Public Comments

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees

From:  Beja Springer, 2024-2025 President Dingle Community PTA

When: January 25, 2025

Re:  School Board Governance - building a shared understanding of exemplary 

Good morning trustees!

I apologize for not thinking of this document earlier and sending it your way.  It might have been useful for your governance meeting today, January 25, 2025.

Title: THE LIGHTHOUSE INQUIRY: School Board/Superintendent Team Behaviors in School Districts with Extreme Differences in Student Achievement

Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IsJyW1jNvlBFGOa0RrClDNMssHHN5SyW/view?usp=sharing

Date:  April 2001

Recommended by: David Irwin, Co-Founder Thru (K-12 Strategic Planning)

Abbreviated Abstract: This study investigated whether some school boards create higher student achievement than others, studying districts with schools that ranked very high or very low on standardized achievement tests for three academic years.

The Seven conditions for school renewal are:

1. Emphasis on Building a Human Organizational System

2. Ability to Create and Sustain Initiatives

3. Supportive Workplace for Staff

4. Staff Development

5. Support for School Sites through Data and Information

6. Community Involvement

7. Integrated Leadership

Though this document might not be on your short list of guiding documents, we (esp. Friends of WJUSD) would love to know what your guiding documents are.  It would definitely help the community train up to be better partners to you.

Good luck today!

Beja

2024-2025 Dingle PTA President

Co-founding member of Friends of WJUSD

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees and Dingle School Site Council

From:  Beja Springer, 2023-2024 President Dingle Community PTA

When: January 16, 2024

Re:  Public Comment to Dingle SSC and WJUSD BOT on Dingle's 2023 CAASPP Results 

Dear WJUSD Board of Trustees, Dingle School Site Council, and Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin,

This is a public comment.  Do not reply-all to this email.

This public comment is for: 

• The WJUSD Board of Trustees’ January 18, 2024 meeting, agenda item L1 on “California Schools Dashboard and Local Data Presentation.”

• The Dingle School Site Council’s January 16, 2024 meeting agenda item #8 on “Data Review: California Dashboard” and “Monitor and Review school plan implementation using the SPSA monitoring tool.”

This 12 minute video presentation (slides) by Dingle Community PTA's Educational Leadership Committee is an abbreviated parent and community perspective on Dingle's 2023 CAASPP results.  In it we are advocating for:

1. Dingle School Site Council to decide and receive vital PLC measures monthly

2. WJUSD Board of Trustees to decide and receive vital PLC measures monthly

3. Dingle School Site Council and the WJUSD Board of Trustees to receive $ spent-to-date on Dingle’s SPSA at least monthly

4. Post 2021-2022 Dingle School Site Council documents online

5. Post 2022-2023 Dingle School Site Council minutes and documents online

6. Post 2023-2024 Dingle School Site Council minutes and documents online

7. WJUSD Board of Trustees increase “analyst” support to Dingle for the School Site Council (including collaborating directly with the council)

NOTICE:  We sent this public comment because we received an inquiry from the community this past Saturday January 13th, 2024.  This public comment took over 10 hours of data analysis, writing, and recording to complete.

Thank you,

Beja Springer

Dingle Parent and President, Dingle Community PTA 2023-2024

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Beja Springer, 2023-2024 President Dingle Community PTA

When: December 13, 2023

Re: Public Comment to WJUSD BOT - Sending Recommendations for "Select Schools" to Study

Dear Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

This is a follow up to my public comment on November 16, 2023 agenda Item L.3., "Review the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Results: Similar Districts."

Thank You for Including Dingle Families & Staff

First, thank you Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin for sharing that the Yolo County Office of Education hired the consultant that provided the list of districts (that are academically performing below Dingle parents' expectations) for the WJUSD to visit and thank you for inviting parents, staff, and supporters to suggest alternative "select schools" for consideration.

Thank you, also, Trustee MacDonald for asking Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin about the possibility of modifying the list of "select schools".

Select Schools for Dingle Attached

Attached is one suggested list of "select schools" for Dingle.

Jim Collins, retired Dean of Science & Allied Health at Sacramento City College and chair of Dingle PTA's Educational Leadership Committee, created this list from publicly available CAASPP data.  I believe Jim shared this list with each of you already and all agreed that the CAASPP data was a valid source for the purpose of identifying select schools.

The selection criteria is also in the attachment.  A broader selection criteria would include additional schools that meet Dingle's parents' academic expectations and serve similar student populations.

