns best when it can utilize all its intelligences.
Kovalik's Integrated Thematic Instructional (ITI) approach
suggests that learning best occurs when the following eight elements
are present:
- Absence of Threat,
- Meaningful Content,
- Choices,
- Adequate Time,
- Enriched Environment,
- Collaboration,
- Immediate Feedback,
- Mastery.
Not all are present in the traditional classroom setting. By using
the ITI approach, teachers develop year-long themes that serve as the
mechanism to pull together the year's instruction. Each month under
the theme, an important aspect of the theme is studied. Each week,
meaningful content is taught and learned via key points and
inquiries.
Key points are concepts, facts, and skills worth knowing forever.
Inquiries are activities that give practice and real-world
application of the key points. Key points come out of the state
curriculum frameworks as well as from the teacher's knowledge of the
subject matter as it is related to the theme.
The ITI approach requires teachers to do research and to become
more knowledgeable about what they teach. Teachers must go beyond the
teacher's manual and their own, perhaps, limited prior experience.
Teachers must be willing to be "strong sided" and take the risk of
learning more themselves.
In the ITI model, the focus is on the learner making sense and
discovering for him/herself the important concepts that need to be
mastered. This is done by doing teacher-designed inquiries or
activities that are brain compatible. To ensure that inquiries or
activities are not limited to one or two intelligences, teachers
design inquiries to be accomplished using Gardner's seven
problem-solving intelligences. Using all seven of the intelligences
insures that all student learning styles have been accommodated.
Ideally, at least 50% of the inquiries are what Kovalik calls "being
there" or real-life experiences. Rather than reading about lizards,
for example, students would actually study lizards in their habitat.
Teachers using the ITI model spend less time lecturing. As a rule
of thumb, the amount of lecturing per hour is limited to the number
of minutes that corresponds to the learner's age. Fourth graders, for
instance, would have about 10 minutes of lecture or direct teacher
instruction per hour. The remaining 50 minutes is engaged in doing
inquiries designed by the teacher. During these fifty minutes, the
teacher can serve as a coach with the class.
Class periods would also be longer. The ITI model requires
adequate time, for example, to observe and study the habitat of
lizards. The ITI method of teaching requires extensive preparation.
There is much less reliance on text books and worksheets which
require much less preparation. The ITI method requires teachers to do
research by talking with knowledgeable people, by seeking outside
resources, and by reading widely. This is crucial since the human
knowledge base is doubling at an ever increasing rate. That means
that there is probably new information about even lizards every year.
Since the ITI process focuses on teaching and learning concepts,
reading, writing, math, and visual performing arts are used as tools
when studying the concepts. It takes time and collaboration with
other teachers to develop inquiries that do all this. Last summer, 27
of our teachers attended a week long institute led by Susan Kovalik
and Associates. Now, we are using our SB1274 funding to pay for a
curriculum coach from Susan Kovalik and Associates to work with our
staff six days each month. This coming summer the remaining teachers
will be among the approximately 30 teachers we send to the annual
Kovalik institute. We feel strongly that all students can learn and
that as educational professionals it is our duty to learn how to
create a brain compatible learning environment that makes it happen.
Context of the Educational Program
Initially, the educational program, will be conducted in context
of a 180-day single track year round schedule, with the option of
students and teachers participating in an additional 30-day extended
year program on a voluntary basis. The 30 days will initially be run
like summer school with a three hour daily session in the morning.
Moreover, the 30 days will be spread throughout the year and held
during intersessions.
During the life of the charter school, we will look for full
funding from sources beyond the general fund (e.g., grants) to extend
the school year to 210 full days. The current nine month school
schedule worked for agricultural communities 100 years ago. A single
track year round schedule with the option of extending the school
year through intersessions is more appropriate today for at-risk
students attending large urban schools. R. D. Alcorn, for example,
reported in the April 1992 issue of Thrust for Educational
Leadership that "year round education which substitutes several
shorter vacation breaks for the traditional 3-month summer vacation
enhances the momentum and continuity of instruction and produces high
pay offs for educationally and economically disadvantaged students."
