Greetings!

Today my office is launching a new web-based publication, Weekly Update, to let you know about some of the exciting news and initiatives from the San Diego Unified School District. It will also include news items related to education that we think you’ll find interesting, and our responses to current issues including the state’s budget and emerging trends in education and instruction. Please feel free to share with others. We invite the community to join our SDUSD Weekly listserv, so they can be noticed by email that the new issue is out.  They can contact superintendent@sandi.net and ask to be added.  And if there’s something you’d like to learn more about and see included in Weekly Update, we’d like to hear about it!

During the month of May, the San Diego Unified School District, along with school districts across the nation, recognizes and celebrates the contributions of the many employees that work to help our students grow and prosper:

May 5-9
Child Nutrition Employee Appreciation Week
Transportation/School Bus Driver Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Week (May 6 – National Teacher Day)

May 7
National School Nurses Day

May 11-17
Reading is Fun Week

We encourage you to take the time to say thank you to all the wonderful individuals who care so much for our students. Let them know how much they are appreciated during their special week or day. Please call me at 619-725-5506, should you have questions.

According to the California Department of Education, during the 2006-2007 school year:

• Forty-four percent of San Diego Unified School District’s student population was Latino.
• Nineteen percent of District administrators were Latino.
• Approximately fifteen percent of District teachers were Latino.
• Of the District’s 37,262 English learners, over 80 percent were Latino.
• ‘A to G’ Latino completion for high school seniors was approximately 26 percent.
• The Latino graduation rate was 47 percent.
• The Latino GATE/gifted representation was approximately 30 percent.
• Approximately 32 percent of Latino students met Adequate Yearly Progress proficiency standards in Language Arts.
• Approximately 37 percent of Latino students met Adequate Yearly Progress proficiency standards in Math.

The May issue of the American Association of School Administrators magazine, “The School Administrator,” features an article, Moral Rudders and Superintendent Values, by Rushworth Kidder. The article lists the San Diego Unified School District Ethics Department website as one of five additional resources. Kidder is president and founder of the Institute for Global Ethics, the group who worked with district staff to develop and implement the Ethical Leadership Workshops and is now working with the district to secure foundation support to pilot the “21st Century Ethics” program. The program would address an issue of increasing urgency: use and misuse of new technologies (e.g., MySpace, Facebook, cell phone cameras) in several middle and high schools. For more information, call Ethics Officer Joan McRobbie at 619-725-7388.

Superintendent Terry Grier had the honor and pleasure of serving as the Parade Grand Marshal of the 23rd Annual Linda Vista Multicultural Fair Parade on Saturday, April 26. For the first time, the Fair featured an Educational Pavilion to encourage the Linda Vista youth to make a commitment to their education and to establish the personal goal of attending college. Other parade participants included Mayor Jerry Sanders, Chief of Police William Lansdowne, and a number of other public officials. If you have questions, please call 619-725-5506.

Farb Middle School is the 18th school visited by Superintendent Terry Grier since joining the district. He spoke to a group of Farb teachers and students and was impressed by their energy and commitment to the school. The school’s suspension rate is down, benchmark scores are increasing, and high expectations are becoming the norm. Farb is an AVID school, where teachers collaborate and use data to change instruction in the classroom. Congratulations to Principal Susan Levy and her staff for their hard work and dedication. Please contact Principal Levy at 858-496-8090 with any questions.

The Parents’ Committee of Bird Rock Elementary School presents Island Breeze, the 25th Annual dinner, dance and auction at the Hilton San Diego Resort, Saturday, May 3, 2008, at 6 p.m. The auction proceeds are used to support school technology and supplies. For more information contact Beverly Candage at 858-488-0537.

On April 21-22, the district hosted the National Staff Development Council and professional development leaders of the nation’s largest 21 school districts. The group came to San Diego to learn first-hand about the Induction Master’s Partnership Program (IMPP), a joint venture between the district and the University of San Diego (USD). The Induction Master’s Partnership Program provides first- and second-year teachers with a course of graduate study that meshes with the district’s new teacher induction program. To learn more about this unique partnership and the IMPP program, contact Mariam True mtrue@sandi.net or visit the USD Department of Teaching and Learning website at www.sandiego.edu/soles/prospective.

On Monday, May 5, 2008, Joe’s Crab Shack in Pacific Beach will host the second annual fundraising event for Arts Bus Xpress, an organization that funds bus transportation for district students to art venues. Joe’s Crab Shack will donate 10 percent of all cash receipts between 5- 10 p.m. to the Arts Bus Xpress organization.
For more information about Arts Bus Xpress or the fundraiser, contact the Visual and Performing Arts department at (858) 539-5349.

