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Contact Chris Westphal, Director of Accountability and Organizational Development cwestphal@sanjuan.edu 916.971.7200 Demographics Summary San Juan Unified School District's home page is packed with resource links, yet it is extremely user-friendly. The columns for parents, students, and teachers begin with a link to the district's academic content standards and performance levels. Other content standards (e.g., physical education, music) are included. "Global" standards (resembling the state's substrands such as reading comprehension) are listed on one Web page and the specific standards (state standards) in language arts and mathematics are listed on other Web pages. Parents and/or legal guardians receive brochures listing the global standards. A standards-based report card has been implemented for elementary schools. Teachers receive abundant professional development to explicitly teach and assess the content standards. In many classrooms, teachers have posted global standards on the wall and state which standards are being addressed at the start of lessons. Students in these classrooms can talk with adults about the standards they are learning and progress they are achieving. San Juan defined four levels of student performance. The Web site provides descriptors and reasoning for performance levels. The level labels are Advanced, Proficient, Approaching, and Below. District assessments directly yield these performance levels or cutoff scores have been defined to convert scores (e.g., percentage correct) to performance levels. Students at the Below level are identified as at risk of retention and in need of extended day and/or summer program interventions. Full Description Content Standards San Juan Unified School District's use of the terms "standards" and "benchmarks" refer to what the state calls substrands and standards in the state curriculum frameworks. Every teacher has a copy of the global and specific content standards for his or her classroom's grade level. Ongoing professional development helps teachers understand and teach the standards. Many teachers discuss standards with students and post global content standards on classroom walls. The district has a long-term goal of ensuring that curricula and instruction in all schools are aligned to the standards. Parents and/or legal guardians see the global content standards in parent brochures and report cards and they are discussed in parent-teacher conferences. Performance levels also are presented in parent brochures and on report cards. The district's Web site is very user-friendly. The home page has a link to Academic Standards as the first entry in columns devoted to parents and/or legal guardians, students, and teachers. Following is an excerpt from the district's Web page. What are standards? Academic standards describe what students should know and be able to do in every subject, at every grade level by the end of the year. The district's new standards for all students are more rigorous, more detailed, and more specifically coordinated from grade to grade to ensure progress toward graduation. Why are standards important? Understanding what is expected of students is a critical step in improving performance. The district standards measure student performance against grade level or course expectations in each subject. For every student, standards help to quickly identify strengths and specific areas where improvement is needed. This detailed information allows teachers, parents, and students to work closely together to improve academic achievement. Performance Standards The district's Web page also explains performance levels, assessments, and their purposes in broad, easily understood language. Some samples are presented for clarity. Following is an excerpt from the district's Web page. How is student performance on standards reported? San Juan is beginning to implement a new, standards-based system of reporting student progress. The district's goal is to have all students scoring at advanced or proficient levels by the end of each grade or course. Student performance on each standard is marked using four levels: Advanced: The student consistently meets and at times exceeds (more depth/extension with grade level work and/or performing at a higher grade level) the standard as it is described by the grade level key indicators. The student, with relative ease, grasps, applies, and extends the key concepts, processes, and skills for the grade level. The student's work is comparable to the student models and rubrics that are labeled advanced. Proficient: The student regularly meets the standard as it is described by the grade level key indicators. The student demonstrates proficiency in the vast majority of the grade level key indicators. The student, with limited errors, grasps and applies the key concepts, processes, and skills for the grade level. The student's work is comparable to the student models and rubrics that are labeled proficient. Approaching: The student is beginning to, and occasionally does, meet the standard as it is described by the grade level key indicators. The student is beginning to grasp and apply key concepts, processes, and skills for the grade level but produces work that contains many errors. The student's work is comparable to the student models and rubrics that are labeled approaching. Below: The student is not meeting the standard as it is described by the key indicators for this grade level. The student is working on key indicators that are one or more years below grade level. The student's work is comparable to the student models and rubrics that are labeled below. |