2008-01-18 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

unable to successfully recruit. As the younger participants come up through the program, we hope to strengthen at the middle school level. On Monday, February 4, from 6:00 to 7:00 pm, educator, Dr. George McKenna will make a community presentation, entitled "Culturally Relevant Education". The presentation will be held in the high school auditorium.Dr. McKenna’s life began in New Orleans, where he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Xavier University, then moved to Chicago where he attended Loyola University and earned his masters in mathematics. He holds a doctor of education degree from Xavier University. During his extensive career, he has held positions as a mathematics teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a principalship at George Washington Preparatory High School (South Central Los Angeles), superintendent of the Inglewood Unified School District, deputy superintendent in Compton, and local district superintendent in the Los Angeles Unified School District. His accomplishments are extensive, as he developed and implemented the Preparatory School Model, a program stressing academic excellence at all levels. Because of the program’s success, his model has been widely used throughout the nation and has given Dr. McKenna international recognition, receiving more than 400 citations and awards. Dr. McKenna will be meeting with the district's teaching staff throughout the day for professional development opportunities, but also has set aside some time to meet with members of the community, as well. At the January 10 School Board Meeting, the District heard presentations from the Flynn Park Elementary SchoolBarbara C. Jordan Elementary principals from and School . Both schools were deemed “Schools in (need of) Improvement” by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) because certain subgroups within the school were not making adequate yearly progress (“AYP”) in communication arts and mathematics under the Federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). At Flynn Park, in FY 06, 7 or 8 subgroups met AYP and last year only 6 of 8 met AYP. At Barbara Jordan, last year (FY 07) 0 of 8 subgroups met AYP, and in FY 06, 2 of 8 met AYP. Enacted by President Bush in 2002, public school districts are given until 2014 for all children to be proficient (at grade level) in these two subject areas. Each year they must make adequate yearly progress toward that end goal. In FY 06 34.7% of the students had to be proficient, in FY 07 42.9% had to be proficient and in FY 08 51.1% have to be proficient. At Flynn Park, with overwhelming support by the parents, a school improvement plan was developed to bring all students to the 51.1% AYP by the end of the year. At Barbara Jordan, which is dealing with a completely different socioeconomic population and little parental involvement in developing a school improvement plan, the District intends to reduce the number of children performing at basic or below basic standards to fall within the Safe Harbor provisions of the NCLB Act. This is an aggressive target. Even if met, they will not be close to the AYP standard. In FY07, 25% or less of all the subgroups met AYP in communication arts and math. Next year, to keep moving forward, Barbara Jordan will have to reduce the number of children who are at basic or below basic levels to stay within the Safe Harbor provisions by another 20%. This will be a Herculean task, but Principal, Sandra Bell and her teachers and staff are working extremely hard to meet these aggressive goals. accreditation rating The School Board also discussed the off –year (Annual Performance Report- APR by DESE) given the District for the Fourth Cycle. This was