Our story headlined
”
Students not college ready
”
stemmed from these facts:
-Only 26.8 percent of Gilroy Unified School District graduates
completed all the courses necessary for entry into the University
of California and California State University systems.
-In Santa Clara County, 50.1 percent of graduates completed
those requirements.
-Statewide, the number is 32.8 percent.
The numbers are abysmal. The subject is critical and the
community, as evidenced by the 40-plus comments left on our Web
site about the subject, is keenly interested.
1. Only 26.8% of graduates have the classes to apply to UC and CSU
Our story headlined “Students not college ready” stemmed from these facts:
-Only 26.8 percent of Gilroy Unified School District graduates completed all the courses necessary for entry into the University of California and California State University systems.
-In Santa Clara County, 50.1 percent of graduates completed those requirements.
-Statewide, the number is 32.8 percent.
The numbers are abysmal. The subject is critical and the community, as evidenced by the 40-plus comments left on our Web site about the subject, is keenly interested.
Ironically, just a few days after this story broke, the GUSD Trustees, under the guidance of a consultant, established their goals.
2. GUSD Board’s #1 goal – Surprise, it’s improving student achievement
The top goal, of course, is to improve student achievement. Has the old saw “the devil’s in the details” ever been more apropos? Probably not.
For years and years, the school board’s goal has been to improve student achievement across all populations. The problem seems to be in an inability to rattle any cages in order to make that happen. What does that mean?
Well, Eliot Elementary School is a perfect case in point. Test scores there have soared in recent years, despite all the challenges that face the east side school – lower socio-economic statistics, English language learners, etc., etc. …
Principal James Dent and his staff have implemented across-the-board changes from the traditional – a synonym at this point for everything that doesn’t work – to the innovative.
3. Success stories are there, but is there a willingness to take a risk?
It’s working, but why aren’t those techniques being swiftly installed in every district elementary school? Are we so concerned about ruffling feathers that we will sacrifice student achivement? If Eliot analyzes data, uses the SuccessMaker program and breaks down classes in performance bands – and the result is that student achievement clearly goes up – why isn’t that the norm districtwide? Why isn’t there a tangible sense of urgency?
Likewise, there are success stories for high schools in our nation with similar demographic data as Gilroy. That only 26.8 percent of our students even have the classes to try and get into the UC and CSU schools, is absolutely appalling.
What are we going to do about that exactly? It’s certainly not going to happen just by repeating the school board’s mantra to improve student achievement. The answer undoubtedly involves taking some risks, putting the right leaders in the right places and committing to best practices.
Until that happens, it’s status quo all over again.
