California Continuation Education Association Newsletter:
| Volume: 11 | Number: 2 | Date: February/March 1997 |
I have found that one of the most powerful tools to help people to change behavior or prior conceptions is to acquire a new vocabulary. This process if found in all areas of life. We quickly learn and use new, more politically correct, references when we are on the edge of social change and accommodation. We teach students to focus on their behavior when we teach them that much of what they do, how they feel, and what they value, are choices, not nature. The process of bringing about institutional change involves new terms, vocabulary, and definitions that we are encouraged to master and use. This same process is necessary when we deal with general misconceptions about our schools and students.
I find it very interesting as I talk to people from all parts of the state regarding alternative education, particularly continuation school, and how difficult it is for many people to find an acceptable descriptive term for our schools. A common idea is that somehow an alternative program must be a lesser program than the regular, comprehensive, or real high school. Showing what our students do is not difficult, what expectations we have for behavior and achievement, and how our alternative programs work. What is really difficult to deal with are those words, regular, comprehensive, or real, used to describe the traditional high school. The belief system of many people is that comprehensive is good and by that better than other types of schools. We need to help others understand these terms and to find more accurate descriptions.
The genesis of the word comprehensive comes from the historic development of the secondary school in this country. Early in this century the purpose of secondary education was to prepare able, talented, gifted, and well-endowed students to prepare for exclusive colleges and universities. Most of the general population went to work at the completion of the six or eighth grade. Some students were fortunate to have vocational or work preparation schools available where they could learn a craft or trade. Special Education students were often kept at home or placed in institutions with some very remedial life skills curricula. When it was decided that too many young people were leaving school too early and that they needed more preparation for being able workers, the high school began the transition to the comprehensive high school.
What it is that made these schools comprehensive is that they began to incorporate vocational classes that broaden the base of students' knowledge. With that broader base, the general education curriculum was created for these "worker bees" as they were not included in the college prep track. Later, they included Special Education classes when they decided that these students needed to be in a more unrestricted environment. These additions made our secondary schools comprehensive and not because of an instructional system that was more thorough and inclusive in design and delivery. With the comprehensive high school well established by the middle of this century they mandated a new aspect because there were still too many students dropping out of school. That new aspect was a mandate to seek and serve all students. They required schools to include all students in the system. Throughout this history, the basic foundation blocks of the traditional high school have remained in place. The blocks to which I refer include one-hour classes, six-period day, seat time and Carnegie Unit for credit, departmentalization, and heavy concentration on lecture method in textbook-centered classrooms.
The stresses and strains of including all students gave birth to the continuation high school as we know it today, a school where they might send those students, who do not fit in the traditional high school. In 1964, the legislature provided sanction to the organization of continuation schools and every district in the state developed this option. The popular concept was that these schools were for the students with bad behaviors and drop out students that they were not good places. The expectations set for most district continuation schools were primarily focused on keeping these kids off the street and to build that thing called "self esteem." Requiring fewer credits helped the early schools in this endeavor and they delivered most instruction through "learning packets" and rather systematic rote activities.
Today, continuation schools are as comprehensive in their programs as the regular, comprehensive, or real high schools. Continuation education programs include vocational classes, school to career paths, Special Education students, and all other aspects of the expected high school curriculum and student body. What these schools may lack are a drill team, vocal chorus, CIF athletic teams, and other related student activities that are enhancements for many students. In all other aspects, the expectations for most continuation schools are to produce graduates who have completed the prescribed district curriculum, maintained good grades and attendance in the process, and have accomplished these things in a more individualize manner that elicits high order thinking and performance skills from them.
In summary, we need to help people with appropriate vocabulary when speaking of our schools. Let them know that they are TRADITIONAL high schools and ALTERNATIVE high schools, both of which are COMPREHENSIVE. In addition, be very clear when you explain that alternative high school provides and alternative way to learn, not an alternative to learning. Let them also know that many of our schools have earned recognition as Model Continuation High Schools through a process sanctioned by the California Department of Education. Explain that these schools must meet more than 100 rigorous standards to earn such a distinction. It would be helpful to also let them know that over half of all continuation schools in the state have met the performance and assessment standards of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and are accredited institutions of learning.
Let us dedicate ourselves to right thinking and right action when representing our schools, students, and profession to our colleagues, parents, and public. Enjoy the remainder of the year and I look forward to seeing you at our state conference this May in San Francisco. t
Each year, CCEA assists the
California Department of Education in their efforts to recognize Continuation High School
programs that are truly exemplary. These schools must submit an application to the CDE;
this application must contain verification that the school program meets all of the
sixty-one quality criteria listed with letters of support from staff, a student, a parent
and a community member.
Members of CCEA meet annually in Los Angeles with our field consultant from the CDE, Clara Chapalla, and review the application. Following this all day meeting, committee members take responsibility for coordinating the site visits to each qualifying school. Each site visiting team consists of a leader and another member with experience relating to continuation education. The site visiting team then makes a recommendation to the CDE regarding each school program visited.