Including All Dingle's Diverse Families and Staff

I am thrilled to invite all Dingle families and staff into this important conversation.  I submitted a public comment to the Dingle School Site Council to share the news. I also forwarded the attachment to the chair of Dingle's ELAC.  We have more sharing to do.  I hope you receive input from Dingle families and staff in January 2024.

Expected Outcomes from Visiting/Contacting Select Schools

We look forward to information being shared publicly about the "select schools."

We anticipate that the information could be used for conducting Dingle's SPSA needs assessment in the spring.  For example, we would like more details on how the "select schools" have implemented professional learning communities, the number and types of staff at each school, and the various supports offered to teachers and scholars.  The information could also be used for upcoming work on the LCAP.

Budget for Dingle's Principal, Teachers, & Leaders to Visit "Select Schools"

Finally, if our Principal, teachers, and/or school leaders are able to travel, we hope the WJUSD has the budget to support their participation in visiting the "select schools."  Our families look to and trust teachers most when it comes to our scholars' education, so we'd like to support their active engagement in this important educational leadership activity.  We'll keep in touch with our Principal on this topic in case Dingle needs Dingle PTA's support.

With appreciation,

Beja Springer

Dingle Parent, Dingle PTA President, and former Dingle School Site Council Chair

Attachment

To:  Dingle School Site Council 

From:  Beja Springer, 2023-2024 President Dingle Community PTA

When: December 11, 2023

Re: Public Comment to Dingle SSC - WJUSD Accepting Recommendations for "Select Schools" to Study

Hello Dingle School Site Council,

This is a public comment.  Do not reply-all.  You can email me or dingle-pta-academics@googlegroups.com any time.

At the November 16, 2023 WJUSD Board of Trustee meeting staff presented a list of districts the WJUSD is going to study and learn from.  I, Beja Springer and Dingle PTA's President, gave a personal public comment with concerns about those districts not meeting Dingle parents' expectations. 

Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin said that the WJUSD is not limited to those districts and will accept recommendations for "select schools" that meet the needs of our scholars.  Though no deadline was given, if recommendations are submitted by the end of January 2024, it’s possible some could be analyzed and visited/contacted prior to Dingle’s 2024-2025 SPSA needs assessment.

This is important because the "select schools" may set new standards for resources and other support the WJUSD provides to Dingle.

Attached is a list of Dingle PTA's Educational Leadership Committee's recommended "select schools" from the 2022 California state assessment data.  The selection criteria is included in the document.

Would the Dingle School Site Council be able to discuss the selection criteria for "select schools," standards, and/or resources for it's upcoming 2024-2025 needs assessment?

With appreciation for all that you do and your impact on Dingle.

Thank you,

Beja

Attachment

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: November 16, 2023

Re: Public Comment on Agenda Item L.3., "Review the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Results: Similar Districts"

Good evening Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

My public comment is regarding agenda item L.3., "Review the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Results: Similar Districts".

First, thank you trustees for your time and effort helping to increase academic achievement at WJUSD schools and thank you staff for sharing the critical information that you did in the slides for this agenda item.

My name is Beja Springer, I am a parent at Dingle, former Dingle School Site Council Chair, current Dingle PTA President, and 4th year member of Dingle PTA's Education Leadership Committee.  For over 3 years our committee has studied schools with high academic performance that serve majority socio-economically disadvantaged students like Dingle.  Our goal is to get all Dingle scholars to or above grade level within 3-5 years.  This goal is from school-wide parent surveys two years in a row with response rates in the high 70%'s and 80%'s.

Dingle PTA is not ready to provide public comment today on this agenda item, so my comments are my personal feedback.*

The presentation in this agenda item, in my view, quietly sets direction for the district and Dingle and I am concerned.  It specifies a list of school districts, states staff will "engage in dialogue" with them, and then will integrate those findings into our school's educational practices.  My concerns are the following:

1. those districts to not meet Dingle parents' expectations for academic performance

2. schools that do meet Dingle parents' expectations are not in those districts

3. there was no public discussion with our families of the selection of the schools

I asked a retired accreditor from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges Accrediting Commission for Schools how instructional and operational standards are set for a school or school district. He recommended a Board of Trustees create and lead a committee with representatives from district staff, school staff, families, students, and the community to collaborate and decide on expectations.  For example, selecting schools to model, selecting accrediting standards, or similar. 

