By Becky Salato, Superintendent, Konocti Unified School District
Every December, the State of California publishes the California School Dashboard, an evaluation of public schools that helps us monitor whether we are making progress toward our goals. The information is available online for everyone to see.
Our assistant superintendent of instruction, Tim Gill, uses a business analogy to explain the dashboard. He says businesses produce products. School districts produce high school graduates. Our “product” requires a complex system that takes 13 years to complete. Ultimately, we measure the quality of efforts by our students’ ability to graduate and create the life they want for themselves, whether that be going to college or a trade school, going to work, joining the military, or something else.
The California School Dashboard is similar to a company’s quality control program. We measure indicators that let us know whether we are on track. By reviewing academic performance and the other dashboard indicators that influence a student’s ability to learn and grow, we can determine whether we need to change course.
In addition to monitoring students’ proficiency in reading, math and science, the dashboard monitors things like attendance and suspension rates. Specifically, it measures improvement. So, rather than simply looking at a point in time, we are graded on how we’re trending. That’s what determines whether we’re in the red, orange, yellow, green or blue on a scale that moves from poor performance to excellent performance. Although we can see how we compare against state averages, the dashboard is really intended as a tool to help every district focus on how it is doing compared to its own previous achievement.
While we have plenty left to do, this year’s dashboard shows that the work we’re doing is having the desired effect. We are getting better at getting better. When I arrived at Konocti Unified five years ago, I saw a district full of potential but faced with some significant challenges. Working with the team, we created a five-year plan to improve our academic standing. We became laser-focused on implementing new curriculum, investing in our teachers, and holding ourselves to a higher standard. By the time the pandemic hit, our mindset was already geared toward overcoming adversity, which helped us manage the disruption of COVID better than some.
Five years ago, Konocti Unified had the lowest scores of any Lake County public school district for English language arts (reading), math, and science. Now, we are competitive in all three, and more importantly, we’re trending upward.
Some of the measures we’re most proud of are the reduction in chronic absenteeism and the increase in our graduation rates. For the last two years, we’ve decreased chronic absenteeism by 7% per year, and we’ve increased our graduation rates by 7% last year and 8% this year. (Clearly, when kids are not at school, they do not learn as well.) While 7% might not seem like a big number, getting any movement in some of these scores can be really hard. I’m super proud of our team.
Given our trend lines, I’m more dedicated than ever to staying the course, following the goals laid out in our five-year plan. At the elementary level, we’ve adopted the Science of Reading, and the results are impressive. Even teachers who were initially skeptical are saying things like, “In all my years of teaching, I’ve never seen students make progress this fast.”
Literacy affects learning in every subject. Many states are so impressed with the Science of Reading, they are requiring public schools to use it. (It’s not required in California but it has been adopted by many districts with great success.) The approach is based on brain science and years of proven results. Not only does it teach reading based on phonics (the sounds letters make), but we’re no longer teaching to the middle and hoping students at the top and bottom can figure it out.
The Science of Reading curriculum includes grade-level classroom instruction for all students, plus at least 45 minutes per day of individual instruction based on the specific skill gaps of the student. For example, if a second-grader is struggling with how to sound out a certain letter or group of letters, she can get intensive practice on those specific letters and groupings until she masters them.
We’ve had this new curriculum in place for a few years now, so it makes sense that our academic scores are improving. I think they will continue to climb, and quickly, because some of our most intensive work is in the earliest grades (K-3); yet, we don’t start state testing students until third grade. Next year’s third graders will have had three years of preparation with the Science of Reading curriculum.
So, while our overall numbers remain below state averages in many areas, our trend lines fill me with confidence. Change takes time; no one can double or triple their reading proficiency overnight. As long as we keep making significant progress toward our goals, I’ll call that a win.
In spite of challenges like teacher shortages, inadequate budgets, and a growing student population, we remain convinced we can continually improve our “product”--that we can prepare students to be productive and engaged citizens as they mature into adulthood.
As long as we maintain a system that works for students of all skill levels, we can’t go wrong. As a rule, high-performing districts preserve their focus over time, while low-performing districts bounce from program to program looking for quick fixes. (It’s like weight loss: those who reduce their calories and increase their activity over time tend to be able to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Those who follow fad diets tend to yo-yo up and down and never achieve sustained success.)
During this winter break, I wish everyone a joyful holiday and the team at Konocti Unified looks forward to continuing to support our students when they return to the classroom in January.