We are proposing an instructional year that may, for example, start
in September and have a sequence of three months on and one month
off.
During each of the off months, a two week instructional
intersession will be conducted. These intersessions are much like
summer school except that they occur throughout the year. Attendance
at the intersessions is not mandatory, although we expect it to be
high. They provide students an opportunity to catch-up or to jump
ahead In addition to higher academic achievement we expect reduced
teacher burnout.
The student to teacher ratio will be reduced to approximately 25:1
to increase the opportunity for establishing relationships between
teachers, students, and parents at the proposed charter school. The
budget in Part VII of this petition details how the reduction will be
accomplished by using funds allocated to the school differently.
Initially teachers will be organized in grade level teams. As a team,
the teachers are responsible for all the students assigned to that
grade level. Close collaboration between teachers is the key to
making the proposed charter school work.
The reduction in the student to teacher ratio is also consistent
with the state's recommendation for teaching young children as
described in Here They Come: Ready or Not. In addition, the
reduction will facilitate the integration of our many orthopedically
handicapped students into general education classrooms. This helps
the school move towards becoming one seamless educational system
rather than a system fragmented into "regular ed" and "special ed."
b. The measurable pupil outcomes identified for use by the
charter school. "Pupil outcomes," for purposes of this part, means
the extent to which all pupils of the school demonstrate that they
have attained the skills, knowledge, and attitudes specified as goals
in the school's educational program.
This section begins by describing five specific site-adopted
targets. When a student reaches all five of the targets, he/she will
have attained, by design, the educational goals described above in
section "a." The five targets are actually outcomes. The term
"target" is used because it provides a clear mental picture of what
students are working towards. They also give teachers clear direction
of what to teach towards. The section ends by describing the six
Board-adopted targets.
Site-Adopted Targets
The Efficacy Institute uses three indicators to identify a high
school graduate who is adequately prepared to participate in the 21st
century. They are: using calculus, writing a 25 page paper, and
speaking a second language. Taking the institute's lead in preparing
students for the 21st Century, we feel that each of our students
should be able to do the following by the time he/she completes 6th
grade at Bowling Green:
1. Use algebraic skills and concepts.
2. Be fluent in one language (e.g., English or Spanish) and be
conversational in a second language (e.g., Spanish or English).
3. Walk run, or use a wheelchair to cover a mile in 10 minutes.
4. Read and interpret a variety of materials from different
sources to gain useful and applicable information.
5. Identify an opportunity to serve the community. In the course
of doing research, read and comprehend what others have done that is
related to the opportunity. Develop a written proposal that describes
the opportunity and which persuades others that what you intend to do
is a worthwhile service. Provide the service. Finally, describe the
process in writing as well as through another medium including but
not limited to: video, music, speech, paint, or dance.
Refining and Using Site-Adopted Targets and Benchmarks
During the first year of the proposed charter school, with the aid
of an assessment coach funded though our SB1274 grant, teachers,
students, and parents will work together to operationally define each
of the targets. We will also break down each of the five targets
listed above so that each has a series of benchmarks. The benchmarks
serve as milestones on the way to the targets. The benchmarks will
include the educational goals that are described in section "a." We
will operationally define these goals and then integrate them into
the benchmarks. In covering a mile in 10 minutes, for example, we
might end up with the following benchmarks for students:
- Identify a mile long course.
- Complete the course - no time limit.
- Understand the importance of physical endurance in everyday
life.
- Understand how healthy eating habits and healthy practices
contribute to endurance.
- Run, walk, or use a wheel chair to complete 1/4 of the course
without stopping.
- Run, walk, or use a wheel chair to complete 1/2 of the course
without stopping.
- Run, walk, or use a wheel chair to compete the whole course
without stopping.
- Run, walk, or use a wheel chair to cover a mile in 10 minutes.
By using these benchmarks, students can see where they are in
relation to the target. Teachers can also see this and design their
curriculum accordingly. As such, the benchmarks in this example might
be used as performance indicators. Since the benchmarks are not tied
to grade levels they might also be used in non graded classrooms. Non
graded classrooms are a possibility for the second or third year of
the charter. The benchmarks also let parents see where students are
in relationship to a proficiency standard.
