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Around the table

CTE Helps students cultivate a mental map regarding education

2/12/2018

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​For some time now Calculus Roundtable has worked to shaped our model of student success and development for community college students. We've now tested our paradigm with a variety of sub-populations (including at risk and incarcerated youth, ESL, and other socioeconomic factors) with early success and meaningful progress helping students progress through the community college system.


In interviews we find, many counselors see the idea of TRANSFER as the primary trajectory for students. Although we understand the spirit of this ideology the meta-cognitive conversation that accompanies this process is critically important in motivating learners to transition towards a multitude of options within their career objective.


Basic algebra is the first in a series of higher-level math classes students need to succeed in college and the STEM related fields. Because many students fail to develop a solid math foundation, an alarming number of them graduate from high school unprepared for college or work.


Students with a high confidence in algebra I show disproportional rate (62%) of success in both 2 and 4 year college completion.
Earning a sub-baccalaureate degree (certificate or associate degree) offers an education on how the student can utilize their skill-set in the world of work. But without a basic foundation in math a students options will be based on survival and not educational or economic choice. Math is the simple key to eliminate this gap. Once students have a vision on how they can make a living, it is then easier for them to understand how to make a life.


Quite often, a career and technical education is enough to ensure that a student can build a life (where you don’t have to be preoccupied with not earning a livable wage and can attend to building and raising your family); for others times career choice dictates that students strive for more education so they pursue a transfer option.


We believe the role of counselor/coordinator, is to present a continuum of options so that our students can make the best decision for where they would like to be in the future (while satisfying their present hierarchical survival needs).


encourage students to consider acquiring industry validated certifications and/or an occupational skills certificate on their way to transfer (it can increase their chances of getting a local job or on-campus work; for the student mentioned above it was Biotech Laboratory skills).


encourage students to build a strong foundation in math using supplemental materials like the Digital One Room Schoolhouse (DORS). Our program begins in middle school where the need for math remediation is the highest and ironically easiest to correct.


Our STEM industry validated certifications allow students to build work experience within a particular industry over time and solidifies the person as a “Ready Now” student (as defined by the California Community College Vice Chancellor for Workforce and Economic Development,)


Students work to build skills, volunteer and mentor others.


while addressing the four basic skills sets in Thomas Friedman’s NY Times Op-Ed, “New Rules”). So according to Van Ton-Quinlivan, we have the choice between “Ready Now, Ready Soon, Work Ready, and Far From Ready” workers.


Today, like never before, I’m excited to say Calculus Roundtable through CTE is preparing students to be “Ready Now” in order to meet the workplace needs of our state and nation!
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Underserved Students Under Served by CCR Programs

11/15/2017

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Underserved students lag far behind their peers when it comes to college and career readiness. In fact, the more underserved characteristics that students possess, the less likely they are to be ready. These findings are reported in The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2017 from ACT.


Underserved students, who represent nearly half (46 percent) of ACT-tested 2017 U.S. high school graduates, are defined as students who would be the first generation in their family to attend college, come from low-income families and/or self-identify their race/ethnicity as minority. Research suggests students with any of these three characteristics are less likely than others to have access to high-quality educational and career planning opportunities and resources.


Only 9 percent of ACT-tested graduates who possessed all three underserved characteristics showed strong readiness for college coursework, meeting three or four of the ACT College Readiness Benchmarks (English, mathematics, reading and science). Even among students who met only one of the underserved criteria, just 26 percent showed strong readiness. In comparison, the majority (54 percent) of graduates who were not underserved showed strong readiness for college.


Conversely, the majority of underserved students—including 81 percent of those with all three underserved characteristics—achieved only one or none of the four ACT benchmarks. Those students are likely to struggle in college-level coursework.


While it’s no surprise that underserved students fall behind their peers due to the inequities that exist, it is extremely alarming and concerning to see how large this achievement gap really is. The gap presents a major risk to our nation’s goals for postsecondary completion and economic competitiveness. We must work harder to ensure these students have access to quality coursework and information to assist them in planning for the future.


Last year ACT launched the ACT Center for Equity in Learning to help do just that. The results are based on the more than 2 million 2017 graduates—60 percent of the national graduating class—who took the ACT.


The new ACT report includes ACT score results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including 16 states that required all students to take the ACT as part of their statewide testing programs and another four states that funded ACT testing on an optional basis. It also includes the results from more than 1,100 individual school districts across the country that administered the ACT to all students.


View the ACT Condition of College and Career Readiness for California report summary at this link.
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A 21st Century Vision for School Governance

11/1/2014

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School board governance is an important issue in the advancement of 21st century learning. As the evidence mounts on the critical role that boards play in impacting student achievement, School boards must see their knowledge and beliefs transformed to empower families to own their student’s educational journey. This notion carries through among administrators and teachers and the districts. According to results of a research study released by the Iowa Association of School Boards (IASB), school boards in districts with high student achievement:

  • Consistently expressed the belief that all students can learn and that the school could teach all students.
This "no excuses" belief system resulted in high standards for students and an on‐going dedication to improvement. In low‐achieving districts, board members had limited expectations and often focused on factors that they believed kept students from learning, such as poverty, lack of parental support or societal factors. The oncoming conversion to common core will inevitably bring the stress of change to your schools and district. Its more important than ever that standards and expectations remain high. Incredible work follows incredible expectations.

