A note from Don Bolce
Experts widely agree about the importance of ensuring reading proficiency by third grade. In fact, a recent Annie E. Casey Foundation report, EARLY WARNING! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters, found that reading proficiency at the end of third grade is a critical marker for future academic success.
"Failure to read proficiently is linked to higher rates of school dropout, which suppresses individual earnings potential as well as the nation's competitiveness and general productivity," the report states.
The report also found that in national assessments,"83 percent of children from low-income families and 85 percent of children who attend high poverty schools failed to reach the 'proficient' level in reading."
These findings underscore why increasing third-grade reading proficiency is a key strategy for SJ2020's work to eliminate the achievement gap.
The Casey Foundation report also identifies three factors that contribute to reading proficiency: school readiness, regular school attendance, and quality learning opportunities after school and during summers to sustain learning gains.
These three factors are the center of the 2012 All American City Award, an initiative supported by the National Civic League and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, which promotes the development of community action plans to improve third grade reading by improving school readiness, reducing chronic absenteeism in the early grades, and developing programs to reduce summer learning loss.
More than 150 communities nationwide, including the City of San José, have committed to developing plans to increase reading proficiency by focusing on these three areas.
The City of San José is partnering with the Santa Clara County Office of Education, United Way of Silicon Valley, YMCA of Silicon Valley, Kids in Common, First 5 Santa Clara, the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and other community organizations to develop a plan for our community to address these three focus areas and support third grade reading proficiency for all students.
In the coming months, we will begin work to implement specific strategies, and provide additional information about how you can be involved.
SCCOE Program Director,
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2012 SJ2020 Annual Report reveals progress, challenges
 While progress has been made in increasing academic proficiency in San José and Santa Clara County, the achievement gap persists, according to the recently released 2012 SJ2020 Annual Report.
"Closing the achievement gap is all about doing it," Dr. Charles Weis, Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools, told a crowd gathered for the report's January release. "There is nothing stopping us -- but every day, we have to be mindful of our goal, and renew our effort to get there."
The full report, as well as video of Dr. Weis' presentation, are both available online.
 The report shows mixed results overall: Within the city of San José, the SJ2020 annual target for reducing the gap was achieved in third,- fifth- and eighth-grade English-Language Arts. In other areas, the gap either did not change appreciably or it increased. Similar results were found for the county as a whole.
The most promising finding is that the percentage of Hispanic/Latino students scoring as proficient or above increased on nearly all indicators in both the city and county. However, proficiency scores for African American students were more varied, with some increases and some declines.
 The report presents 2011 student performance data on key indicators, both for students within the city of San José and Santa Clara County as a whole. These indicators were established in the SJ2020 Baseline Metrics Report, published in summer 2011.
The analysis focuses on overall proficiency (proficient and advanced) rates in the California Standards Test by the community's four major ethnic subgroups in 13 key areas ranging from kindergarten readiness to high school. It also examines the gap between the proficiency of the highest- and lowest-performing ethnic subgroups.
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Signature practices reflect individual student focus, data-driven decisions
A survey of schools honored for their noteworthy progress in closing the achievement gap reveals that traditional educational concepts are succeeding in schools of Santa Clara County.
 Four common themes surfaced when recipients of the 2020 Vision Awards offered signature practices that led to their success: focus on individual student need; data-driven decisions; parent/community involvement; and regular teacher collaboration.
"This reinforces the planning group's notions from the very beginning," Dr. Weis said at the awards ceremony. "We know what to do."
Several schools also pointed to use of technology and extended class time as aids in efforts to close the achievement gap.
A full list of the winning schools, their signature practices and the 2020 Vision Award criteria are available online. |
Gilroy Unified shares best practices in online news show
 Ninety-minute algebra classes and intense teacher collaboration helped the Gilroy Unified School District narrow its achievement gap, the district's superintendent tells Dr. Weis in the latest episode of "Head of the Class."
Watch the full video here.
 In the regular online news program, Dr. Deborah A. Flores revealed the district's signature practices that improved student success in third-grade English-Language Arts and eighth-grade algebra scores -- and earned GUSD four 2020 Vision Awards in January.
"Head of the Class" showcases programs and initiatives at the Santa Clara County Office of Education and in school districts throughout the county. |
Milpitas program connects preschool to kindergarten
 A Milpitas Unified School District program is supporting future academic success by helping young learners and their teachers make crucial connections between early learning and kindergarten.
"Teaming Up for Success" aligns curriculum at two child development centers located in the district with what's taught in kindergarten classes, says Kathy Lincoln, principal/director of the child development centers.
Work on the program began about four years ago, when Kathy and her colleagues realized how independently the development centers and elementary schools worked of one another.
 The development centers serve about 200 students, who ultimately comprise about 15 percent of the district's total kindergarten enrollment, Kathy says. The centers' students make up about 50 percent of kindergarten enrollment at one school alone.
"There really has to be an alignment between our state-funded sites and the elementary schools that we served," Kathy says.
So, Kathy and her colleagues gathered teachers and principals to begin talking about how curriculum could be aligned between schools, and also what student-specific information should be shared with kindergarten teachers.
 The result was a transitional document that helps ease the preschool-to-kindergarten transition for students and teachers alike.
"That's been huge because it's allowed some children to get early support or assessments," Kathy says.
On the program's horizon are a new assessment system and a parent engagement element.
 Kathy and her colleagues also prepare children not enrolled in preschool for kindergarten through the Milpitas Family Literacy Program. Children and their parents come to school weekly to learn reading and math skills, as well as how parents can support their children's academic success.
"We've created an open door between our programs," Kathy says. "They're no longer our kids or your kids: They're all our kids."
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 Please share your opinions about Closing the Gap by taking a brief and anonymous online survey.
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Your valuable feedback will be used to improve future issues of Closing the Gap, an electronic newsletter published quarterly since January 2011.
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 Program helps African American youth develop STEM skills, interest
A San Jose-based program helps African American youth strengthen performance in science and mathematics, while developing skills in innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership, and problem solving.
 The Greene Scholars Program (GSP), founded in 2001, works to increase students' success rate in STEM coursework, as well as the number of pupils who choose STEM career paths.
With about 85 scholars currently enrolled, GSP through the years has served more than 300 students enrolled in 26 public school districts and 23 private schools mostly in Santa Clara County.
Students enroll as early as third grade and stay for at least four years, attending monthly and weekend meetings and participating in summertime programs, says Director Gloria Whitaker-Daniels. Depending on their involvement level, some students clock up to 200 hours a year of extra STEM support.
 "We open up the program to all comers," she says. "We want to nurture their interest in science and math."
The program reports that 100 percent of graduates between 2004 and 2011 have continued into higher education at various institutions, and about 90 percent have graduated within four years.
 "We are indeed fulfilling our purpose of pushing students into the STEM pipeline," Gloria says. "They are now a resource that is a rarity in this community, but they are also ready to take on that challenge."
Parent involvement is critical to the program: They learn best practices and strategies for engaging and motivating children, and provide at least four hours of monthly volunteer service.
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It is the vision of the City of San José, the Santa Clara County Office of Education, school districts, charter schools, colleges, and business and nonprofit community agencies to join together to eliminate the achievement gap in San José by 2020. The "achievement gap" refers to the disparity in academic performance between two groups: lower-performing Hispanic/ Latino and African-American students, and higher-performing Asian and White/non-Hispanic students.
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