Stories from Schools Case Studies of the California Academic Program

California Academic Partnership Program UC Office of the President Peer Reviewed Title: Stories from Schools Case Studies of the California Academic Program Author: Kawazoe, Alice, California Academic Partnership Program Publication Date: 01-01-2009 Series: Recent Work Publication Info: Recent Work, California Academic Partnership Program, UC Office of the President Permalink: http://escholarship.org/uc/item/52j04314 Keywords: education, teachers, professional development, leadership, equity, collaboration, student achievement, high schools, school improvement Abstract: Stories from schools is a collection of case studies highlighting school improvement initiatives supported by the California Academic Partnership Program. There are stories about teacher practice, instructional leadership, professional development, student academic support, school change, and women of color leading schools. The case studies are written by high school educators and educational partners who worked with under performing urban and rural high schools in California. Each case study is accompanied by commentaries that offer an additional perspective on the story being told. eScholarship provides open access, scholarly publishing services to the University of California and delivers a dynamic research platform to scholars worldwide. Stories from Schools Stories from Schools Case Studies of the California Academic Partnership Program Edited by Alice Kawazoe CALIFORNIA ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM Long Beach, California DISTRIBUTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH University of California Press Berkeley Los Angeles London Copyright © 2009 by the California Academic Partnership Program. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN 978-0-615-27731-8 Cover Design: Barry Tao Cover Photography: Van Nguyen, Overfelt High School Interior Design and Composition: BookMatters The California Academic Partnership Program is an intersegmental program supporting partnerships between K-12 and postsecondary institutions designed to close the achievement gap and improve college- going rates for students in the state’s underperforming schools. CAPP is administered by the California State University, in cooperation with the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, California Community Colleges, California Department of Education, California Postsecondary Education Commission, California Student Aid Commission, and University of California. For more information about CAPP: Visit our Web site: www.calstate.edu/capp Call: 562-951-4780 Write: California Academic Partnership Program CSU Chancellor’s Office, 401 Golden Shore, 6th Floor Long Beach, CA 90802 Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction Alice Kawazoe 1 “I Liked it Because I Did It”: When Students Find Success 11 Dorothy Russo Commentary – Judy Bebelaar 17 Commentary – Alice Kawazoe 21 The Collaborative for Higher Education High School Mathematics/Science Enrichment Project: Reflections from the Director & Two Teachers 24 Edward Landesman, Adam Randall, Leo Florendo Commentary – Marge Chisholm 43 Commentary – Dave Jolly 49 Reinventing High Schools: One Deep Conversation at a Time 52 Nina Moore Commentary – Jon Wagner 71 v The High School Instructional Leadership Initiative 78 Kate Jamentz Commentary – Michelle Kalina 102 Commentary – Lori Roth 105 Expect Success: Interventions Beyond Remediation 108 Katrine Czajkowski Commentary – Zelda Glazer (with Alice Kawazoe) 132 Commentary – Alan Weisberg 135 Coaching in Mathematics: Teachers, Departments, and Schools 142 Barbara Wells Commentary – Katrine Czajkowski 152 Women of Color Leading Schools: The Journey of Three Principals 158 Lynn Haines Dodd, Adriana McNally, Yolanda Valdez Commentary – Alice Kawazoe 198 Commentary – Nina Moore 202 Contributors 205 Acknowledgments The California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP) would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all of the educators who have been part of our programs. Without the many teachers, administrators, and staff who work in the CAPP schools there would be no partnership. We appreciate your dedication and commitment to educating all students and contributing to our knowledge about teaching, learning, and leadership. We especially thank all of the Case Study authors for sharing with us your expertise and insights about your important work with the students, teachers, and others. The writers of the commentaries deserve our thanks for providing additional perspectives and insights about the work described in the case studies. The CAPP Advisory Board has provided sustained support throughout this endeavor. The Advisory Board represents all of the educational segments in California—Lawton Gray and Terry McAteer (Californa Public Schools); Penni Hansen (California Department of Education); Michelle Kalina and Jeff Spano (California Community Colleges); Jacinta Amaral, Roberta Ching and Lorie Roth (California State University); Ruth Cossey (Independent Colleges and Universities); Jorge Aguilar, Robert Cooper, and Nina Moore (University of California); Karen Humphrey (California Postsecondary Education Commission); and Linda Doughty (Student Aid Commision—Cal-SOAP). We also vii viii Acknowledgments appreciate Dave Jolly, Eleanor Knott and Virginia Soto from the California State University Chancellor’s Office for providing a home and administrative support for CAPP. Finally, a special thanks to Janice Agee for her help with editing the case studies and commentaries. Her keen eyes and sharpened pencil improved our prose. Introduction Alice Kawazoe Why Stories and Case Studies? My father was a noted surgeon, loved by his patients, respected by his colleagues, revered by his students. I once asked him what made him such a good doctor and teacher. He shrugged his shoulders as if to say, “Who knows?” But then he thought a bit and gave a simple and surprisingly unsurgeonlike answer: “I’m a good listener. We all carry stories with us on this journey we take together – patient and doctor, student and teacher. Science tells one kind of story, but our patients and students tell us more important human stories. We owe it to each other to listen to our stories, to respect and learn from them. Our stories are all we have.” The California Academic Partnership Program (CAPP) has, for 20 years, supported efforts of teachers and schools to improve student achievement in secondary schools. In the last six years, CAPP has focused its efforts on the challenges of teaching and learning in California’s lowest performing high schools, confronting head-on the issues of equity and access, high expectations, and rigorous instruction for all students. Why focus on high schools? Because they are difficult, complex places to understand and change. Disengagement that may have sprouted in middle or junior high school takes root firmly in high school. Disconnection, both academic and social, proliferates and deep- ens. Support systems dissolve, lose effectiveness, or lose their funding. 1 2 Introduction In a large high school, more students “fall through the cracks,” as the cracks become canyons. Parent participation falls away, and the strong ties of communication and involvement that bound together school, teacher, parent/caregiver, and the community in elementary school begin to fray in middle school, and unravel in high school. A great strength of CAPP is that its work resides in schools. CAPP recognizes that the action, if there is to be action, happens in classrooms —not at a federal or state agency or department, not in a profes- sor’s seminar, not in the superintendent’s or the principal’s office, but in real, not virtual, classrooms, filled with learners, lively to inert, led by teachers, bold to jaded. We have much documentation about each school involved in CAPP initiatives. Each school is evaluated annually by the research division of WestEd; pertinent data are collected; and project directors file reports, registering successes and challenges and detailing how the CAPP funds have been used. At semi-annual conferences “CAPP schools” from throughout California meet to share their experiences, learn from one another, problem-solve, and plan. But what happens at each school unfolds as an unending narrative, a story, with a complex plot and subplots, a spectrum of characters, multiple motives, high and low points. As with a story, the work of a school can never be charted as a straight line progression or ascension. That would not only be boring, but unreal. Change in schools happens in fits and starts; progress gets derailed; “the best laid plans” remain as plans or become unplanned; and sometimes pleasant or unpleasant surprises pop up. We want to tell some of these school stories, told by people in the school — teachers, project directors, and CAPP consultants. These stories, once written, become case studies that we can then discuss, comment upon, analyze, and argue about. These are not formal, academic case studies (although some are more formal than others), but a retelling of an experience or description of a project, imbued with the teller’s personal voice. Some readers may become impatient and will want to rush to con- clusions. But the whole point of stories and case studies is not “solu- tions” or “resolutions,” but a broadening and even a heightening of our struggles —with new protagonists and antagonists

Load more