Particular care is needed to ensure the decisions serve our students.

Therefore, I humbly request the WJUSD BOT to establish a structure for cross-stakeholder decision making that selects model schools, accrediting standards, or similar that defines high expectations and direction for our district and schools.

Thank you.

* Since giving the public comment, the Dingle PTA Educational Leadership Committee supported this message.

To:  Dingle School Site Council 

From:  Beja Springer, 2023-2024 President Dingle Community PTA

When: October 23, 2023

Re: Public Comment to Dingle SSC - WJUSD Board of Trustees Discusses Dingle's State Assessment Results

Hello Dingle School Site Council,

This is a public comment.  Do not reply.  You can email me directly any time.

You might find this video of the Thursday 10/12/23 WJUSD Board of Trustee Meeting useful in your work: https://livestream.com/wjusd/events/10983818/videos/237908100

At tIme 3:51:50 begins discussion of the most recent California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP).  Dingle is discussed, including this trustee comment:

"I don't want to call these low scores anymore, these are crisis scores."

A top priority for Dingle in this year's SPSA is to improve it's data-driven Professional Learning Communities (PLCs).  PLCs, if implemented well, have the highest effect of all interventions on improving student achievement.  We appreciate that you, the Dingle School Site Council, are monitoring PLCs as part of your SPSA work.

Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin suggested the district provide a presentation to explain PLCs to the trustees soon.  I look forward to watching it and I hope it will be useful to you, too.

Thank you to Dingle PTA's Educational Leadership Committee (dingle-pta-academics@googlegroups.com) who found, watched, and followed up on this video.  The committee has been meeting with all trustees as part of it's data-driven advocacy work for Dingle.  

The committee is actively looking for a liaison(s) to you on the Dingle School Site Council for the purpose of building a community-wide shared understanding of education and how to support Dingle best.  If you know anyone interested, ask them to email me or the committee.

Thank you for all that you do to learn, monitor, collaborate on, assess, develop, and approve Dingle's SPSA for school improvement.

Your work on the School Site Council is very important!

With appreciation,

Beja Springer

2023-2024 Dingle "Community" PTA President

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: May 24, 2023

Re: Public Comment on Agenda Item L.1 (Dingle SPSA and Family Engagement for 2023-2024) 

Dear Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

We are pleased to share our Dingle 2023 Parent Survey Results and announce a new Dingle family engagement proposal for 2023-2024.

Due to significantly less SPSA funding available at Dingle next year, which you will see in Dingle's SPSA, there is no funding for parent engagement.  Community members have already begun making financial pledges to support our proposal, budgeted at $12,640.  Thank you community!  And thank you Dingle Principal Valencia for her continued collaboration and support for scholar and family engagement!

Thank you Dingle families, scholars, and teachers!  82% of our families responded to this year's survey.  That's amazing!

The survey results confirmed that Dingle needs "parent and family engagement" to be easier and more effective for our families and scholars.  At the end of the 2021-2022 school year only 20% of Dingle’s students met or exceeded standards in English Language Arts and 9% in Math.  Our scholars need our help. 

Based on parent survey input and research, we're asking Dingle and WJUSD to change family engagement to help more of our scholars.  We have submitted a proposal to Dingle on "Student Goal Setting and Progress Tracking" (a.k.a. "self-reported grades / student expectations"), the second highest intervention after "Teacher Collective Efficacy", that will increase scholar engagement in learning at school and raise student voice within the school-home feedback loop. You can browse the complete survey results.

Survey Highlights

• 82% of our families responded

• 93% of respondents (76% of our families) expect their scholars to continue education after high-school (college, trade school, professional license, etc.)

• 70% of respondents (57% of our families) report that they would ask for help if their child needed help with school

• 51% of respondents (42% of our families) are open to a home visit from educators.

• 70% of our families, if they knew what to do, would spend 5 to 15 minutes daily or weekly reviewing school progress with their scholars

• 67% of our families' scholars read at home every school day

• 57% of our families' scholars practice math facts at home every school day

• 50% of our families' scholars track their academic progress

• Dingle Family Day/Night is the most popular parent engagement event

• 92% of respondents trust teachers most with supporting their scholars at school

Measures for the 2023-2024 Dingle Family Engagement Proposal

The proposal is to get 100% of Dingle scholars setting goals and tracking progress and to get at least 75% of Dingle parents to have daily or weekly "data chats" with their scholars and submit anonymous feedback for use in reporting.

