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June 4: Student Learning
Panelists
Discussion Questions
What is the school environment needed for a quality education?
- Does this apply equally to K-12 and postsecondary education?
- Is the statement in the draft Master Plan sufficient?
Proposed: schools should help students keep their options open by maintaining common programs and expectations for all.
- Do you agree or disagree? Should there be an "opt out" provision?
- How can the "rigorous and challenging" curriculum in the
draft Plan simultaneously meet the needs of both students who
plan to enter the workforce directly and students who plan to
enroll in a college or university?
- How can vocational/career preparation best be integrated
into a challenging curriculum?
How can an assessment system help target resources to the
students who need them most?
- Will the recommendations in the Plan help
to meet California's expectations for student achievement?
Background for the Discussion
Access to high quality education is one of the four themes
of the draft Master Plan ("Access..." section). The Plan describes a
quality education environment
in terms of qualified and inspiring
teachers; a rigorous curriculum; participation in California's
public universities; current textbooks, technology and instructional
materials; learning support services; quality administrators; an
educational culture that is inviting, safe, and places a high value
on student achievement and teaching excellence; and a safe,
well-maintained physical plant. The plan also addresses the importance
of conditions that help young children become "ready learners."
(This will be discussed on day 6.)
Students generally have
two options at
high school graduation: either work or college. However, "it is
inaccurate to say that many have a genuine choice ... the choice
... is usually made far before high school graduation, typically
via course choices made by students with incomplete information."
To help students keep a postsecondary education option open,
"California's education system must change the common perception
that less is expected of students bound for the workplace or community
college than of those who intend to go to a baccalaureate degree-granting
college or university." The Plan says
"all schools must
offer academic programs and coursework that provide every student
an equitable opportunity to qualify for admission to, and succeed
in, any of California's public postsecondary institutions, and that
simultaneously qualify them for an array of jobs in today's workforce
and the continually emerging information economy."
Recommendation 12
is accordingly "The State shall set ambitious learning goals and
provide all students a challenging K-12 curriculum, including
preparation for postsecondary education." Recommendations
24 and
25 discuss guidance on
the transitions from high school and college and from school to employment.
Recommendation
12.3 would provide students the opportunity to "opt out" of
this curriculum and work under a personalized learning plan.
The draft Plan includes a number of recommendations related to
assessing learning needs and student achievement. The
Assessment
section, for example, spells out critical transition points for
students as they move through school, and
Recommendation 21 relates
to classroom-level assessment.
Recommendation 4 relates
to assessment of teacher preparedness.
Recommendation 28
focuses more broadly on state assessment: "The State should establish a
system of regularly reported indicators for K-12 accountability and
improvement." Sub-recommendations
28.1-28.7 suggest
other indicators that should be added to the K-12 Academic Performance
Index (API) including an "Opportunities for Teaching and Learning
Index" to report on the resources available to schools and evaluate
the effectiveness of programs for young children. They also suggest
evaluation, planning, and intervention activities that could help
the state to promote greater accountability.
The draft Plan asserts that the state should monitor all levels
of the educational system (student, education personnel, school,
district, state education agencies, legislature, and governor),
using indicators that measure the effectiveness of each level
(PreK-16) in meeting its responsibilities. This should enable the
public to "hold policymakers and governing bodies accountable for
providing the commitment, policy mechanisms, resources, and conditions
necessary to a high-quality system of education, as well as to hold
schools, educators, and students accountable for the outcomes that
result." Information is needed about all schools, not just those
that are low-performing.
Related Issues
Student learning is related to most of the cross-cutting issues;
the links below lead to pages on this site that give more information
in selected areas.
- Quality Education:
What do we mean when we say we want quality education?
How do we know when we have it?
- Accountability:
Who should be held responsible for the quality of educational results,
and how?
- Assessment:
Accountability is possible only when results can be measured.
Working Group Report and Recommendations
Student Learning is the focus of the entire Draft Master Plan
and the topic of one Working Group convened by the Joint Committee
to develop a Master Plan for Education. The Committee charged this
Group with making recommendations to "allow the State to attain two
major objectives: guarantee that all students who participate in
the public education system receive a high quality education; and
establish a more cohesive system of education that will be responsive
to students' increasingly diverse needs."
Links
Results
Major recommendations of the Working Group include:
- Challenging goals and curriculum.
- Guaranteed opportunities to learn.
- Fair and useful assessment.
- Systemic accountability and review.
Detailed recommendations are given in the Report of the Working Group.
Goals
- Define "high quality" education
- Identify
- factors that promote (and inhibit) access and success for all students;
- key K-16 transition points and accountabilities for successful transitions;
- ways to increase coordination (aligning K-16 curriculum and assessment);
- ways to ensure that supplementing instructional services and resources (including "remediation") lead to genuine opportunities and success.
- Re-examine eligibility criteria and admissions for four-year colleges and universities, and facilitate transfers from community college to four-year institutions
- Establish an accountability system that applies to participants at all levels of the K-16 system.
The principle that guided the work of the group: California's Pre K-University Master Plan must result in education policies that ensure quality and choice for all.
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