This status report provides information on the work that has been accomplished and the progress that has been made during September 2000 regarding the implementation of the Blueprint for Student Success for the 2000-2001 school year.

This report provides information on the following Blueprint components:

• The status of establishing the literacy and student success programs put forth in the Blueprint.
• The enrollment of high school students in college preparatory and intensive support sequences.
• The impacts on electives, GATE, special education, nurse and counseling wellness services, classified support, and special programs.
• The status of magnet programs at each of the eight Focus Schools.
• The status of facility impacts.
• The status of the mathematics core program.

This report is organized to address each of these issues.

EarlyLink programs proposed for the Blueprint Focus Schools are listed below for each school. The EarlyLink status report and the Memorandum of Understanding with Neighborhood House Association, the early childhood provider, were presented to the school board on Tuesday, September 26. The Memorandum of Understanding was approved. EarlyLink services to be provided at each of the Focus Schools are described below.

Baker Elementary School will offer a comprehensive childcare/child development program with extended hours that includes childcare for EarlyLink preschoolers. Neighborhood House Association First Steps or Jackie Robinson YMCA Head Start will provide the extended hours childcare.

Balboa Elementary School will offer four new sessions of preschool. Neighborhood House Association will offer a comprehensive program of childcare/child development with extended hours and services for new and existing preschoolers. In addition, the Even Start Family Literacy Program will be offered at this site.

Chavez Elementary School will offer two new sessions of preschool. A comprehensive childcare and child development program with extended hours and services will be provided. The Even Start Family Literacy Program also will be offered at this site.

Emerson/Bandini Elementary School will offer two new sessions of preschool and comprehensive childcare/child development services for extended hours to new and existing preschoolers.

Jackson Elementary School does not have existing preschoolers and does not have space to accommodate new portable classrooms on its campus at this time.

Kimbrough Elementary School will offer two new sessions of preschool. A comprehensive childcare and child development program with extended hours and services will be provided. The extended hours program may be transferred to an outside provider, Inner City Head Start. The San Diego Urban League will provide Family Services.

King Elementary School will offer two new sessions of preschool. A comprehensive childcare and child development program with extended hours and services will be provided. King is an EvenStart Family Literacy Program site.

Sherman Elementary School will offer a comprehensive childcare and child development program with extended hours and services for existing preschoolers. Children may be transferred after their preschool program to the Neighborhood House Association Sherman Heights Head Start for childcare. Sherman is an EvenStart Family Literacy Program site.

New teachers and teachers who did not attend professional development during the summer attended three-day make-up sessions during the weeks of September 18^th and September 25^th. Ongoing professional development is being scheduled for all teachers of Enhanced First Grade and Kindergarten throughout the school year.

During the 2000-2001 school year the Genre Studies literacy course is being taught in the following grades for the specified populations:

• A two-period genre studies course is provided for all entering middle level students (Grades 6/7), with additional enhanced instructional materials and professional development for teachers. Entering middle level students who are below and significantly below grade level have classes with a 20:1 student/teacher ratio.
• A two-period genre studies course with regular class size is provided for students who still are performing below and significantly below grade level in 7^th grade in middle school and 8^th grade in junior high school.
• Genre Studies classes are provided for all ninth grade students below and significantly below grade level. Classes include 20:1 student/teacher ratio, additional instructional materials, and professional development for teachers. Students below grade level have a two-period Literacy Block, and students significantly below grade level have a three-period Literacy Core.
• A two-period Genre Studies class with regular class size is provided for all tenth grade students who still are performing below and significantly below grade level.

Thirty-two Mathematics Specialists have been hired at Focus Schools. Schedules at each school have been finalized, and new textbooks and manipulatives arrived at school sites. Mathematics Specialists began teaching students in the middle of September and are participating in ongoing professional development. One late afternoon a week the Mathematics Specialists attend a mathematics and pedagogy class, which will result in their earning of a certificate from SDSU.

An Implementation Plan was submitted to the state the first week of September to fund the new BTSA model that includes Peer Coach/Staff Developers as BTSA support providers to new elementary teachers and secondary teachers of Genre Studies and English.

Weekly instructional meetings for peer coach/staff developers began on September 13^th. The weekly sessions include professional development focused on instruction and collegial exchange. A program is being planned in collaboration with San Diego State University to certify up to 160 Peer Coach/Staff Developers over the next year.

The Extended Day Reading Program (EDRP) will begin in October for low performing students in Grade 3, Grades 6/7, and Grade 8. Three hundred sixty-five classes will be offered districtwide. At least one class is being offered at each elementary and middle school. Classes first will be filled by students at the designated grades who are significantly below grade level, then by students from that same grade who are below grade level, or students from higher grades who are significantly below grade level. The curriculum of the EDRP will be focused on a specific performance level, so students from different grades who are performing at the same level will benefit from the program.

