School Reforms Are on a Learning Curve

For thousands of California children who are falling through the cracks--who live in poverty, who attend crumbling school campuses or who are taught by improperly trained teachers--education reform isn’t coming fast enough.

Indeed, the National Assessment of Education Progress, the nation’s report card on schools, placed California pretty much at the bottom of the barrel among the participating states. Even when compared with just the large states that have diverse populations, California’s scores were alarmingly low.

But patience and diligence are required. Many significant steps have been or are being taken now that will have long-term benefits for our schoolchildren.

Several years ago, when it became obvious that the state had to do more to address these critical issues, then-Gov. Pete Wilson and the Legislature initiated several major structural changes.

The California Reading Initiative reestablished phonics as an essential part of balanced, comprehensive reading instruction and provided both new instructional materials and staff development to implement that change. The Class Size Reduction Program enabled primary grade teachers to provide more individual attention in reading and mathematics. Tougher academic standards were imposed for core subject areas. And a stronger assessment program--STAR (Statewide Testing and Reporting)--was established to compare our children to others in the state and in the nation.

Since assuming office last January, Gov. Gray Davis has continued reform efforts by holding schools accountable for improvement of student performance as determined by reliable statewide measurement. His message is simple: Policymakers need better information to know how to target resources in the most effective manner in order to get results.

Also, in recent years, the state has committed new dollars to textbooks, science and lab equipment, access to technology (digital high school), teacher training and recruitment, remedial summer school, after-school programs, school libraries, mentoring and tutoring programs and incentives for greater collaborative efforts between public agencies, nonprofits and the private sector.

Now is the time to take a step back and see where we are. Are we headed in the right direction?

According to the latest STAR test results, our students are showing improvement. That’s a good sign, but we still have much to do--and that does not necessarily mean passing more bills in Sacramento. The next level of reform must come at ground zero: our schools.

It is understandable that many districts feel intruded upon with constant changes that they believe prevent them from performing the tasks at hand. That makes it all the more important that they now show us what they can do at the school site level with the new tools they have been given.

First of all, administrators must provide support and encouragement for teachers both to reach out to the community and to collaborate with families to make sure students get what they need to learn best. And teachers must be encouraged, trained and helped to create stimulating environments in the classroom to motivate and inspire young people and to let every student know that he or she is expected to achieve at a high level.

There are great challenges ahead of us everywhere, and the Los Angeles Unified School District has perhaps some of the greatest challenges of all. But exciting things are happening because people care enough to make them happen.

California is taking a giant step in educational reform. We cannot expect it to happen overnight, but we can be assured that continuing commitment to the task will bring results.