In doing this work, we will follow the lead of the new California
Assessment Program (CAP). The CAP will initially report the
proportion of students who reach a statewide proficiency standard.
Starting in 1993-94, the new CAP will report individual scores in
relationship to the proficiency standard. We will use the same
approach in reporting student mastery of our targets.
Also during the first year of the proposed charter school, we will
develop scoring rubrics,operationally define our educational goals
such as compassion, and more clearly define the targets. One resource
for this process will be the assessment framework presented in
Dimensions of Learning by Bob Marzano (1992). Student surveys
may also be used. Once the operational definitions and rubrics are
established, assessment of these outcomes will often be integrated
with other desired outcomes. As the assessment process builds and the
various types of assessments are defined, implemented, revised, and
implemented again, we will be creating alternative reporting forms to
the current report cards that will better communicate to parents the
multi-faced growth their students have made.
Finally, as we indicated in Part III section 2.11 of this
petition, each May the principal will report to the Board on the
status of the school. In May 1994, our "state of the school" report
will include a description of the benchmarks, the proportion of
students and teachers who have arrived at each benchmark, and a more
refined operational definition for each of the five targets.
During the second year of the charter, we will invite parents to
join their child and the staff in personally aiming for each of the
five targets themselves. In May 1995, our "state of the school"
report will include the number of parents and teachers who have
accepted the challenge of aiming for the five targets and who have
reached the targets.
Board-Adopted Targets
Our program will also work towards six targets adopted by the
Board of Education. The Board has spent the past year working to
identify their targets and agreeing on their operational definitions.
One of the targets, student achievement, is incorporated into our
site-adopted targets. The Board's six target areas are:
Student Attendance. The Board's target is 96% actual
attendance and 98% ADA. Shown below is a record of the school's
actual attendance by month over the last four years. There has been
improvement, but not yet to the degree that we desire. The activities
described in this petition are intended to increase attendance. They
include: a single track year round schedule that's extended to 210
days, the employment of additional community workers, the reduction
in the student to teacher ratio to foster relationships, use of the
Efficacy approach and using integrated thematic instruction.
Drop-Out Reduction. At Bowling Green, both retention and
suspension of students will be minimized toward a target of zero.
Also, a procedure will be created to follow up students who leave the
school to determine if any of these students are dropping out. The
following chart shows our contribution to reducing the likelihood of
dropping out by reducing the number of suspensions during the last
three years.[chart not scanned]
Parental Involvement. This means increasing their
participation at all levels, through governance of the school,
setting social and academic standards, and helping in classrooms. We
see ourselves seeking to fully develop a student's body, mind, and
spirit by showing parents, if needed, how to be a more powerful
member of their child's support team. This will be done, in part, by
the additional school community workers that will be employed at the
charter school. As indicated above, we will be asking parents to join
their children and the staff in aiming for the five site-adopted
targets.
Employee Relations. The Board would like to see all
employees have an opportunity to participate in a governance process
at their school or department. Our proposed charter school will be
using the Continuous Improvement Process (CIP) that was started three
years ago. The process involves certificated staff, classified staff,
and parents. During the first year of the proposed charter school, a
process will be developed to include student input in the CIP.
Students Can and Will Learn. This is essentially higher
expectations for all students.
Student achievement. The Board wants to see a year's growth
for a year's worth of instruction. More specifically, the Board
expects all students to "learn how to read" by the time they complete
third grade and begin "reading to learn" in the intermediate grades.
Summary of Targets Identified by the Board of
Education
| Target |
Goal |
Measuring Device |
|
96% actual attendance and 98% ADA
attendance
|
Student attendance
|
-Monthly attendance reports from
Business Services
|
0 suspensions
0 retentions
|
Drop-out reduction
|
-Suspension records at school
-Retention records at school
|
|
95% of parents feel as if they
are "empowered" members of child's support team
|
Parental involvement
|
-Parent participation in
parent-teacher conferencing
-Parent survey
-Interviews with parents
|
|
Develop a participatory process
which engages stakeholders, especially employees
|
Employee Relations
|
-Problems solved with the
site-based Continuous Improvement Process
-Number of grievances filed by employees
|
|
Higher student
expectations
|
All students can and will
learn
|
-Mastery of the curriculum by the
students
|
Every student will receive and
master the core curriculum/
Students learn to read by 3rd grade.
|
Student achievement
|
-Quality of inquires and key
points that students use
-Reading ability
|
c. The method by which pupil progress in meeting those pupil
outcomes is to be measured.