SARB has had difficulty citing parents (of students under 12) to the Juvenile Court system when attendance problems continue after the hearing. This is often due to problems in locating parents at home so that school police can issue a citation. This week SARB tried a new process in which those parents were asked to report to the police substation to review their SARB contracts. A school police officer was present and, after reviewing the absence problems with the parents, they were issued citations to appear in court. These involved only egregious cases in which interventions have not been successful. It also reduced time spent by school police driving to the homes. This process holds promise for dealing more effectively with serious attendance issues. [Contact: Crystal Cavanagh at 858-490-8671]

Seventy-seven district seniors were recently awarded The San Diego and Imperial Counties California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP) Rewarding College Dreams Scholarship. Over 600 students from both counties applied for the 200 scholarships of $1,000 or $2,000 each. Recipients will be informed of their status by May 3. An awards reception will be held on May 18, from 2 to 5 p.m. at UCSD/Price Center. Contact: Linda Doughty at 858-569-1866

Counseling and Guidance will be participating in Creating a College Going Culture, a two-year initiative (spring 2008-fall 2009) funded by the Irvine Foundation and the College Board. The primary goals of the initiative are to increase the number of underrepresented students enrolled in A-G curriculum, the number of students participating in AP, PSAT, SAT and ACT, and increase the number of students who enroll in college. The initiative is designed to offer professional development opportunities for middle and high school counselors and includes three workshops, two summer institutes, and a coordinator workshop. Contact: Melissa Janakat 858-503-3177

We are rapidly coming to the close of the very successful, 10-year Prop. MM bond program that funded over $1.5 billion in facilities improvements, including:

• Improvements at 161 existing schools: 101 libraries, 77 instructional support spaces, 39 science buildings (classrooms/labs), 17 permanent classroom buildings, 128 lunch court shelters, 153 playground units, 51 re-roof projects, 138 painted exteriors, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance work (signage, path of travel, restrooms, parking, drinking fountains, hardware, etc.) and code compliance work (playground equipment and air flow).
• 14 new schools (one still in development)

• Standardized Formula for Graduation Rates May Soon Pair With Tests
  The Washington Post, April 27
  A Bush administration proposal to require that all states use the same formula to calculate high school graduation rates is winning applause from education experts who say it will shed light on the nation's dropout problem. The proposed regulation is among several the administration introduced last week. Read more.
  
  
• Schools Try New Approaches in Effort to Reduce Teacher Absences
  Amid research indicating that students don't learn as well from substitute teachers, some U.S. districts are trying out new methods meant to curb teacher absentee rates and reward teachers with good attendance. Education Week (premium article access compliments of Edweek.org) (4/28)
  
  
• Dade Schools Plan Districtwide Cuts
  The Miami Herald, April 29
  MIAMI, Fla. -- Citing a growing financial crisis, members of the Miami-Dade School Board on Monday expressed support for postponing the salary increases promised to teachers, raising the price of school lunches and eliminating transportation for magnet- and vocational-school students. They also agreed once again to consider repurposing, a controversial proposal to close up to a dozen underenrolled schools, which came under intense scrutiny earlier this year. The measures are intended to cut more than $284 million from the school system's 2008-2009 budget. Superintendent Rudy Crew calculated the shortfall based on an expected $75 million decrease in funding from state legislators and over $200 million in price hikes and other cost increases, he said. Read more.
  
  
• Poverty and Learning: Nine Powerful Practices
  Students from families with little formal education often learn rules about how to speak, behave, and acquire knowledge that conflict with how learning happens in school. They also often come to school with less background knowledge and fewer family supports. The latest Educational Leadership explains why teachers need to recognize these challenges and help students overcome them. It also examines nine interventions that are helpful in raising achievement for low-income students. Read more.
  
  
• Reading First does not improve reading scores
  Reading First doesn't help students read any better than their peers at schools that don't participate in the federal program, according to an interim report released by the U.S. Education Department's Institute of Education Sciences, the agency's research arm. U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, who recently likened the reading initiative to "a cure for cancer," had no comment on the report Thursday, although a department official said Spellings would examine the study "to inform our efforts" and await the final report; meanwhile, U.S. Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisconsin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, declared the program a "failure." The Washington Post (5/2) , The New York Times (5/2)
  
  
• Urban Los Angeles students call for more college-prep courses
  Just one in four students in some of South L.A.'s most impoverished and dangerous neighborhoods feels safe at school, and 93% want access to more-rigorous classes, according to a student-led survey of more than 6,000 teens. "A lot of students are depressed because of the conditions in their school," said Anna Exiga, a high-school junior who helped organize the survey. Los Angeles Times
  
  
• Chicago schools to expand foreign-language offerings
  Chicago public schools will expand its Chinese and Arabic language programs next year and launch a new Russian curriculum in several schools. More than 7,000 Chicago students are learning Chinese, while just under 300 are enrolled in Arabic classes, according to school officials. The Examiner/Associated Press (5/1)
  
  
• How to Collaborate with and Engage Families
  The IRIS Center and the PACER Center have created an interactive, online module to support educators in diversifying and improving family participation in school. In the module, a principal and staff demonstrate how they gain information about their students' families because this helps them best engage all members of a family in education. Many schools enjoy a high level of parental involvement from some families, but schools should be ever-interested in increasing involvement, especially among families of students with disabilities. http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/fam/challenge.htm
  
  
• New Spanish Publication Aims to Increase School Readiness
  The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) has released a new resource printed in Spanish in conjunction with El día de los Niños, the holiday that recognizes children as the center of the Latino family. The publication, Cultivating Readers or Cultivando el hábito de la lectura, provides activities for parents to support their child's literacy, language and reading skills. NCFL thinks the resource will increase school readiness for infants and toddlers, preschoolers and students from kindergarten through third grade. Read more .