'Successful strategies' for raising African-American student college tests cited

The successful strategies used by the San Diego Unified School District and five other urban school systems across the country to boost African-American student participation in and performance on Advanced Placement tests are detailed in a new report released today by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

The report, "The Road to Equity: Expanding AP Access and Success for African-American Students," details how the following school systems are increasing college readiness of African-American students by improving their AP passing rates quickly enough to gain on their white peers while increasing or keeping participation rates steady:

• San Diego Unified School District
• Cobb County School District, Ga.
• Fulton County School System, Ga.
• Garland Independent School District, Tx.
• Jefferson County Public Schools, Ky.
• Orange County Public Schools, Fla.

In looking to identify urban school districts with promising trends in student achievement and college-readiness, The Broad Foundation analyzed four years of AP exam participation and passing rates for students in the 75 districts whose demographics qualify them for consideration for the annual Broad Prize for Urban Education. Of the six examined, only San Diego Unified is one of the four finalists for the 2013 prize.

The foundation found that the districts were able to simultaneously raise performance on AP tests without losing ground on participation by employing many of the following practices and strategies:

• Offer a rigorous curriculum beginning in elementary grades;
• Expand access to gifted programs;
• Analyze student results on precursors to college entrance exams -- like PSAT and EXPLORE -- to identify potential AP students and actively recruit them to enroll in AP courses;
• Provide extra academic and social support to students;
• Dramatically increase the number of AP course offerings;
• Offer additional teacher training and professional development;
• Instill confidence in students about their college-going potential;
• Educate parents about the benefits of AP.

The College Board's Advanced Placement program is a benchmark for academic rigor and offers high school students the opportunity to earn college credit, thus saving students time and money. Enrollment in AP courses has tripled since 2000 as districts moved to increase course offerings and broaden student recruits in the challenging courses.

"AP is an important predictor of college success when teachers and students use AP's standards as an inspiration, developing through practice the most important academic skills needed in college," said Trevor Packer, the College Board's senior vice president for AP and instruction. "Data identify thousands of minority and low-income students who have the academic potential to succeed in Advanced Placement courses, but lack access or encouragement to pursue such opportunities. We celebrate the AP teachers and students of these six urban districts for their extraordinary accomplishments. Their successes show that with the right support systems and best practices, broader access to AP can provide a diversity of students with a stronger foundation for college and career success."

The report found that in nearly all of the 75 Broad Prize-eligible school districts, the gap in both AP passing rates and participation rates between African-American students and their white counterparts is significant.

"This report underscores the need for districts to actively work to increase access to and success on AP tests," said Rebecca Wolf DiBiase, managing director of programs for The Broad Foundation. "We are highlighting the practices in these six districts to demonstrate that improvement is possible. But progress needs to happen much faster and in all schools before we can truly ensure that all students have access to and the necessary preparation for success in college."

The Education Trust also released the findings today of new research that low-income and students of color do not have equal access to AP and International Baccalaureate programs. The report, "Finding America's Missing AP and IB Students," reveals that most national participation gaps could be eliminated if every school with an AP program focused on encouraging and enrolling its low-income and students of color in the college preparatory courses.

The $1 million Broad Prize, established in 2002, is the largest education award in the country given to school districts. The Broad Prize is awarded each year to honor urban school districts that demonstrate the greatest overall performance and improvement in student achievement while reducing achievement gaps among students from low-income families and students of color.

Founded by entrepreneur Eli Broad and his wife Edythe, both graduates of Detroit Public Schools, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation is a philanthropy that seeks to ensure that every student in an urban public school has the opportunity to succeed. Bringing together top education experts and practitioners, the foundation funds system-wide programs and policies that strengthen public schools by creating environments that allow good teachers to do great work and enable students of all backgrounds to learn and thrive. For more information, visit www.broadeducation.org, and updates are available on Facebook and Twitter @broadfoundation. For more information about The Broad Prize, visit www.broadprize.org.

JROTC cadets complete a successful year

Thousands of JROTC cadets, parents, District administrators and members from various San Diego military and veterans groups participated in the 67th annual JROTC Awards Ceremony at Morse High School's John Shacklett Stadium. The ceremony is designed to recognize the individual, team and unit achievements in the areas of academic excellence, physical fitness and precision drill competitions.


JROTC boasted a very successful year as enrollment increased for the third consecutive year, topping more than 2,400 cadets.

Most noteworthy, for the fifth consecutive year, JROTC had a cadet recognized as a valedictorian or salutatorian in one of their 13 high school programs. This year, two cadets will be the Senior Class valedictorians and two salutatorians. This summer, the Scripps Ranch High School JROTC Academic Team will compete in the National Academic Championship in Washington, D.C.; the team was national runner-up in 2012.

Throughout the entire school year, JROTC programs participate in numerous competitive events which award placement points. The overall unit recognition awards and final standings were determined by assessing the most cumulative points attained by each unit during the year-long competitions. This year’s winner is the Army JROTC program from San Diego High School, Scripps Ranch Air Force JROTC was second, and in third was the Mira Mesa Air Force JROTC.

The event was highlighted by a Pass and Review as the graduating seniors led their units for the final time. This year’s JROTC Commander Jordan Robertson from Patrick Henry High School officially passed the organizational flag and responsibility to the incoming 2013-14 JROTC Commander, Julia Sterling from San Diego High School.