This year, applications were mailed out to schools by the CDE in December and must be returned by mid-February. The commit- tee will meet; in late February with the site validation visits to follow in March and early April. The site validation team leader will forward recommendation to the CDE and schools will be notified of their status by the CDE.
School staffs and programs will be officially recognized at the CCEA State Conference (San Francisco) on Sunday, May 4, 1997, during the brunch. Members of CCEA will assist our field consultant, Clara Chapalla with these prestigious recognitions.
Thanks ahead of time to Vic Whitaker, Janet Knoeppel, Marion St. Amant, and Eric Spears for the time they will commit to this very worthwhile program that recognizes some very special schools throughout California. t
District VII held its annual fall
conference on Thursday, October 24th, at Monterey High School in Burbank. Our theme this
year was TAG T.E.A.M. II - which stood for: The Annual Gathering where Together Everyone
Achieves More - second year. At our conference, we highlighted our new purchase of a
badge, label, bumper sticker maker machine that District VII CCEA members may check out
and use at their own sites for fund-raising events or to add class to their events via
professional labels and badges. Name tags were made for all attendees as they registered.
The afternoon activities started with lunch and an opportunity to network or visit the
vendor site. After lunch we broke into break-out sessions and had some outstanding
presentations by our fellow District VII staff members and the CCEA Teacher of the Year,
LaRue LaMar.
CCEA President, Joe Stits, addressed the conference attendees in the closing general assembly. He gave a report of what is happening up and down the state at the continuation level and reminded us that we are "alternative education and not an alternative to education". District VI l's president, Marion St. Amant, recognized our Teacher of the Year, Natalie Davidson, from Temple City Community Learning Center, and presented her with a check for $500 to spend in her classroom. She also recognized our new model schools that were announced at the Spring Conference in Fresno. Our new model schools are: Temple City Community Learning Center, Tracy High School, Frontier High School, Redondo Shores High School, and the renewed recognition of Somerset High School.
The closing activity of the conference was a drawing for some outstanding door prizes. The catch this year was that the winner had to be present to collect the prize.
We sincerely congratulate Pamela Feix and the Monterey High School Staff for their outstanding effort in hosting a highly successful conference. t
November 1, 1996, certificated and classified staff (totaling about 240) from 17
different continuation and/or alternative education schools from throughout District IX
schools attended a day of curriculum-sharing and jobalikes held at Chaparral High School,
1600 N. Cuyamaca Street,
El Cajon.
This was the second of these Curriculum-Sharing, Job-Alikes held at Chaparral where teachers of specific subject areas shared with other teachers of the same discipline areas. They talked about and gave out samples of their lesson plans and class activities and examples of student work. There were also interdisciplinary sessions which grouped science, math, PE, and health teachers together; social science, English, and art teachers together; and industrial technology, business, computer, and career/job prep teachers together to discuss ways in which instruction can and should overlap among subjects. Classified staff met with other classified staff to discuss procedures, methods, and goals. Also special policy and program sessions were open to everyone on the following topics: "Alternative Ed Programs: What they are," "Service to Community," "Title I Sharing, Perks & Problems," and "Community Partnerships." If you are interested in talking with someone who attended, call (619) 448-1401, ext. 21, and we can refer you.
As a classified person with a heavy work load, it was with reluctance that I left my stacks of work to attend the workshops on November I . But, when I joined my colleagues for the job-alike for secretaries in Room 14,1 found I was not alone with those feelings. I found a room full of gals who also have heavy work loads at their various schools, and we enjoyed the opportunity to share frustrations, compare work procedures, discuss solutions, and talk about those at-risk kids we all care about and try to help. I found a breath of fresh air and a sense of renewal in this sharing. In fact, we were enjoying ourselves so much it was difficult to leave the room after the short hour and a half of sharing.
It was even tougher to choose which of the next sessions I would attend. I decided to increase my awareness of what goes on in classrooms, so I headed for an interdisciplinary session on English, Social Science, and Art which had moved from Room 7 to Room 24 because there were so many in attendance. There were about fifty of us. Every teacher in the room was brimming full of energy and enthusiasm about his or her classes and students and school programs. People spoke spontaneously as ideas occurred to them. "I'm sorry to keep interrupting," said one, "but I had another idea..." Every teacher in the room was a leader within that team of educators sharing ideas and finding out about new ways to teach. As a secretary, I frequently speak to students and parents and community members about what is happening in our classrooms; I learned a lot from this session so now I can do this more effectively.
Then, at noon, we went to a barbecue lunch held in the outdoor quad to relax, enjoy the warm sun, and talk about what we'd learned. To top it off, everyone started singing Happy Birthday to me and carried out two big cakes. Can you believe it! What a great day! Thank you, CCEA.
When I accepted a job as Guidance Assistant at Garfield High School, I had never worked in a continuation school before. From the office I heard a lot of good things about CCEA. That year the state conference was held in San Diego at the Holiday Inn at the Embarcadero on the Bay. I joined CCEA so that I could attend the conference. The workshops were interesting, and I especially enjoyed the exchange of ideas among the classified staff. But, the thing that impressed me most was how caring teachers and other staff are throughout the CCEA schools.
