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Contact Guadalupe Solis, Superintendent gsolis@kings.k12.ca.us 559.386.9083 Demographics Summary Reef-Sunset Unified School District exemplifies a culture of high expectations and reliance on assessment results for decision-making. The assessment and accountability system is comprehensive and implemented in all schools, but refinement is a continual process. Teachers directly enter student assessment data into the district's database and have access to database reports. Meetings are scheduled at the end of each semester at which time school faculties discuss results, celebrate success, and target areas for further improvement. Reef-Sunset is a small district, yet it makes use of technology and data in a big way. Technology makes data entry and reporting an efficient process, accessible by all teachers. The district ensures that data are collected and used.
Kettleman City Year-End Report Full Description API growth in Reef-Sunset Unified School District has been significant and consistent each year. The fervor for data analysis, accountability, and continuous improvement is noteworthy, especially for a small district in rural, central California of 2,400 students. Within the district, there is high teacher mobility, 100% free/reduced lunch participation, and 69% limited English proficient students. Culture of Accountability At Reef-Sunset, everyone -- staff, students, parents, and board members -- shares responsibility in the accountability and learning process. The district exemplifies the culture of a learning organization, which includes frequent data-driven decision-making to continuously reach toward high goals. Data are not used to blame individuals, but to recognize success and learn what can be improved. Individual student progress is monitored and each student knows his or her achievements in relation to year-end benchmarks. Staff engage parents and/legal guardians to be partners to ensure students meet rigorous academic promotion criteria. Teachers chart their class progress and share collegially at grade-level meetings. The district welcomes outsiders to visit classrooms, talk with teachers and students about standards and results, and review accountability reports. Staff and students are proud to be in Reef-Sunset, and they have "hard evidence" of their successes. Data-Based Staff Meetings Teachers enter student assessment data into the district's online database and have instant access to database reports. Data entry may take about one hour a month. They bring class- and grade-level reports of results to staff meetings during the year as part of their data-based decision-making process. School faculties formally discuss grade level and whole school results each semester to inform decisions about what is effective and what needs improvement. This builds ownership of student results and empowerment to identify and plan areas for improvement. Successes are celebrated frequently. SAT-9 results are reviewed by school staff annually and compared to results from local assessments. All schools made 7-8% growth on API in 2000. In 1999, schools that were below 400 on the API rose to 415-425 in 2000, and to 425-445 in 2001. API growth is an indicator of effective professional development and continuous accountability for schoolwide implementation. Technology for Accountability Teachers have been trained and have access to the computer database to create their own inquiries and print data summaries and graphs. The district used Internet-based VirtualEd the past few years at the elementary and middle school levels. The district is switching to Abacus as the high school is added to the computer database in 2001-2002. Technology helps teachers quickly see student progress and share results to help make informed decisions. Student Accountability and Data Users In addition to administrators, teachers, and parents, students are accountable for their academic achievement. Students learn to graph their own assessment results, monitor progress toward benchmarks, and make personal decisions about their learning. Primary grade students are assessed with running records each trimester -- students know their reading level and are proud when they talk about their progress in moving up levels. Students know the year-end reading benchmarks and the consequence of being at risk of retention if the expected level is not reached. The following anecdote is an example of student empowerment as data-based decision-makers. Several students being disciplined near the end of the year for a behavior problem convinced the principal they should not be suspended because they were close to meeting their reading benchmarks and needed to be in school every day to reach their goals. Parent Accountability and Data Consumers The Pupil Promotion and Retention policy tied to reaching benchmarks has made many parents and/or legal guardians keenly aware of their responsibility to help their children be promoted. Parents and/or legal guardians monitor assessment results each trimester and are given tips on how to discuss progress with their children and support homework completion. Professional Development and Accountability Professional development is a connected series of workshops where participants reflect on implementation of prior workshop objectives at the start of the next workshop. This reflective assessment process bolsters teachers' accountability to implement what was learned. The results are used by district staff to evaluate effectiveness of district workshop objectives -- improving practices in classrooms. Formal classroom observations provide evidence of how many "core" strategies are used by how many teachers in a school. These results are included in district reports to the board. The district maintains a database of workshops teachers have attended, demonstration lessons observed, and professional development homework completed. The homework assignments are application tasks teachers are expected to practice in their classrooms after workshops. Data analysis indicated a positive relationship between level of participation in professional development (and homework completion) and level of classroom implementation. District administrators share this feedback with teachers to underscore the impact of adult learning on teaching practices. Back to District Practices Table Reporting and Using Results: Trimester School Report Schools submit a report to the district office each trimester. The reports cover progress during the year of student achievement results tied to impact of professional development and program implementation. Reports are presented to the board of trustees and often students participate in the presentations. These are occasions to recognize and celebrate successes as well as identify areas for improvement. Each trimester, student achievement results are used to monitor individual student progress, and achievement is linked to attendance patterns and instructional strategies. This data analysis approach helps administrators and teachers determine whether students have the opportunity to learn and teachers are using the right strategies to teach them. Kettleman City Year-End Report Back to District Practices Table |