This proposed program would positively affective some of the most popular surveys, rubrics, etc. to measure student engagement:

• California Healthy Kids Surveys (https://bit.ly/3Md024X)  The staff version of the survey includes these questions: “Teachers at this school communicate with parents about what their children are expected to learn in class” and “This school has high expectations for all students, regardless of their race, ethnicity, or nationality.”

• Gallup’s Student Engagement Poll (https://bit.ly/3MpCVp2) This student poll includes “In the last seven days, someone has told me I have done good work at school”, “I have many goals”, and “I can think of many ways to get good grades.”

• Solution Tree’s Professional Learning Team Data-Literacy Survey (https://bit.ly/3Bm4yZN)  This survey includes “Our team has regular conversations about what student mastery looks like”, “Our team has measurable instructional goals for all common lessons”, and “Our team has created systems for engaging students in data collection for self-assessment.”

• Uncommon Schools Data-Driven Instruction Rubric (https://bit.ly/3O7XsiY) In the rubric students “know the end goal, how they did, and what actions to improve.”

With appreciation,

Educational Leadership Committee

Dingle Community PTA

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: May 11, 2023

Re: Public Comment on Agenda Item L.1. Review/Approve Secondary School Plans for Student Achievement (SPSA) for the 2023-2024 Academic Year

Dear Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

This is regarding agenda item L.1. for the regular board meeting today, May 11, 2023.

Thank You

First, thank you staff and trustees for working together to use and publicize metrics on effective teaching and learning practices.

Strongly Support Teacher Collective Efficacy

We strongly support efforts to improve teacher collective efficacy because it is the single most important quality leading to improved student outcomes. John Hattie, internationally renowned education researcher has shown it has an effect size of SDS = 1.57 (updated in 2018). Within WJUSD, we understand this would be called (in whole or in part) data-driven collaborative professional learning communities (PLCs).

We acknowledge that our comments/questions are limited to just the documents provided by the Board Agenda.  Also, we presume these SPSAs were approved by the various School Site Councils.

Questions

1. In the board meeting on April 27, 2023 a staff member made a comment that WJUSD doesn't presently measure the implementation of PLCs.  We also know that some teachers last year created their own staff surveys because none were provided to them.  What would it take to immediately begin using reasonably trusted, third-party rubrics or surveys to measure PLCs (teacher collective efficacy)?

For example: 

• Solution Tree's PLC assessment survey

• Uncommon Schools' instructional leadership rubric (see data-driven sections)

• John Hattie's Teacher Collective Efficacy Survey (page 1, page 2)

2. Teachers and those that support their effectiveness are the most important contributors to WJUSD's student outcomes. However, in the footnote below is a count of the measures included in each proposed SPSAs; no teacher, staff, or teaching related measures have been included in the SPSAs.  What would it take to include 1 to 3 of the most important aggregate measures related to teaching in each school's SPSA?

3. Other than student outcomes, what has WJUSD used to measure teaching this year?  

For example, how many months does it take for teachers to become proficient or exemplary in the most effective teaching practices?  As a comparison, Uncommon Schools has goals at 30 days, 90 days, and 1 year.  Their goal is for teachers to become proficient in all key practices before the end of a teacher's first year.

With appreciation,

Educational Leadership Committee

Dingle Community PTA

## Quick Counts of Measures on Proposed SPSAs ##

Douglass Middle School Proposed:

Goal 1 - 3 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 2 - 8 measures, 7 on student outcomes and 1 parent/family satisfaction

Goal 3 - 5 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 4 - 4 measures, 2 on student outcomes, 1 measure on community partnerships, 1 measure on programs offered

Lee Middle School Proposed:

Goal 1 - 3 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 2 - 8 measures, 7 on student outcomes and 1 parent/family satisfaction

Goal 3 - 5 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 4 - 4 measures, 2 on student outcomes, 1 measure on community partnerships, 1 measure on programs offered

Pioneer High School Proposed:

Goal 1 - 6 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 2 - 8 measures, 7 on student outcomes and 1 parent/family satisfaction

Goal 3 - 6 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 4 - 4 measures, 2 on student outcomes, 1 measure on community partnerships, 1 measure on programs offered

Woodland Senior High School Proposed:

Goal 1 - 5 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 2 - 8 measures, 7 on student outcomes and 1 parent/family satisfaction

