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106
If, as history points out, school districts have not been the focus of attention
when looking at closing achievement gaps, then a decentralized district would be an
even less likely candidate for focused attention. We suggest as a solution that the
district office become the primary focal point for any district reform, irrespective of
being decentralized. In looking at the powerful contributions of a district office to
the individual success of a site, it becomes evident that providing coherent and
sustainable support with district guidance contributes to the individual success of
school sites.
MacIver and Farley (2003) reviewed literature on the impact of district
support on school achievement. They found that in our current educational system,
schools are in need of an effective intermediary between themselves and the state. In
addition, there was a study that took place over two years, looking at seven states and
twenty-two districts by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE).
Their research found that the district’s role was vital in building a school site’s
capacity, and could highly influence the choices that individual school sites made to
make to improve academic achievement (Massell, 2000).
Cultural Proficiency
As a third solution, we suggest that the district office look at a way of
enabling both individuals and organizations to respond effectively to people who
differ from them culturally. RUSD is implementing research based, effective
teaching practices to enhance Hispanic EL lesson delivery. However, the inquiry
team is recommending aligning these instructional efforts by increasing educators’
Object Description
| Title | An alternative capstone project: A gap analysis inquiry project on the district reform efforts and its impact in narrowing the Hispanic EL achievement gap in Rowland Unified School District |
| Author | Molina-Solis, Lesette Wendy |
| Author email | lwm5995@lausd.net; molinaso@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Education |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Education (Leadership) |
| School | Rossier School of Education |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-01-19 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-04-28 |
| Advisor (committee chair) |
Rueda, Robert S. Marsh, David D. |
| Advisor (committee member) | Escalante, Michael F. |
| Abstract | The purpose of this case study was to conduct a gap analysis for the pervasive underperformance of Hispanic English Learner (EL) students in Rowland Unified School District. This qualitative inquiry project looked at educational practices from elementary through middle school throughout the district and how these aligned to district initiatives for narrowing the gap. Through the use of interviews, observations and surveys, the authors gathered information to develop perceived root causes and then formulate solutions to present to the Superintendent and her executive board.; The process of change, district support and cultural proficiency all contributed to the existing Hispanic EL achievement gap in Rowland Unified. Despite the district’s efforts in addressing the students’ needs via district wide initiatives supported from a grant through the Ball Foundation, high beliefs in collaboration and de-centralized nature of the district, Hispanic EL student needs were not adequately being addressed. In actuality, the fairly recent programs identified to address EL needs had not been fully implemented by all district stakeholders. Although district level personnel demonstrated much support and commitment to addressing EL student needs, the decentralized nature of the district hampered the implementation with fidelity of EL classroom strategies. Lastly, a sufficient percentage of staff members had perceived assumptions about their students’ academic progress. The staff overwhelming demonstrated limited cultural proficiency about their students’ home life, background and knowledge base to adequately aid their students in gaining access to the classroom curriculum. In addition to sustaining and ensuring implementation of research based effective teaching practices for ELs, staff members need to increase their understanding of their students’ cultural background through guidance and increased accountability from the district. |
| Keyword | Hispanic EL; achievement gap; gap analysis |
| Geographic subject | school districts: Rowland Unified School District |
| Geographic subject (county) | Los Angeles |
| Geographic subject (state) | California |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 2001/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3802 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Molina-Solis, Lesette Wendy |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-MolinaSolis-4309 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume14/etd-MolinaSolis-4309.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 113 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 106 If, as history points out, school districts have not been the focus of attention when looking at closing achievement gaps, then a decentralized district would be an even less likely candidate for focused attention. We suggest as a solution that the district office become the primary focal point for any district reform, irrespective of being decentralized. In looking at the powerful contributions of a district office to the individual success of a site, it becomes evident that providing coherent and sustainable support with district guidance contributes to the individual success of school sites. MacIver and Farley (2003) reviewed literature on the impact of district support on school achievement. They found that in our current educational system, schools are in need of an effective intermediary between themselves and the state. In addition, there was a study that took place over two years, looking at seven states and twenty-two districts by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE). Their research found that the district’s role was vital in building a school site’s capacity, and could highly influence the choices that individual school sites made to make to improve academic achievement (Massell, 2000). Cultural Proficiency As a third solution, we suggest that the district office look at a way of enabling both individuals and organizations to respond effectively to people who differ from them culturally. RUSD is implementing research based, effective teaching practices to enhance Hispanic EL lesson delivery. However, the inquiry team is recommending aligning these instructional efforts by increasing educators’ |