   • Were far more knowledgeable about teaching and learning issues, including school improvement goals, curriculum, instruction, assessment and staff development.
They were able to clearly describe the purposes and processes of school improvement efforts and identify the board's role in supporting those efforts. They could give specific examples of how district goals were being carried out by administrators and teachers.

   • Used data and other information on student needs and results to make decisions.
The high achieving boards regularly monitored progress on improvement efforts and modified direction as a result.

   • Created a supportive workplace for staff.
Boards in high‐achieving districts supported regular staff development to help teachers be more effective, supported shared leadership and decision making among staff, and  regularly expressed appreciation for staff members. It must be understood that 21st century learning can happen anywhere; and teachers must understand both the mechanics as well as the context of digital learning to be effective. Boards must be creative in helping staff ‘learn while teaching’.

   • Involved their communities.
Board members identified how they connect with and listen to their communities and focused on involving parents in education. Effective school board governance of the 21st century is a fluid process whereby boards make the important educational decisions for their local community; continually determine and seek out those local, state and national stakeholders critical to ensuring successful outcomes for students; and operate with transparency as they hold themselves accountable to their communities. Twenty‐first century governance must see the community as a resource, this include parents, business and community groups all at the table with a role in addressing educational and societal needs of students.

Strong, collaborative leadership by the governance team is a key cornerstone of the foundation for high student achievement. That leadership is essential to forming a community vision for children, crafting long range goals and plans for raising the achievement of every child, improving the professional development and status of teachers and other staff, and ensuring that the guidance, support, and resources needed for success are available. The governance team of the 21st century must work cooperatively and collaboratively to mobilize their communities to aid in directing the educational services of today’s students with future ready skills for optimal success and productivity to face the challenges of tomorrow.




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Can local donors improve schools? We say yes!

9/12/2014

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In communities across the country, local philanthropists have given generously to save arts and music programs, buy laptops, hire tutors, and finance charter schools. These investments make a difference, sometimes a big one, but only for the small number of students who can benefit.

The real question is, 'How can local philanthropic dollars do more to improve how schools develop the education and career potential of all students in a community?'
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The Common Core offers schools and districts the opportunity to collaborate together on solutions that benefit the greater good of all districts. Districts soon will be asked to support programs, unheard of only a few years ago. At the same time, they must show the impact of these efforts to improve education.

In our conversations with districts, this realization is just becoming clear. We believe, in the near future, this dichotomy will force districts to work across boundaries to serve constituencies of similar needs, be they access to technology or academics support.

Looking at what makes local education donors successful in other parts of the country offers clues to folks here in the Bay Area seeking to increase the impact of their giving, in areas they care about most. Among the important lessons: Donors need to hold themselves accountable for not only success but for monitoring and measuring impact of growth and be willing to make tough choices.

Consider what is happening in Charlotte, N.C., the nation's 18th-largest school system. Collaboration among donors illustrates the key elements of what it takes for donors to increase student achievement:

Working hand in hand with the school district on strategies to ensure that every student graduates ready for college and career. Donors need to ensure that they are working with a strong capable district leadership team and that the district has a credible, long-term strategy focused on effective teaching in every classroom and the right support for every student.

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Denise Watts
Denise Watts serves as the Project L.I.F.T. Learning Community superintendent.

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Local donors can provide the money schools don't have handy to design new approaches and figure out how to spread them to every school.

In Charlotte, donors felt they had found that kind of leadership to deal with the problems the district faced in student achievement.

Local philanthropist Anna Spangler Nelson explains : "We had several high schools with a graduation rate in the mid-50-percent range. It was such a screaming issue that it was hard not to respond."

The school district and the local donors immediately forged a close working relationship. Ann Clark, the deputy superintendent, recalled how in late 2010 she, the superintendent, and a group of local philanthropists began to do the research for a new strategy. What emerged from many months of planning was Project L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment for Transformation), which pooled funds under the umbrella of the 'Foundation for the Carolinas'.
While the ultimate goal of Project L.I.F.T. is to boost student achievement in the entire district, it has focused its five-year $55-million philanthropic investment on nine historically low-performing schools in West Charlotte—a high school and the eight elementary and middle schools that feed into it. LIFT is pursuing change in four key areas we ourselves recommend: teacher and principal quality; extending student learning time in school, after school, and during the summer; technology; and community engagement.

Denise Watts, the Project L.I.F.T. superintendent in charge of the nine West Charlotte schools, serves as a bridge between the schools and the donors by reporting directly to both, thus ensuring a strong link between what is happening in the Project L.I.F.T. schools and what is happening in the whole district.