Assumptions about Assessment
Our choice of methods to assess pupil progress is based on the
following four beliefs about assessment:
1. In order to have a complete picture of a student's
growth different types of assessments must be used. Assessments
should focus on a student's growth towards a proficiency standard
rather than comparing a student's performance - against other
students.
2. There should be a close relationship between a desired student
outcome and the means used to assess it.
3. Assessing what students do with knowledge is as important as
assessing what knowledge they have.
4. Assessment should promote and support reflection and
self-evaluation on the part of students, staff, and parents.
Based on these beliefs, we will use a variety of performance-based
assessments such as portfolios, demonstrations, and integrated
performance tasks. We will also use the statewide California
Assessment Program (CAP), a standardized test that compares
individual student progress to state standards. The CAP is also
intended to report the proportion of students at Bowling Green who
have reached the state proficiency standards in math, reading,
writing, science, and social studies.
Description of Assessment Tools
Portfolios will provide one perspective for assessing
student growth. A portfolio is a collection of representative work.
Literacy portfolios, for example, will contain results of student
performance on a variety of literacy assessments in writing, reading,
and oral communication. Scoring rubrics will be developed and staff
will receive training on using the rubrics. Student reflection will
be an integral part of the portfolio. In addition, the portfolios
will serve as one tool that lets us determine how well we meet our
site-adopted target of mastering one language and being
conversational in a second.
Demonstrations provide another means of assessing students
growth. Demonstrations will, for example, be used to assess the
school target that students travel a mile within 10 minutes.
Demonstrations may also be a part of a Literacy Portfolio or a
mathematics assessment. The key element will be students
demonstrating their attainment of specified standards to a panel of
judges. These standards or desired outcomes will be established based
on the state-adopted curricular frameworks.
Integrated Performance Tasks (IPT) are another means that
will be used to assess students growth. Based in, but not limited to
the curricular area of social science, teachers will identify 8 to 10
important performance tasks that "effectively and efficiently 'map'
the essential content" that they will cover in the year (Wiggins, G.,
1992, "Creating Tests Worth Taking." Ed. Leadership 49:8, p.
29). Contextual rich tasks will then be designed along with a scoring
rubric that specifies the requirements of task mastery. These tasks
will be designed to measure what students knows and how well they
apply what they know.
The school, for example, has set a target that will be assessed as
a Integrated Performance Task. This complex task represents the
integration of several highly desired outcomes for students. The task
is as follows:
Identify an opportunity to serve the community. In the course of doing research, read and comprehend what others have done that is related to the opportunity. Develop a written proposal that describes the opportunity and which persuades others that what you intend to do is a worthwhile service. Provide the service. Finally, describe the process in writing as well as through another medium including but not limited to: video, music, speech, paint, or dance.
Standardized Test Assessments that compare student progress
to a proficiency standardized will be used. These tests include the
California Assessment Program (CAP) to measure reading, writing,and
math proficiency in 4th grade, and history and science proficiency in
the 5th grade; the Language Assessment Scale for measuring gains in
English proficiency; and the Student Attitude Measure (SAM) to
measure student motivation, student academic self-confidence, student
sense of control over performance, and students sense of
instructional mastery.
The Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) will only be used to
qualify students for the district's Chapter 1 program. This is the
current districtwide method for identifying 2nd through 6th grade
students for Chapter 1 services. We feel that tests such as this
which compare students to one other rather than to a proficiency
standard is counter productive when nationwide, half of all the test
takers are expected to score below the 50th percentile and
essentially "fail."
Expected Results
We expect each student to grow and show improvement towards each
of the five site-adopted targets and on the CAP. We expect students
to aim for and hit each of the site-adopted targets and the state
proficiency standards for the CAP.
