When Palm Tree Hill Elementary School teachers talked, SAIT auditors listened.
"It was wonderful. It felt good to talk to them about things we needed, but weren't getting," says Denice Bosch, who has taught upper grades at the Palmdale school for 14 years. We were able to get things off our chest and somebody actually listened to us."
Bosch, a member of the Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association (PETA), says district administrators have not listened to teachers, which is partly why two schools are on a list of 24 II/USP sites facing sanctions.
For years, teachers have been telling the district office that the Success For All (SFA) reading program was not working at their school, says Bosch. "We don't have enough time for standards-based instruction at each grade level." SFA has children grouped by reading ability - not grade level. But the multi-grade mix meant students were not being taught the standards at their individual grade levels. And Success For All was not aligned with California's standards, which were just being adopted at the time the school started using SFA.
Ironically, the SFA program was seen as "the" solution when the school first entered the II/USP in 1999. The school purchased the program using grant money from the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration, another sanctions program.
After the school started using the program, test scores fluctuated. In 1999-2000, the first year of the program, scores went up 33 points to reach 616 on the API. The next year, instead of meeting growth targets, scores dropped five points. In 2001-02, the school had a growth target of 10, but dropped seven points. Last year, the school had a base API of 618 and ranked 3 out of 10 on the API.
Unfortunately, administrators and the school board have made a decision that could sabotage the school's chances of raising scores and escaping sanctions. The school board has voted to eliminate class size reduction in grades K-3, despite studies showing that student-to-teacher ratios of 20:1 in the early grades lead to dramatic improvements in student test scores and a narrowing of the achievement gap.
"Getting rid of class size reduction will definitely make it harder to achieve our goal," says Mike Thacker, a third-grade teacher. "It will be more difficult for teachers to offer individual attention. It's a Catch-22 situation: We're expected to raise our API and also teach 10 additional kids. We had a full-day kindergarten at the school, which will be cut back to a half day. That will also have an impact."
The district has laid off 83 teachers. In many cases credentialed teachers are being let go and teachers on emergency permits are being retained, with the district using the argument that they have more seniority with the district. Nearly a quarter of the teachers lack credentials at Palm Tree Elementary. Many teachers say the principal's intimidating manner has been instrumental in the high turnover of veteran teachers. And new teachers say a lack of support has made it difficult for them to stay. One first-year credentialed teacher who was let go says administrators never visited her classroom and, when she asked for help, a vice principal walked away from her.
It was painful for staff to learn that the school was on the list of 24 schools facing state sanctions. "We were trashed in the newspaper because of our test scores," says Bosch. "It was horrible and so unfair. They don't know these kids and how hard we are working. We have before- and after-school reading programs and tutoring for our kids."
"I love my school and I love my staff. But we were made to feel like we are a failing school - even though we are successful with the majority of kids," says Thacker. "It's very stressful. And when you are threatened with sanctions, it's a disincentive to work at schools like ours. I think that's sad."
Because teachers did not know what to expect, they panicked before the first SAIT visit.
"It was a scary thing," recalls Bosch. "We had heard horror stories. We started cleaning our desks because we heard they were going to go through all our files. But it wasn't like that. They just wanted to listen and ask questions. It wasn't threatening at all."
Staff was relieved when the SAIT report commended the teachers for their hard work, dedication and concern for the well-being of students.
Among the corrective actions the SAIT auditors recommended were:
- Having the district develop a master plan for English language learners that addresses teacher credentials, student placement and professional development for teachers;
- Restructuring and expanding the school leadership advisory group to broaden input from teacher-elected and principal-appointed members;
- Providing more support for new teachers;
- Adopting state-approved curriculum aligned to the standards.
While being on a list of sanctioned schools has been demoralizing, some good has come from the experience. "It's given us focus," says Thacker. "We are now all pointing in the same direction, with guidance as to where we need to go so we can do better."