Goal 3 - 5 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 4 - 4 measures, 2 on student outcomes, 1 measure on community partnerships, 1 measure on programs offered

Cache Creek High School Proposed:

Goal 1 - 7 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 2 - 8 measures, 7 on student outcomes and 1 parent/family satisfaction

Goal 3 - 9 measures, all on student outcomes

Goal 4 - 10 measures, 8 on student outcomes, 1 measure on community partnerships, 1 measure on programs offered

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: April 27, 2023

Re: Public Comment on Agenda Item G.a. #17, $65K for Teacher Collaboration Training

Dear Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

This is regarding agenda item G.a. #17, which is $65,000 for teacher collaboration training at Douglass and Lee middle schools. 

We strongly support efforts to improve teacher collective efficacy because it is the single most important quality leading to improved student outcomes. John Hattie, internationally renowned education research has shown it has an effective size of SDS = 1.45.

We acknowledge that our comments/questions are limited to just the documents provided by the Board Agenda which includes the resolution and the Quote, we are concerned that the information provided to the Board members does not include any indication of how the success of this initiative will be determined.

We have the following questions.

1. How will the project determine the degree to which teaching methods arising from this effort are being implemented, not just while the funding is in place, but later as well? A robust approach we would urge the project to consider adapting to this project is shown in the following example. 

2. According to the resolution, “Many students enter middle school significantly below grade level and we only have two years with our students to get them ready for the rigor of high school mathematics classes.” Given this, wouldn’t it make more sense financially and from student experience perspective to shift resources to the primary grades, so the problem can be resolved at its source? There are many districts who serve students like ours that don’t have this issue.

3. Principals are traditionally the primary position to support good teaching on an ongoing basis. Does this indicate there is a misalignment of staffing which is inhibiting the full exercise of the principal’s traditional role as a teaching coach?

With appreciation,

Educational Leadership Committee

Dingle Community PTA

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: April 27, 2023

Re: Public Comment on Agenda Item K2. Graduate Profile Update

Dear Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

We are writing in the strongest possible support of Trustee MacDonald’s and Trustee Rodriguez’s request to establish a path to improve the academic performance of our schools with the expectation that students will achieve a 3.0 GPA or higher and meet or exceed all state standards.  This may seem like a “moon-landing” kind of ambition.  It is not!  As discussed below, Goal 3.0 GPA is something other public school systems have already achieved with students from the same socioeconomic position as ours.  The first step in any decisive and bold effort is to believe deeply that its success is possible.  This belief should be easy because other schools like ours are already doing it.  Together, we can do it!  Juntos lo podemos hacer! 

93% of Dingle Parents Expect Scholars to Continue Education Post High-School:  In our recent 2023 parent survey at Dingle, 93% of respondents (76% of Dingle's households) said they expect their scholars to continue education after high-school (college, trade school, professional license, etc.).  This % was consistent across English Language Learners, Dual-Immersion, and Non-Dual-Immersion families.

3.0 GPA (B letter grade) Required for College Admissions:  A scholar must have a 3.0 GPA or higher to be accepted into a regional California State University as a Freshman.  A scholar should aim for a 4.0 GPA or higher and take AP courses to be accepted into a regional University of California campus.

Thank you Trustee MacDonald and Trustee Rodriguez for Expecting 3.0 GPA or Higher A.S.A.P.:  In prior WJUSD Board of Trustees meetings we heard Trustee MacDonald and Trustee Rodriguez express concern about the current academic performance of Woodland scholars, particularly the majority socio-economically disadvantaged population, and asking for a path to improve academics as quickly as possible.  Dingle families fully support these expectations, thank you!

Thank you WJUSD staff and all of those that worked on the Graduate Profile Update:  It looks like a lot of care was put into it.  The profile is aspirational.

Trustees, how would you feel about asking WJUSD staff the following questions?

1. Renowned education researcher John Hattie said the biggest barriers to schools successfully closing the achievement gap are distractions. What does WJUSD staff see as the most effective 1-3 interventions to improve academics and what is preventing (or distracting) WJUSD staff from doing those interventions exceptionally well?

2. S.M.A.R.T. goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely.  For example, one school system that successfully gets its majority socio-economically disadvantaged students to a 3.0 GPA or higher has this as one of their five goals for 2022-2023:  "strengthening leader content knowledge and teacher implementation of phonics instruction."  Which goals will get all of our WJUSD scholars district-wide to a 3.0 GPA or higher a.s.a.p.?