Method for Measuring Site-Adopted Targets and Goals
|
Target |
Goal |
Method* |
S
P
I
R
I
T |
- Identify an opportunity to serve the community.
|
- Compassion
- Confidence
- Knowledgeable of one's learning process (i.e. meta-cognition)
- Self-initiation (motivation)
- Work cooperatively
- Use humor
- Non violent conflict resolution
|
- IPT, D
- IPT, D
- IPT, D
- IPT, D
- P, IPT, D
- P, IPT, D
- IPT, D
|
M
I
N
D |
- Use algebra skills & concepts
- Fluent in one language and conversational in a second
- Read & interpret a variety of materials from different sources to gain useful and applicable information.
- Identify an opportunity to serve the community.
|
- Math and Science
- Fluent in one language; conversational in a second
- Read
- Oral communications
- Writing
- History/Social Studies, Visual Performing Arts
|
- P, IPT, D, CAP in 4th
- P, IPT, D, CAP in 4th & 5th ST
- P, IPT, D, CAP in 4th
- P, IPT, D, CAP in 4th
- IPT, D
- P, IPT, D, CAP in 4th
- P, IPT, D
|
B
O
D
Y |
- Walk, run or use a wheelchair to cover a mile in 10 minutes.
|
- Regular exercise
- Healthy eating habits
- Healthy practices - e.g., abstain from drugs and alcohol.
|
|
*
P = Portfolio, a collection of representative work
in language as well as in math and other areas.
ST = Standardized Test that compares student's
growth to a proficiency standard.
CAP = California Assessment Program which is a
standardized test
IPT = Integrated Performance Task such as the one
described for 6th graders in this petition
D = Demonstration such as traveling a mile in 10
minutes.
d. The governance structure of the school, including, but not
limited to, the process to be followed by the school to ensure
parental involvement.
The Board of Education establishes district goals. We will use
these goals. The site based-discussion process identifies problems
that get in the way of achieving the goals and develops solutions.
The Steering Committee and principal report directly to the Board of
Education.
The Board of Education has approved Site-Based Decision-Making
(SBDM) in concept. At Bowling Green, SBDM is through a Steering
Committee process made up of representatives from administration,
certificated staff, classified staff, support personnel, and parents.
We pioneered this concept in our district three years ago as part of
the Continuous Improvement Process.
The Steering Committee facilitates the identification of problems
and the consensus building needed to identify and implement solutions
that will help achieve the school's mission. Consensus is defined as
agreement to a solution by all those involved. Agreement means that
the participants can live with a solution, even though some may not
like it. On major issues, such as a schedule change, we routinely
survey parents to determine if the solutions have their support.
Moreover we encourage parent input by reserving at least two seats on
our Steering Committee for them.
When solutions are outside of the authority of this charter, the
Steering Committee will inform the Board of Education. Unless the
Board vetoes the solution within 30 school days after it first
appears on a Board agenda and is presented by the principal at a
Board meeting, the solution will become a part of this charter and
will be reflected as an amendment that will be attached at the end of
this charter in sequence as "Amendment 1, Amendment 2, etc."
In our SB1274 proposal, we described our site-based decision
making process and our experience with it during the last three years
as follows:
To move forward to ensure that every student succeeds,
requires changing the current system. We feel that a bottom up
collegial approach, such as the Continuous Improvement Process (CIP),
in which ownership is pushed to the lowest organizational levels will
increase academic achievement. We have had success with that approach
in dramatically improving our learning environment. We can have even
more success when we have the opportunity to extend our approach to
its logical end. That end would result in empowering teachers with
knowledge, giving them the time to create solutions together, and
giving them the authority and resources to act on their solutions. As
Jeff Howard of the Efficacy Institute points out: "All students can
learn, if the process is effectively organized and managed by
adults." We believe that learning can best be organized at the site
level by empowering the teachers and administrators who work the
closest with the children and their families.
