Reading teacher Pat Kikuchi works with first-grader Britni Fleming, 6, during a Reading Recovery class at Bryn Mawr Elemntary School.
How Did Individual Schools Fare? Click here for statistics on individual Redlands County schools |
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Immunizations, Reading Programs, Help StudentsBy MUHAMMED EL-HASAN
Low test scores at some elementary schools tainted the district's generally healthy audit report. Five elementaries - Bryn Mawr, Franklin, Lugonia, Victoria and Arroyo Verde - performed lower on average than schools said to have demographically similar student populations throughout the country. All but Arroyo Verde had high rates of limited-English proficient students, however. That led district officials to say the results were skewed because the rate of LEP students was only a secondary factor in choosing similar districts for the audit. The audit's researchers used a database of roughly 15,800 school districts nationwide to find matches for each school. "We're a multicultural state," said Anita LaVelle, Redlands' assistant superintendent of educational services. "Other than maybe Texas and Florida, I don't think that the nation's (student ethnicity) really mirrors anything like California." About 11 percent of district students are classified as limited English proficient. Four of the under-performing schools - Bryn Mawr, Franklin, Lugonia and Victoria - have LEP rates ranging from 14 percent to 41 percent. At Victoria, which had the highest rate, principal Ann Upshaw said limited-English proficiency should have been a major factor in finding similar campuses to make comparisons. "Show me a school that has 17 languages and 272 kids who speak those languages out of the schools (the audit) used to compare us," Upshaw said. Martine Stephens, senior editor for the audit, defended the report. "Nothing is going to be a perfect match," Stephens said. No one thing is going to determine exclusively where we would establish an effectiveness level ... LEP is just one category. You may have a high LEP category. But with high parent education, it may not be fair to lower expectations." The school district is trying to raise test scores through various methods. At Victoria School, Upshaw is emphasizing staff development. Teachers meet regularly in various groups based on grade level and subject to discuss teaching strategies. |
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Access to Computers Keeps Students Ahead By ANDREW SILVA
In a survey of teachers for the audit of educational effectiveness, most agreed the district provides students with access to computers and helps students who don't have computers at home. Every classroom in the Redlands Unified School District has at least one computer and access to the Internet. "(But) we can always use more," said John Massie, assistant principal at Clement Middle School. Nearly 2,700 computers throughout the district are available for instructional use. Many classrooms have several machines, and computer labs with a variety of equipment and capabilities are available. There are two multimedia labs with 35 reasonably up-to-date computers at Clement. For Clement, just two years old, being a new school has been somewhat of a blessing. It has been able to get newer technology that won't be out-of-date quite so quickly. "We don't have a bunch of 286s sitting around," he said, referring to computers run by the Intel processor that has been eclipsed by several generations of Intel Pentium processors. But there are some older machines that still serve a purpose, he said. Many are still used for beginning computer classes to teach keyboarding and other basic functions, he said. As computer technology leaps exponentially, teachers are becoming more computer literate and are devising innovative ways to use them. Science students must do at least one multimedia project, and the Internet must be used for research in at least one social studies project. The computers are partially paid for with grant money but mostly are funded through school site funds, money that individual schools can spend as they wish. About 25 percent of Clement school site budget is earmarked for technology, Massie said. But technology isn't limited to computers. The school also puts its announcements on closed circuit television, and has editing equipment to accompany several video cameras. |
And by giving teachers more authority to make recommendations and decisions, Upshaw said she is decreasing teacher mobility, which can detract from classroom stability and student achievement.
"When you empower people, that makes them work harder," she said of her teachers. "You plant a can-do attitude in them."
Upshaw said four of her first grade classes last year had no turnover in staff. As a result, those classes scored up to twice as high on standardized tests as the two first-grade classes that changed teachers.
Rgistered nurse Elaine Hacker gives an immunization to Monica Chap, 8, as part of Victoria Elementary School's Healthy Start program.
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Lugonia School is trying to improve student performance by focusing on children's health. The campus' new state-funded Healthy Start program offers immunizations, dental checkups, physicals, lice control and referrals to local and state agencies.
Lugonia principal Richard Cover said healthier children will have better attendance and perform better in class.
"We're making a dramatic decrease in the number of student absences," Cover said. "Any time you make the school a resource for the family, the family has another connection to the school. The families begin to realize how important it is to educate the children. The message comes home that we are in a real partnership."
To improve reading scores, district schools are using a teaching method called Reading Recovery.
The program involves teachers working one-on-one with first graders who have trouble reading. Teachers are trained to define each child's specific needs and use a variety of teaching techniques to improve performance.
"That's where we're putting our emphasis," Cover said. "Our (two) Reading Recovery teachers take those same techniques and use them with small groups in the afternoon."
Arroyo Verde Elementary School was the only underperforming school the audit identified that does not have a high LEP rate.
The audit analyzed the schools' test scores from 1996-97, Principal Jerry Meeker's first year at Arroyo Verde. He could not explain the low test scores but said he expects student performance to improve.
"In every school I've been at, you can have very rich, good instruction in the classrooms, but sometimes that instruction isn't focused on what the children will be tested on," Meeker said. "We're focusing on what's going to be tested a lot more."
Schools districtwide are testing their students three times a year to gauge their competence in material to be used in the Stanford 9, a statewide standardized test.
"Our staff is taking a lot of time to study their curriculum by grade level," Meeker said. "It's driving the curriculum."
Protecting Schools from Vandals
No Small Task
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By STEVE SMITH
In a school district of nearly 20,000 students, keeping school buildings clean and pristine can be a daunting task. While most Redlands residents said they think the walls and windows of their city's schools are relatively free from vandalism and graffiti, the Audit of Educational Effectiveness shows a growing concern about the physical state of schools. |
Don Stutz, paint foreman for Redlands Unified, replaces a window pane and molding at the snack bar at Moore Middle School.
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When asked if they thought incidents of vandalism were minimal on campus, parents, teachers and administrators slightly disagreed.
But officials said the worries might be the result of a small number of high-profile vandalisms in recent months.
Steve Smith, a school resource officer at Redlands High School, said one example was spray painted graffiti on the school's track house a few months ago. The school has had occasional burglaries, but those instances are the exception, not the rule, he said.
"Overall, it's been pretty standard stuff. Average to normal, at best," Smith said. "As far as I can tell, it has been pretty constant, but nothing spectacular."
Smith said the busiest time for vandals is during the final weeks of school. Many of the hijinks are part of seniors' pranks on the school they're about to leave behind.
David Regalado, principal of Moore Middle School, said most students are respectful of school property. But all it takes is one or two people to be disrespectful and destructive to tarnish a school's clean-cut image.
Mix in the emergence of a more mobile society, with new students coming and going daily, and the chance for problems increases.
"One individual can do a lot of damage," Regalado said. "The only solution would be to fence off the schools. But that would keep us from being part of an open, nice community. We're not going to do something like that."
In recent years, graffiti has increased in the city of Redlands, Regalado said. And because schools are part of that community, they, too, have seen a climb in trouble. Residents long ago accepted this as a fact, he said.
Regalado said the audit results are likely a reflection of that realization.
"People have realized we don't live in 'Pleasantville' anymore," he said. "And they're responding accordingly."
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