Evans promotes Vision 2020 for Educational Excellence

By John Lee Evans

When Dr. Evans joined the board he convinced the board to develop an long term school reform plan that would bring a quality school to every neighborhood in San Diego.

First, Vision 2020 changes the way that we measure success. The mandated state and federal tests do not measure much of what we want our students to learn. They can actually lead to a narrowing of the curriculum.

All parents want their children to learn the basics, but that is not enough. Our revised Goals for Student Achievement also measure critical thinking skills and creativity, as well as physical fitness, art, music and other areas. Likewise, simple graduation rates do not tell the whole story if those who do graduate are not ready for college and career.

Rather than a vocational track or a college prep track, we want all of our students to be prepared for either one. The new state-of +the-art auto tech facility at Madison High simultaneously prepares students for immediate employment as an auto mechanic or entry into college to study mechanical engineering.

Second, in San Diego we want to revitalize our neighborhood schools. Schools with strong ties to the neighborhood have more parental participation. While we strongly support school choice, we do want to reverse the trend that has led to half of our students leaving their neighborhoods. We have an aggressive initiative to develop a quality school in every neighborhood within the next five years. To do this we have defined twelve criteria of a quality neighborhood school, ranging from a broad curriculum to digital literacy to a safe, supportive environment. Each school staff will soon be entering into a discussion about what they need to do to meet these criteria.

Third, we will focus on effective teachers in every classroom, which is the single greatest contributor to academic success after socioeconomic status. Professional learning communities allow teachers at each grade level to take the responsibility for the achievement for all of the students at that school. Teachers will not be isolated in the classroom without peer and supervisor input. We will highlight the best practices in successful classrooms and replicate them throughout the district.

Fourth, we have set up a system of support and accountability. We hired Superintendent Bill Kowba who has demonstrated his stability and commitment to San Diego over the years. The district office provides support for the neighborhood schools, while giving them flexibility and holding them accountable for student achievement. Vision 2020 is not a "pipe dream." We are already implementing it. The Class of 2020 received their laptops in the third grade and will benefit from San Diego's nationally recognized i-21 technology throughout the rest of their school career.

Many schools already have teachers collaborating in professional learning communities to make sure that all students are progressing. The new Goals for Student Achievement will guide the teachers, students and parents each year.

The new default college prep curriculum of the district ensures college opportunities for students from all neighborhoods. At the same time more career tech programs are being added to the high schools.

Local school communities have become energized over the past two years through cluster councils that focus on the entire K-12 experience in every neighborhood from City Heights to Clairemont to La Jolla.

Many "reformers" tout school choice or charter schools or changes in board governance as the panacea for improving public schools. The San Diego Reform Model is more comprehensive. We already have one of the leading school choice programs in the nation. We approve many more charters than most districts. Each board member has already connected with the local cluster councils. But none of these are comprehensive solutions.

San Diego's community based school reform model maintains a laser-like focus on student achievement and is sustained through a collaborative process. We already know what works. It depends on strong principal leadership, teacher collaboration, use of assessment data, parent support and visionary leadership from the Superintendent and his staff. We are committed to true reform, San Diego Unified style, which will prepare students for careers in our biotech industry and other high tech industries that have not yet been invented. We have made steady, incremental progress over the past several years. We are now ready to make more dramatic gains between now and 2020.

We cannot do this alone. We can only do it with the support of our local taxpayers who see the value of investment in public education. We also need the collaboration of parent groups, business and labor groups, the scientific community, local universities and every San Diegan. We all have a stake in strong public schools.