The Continuous Improvement Process (CIP) provides a means for
everyone in our school community to have input in identifying
problems and inventing solutions so that we can reach our goal. The
Continuous Improvement Process starts by comparing the desired state
of affairs with the actual state of affairs. Then, those involved in
the process
1) identify problems that stand in the way of closing the gap,
2) invent solutions, and
3) implement those solutions. There is a continuous feedback loop
that informs them of their progress towards the desired state of
affairs. With updated information, additional problems are
identified. More solutions are then invented and implemented. We
realize that not all solutions will work. Utilizing the continuous
feedback loop and keeping focused on our goal, however, will help us
generate additional solutions until we find ones that do work.
At Bowling Green, the CIP is facilitated by a steering committee.
The 12 members of the committee are elected by different
constituencies including teachers, aides, support staff and parents.
Schoolwide problems are identified by means of a suggestion box or by
constituents through their representatives. The steering committee is
the forum where these problems are first publicly discussed. The
representatives share the discussion after the meeting in constituent
meetings where the steering committee solutions are accepted or
modified. If they are modified, the feedback goes back to the
steering committee. This process continues until consensus is reached
or until all objections have been addressed.
A key assumption in the Continuous Improvement Process is that 95%
of an organization's problems are created by the routines that make
up the system and 5% by the people who are members of the system.
This suggests that 95% of the reason for low student achievement
stems from the way that the school and community are organized.
Accordingly, the key elements of our proposal revolve around changing
the organizational structure of our school and district.
In addition to the CIP/Steering Committee, we will continue to
operate other committees/councils at school that have authority over
our Compensatory Education Program, School Improvement Program (SIP),
and our Bilingual Program. Each of these committees/councils has
staff and parent representatives. Except where prohibited by federal
law, these committees will act as sub committees to the Steering
Committee.
Finally, during the first year of the proposed charter school, a
process will be developed to include student input in the CIP.
e. The qualifications to be met by individuals to be employed
by the school.
Each certificated employee at the charter school will meet the
state licensing requirements for the position that he/she holds.
Verification will be done in the established manner though the
Personnel Department. When no state licensing requirements exist, as
in the case of most classified positions, the employee needs to meet
all performance specifications required for the position as described
in the notice of vacancy. Exceptions to today's standard operating
procedures are listed below in Part III of this charter petition.
f. The procedures that the school will follow to ensure the
health and safety of pupils and staff. These procedures shall include
the requirement that each employee of the school furnish the school
with a criminal record summary as described in Section 44237.
There will be no change to existing procedures used in the
district. If funds are available, the Steering Committee will
consider a full-time hall monitor who will be employed to patrol our
eleven acre school site. The hall monitor will also provide
additional supervision on the playground before and after school. The
monitor's duties will also include supervising dismissal of students
who walk home, and when necessary walking groups of students home in
the attendance area north of the school.
g. The means by which the school will achieve a racial and
ethnic balance among its pupils that is reflective of the general
population residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the school
district to which the charter petition is submitted.
During the last three years, our ethnic and racial mix has
remained balanced and rather stable. There has been a slight increase
in the percentage of Asian and Hispanic students and a 3% decrease in
Caucasian students. At the end of the second school month of the
current school year, there were approximately 39% African-American,
22% Hispanic, 20% Asian-American, and 18% Caucasian students enrolled
at Bowling Green. Initially, we will maintain this balance by
continuing to enroll students from our current attendance area. We
will try to move towards the district averages shown in the following
table by inviting students from groups in which we are low. The
current district distribution and our current school distribution, as
shown in the table below, will serve as the range that we will stay
within. If we go outside the range, the Steering Committee will
identify a solution to get it back within it.
Comparison of Ethnic Distribution Districtwide at the
Elementary Level and at Bowling Green
|
Ethnic Group
|
Districtwide
|
Bowling Green
|
|
African-American
|
21.4%
|
38.5%
|
|
Hispanic
|
20.8%
|
22.1%
|
|
Asian American
|
24.9%
|
20.4%
|
|
Caucasian
|
31.6%
|
18.2%
|
|
American Indian
|
1.3%
|
0.9%
|
* From Ethnic Composition of the Student
Population of the Elementary Schools, Fall 1992
h. Admission requirements, if applicable.
