Networks for Success, a program designed to help schools and districts raise achievement for all students and narrow subgroup achievement gaps by meeting No Child Left Behind (NCLB) achievement targets, is producing benefits for all districts in San Mateo County. Networks for Success is identifying optimum programmatic and teaching strategies and then working with districts and schools to implement them.

Three-fourths of the schools participating in the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) Networks for Success program have student populations comprised of 50 percent or more of economically disadvantaged, disabled and/or English language learners who have not met proficiency benchmarks mandated by NCLB.

Brian Simmons and Networks for Success staff work with schools and districts to raise achievement levels.

Brian Simmons, Networks for Success Director, notes, "The achievement gap occurs in all districts, and Networks for Success represents an opportunity for us to make inroads into those achievement gaps in all community contexts."

Simmons says he and the four staff members on the Networks for Success team "have become really good at sharing best practices among the 12 districts we work with and with their counterparts in the other districts in our county." They do so through formal partnerships with individual districts and schools as well as through a network of principals called the Principal Influencers Network. Such relationships have enabled the program to become, "a clearinghouse for equity-driven best practices throughout the county," says Simmons.

One example of success is Brentwood Academy in the Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto, where a strong model of teacher collaboration and effective instruction have resulted in a 2011-12 school-wide Academic Performance Index score of 811 - the first school in the district to achieve that mark. At Brentwood, where over 80 percent of students are English language learners, the school day has been stretched to seven hours to allow daily teacher collaboration time. Students participate in enrichment activities such as art and physical education while teachers look at student academic progress, make adjustments to immediate instruction plans and share strategies about what really works.

Another story of success is Los Cerritos Elementary School in the South San Francisco Unified School District, where teachers have leveraged a research-based pedagogical approach (Explicit Direct Instruction) to ensure that all students improve. This team approach has resulted in significant learning growth and the school has exited Program Improvement as a result.

Learn more about Networks for Success strategies here.

School attendance, and in particular addressing chronic absenteeism, is a critical component in closing the achievement gap, and getting children to read by grade 3. That was the key message Hedy Chang, director of the national nonprofit Attendance Works,  delivered at a meeting of the Peninsula Partnership Leadership Council (PPLC) in San Mateo on April 2, 2012.

For the past few months at the regular

Hedy Chang discusses the importance of school attendance at the April PPLC meeting.

meetings of the PPLC, chaired by San Mateo County Superintendent Anne Campbell, attendees have been delving deep into San Mateo County school data to study student achievement trends. The session in April was an opportunity for PPLC members to learn more about the importance of school attendance.

Chang explained that students who miss more than 10 percent of school are at grave risk for meeting academic standards, and in particular, students chronically absent in kindergarten and first grade are much less likely to read proficiently in third grade. It's important to address attendance as early as Pre-K, she noted, because research from the Consortium on Chicago School Research has shown that the worst chronic absence in Pre-K generally continues in kindergarten.

As part of her presentation Chang defined key terms relating to attendance. Average daily attendance (ADA) refers to the percentage of enrolled students who attend school each day. Satisfactory attendance is defined as missing 5 percent or less of school in an academic year, while chronic absence is missing 10 percent or more of school in an academic year for any reason whether excused or unexcused. Chronic absence is often confused with truancy. Truancy typically refers only to unexcused absences and is defined by each state. In California it is defined as missing three days of school without a valid excuse or being late to class three times without a valid excuse.

Chang pointed out that chronic absence is especially challenging for low-income children. These children are four times more likely to be chronically absent in kindergarten than their higher income peers, and unfortunately chronic absence in kindergarten predicts poor fifth-grade outcomes for low-income children. In addition, chronically absent students typically have lower graduation rates. Chang pointed out that attendance in sixth grade is a better predictor of eighth-grade achievement than test scores.

The good news is that school leaders who analyze their school attendance data and note issues can begin to identify programmatic solutions. For example, if chronic absence is unusually high for a particular group of students, the school might explore common problems affecting attendance, such as unreliable transportation, child care, asthma and other chronic diseases, and begin to address these problems with the help of community agencies and partners.

Schools can address the attendance issue head on by clearly communicating expectations for attendance to all students and families, and by making attendance a priority. It's critical to highlight the importance of attendance, starting at the beginning of school, and build a culture that engages students and their families.

"The wonderful thing is that we can make a difference in student achievement when we pay attention to attendance," notes Chang. "It's not the silver bullet that can cure all, but we do have the data and the tools to address the problem."

Ken Sorey of Educational Results Partnership also spoke at the PPLC meeting in April. This organization displays school data online, and allows schools to compare themselves with similar schools for the purpose of sharing best practices. Once schools have identified their similar schools, they can connect off line to discuss what interventions have worked in advancing student achievement. "Schools that trend toward higher levels of achievement generally display a level of focus, clarity and specificity," notes Sorey."They are organized and have a definite plan in the way they approach student achievement."