The following activities have taken place in implementing the EDRP:

• Training is being provided to office staff on the use of AERIES to track EDRP student attendance and snacks.
• Students were identified, and the school notified parents that their children are expected to participate.
• Principals hired teachers to staff the EDRP at their sites based on the number of classes they are offering. Additional teachers were recruited through a job posting by geographic area.
• Professional development release days have been scheduled for EDRP Teachers in October, November, December, January, and February. The professional development will be provided by the Literacy department and will focus on the implementation of the Literacy Framework and district-provided curriculum materials.

Students in high school who did not attend summer school but who need to make up core courses will attend after school core course make up. After school core course make up will be offered at all high schools that do not have a High School Diploma Program. The High School Diploma Program is offered at eight high schools and also can be used to make up core course credits.

The Blueprint model for leadership development fosters continuous improvement of leadership and the cultivation of a pool of capable candidates to lead schools. The Blueprint includes funding for up to ten Administrative Interns to build capacity in teachers with demonstrated leadership potential, and to create a more diverse pool of principal and vice principal candidates. The Blueprint also includes funding for up to 25 Coaching Principals who work one-on-one with peers to assist them with leadership challenges, deepen their knowledge, and improve skill levels.

Over 80 applications were received from district teachers who want to work as interns while simultaneously working toward completion of their Preliminary Administrative Credential (first tier) through the University of San Diego. The Board of Education approved the appointment of five teachers to "program specialists (administrative interns)" at their meeting on September 5.

The role of "coaching principal" is an additional assignment renewable on an annual basis. Coaching principals remain in their regular assignment while coaching one peer in the area of instructional leadership. Twenty-one principals will assume the role of coaching principal for 2000-01.

The October report will include enrollment in college preparatory and intensive support courses based on the official fall enrollment on the fourth Friday of September (September 29).

Students who are to participate in support programs in elementary school have been identified based on results from the end-of-year administration of the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) at Grades K through 4 are shown in the table below. Schools received summary reports of their end-of-year DRA results the week of September 18. Lists were provided for all teachers of Grades 1 through 5 with the scores of the students enrolled in their classrooms this fall. This information will help teachers organize their classroom literacy instruction and identify students in need of additional support.

Updated information related to elective offerings will be included in the October report based on the official fall enrollment count on the fourth Friday of the school year (September 29).

The Counseling and Guidance Department is developing a comprehensive plan that will support teaching and learning in the classroom. The plan will define how counselors will work proactively at each school site to support the academic and counseling components of the Blueprint. Key components of the comprehensive plan will include:

• An emphasis on proactive rather than reactive counseling.
• A shift to results-based counseling practices that are developed using the National Standards for Counseling. Results-based counseling measures success by the number of students who progress successfully rather than by the number of student contact hours.
• A significant reform of high school counseling as part of the larger district high school reform.
• Inclusion of the Blueprint promotion and retention criteria and literacy and mathematics interventions in the four-year educational plans developed for all students in eighth grade and reviewed and revised in tenth grade.
• An active role for counselors in placing students who meet risk criteria in appropriate interventions and in placing students who do not demonstrate risk criteria in appropriately challenging courses.
• Follow – up strategies with students and parents to monitor participation and progress in both types of programs—intervention and nonintervention.

Counselors will have a central role in developing and implementing the Learning Contracts described in a later section of this report. In particular, counselors in secondary schools will be responsible for identifying students with credit deficiencies or low grade point averages that will affect their ability to graduate, and initiating the development of Learning Contracts for the students they identify.

During the 2000-2001 school year, counselors are participating in centralized professional development. At a full day conference at the beginning of the school year (August 28^th) staff from the Department of Standards, Assessment and Accountability presented to the counselors the placement guidelines for students in literacy and mathematics.

Professional development is continuing throughout the school year for two hours each month. The Director of Counseling is preparing the agendas for the meetings that are bringing together all counselors in the district for topics related to the implementation of the Blueprint. The October session will include presenters from mathematics and literacy to explain the intervention courses that are being offered this year.

During the summer of 2001 a systemwide 40-hour professional development institute will be held for all counselors in the district to familiarize them with the National Counseling Standards and build their expertise with strategies and practices that will support the Blueprint and student learning.

The total number of students enrolled in Focus Schools and the number of magnet students enrolled will be reported in October after the official fall enrollment count on the fourth Friday of the school year (September 29^th).

The eight Parent Academic Liaisons participated in daylong training sessions September 7, 8, 15, and 29 and are setting up programs at their schools. They also participated in the Peer Coach/Staff Developers professional development session on September 27.

The focus of the Parent Academic Liaisons is on improving student achievement in reading and mathematics by building a family learning community. The Year One strategies for the Parent Academic Liaisons are listed below:

• Use a variety of approaches to communicate with parents about students’ academic performance and offer practical ways for parents to support student learning.
• Provide information and materials that bolster teachers’ efforts to help parents support student learning.
• Plan and carry out a series of strategic activities designed to help parents increase students’ literacy skills (including Community Based English Tutoring Program).
• Work at each school with the site leadership team to ensure a schoolwide understanding of and support for a family learning community.

Each month the Focus School principals and their Instructional Leaders are scheduled to do visits across schools to analyze program implementation. In addition, Peer Coach/Staff Developers in Focus Schools and API 2 schools will have intensive coaching throughout the school year by literacy consultants who were approved by the board on September 26.

