EACH Student

The practical goal of public education must be to advance EACH student's learning steadily, regardless of starting place or learning needs, toward success in college and career. (See section 1.1a in the PDF report)

Video Overview

1.1 Make readiness for college and career success the unambiguous goal of public education

Let's start with the big picture: It is California's moral, economic, and social imperative to ensure that each student from every racial and economic background be educated to succeed in college, career, and modern life.

Fund to achieve the goal: Create a rational school finance system based on EACH student's needs

1.2a. Increase California's education funding for EACH student to national norms.
Money, per se, doesn't magically cause schools to work better or children to learn better. But too little of it is certainly part of the problem in this state. (See PDF for graphs.) California's schools operate with dramatically fewer real resources than schools in other states and nations. Schools in California have far too few adults in them, and adding trained staff will take money. Our State consistently ranks near the bottom of the pile in the number of teachers and principals per student and 51st in the number of counselors, administrators and librarians per student. As the economy recovers, we must re- invest in our schools— and do so with a vision.
1.2b. Invest in students to drive innovation and change.
If there is a silver lining to California's chronic underinvestment in education, it is this: we have an opportunity to catch up in a way that supports thoughtful change, rather than merely adding more of the same. Our school finance system is based more on history than principle, and has led to persistent inequities and inefficiencies. The last several expert panels that took up the task of reviewing California school finance recommended moving to a "weighted student formula," and many other states have reached the same conclusion. California must fund districts (LEAs), and districts in turn must fund schools, based on the needs of each student they educate, with additional dollars for each student in poverty and each student catching up in Learning English.

1.3) MEASURE THE GOAL: SUPPORT EACH STUDENT'S STEADY PROGRESS.

a. Invest in the data infrastructure needed to guide improvement.
California's public education system has a notoriously weak information infrastructure. Investment and leadership is needed to bring California up to standards set by Florida and others. In order to support each student's progress, California needs to build and implement a robust longitudinal information system grounded in clearly defined data elements that map to the state's core student learning goals. This will inform decision- making to ensure effective teaching, sound educational policies, and a coherent, useful educational infrastructure. To move towards a culture of continuous improvement, the State needs to fully develop and integrate its two new systems, CALPADS and CALTIDES, and resolve issues in governance and data management.
b. Invest in user-friendly dashboards to make data helpful.
Students, parents, and educators should be able to see the results of assessments in a clear, timely and actionable form. Building upon the foundation of a core State-level information infrastructure, it should not be necessary for each district and school to invent solutions for presenting this information. It is an appropriate role for the state to facilitate or sponsor development of individualized, student-level data dashboards for students, parents, and educators. This will help these stakeholders to better assess and support each student's learning needs. School site data dashboards will provide parents and educators real-time, actionable information about what students know and where they need help in order to succeed.
c. Spur development of adaptive assessments.
End-of-cycle tests need to be enhanced with formative, individualized assessments of each student's progress toward long-term goals. These test results, made available in a timely fashion, can provide teachers, students, and parents with the information they need to make mid-course corrections. Such assessments should be tailored to each student's developmental trajectory. To accelerate the development, implementation, and interpretation of these assessments, the State should create opportunities and funding for pilot programs.

1.4) ENABLE THE GOAL: REMOVE BARRIERS TO STUDENT LEARNING AND ENCOURAGE INNOVATION.

a. Change the rules so students can learn beyond the traditional classroom setting.
The system should be steadfast about the goals of student learning, but flexible about how goals are achieved. For example, the next few years are likely to offer steady innovation in the area of individualized online and computer-based learning options, paired with learning coaches, mentoring, and internships. Such innovative uses of technology can be easily thwarted by well-intentioned policies such as mandated teacher ratios or rules about when or where learning takes place. The State must ensure that schools and programs can provide students access to these new ways of learning, and find a way to ensure high quality educational programs without resorting to rules that constrain progress.
b. Fund pilot programs in online learning.
It will take time to develop the most effective uses of new technologies to support learning. The State should invest now in pilot programs for new technologies in classrooms, especially so that they are accessible to communities that need them the most.

Report

EACH: A Vision for California's Future
Full Circle Fund, January 2010
Read and learn more about the EACH Approach

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