San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District to adopt ambitious student achievement plan
The leaders of San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District in Santa Cruz, California are poised to adopt a plan for student achievement more ambitious than the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The main tenet of that law-that every child in every school in the country be proficient in grade-level math and English by 2013-is almost universally derided as unrealistic and, because of the consequences of not reaching the goal, draconian. But educators in San Lorenzo Valley say they will reach that plateau 2011. "I think it's doable for our district," says Superintendent Julie Haff. The district’s plan calls for achievement in most subjects to hit 70 percent by 2007 and 90 percent by 2009, and for more students to take advanced classes. Currently, as measured by state standardized tests, 49% of the district's eighth grade students are proficient in English and 66% of those students are proficient in algebra. While the statistical rates are good enough to keep the district's schools out of program improvement, they leave it a long way from state and federal goals. The district has some advantages over others in the county in that it has fewer low-income students and is just 7.5% Hispanic, limiting the number of students still learning English.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
By Matt King
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