Section 47605 (d) of the Charter Schools Act of 1992 states that:
In addition to any other requirements imposed under this part, a
charter school shall be nonsectarian in its programs admission
policies, employment practices and all other operations, shall not
charge tuition, and shall not discriminate against any pupil on the
basis of ethnicity, national origin gender or disability. Admission
to a charter school shall not be determined according to the place of
residence of the pupil, or of this or her parent or guardian, within
this state, except that any existing public school converting
partially or entirely to a charter school under this part shall adopt
and maintain a policy giving admission preference to pupils who
reside within the former attendance area of that public school.
We will follow these guidelines.
Admission to the general education program is open to:
1. students living in the current attendance area and
children of staff members employed at the school,
2. students who attended Bowling Green then moved away, and
3. any student living in California.
Preference will be given to students who currently live in the
attendance area and to children of staff members now employed at the
school. Students in categories two and three may apply to attend
Bowling Green on a space available basis using the district's permit
process, except that permits may be approved at anytime during the
year. Before a permit or enrollment is canceled, a hearing will be
conducted. The members of the hearing board will include a parent, a
teacher, and the principal or his/her designate.
Parents of students on permit are responsible for transporting
their students to and from school. If it is possible, transportation
will be provided to students on permit if there is room on a bus that
serves Bowling Green. For example, if there is room on a Special
Education bus that transports a Bowling Green student then it might
be possible for that student's non Special Education sibling or
neighbor to ride the same bus to attend the general education program
at Bowling Green.
Admission to the school's Orthopedically Handicapped program is
open to all students now enrolled in the program as well as to
students not yet enrolled who would normally be eligible to
participate as determined by an IEP. Students now enrolled come from
throughout the entire SCUSD and from neighboring districts such as
Elk Grove and Folsom-Cordova.
Tuition will not be charged.
Admission to both the general and special education programs will
be limited by class size restrictions and by the number of classrooms
available at the school as shown below.
UTILIZATION OF CLASSROOM SPACE
[graphic not available]
i. The manner in which an annual audit of the financial and
programmatic operations of the school is to be conducted.
Annual fiscal audits will be conducted in the same manner as they
are now conducted in the SCUSD, which are done in accordance with
standard accounting procedures.
In regard to financial operations, The Internal Audit Department
of the SCUSD will conduct their annual audits. Outside audits are now
conducted by an independent auditing firm. Program audits will take
the form of established Program Quality Reviews. A Program Quality
Review is scheduled to be conducted during the 1993-94 school year.
In addition, the school will participate in the state's California
Assessment Program.
Moreover, we will contract with either the Multilingual Department
or an outside consultant to conduct an annual audit to ensure that
our services to Limited English Proficient students meet federal and
state guidelines.
The charter school may still be audited by means of a Coordinated
Compliance Review conducted by the State Department of Education.
In addition, the Steering Committee will appoint an Academic
Success Committee made up of staff and parents and older students to
determine the impact of schoolwide programs on achievement. These
schoolwide programs include: Writers' Workshop, Class Meetings,
Integrated Thematic Instruction, Efficacy, and Positive Discipline.
This information will contribute to the updating of the school's plan
each year in March.
j. The procedures by which pupils can be suspended or expelled.
The established district procedures will be used when suspending
or expelling students. This includes procedures for both teacher
suspensions and principal suspensions. During the last four years,
suspensions have been reduced from a high of over 213 in 1988-89 to
21 in 1991.
k. The manner by which staff members of the charter schools
will be covered by the State Teachers' Retirement System or the
Public Employees Retirement System or federal social security.
There will be no change in the way employees will be covered. The
established system will be used. The certificated and classified
staff at the charter school are employees of the SCUSD.
l. Public School attendance alternatives for pupils residing
within the school district who choose not to attend the charter
school.
47605 (f) No governing board of a school district shall require
any pupil enrolled in the school district to attend a charter
school.
Independent of charter status, Bowling Green is now overcrowded.
Next year, again, independent of charter status there will be a
leveling off of enrollment. The current kindergarten enrollment
suggests that number of classes at kindergarten and first grade will
be reduced by one at each grade level. This means that there will be
fewer students who may need attendance alterna
Source: www.USCharterSchools.org
|