For more information on the program, contact David Guzman, Program Manager, at dguzman1@sandi.net.

Board honors spring athletes tops in sports and class

The San Diego County All Academic Teams for the Spring sports have been honored by the Board of Education.

San Diego Unified teams that earned All Academic Team honors for winter sports are: La Jolla High School, Girls Basketball, Katherine Harmeyer, Cymer Scholar; Point Loma High School, Boys Wrestling, Anthony Farris, Cymer Scholar; San Diego High School, Girls Wrestling, Heaven Tamayo, Cymer Scholar.

"This is evidence that we are educating the whole child and the whole young person," said Dr. John Lee Evans, President of the Board of Education.

The All Academic Team honors a team in each sport, in each region, that has the highest average, unweighted team GPA among all teams in that sport and region. Mission Federal Credit Union partners with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and Cymer, and sponsors the All Academic Team Recognition. In addition, with the support of Cymer, we are honoring the junior or senior student, from each of those teams, with the highest, cumulative GPA. These students are being recognized as Cymer Scholars.

Locally grown fruits, vegetables on lunch trays hits a million pounds

 A million pounds of local, regional and organic food has been served to San Diego Unified students during the past three years.

Since 2010, the one million pounds has included apples from Julian, certified organic blackberries and other healthy fruits and vegetables grown in San Diego and California, brought fresh to Kids' Choice Cafés in elementary schools and SanDi Coast Cafés at middle and high schools.

"What this means is that our kids are eating the freshest and best food we can give them," said Gary Petill, Food Services Director. "There's nothing better in the world than what our partners, the farmers of California, grow in the local sunshine."

Over the three years, the amount of locally grown items on your school's lunch menu has gone from less than two percent to more than 15 percent. The program began in 2010 when the District participated in a federal grant allocated to the County of San Diego. The grant is gone but the fresh choices remain.

"We try for a very diverse menu on our salad bar," said Petill. "Many of our customers eat in our restaurants every day of the week -- some twice a day. We have to keep them happy and the local produce helps us do that."

This school year, nearly 600,000 pounds -- nearly $250,000 worth -- of produce has been purchased from local farms, including some that are in the city of San Diego, said Vanessa Zajfen, the District's Farm to School Specialist. Menu items this year included Organic Kabocha Squash from Suzie's Farm in South Bay, Organic Persimmons grown by Sahu Sub-Tropicals in Fallbrook and Rainbow; and tofu from the San Diego Soy Dairy.

The farm-to-school program builds on a tradition of healthy and tasty lunches at the District. This is the tenth school year that San Diego Unified has had salad bars in elementary schools; the seniors that will graduate from high school in a next week have grown up with salad bars in their schools. These students have learned to make positive, healthy choices by having salad bars in their schools. Every day, they can choose a variety of fruits and vegetables – load up on one or another today, change up with something else tomorrow. But it's all healthy, said Petill.

This isn't costing taxpayers any extra; it's all done within the amount provided by the federal government's school lunch subsidy and what students pay for lunch: $2 elementary, $2.50 middle and high school. And 61 percent of the district's students are low income and receive free or reduced-priced lunches.

For more information on the district's Food Services Program, contact Petill at gpetill@sandi.net. There's also more information on the Farm To School website.

San Diego Unified rising to top

Dr. Evans

IN THE NEWS: "School reform, San Diego style, is working. San Diego Unified is now a nationally recognized, award winning school district, a leader among the nation’s largest school districts. San Diego made it to the Final Four for the Broad Prize, a leading prize for student achievement. This was based on impressive test scores, closing the achievement gap and high graduation rates." Read more in commentary from Dr. John Lee Evans, President, Board of Education»

Old pro, community build school athletic facility

IN THE NEWS: For his 89th birthday, local tennis hero Ben Press on Friday offered a gift to San Diego by helping to dedicate a new athletic facility at Roosevelt Middle School that he hopes will encourage more children to pursue the sport that’s been so good to him. Read more from UT San Diego»

Balboa Elementary parents visit universities; principal honored

It's been a busy few weeks at Balboa Elementary School in the Shelltown neighborhood, as parents joined their kids on a tour of two local universities and the principal received a prestigious award.

Principal Fabiola Bagula has received the 2013 Visionary Award from the San Diego César E. Chávez Commemoration Committee. The certificate commends her for her strong leadership, compassion, integrity and justice in the community.

The award was presented at the 15th Annual Cesar Chavez Community Breakfast on April 8. More than 200 people attended the reception along with many San Diego politicians, including Mayor Bob Filner.

Thanks to the generosity of the Bravo Foundation, parents visited UC San Diego and University of San Diego.

"For many of our families," said Principal Bagula, "this was the first opportunity to visit a university campus. We hope this continues to fuel the dream of college-bound children at Balboa."

On the tours, parents learned about the differences between public and private college institutions, visited classrooms, dorm rooms and met college students who come from Balboa's neighborhood. They were also advised on what to monitor to ensure that their child is a college-bound student.

The landmark Geisel Library at UC San Diego, along with statues to Dr. Seuss and his characters, were on the tour stops. Ted Geisel created the Dr. Seuss character and books, and lived in La Jolla much of his life.

For more information on the events, contact Principal Bagula at (619) 362-4100.