Accomplishments

By Delaine Eastin

Upon taking office in 1995, State Superintendent Delaine Eastin dedicated herself to restoring and improving the quality of California's education system. Delaine reduced class sizes in grades K - 3, raised standards in Math and English, and increased technology in the classroom.

STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION DELAINE EASTIN

Reduced K-3 Class Sizes. Upon election as Superintendent of Public Instruction, Delaine Eastin made the reduction of class size -- particularly in the early grades -- a top priority. Delaine's early advocacy and strong leadership paid off. She scored a major victory for California schoolchildren by getting the State Legislature and the Governor to allocate $2.5 billion to reduce the number of students in the classroom in grades K-3. Unfortunately, the Governor approved the funding only three weeks before schools were set to start. Undeterred, Delaine immediately went to work with school districts throughout the state -- acquiring classroom space, hiring qualified teachers, and obtaining instructional materials. Her class size reduction program was implemented in record time and is now seen as a national model. Today, 94% of California's school districts have reduced class sizes in grades K-3.

Increased Technology in the Classroom. Superintendent Eastin undertook three major initiatives to bring California schools into the information age. California, which ranked 50th in student access to computers and technology, surpassed five other states to 45th and is still rising.

• Co-sponsored NetDay. Delaine Eastin helped bring together corporations, unions, school employees, parents and community volunteers to make thousands of classrooms Internet-ready on NetDay96. NetDay96 attracted the support of nearly 20,000 volunteers throughout the state, as well as President Clinton and Vice President Gore. NetDay96 succeeded in bringing telecommunications cables into thousands of classrooms that previously had none. NetDay96 led to an explosion of volunteer activities to bring the Internet into California's schools -- including three additional NetDays.

• Developed Statewide Technology Plan. To bring California's schools into the information age, Delaine Eastin convened the California Education Technology Task Force to develop an integrated, long-term technology plan for schools. In July 1996, the Task Force completed its report, "Connect, Compute and Compete" which includes concrete measures to acquire technology, train teachers, and incorporate technology into student instruction as well as performance evaluation for teachers. The $1 billion technology plan calls for one million computers in California's high school classrooms within four years. In addition, Superintendent Eastin is working in partnership with Governor Wilson to equip 100 high schools with computers in every classroom by the end of this year. Developed New Math Guidelines. In response to declining math scores, Delaine Eastin convened a Math Task Force which led to the development of new guidelines for the teaching of math. Those guidelines were presented to State Board of Education and have successfully been implemented.

Developed New Reading Guidelines. In an effort to boost declining statewide reading scores, State Superintendent Eastin developed a new set of guidelines for the teaching of reading. The balanced guidelines emphasize phonics as well as the reading of literature.

Developed Content and Performance Standards for Each Grade and Core Subject Area. As part of her overall emphasis on raising the standards for California's students, Delaine Eastin initiated development of content and performance standards for each grade and core subject. These guidelines constitute the most comprehensive effort ever undertaken in the state to prescribe what students should know and when they should know it.

Introduced Systemic Reform: Challenge School District Reform Initiative. In the fall of 1995, Superintendent Eastin launched the "Challenge Initiative," a groundbreaking reform effort to raise standards. The Challenge is embraced by 55 school districts throughout the state -- with more than 450,000 students. The Challenge calls for each participating school district to adopt content and performance standards at every grade level and in every subject area and a comprehensive accountability system to measure student performance annually.

Supported Libraries. Under Superintendent Eastin, the Department of Education distributed library grants to 150 school libraries, using $250,000 from the California Public School Library Protection fund, along with an addition $500,000 in federal funding. The funds will provide new books, magazines, reference CDs, laser disks, and computer and education technology. Stemming from years of insufficient funding, California libraries rank last in the United States in the ratio of books, periodical collections and librarians to students. Superintendent Eastin has initiated efforts to provide students the resources they need for educational excellence.

Launched Universal Pre-School Task Force. Armed with evidence that pre-school attendance leads to improved academic performance in elementary school, Superintendent Eastin convened a task force to develop an effective education program for 3 and 4 year-olds. Superintendent Eastin and the task force have initiated a universal pre-school program for low-income children throughout California. The program will eventually expand to include all California pre-schoolers.

Visited Over 150 California Schools. Superintendent Eastin surpassed her campaign commitment to visit an average of one school a week. To date, she has visited over 150 schools throughout all of California's 58 counties.