Investing together over multiple years to advance shared strategies. The Charlotte donors are not simply trying to raise the largest possible pool of money but rather to direct the largest possible pool toward a credible long-term strategy for transformation of all districts. Each donor has committed donations for at least four years. The donors describe a need to continuously adapt and evolve their approach, and to respond to the challenges and setbacks that inevitably arise.

The governing board meets monthly with the Superintendent, Heath Morrison, Deputy Superintendent Clark, and Project L.I.F.T. staff members. The board monitors progress and tackles implementation. For example, it handled the politically difficult choice of which group of Charlotte schools would get the initial investment, and it decided to end support for one of two summer-program providers when students in the program failed to show the same gains as those served by the other provider.

Long-term strategies also highlight the need for donors to measure their progress and impact. Says Brian Collier of the Foundation for the Carolinas: "We'd had opportunities to work together through much smaller pooled funds and were starting to understand that we always hold nonprofits accountable. But until now, we have rarely had the conversation about holding ourselves accountable."

Engaging the community is key to shaping and sustaining the work. All too often, school-improvement efforts trigger years of tension—political, economic, and racial. Effective donors get everybody in a community involved, and that is where local donors may have a real edge over national ones. This means pursuing a dialogue among the district, philanthropists, government agencies, neighborhood associations, parents, and students to create a shared understanding of what it takes to achieve real results

  EAST SIDE ALLIANCE

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Here, in the Bay Area working with the East Side Alliance, The Calculus Roundtable works to support the efforts of nine districts to collaborate on solutions to raise math standards for all students but particularly for students of color.  We are working with teachers, administrators at the district and county levels,   community partners, and especially parents, with the goal of building trust and a sense of shared purpose.
Calculus Roundtable has established a structured process for gathering voices from the key stakeholders and funding community around areas of digital learning, using technology leverage remote learning and motivating math and science rigor. We've designed a team charter for meeting with hundreds of parents, teachers and other residents through focus groups and town halls in churches, schools, and other community gathering places.

The voices of local residents can help shape a regional approach to change. We must see the community as a resource. However, this can only be done with a greater understanding of families needs. In our internal survey of parents from our first 2 cohorts, we found that "Parents still have concerns about the digital divide, access to technology and 'online curriculum support'."

One to one interviews with parents and key stakeholders during our DORS online extended learning pilot program prompts us to recommend a stronger approach to defining extended learning time, which was at first perceived by some parents as nothing more than a longer school day. Relabeling extended learning as an investment in "continuous learning" and apart of the school's learning objective emphasizes the combined contribution of in-school and out-of-school learning.

                      "Schools must look beyond the scarcity of resources and
                              toward the abundance of an entire community."


As we review Charlotte's progress to date the results are encouraging. In four of its nine West Charlotte schools, Project L.I.F.T. has been able to increase the hours students spend in school and in summer learning programs. Some of it's more controversial efforts sought to improve performance by repositioning a large number of teachers and principals.

One school in particular, West Charlotte High School has achieved a 15-point increase in the graduation rate, compared with a system-wide 5 percent increase.

There have been real challenges in Charlotte as well, including staff turnover and difficulties in securing the number of high-quality out-of-school-time slots needed to implement the continuous-learning calendar.

Charlotte has a ways to go to reach its ultimate goal. But in the face of one of America's most daunting challenges—making sure all public-school students are ready for college and career—we believe that the structure, scale, and energy of donor partnerships like Charlotte's demonstrate what it takes to transform student outcomes.

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A year ago

3/17/2014

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A year ago we had an idea. We set out to change the odds for all our kids. Today, Calculus Roundtable is helping schools raise expectations and performance. We work with teachers and district leaders in schools from California to Alabama. The Calculus Roundtable is making great strides in preparing students of color with the skills needed in the new economy like problem solving, critical thinking, science, technology, engineering and math.

Last month, from the White House East Room, President Obama announced the launch of My Brother’s Keeper, “a new initiative with leading foundations and businesses taking a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach to building ladders of opportunity that will unlock the full potential of boys and young men of color in America.” With this announcement, the President is making a significant statement and giving us validation on our collective work to improve the life outcomes of black men and boys.

I and Calculus Roundtable are honored to be a part of the President's initiative through work with our flagship program, The Digital One Room Schoolhouse (DORS).

DORS will help retrofit America's most challenging schools with from more challenging curriculums, better progress reporting for parents, added content support for teachers and new ways to measure how well our kids think, not how well they can fill in a bubble on a test.

Thank you to all our supporters and partners for your tireless advocacy, teaching, research, and leadership has made it possible for us to make lives better for children and their families. Your support and interest has contributed to us being able to play a small part in the future of public education.

Thanks again for your support!

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Jim Hollis is the founder of the Calculus Roundtable is a social entrepreneur impassioned by the impact technology can have on a child's learning through instruction and by giving them access to a larger broader world. For the last 14 years, Jim has worked to reform school districts from Los Angeles to Chicago and many other districts of all size and shapes.

Jim designs software applications for some of the education industry's leading companies, consults with foundations and states on the direction of educational technologies and volunteers his time working with small "start-up" charter schools.


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