There is nothing additional to report for September.

Mathematics professional development was held in September for the following groups:

• The 32 Elementary Mathematics Specialists learned to use the new curriculum materials, Everyday Math, from publisher’s representatives September 5 through 7.
• Mathematics teachers at the three API 2 middle schools participated in a workshop on September 13 sponsored by the publisher to learn to use Challenge 24, a problem solving competition program.
• Elementary teachers in Grades 1-2 participated in a program on September 30 called Nimble with Numbers. The program is designed to help teachers increase their own understanding of mathematics concepts related to the standards on number sense and operations so they can provide high quality, engaging mathematics experiences and meaningful practice.
• Secondary mathematics teachers of Grades 6-9 participated in a seminar September 30 hosted by the publisher of Fantasy Baseball, a mathematics unit that teaches the concept of proportional reasoning, probability and statistics.
• Principals will attend a full day conference that focuses on their role in supporting mathematics improvement and helps them plan for the changes needed to improve mathematics instruction in their schools and districts. A key feature of the day is a live demonstration lesson taught by a guest teacher to a class of students from the site where the conference is held. The conference for senior high principals and mathematics department chairs was held September 27 at Clairemont High School. Middle level principals will attend their conference on October 12, and elementary principals will attend their conference October 18.

District staff members are in the process of revising the promotion and retention procedures (Numbers 4755 and 4766) to reflect Blueprint intervention and retention programs and the use of a Learning Contract. Learning Contracts are being finalized for Grades K-8 and for Grades 9-12. The contracts are designed to be used for all students K-12 who are at risk of achieving below grade level on assessments in literacy and mathematics. Additional factors at the high school level that require a Learning Contract are credit deficiency and grade point average. Materials are being developed to support the implementation of the new procedures, and include forms where teachers can document their decisions to promote or retain (Grades K-8), or the decision regarding student placement (Grades 9-12).

The Learning Contracts and support documents will be printed on NCR paper with multiple copies for distribution to the parent, the teacher/counselor, the student’s cumulative folder, and the principal. Copies of the procedures, Learning Contracts, and supportive documents will be provided in the October status report.

The process for revising the promotion/retention procedures and developing the Learning Contracts and support materials involved staff review of existing school site contracts, the previous district Supportive Learning Plan, requirements stated in the Blueprint, and documents produced by the previous student promotion and retention committee.

Draft versions of the procedures, Learning Contracts, and support forms were discussed and circulated among elementary principals, secondary counselors, district counselors, Instructional Leaders, and the district Parent Involvement office. The final refinements are being based on the feedback from these reviewers.

The newly revised promotion/retention procedures are scheduled for distribution to principals the second week in October. At that time, principals, teachers and counselors will receive explanatory circulars and sample copies of the Learning Contract and related forms. Principals will receive a form for ordering non-English versions of the contract.

The target date for distribution of a supply of NCR English Learning Contracts and related support documents to school sites is the week of October 23. All materials will be available for future ordering through the stock catalogue.

To support implementation of the new procedures and the Learning Contract the following activities have been undertaken:

• District staff members in the Parent Involvement office are developing support materials for teachers to use to assist them with conferencing with parents about the opportunities and implications presented by their student having a contract.
• Principals and counselors are to be trained on the implementation of the Learning Contracts as part of their monthly professional development sessions.
• Reference materials regarding how to conduct an effective parent conference and ways that parents can be involved at home in their student’s education will be posted on the district’s web site.
• There will be an element of the district data system that will allow schools to enter and preserve the creation date of the Learning Contracts and the promotion or retention decisions made at the end of the school year.

The deadline for submitting proposals for the Blueprint Evaluation was Wednesday, September 20. The Blueprint Technical Committee (BTC) met on Friday, September 22 to review the proposals and plan for the evaluation conference on Friday, October 6. At the evaluation conference, three bidders will be invited to present their proposals to the BTC and answer a series of questions developed by BTC members. Following the presentations, the BTC will select the independent evaluator that they will recommend to the Board of Education for approval on October 24.

Two final data workshops for site administrators were offered on September 20 and 21. The workshops focused on understanding and using student achievement data for instructional decision making. Principals looked at how data is collected and aggregated to form the state Academic Performance Index (API), and they looked at the information that is available from the SAT-9 Content Cluster analysis that reports on the number of students who were able to answer questions on specific content objectives.

The results of the survey were compared with the results of similar survey conducted in the San Francisco Bay area of principals participating in a voluntary systemic reform effort. The results of the comparison show that a significantly larger proportion of San Diego principals respond positively about district support for school improvement than principals in the Bay Area. Selected findings are shown in the chart below:

Overall 83% of elementary principals rated district support positively, along with 67% of middle level principals and 78% of high school principals.

With regard to support for professional learning and attention to standards, the findings also show that a greater majority of San Diego principals than Bay Area principals see the district as being supportive. The results are shown in the chart below:

Principals rated the value of reform activities in which they participate. The top six activities were:

Additional information about this report and the findings are available from the district Standards, Assessment and Accountability Department.