With appreciation,

Educational Leadership Committee

Dingle Community PTA

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: April 5, 2023

Re: Thank you for responding to our public comment on the "Literacy Plan Update and Proposal of Services"

Dear Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

Thank you for responding to our public comment regarding the "Literacy Plan Update and Proposal of Services" presented to the WJUSD Board of Trustees on March 30, 2023.  Here are some special notes of appreciation, too.

Thank you Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin for addressing our specific public comment, for talking about your outreach to educational leaders around the state, and especially for mentioning your strategy for serving all students by focusing on English Learners.  On that last point we hope to hear a continued, robust conversation about how socio-economically disadvantaged scholars, scholars with disabilities, high-achieving scholars, and other specific student groups are best served.

Thank you Executive Director Lambie for your forthright speaking on the state of academic performance in the WJUSD.  It was a great model of the data driven culture that the WJUSD is creating and it gave us hope that we're all looking at the same problems.  Good job.

Thank you Trustee MacDonald for stating an expectation of not reinventing the wheel, for asking for a list of institutions that produce high literacy rates, for requesting known practices about what works, and for seeking results as soon as possible.

Thank you Trustee Rodriguez for stating an expectation of increasing literacy as fast as the WJUSD can and for asking WestEd to physically go out to visit parents during WestEd's community listening work.

On School and District Performance Expectations

We heard some discussion about how models of teaching, school, and district performance are selected.  That would be a great conversation at the WJUSD and with the WJUSD Board of Trustees.  In the meantime, here are a few videos of our top picks.

• a model for serving socio-economically disadvantaged students:

  • PBS documentary on Uncommon Schools

  • Doug Lemov (Uncommon Schools) presentation to Harvard Graduate School of Education

  • CBS Evening News segment on a public school managed by Uncommon Schools

  • Members of our Educational Leadership Committee read the principal, teacher, and principal manager training books written by Uncommon Schools. 

• a model for selecting the most effective interventions:

  • An important video by renowned education researcher John Hattie, author of Visible Learning <-- John Hattie's approach was to rank interventions by their effectiveness (called "effect size") and recommend putting limited resources toward the most effective.  His book Visible Learning helps us understand, appreciate, and use "effect size" on the U.S. Dept of Education's website, "What Works Clearinghouse."

Thank you!

Educational Leadership Committee

Dingle Community PTA

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: March 30, 2023

Re: agenda item "Literacy Plan Update and Proposal of Services" (proposed research by WestEd for $150,000 from May 2023 to December 2024)

Dear Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin, President Villagrana, and Trustees,

First, thank you trustees for seeking clarity on how WJUSD will increase academic achievement and to staff for their time responding to the trustee's question on literacy.

My name is Beja Springer, I am a parent at Dingle, former Dingle School Site Council Chair, and member of Dingle Community PTA's Education Leadership Committee.  For 2 1/2 years our committee has studied schools with high academic performance that serve majority socio-economically disadvantaged students like Dingle.  Our goal is to get all scholars to or above grade level as quickly as possible.

A few days ago we received a request to review the "Literacy Plan Update and Proposal of Services" agenda item for the upcoming March 30, 2023 WJUSD Board of Trustees meeting.  We read the agenda item attachments and provide this feedback using pre-existing knowledge and research. This feedback is not comprehensive.

Concerns: 

1. Unclear problem in WestEd proposal

The PowerPoint presentation lists existing programs in place to improve literacy. The WestEd slides look like a project to create a plan on top of a plan(s).  Or, perhaps WestEd's purpose is to evaluate the existing programs for effectiveness.  It's unclear.

2. Unclear if WJUSD Board of Trustees needs will be met

We didn't hear the original request, so we are wondering if the WJUSD Board of Trustees actually need information the district already has but in a different format.

3. No mention of high-effect interventions or outcomes

The WestEd document did not mention any high-effect interventions, past successes, expectations on academic achievement growth, etc.  The WestEd document referred to LCAP and other practices that the CA State Auditor has found to be ineffective at helping socio-economically disadvantaged or marginalized student populations.