Teachers are encouraged because they are learning how to teach to the standards with the Dataworks Company's training, which emphasizes "calibrating curriculum, deconstructing standards and creating explicit, direct-instructed lesson plans."
"When you are being observed and scrutinized, you feel pressure, no matter who you are or what you've done," says Ann Keelan, a third-grade teacher. "It can increase your stress level, but sometimes that's a good thing. I feel very positive about the future."
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Auditing process still needs work
Some of the state auditors who have visited schools facing sanctions are angering teachers by being judgmental.
At one Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP) site, teachers were traumatized when the School Assistance and Intervention Team (SAIT) labeled them racist and elitist in a preliminary report.
Teachers say their comments were misconstrued. They were explaining to the SAIT auditors that demographics were partly to blame for low scores, but they insist they were talking about the problems that come with poverty, not race. Although the allegations were presented verbally and not included in the final evaluation, teachers felt they had been unjustly accused and had no opportunity to clear their names.
"We are very concerned about being labeled this way," says one teacher who did not want to be identified. "We could say nothing in our own defense. It's very unfair."
While many teachers say the auditors were objective and easy to work with, others found them unduly harsh.
"They were wolves in sheep's clothing," says Rose Palomino, a teacher at Curtis Middle School in San Bernardino, which is in Program Improvement. "We opened up to them, we were truthful and honest, but to some degree they used that against us."
State auditors, working under federal jurisdiction, told teachers that the school has no instructional leadership qualities, says Palomino. "Basically, they said there are no good teachers here. That was very damaging. We are professionals doing all we can to be professional. We're human beings; we felt that was cruel."
The audit teams examine district and school leadership; instruction and professional development; curriculum; classroom and school assessment; and school culture, climate and communication. Auditors may be retired educators or individuals from private companies, county offices of education or nonprofit organizations.
The weeklong audit, the price for which can run as high as $60,000, includes interviews with teachers, students and administrators, followed by parent-community meetings. Findings are presented to school staff - first verbally and then in writing - along with suggested "corrective actions." Once adopted by the school board, the SAIT report becomes an official public document. Auditors continue to monitor schools afterward.
Several educators spoke out about their treatment by auditors at a June meeting of the California Department of Education. Officials admitted that the program needs work.
Criticism of the auditing process is nothing new. During the early stages of II/USP when "external evaluators" visited schools, many teachers said they were pressured to adopt reading and math programs the evaluator had an outside interest in promoting. Many teachers - and a CTA audit - found that external evaluators brought in their own "prefab" action plans that offered a one-size-fits-all approach rather than address the needs of individual schools. In some cases, evaluators took a fill-in-the-blank approach to developing action plans despite charging exorbitant fees for their services.
The action plans failed to adequately improve academic achievement over a two-year period and, in some cases, made things worse. However, it should be noted that the majority of II/USP schools did show significant improvement and are not facing sanctions.
SAIT auditors are taking a somewhat different approach, even though some of them are the same people, says Laura Wagner, administrator of the Intervention Assistance Office at the Department of Education.
With the external evaluators, the state took a "hands-off" approach when it came to their interaction with schools. "But that may have been the wrong approach," says Wagner. "Schools need more statewide consistency."
"The state has been much more proactive in setting criteria for who the SAIT providers will be and in establishing a core training curriculum for them. SAIT providers who were also external evaluators are not allowed to work in the school where they held that role.
"The state is now telling SAIT providers what to look at, what tools to use, how to focus on student achievement, how to focus on what is being taught and how it is being taught, and how to assess that."
Wagner is concerned that there may not be enough money from the state to fund the corrective actions recommended by SAIT auditors. The Legislature has never adequately funded the program, say CTA analysts.
"With the new federal accountability requirements," says Wagner, "we are likely to need financial help for thousands of schools."
Teachers should play a role in the implementation of any SAIT-proposed changes within schools, she adds. "I believe that if changes are to occur, active teacher involvement is critical."
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