4. Root causes not related to a missing literacy plan

The root cause of long-standing poor district outcomes is not the lack of a literacy plan, but inadequate support and oversight of reform efforts.  This absence leads to structural and systemic barriers to meaningful improvement in student outcomes and continuation of a highly inequitable educational system.  Research points to a proven alternative approach.  They show that the greatest opportunity to eliminate disparities comes from a highly collaborative work environment that focuses on (1) 1-2 high-effect interventions, (2) sustained and robust staff training, and (3) timely and specific feedback based on a week-to-week project plan.  See for example, Leverage Leadership 2.0 by Uncommon Schools and Visual Learning by John Hattie.

Suggestions:

A. Consider forming an outside advisory panel on school/district turnaround

During the past three years we sought advice from educators who had or were part of turning around schools and districts, including a WASC accreditor.  They were incredibly valuable to understanding the problem and guiding how to move forward. 

B. Consider providing examples to staff of the reports that the board needs

The WJUSD Board of Trustees Governance Handbook mentioned lack of information as one its top challenges.  Based on the WestEd proposal and prior reporting conversations, perhaps there is confusion on what is needed.  To build clarity, consider articulating examples of the reports the WJUSD Board of Trustees needs (project plan, trustee dashboard, etc.).  If clarity is already present, then discuss resources needed to provide and sustain it.

C. Consider engaging staff and the community in assessing high-effect interventions at school

There are plenty of resources to assess WJUSD's struggling schools.  At Dingle in 2022 we wrote a report on how staff were creating their own surveys and not using validated third party surveys or rubrics to assess the school for the SPSA.  We called the Yolo County Office of Education who said they could perform surveys and auditing support upon request.   For examples of surveys and rubrics on high-effect interventions, see Leverage Leadership 2.0 by Uncommon Schools and Visual Learning by John Hattie.  Multiple sources recommend these assessments, including school and classroom walkthroughs, be done by teachers, principals, and outsiders (educators from other schools, etc.).

In conclusion, we recommend not approving the WestEd proposal at this time.

Thank you,

Educational Leadership Committee,

Dingle Community PTA

To:  WJUSD Board of Trustees 

From:  Educational Leadership Committee, Dingle Community PTA

When: February 9, 2023

Re: Parent Engagement (Hiring an Instructional Coach to Support Dingle Parents)

Good evening President Villagrana, trustees, and Superintendent Ortega-Lampkin.

My name is Beja Springer, I am a parent at Dingle, former Dingle School Site Council chair, and member of Dingle Community PTA’s Educational Leadership Committee.  Our committee is led by Jim Collins, a semi-retired Dean of Science & Allied Health at Sacramento City College and Vicki Keith, grandparent at Dingle and retired teacher.  I am their chief researcher.

Before I begin, our team wants to thank the CAFE staff and all staff that support parent education programs.  We are lucky to have your support.  Also, thank you to all staff that are working on creating a data driven culture and the new dashboard that was presented recently to LCAP.  We know how significant your work is to helping us focus on the highest impact areas.

Last trimester I learned how, as a parent, I could talk with my son for 10 minutes or less to reinforce highly effective practices at school.  For example, knowing his teacher’s expectations I talked with my son about how he uses his computer-based reading program in class.  It turned out my scholar wasn’t selecting hard enough books and he wasn’t reading; he was using a feature where the computer read the book to him.  I simply told him to select books within or above his reading level and turn off the sound.  Three months later he proudly told me he was reading above his prior reading level.

In collaboration with our CAFE specialist, we learned that the classroom-based parent education programs are reaching 0-5% of our parent population.  With support from our Principal we held pop-up tables over four weeks with 10-minute parent coaching sessions at early-morning school drop-off. We consistently reached 36-40% of the parents that walked by.  Two parents confirmed using the materials at home. We will run a home visit experiment next week.

Given these early successes supported by outside research, and that 86% of Dingle parents said that being at grade level was important or extremely important, and that in 2022 only 20% of Dingle’s scholars met or exceeded proficiency in English, and 9% met or exceeded proficiency in Math, we recommend the WJUSD hire a full-time Parent Coach at Dingle who is experienced both in teaching and learning.  The coach would run pop-up coaching sessions at school during drop-off and pick-up, plus coaching during home visits.

This public comment is one piece from our 2 ½ year and over 1,000 volunteer hour effort to discover how parents can support Dingle’s academic growth.  Our goal is to get all scholars to or above grade level. 

We request an opportunity in April to make a full presentation on this high impact practice and to gift our data, videos, materials, research, and more to the WJUSD.  Thank you.