For the past ten years I have worked hard to increase membership in District IX. I firmly believe everyone who works in a continuation school should be a member of CCEA. To get the real feel of being a CCEA member, one must attend a state conference. As a classified member and former treasurer of District IX, I have attended many state conference
This year we have more classified members in District IX. Some of our staff feel that membership dues should be lowered. Also, they think that more workshops should be planned for the classified staff at state conferences.
I am proud of the student scholarships we have been able to fund through membership dues. For classified personnel, the staff development day on November 1, 1996, at Chaparral High was a meaningful networking conference. As a classified staff member, it makes me feel good that our legislative consultants are keeping us informed of business that pertains to continuation education. My enthusiasm and "love" for CCEA has never paled. t
Nominations for CCEA state president, vice president, secretary and treasurer are being solicited by the nominating committee. Nomination letters, statements, pictures and other pertinent information must be reviewed by the nominating committee by April 11, 1997. The election will be held at CDR at the state conference in May, 1997, in San Francisco.
To submit a nomination write a statement of nomination and a resume including the following.
· Name, Position, School, Address, Phone
· OFFICE: Which of the four state offices are you being nominated for - President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer.
· EXPERIENCE: Please list all educational and other pertinent experience.
· Statement of why you should be considered for this office.
Please enclose a picture and send application to:
Bill Lincoln · Robertson High School · 4455 Seneca Park Ave. · Fremont, CA · 94539 · (510) 657-5575 t
Peter Birdsall and Nancy Armentrout, Birdsall and Associates
The Governor's proposed budget for 1997-98 contains good news for the California Continuation Education Association (CCEA). For the third year in a row, the governor's proposal includes a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 2.53% for the continuation education revenue limit add-on. This is a dramatic shift in the behavior of the State to include continuation high schools in the COLA formulas.
In 1997-98, the Governor's budget proposal does not contain the language added last year which allocates the COLA for the add-on as a flat dollar amount per continuation high school ADA to all districts, regardless of whether they have an add-on. CCEA will be fighting to have language included in this year's budget which would achieve this result.
Meanwhile, there remains an outstanding issue over whether the 996-97 continuation add-on COLA funds will be allocated to all districts claiming continuation high school ADA or only to those that had a revenue limit add-on. It was CCEA's intent in sponsoring the language to provide funds to all school districts that reported continuation high school ADA in 1995-96, regardless of whether a district previously had a revenue limit add-on for continuation schools. There are some analysts in the Department of Education who interpret the language to apply only to those schools with an add-on. CCEA will continue to work with the Department of Education to clarify that the COLA should be applied to all districts including those without a revenue limit add-on.
Overview
On January 9, Governor Wilson released his proposed budget for 1997-98. It is already clear that, in contrast to several past budgets, the key political debate this year will not center on education. Instead, the focus of attention will be primarily on welfare reform. However, several important issues regarding K-12 education will be considered as the Legislature and Governor work towards enactment of a final budget by early July.
Of importance to CCEA, the Governor has offered the following major proposals.
· Provide funding for enrollment growth and a 2.53% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for revenue limits, special education, child development and class size reduction. It does NOT fund enrollment growth or a COLA for other categoricals, including: school improvement program, SB 1882 staff development, and education technology.
· Honor the 1996-97 budget agreement for the use of additional Proposition 98 revenues- to appropriate 50% of those funds to reduce the revenue limit deficit and 50% to further equalize revenue limit funding. This is the primary reason that one-time funds are not available for discretionary school site block grants that continuation high schools received last year.
· Earmark $50 million in one-time funds for a "Digital High School Initiative.'
NO ONE-TIME BLOCK GRANTS
The Governor's budget proposal did not include proposals to continue either the school district or school site block grants that were approved in the 1996-97 budget. Last year, the Governor proposed $387 million in one-time funds (estimated at approximately $66 per ADA) to be each school site with a CDS (county-district-school) code. Unfortunately, there are no similar proposals this year, The reason is that virtually all the funds available for one-time grants are used pursuant to the 1996 budget agreement for the purposes of revenue limit equalization and revenue limit deficit reduction.
However, there is still hope that some level of discretionary one-time grants may be available. Although the 1996-97 revenues are committed to deficit reduction and equalization, there are some Proposition 98 funds still available from 1995-96 and 1994-95. For example these funds are the source of the Governor's proposed "Digital High School Initiative" (described below). One of the issues before the Legislature will be whether these funds are best earmarked by the state or left to local discretion through onetime block grants Even if this latter approach is eventually adopted, it is clear that the dollar amounts available will be much lower than the 1996 97 one-time block grants.
DIGITAL HIGH SCHOOL INITIATIVE
Once again the budget process begins with fanfare about educational technology. You may recall that last year Governor Wilson proposed $100 million in one-time funding for educational technology. That proposal was eventually rejected by the Legislature and the funding was incorporated in one-time grants to school districts and school sites.
This year the Governor has reduced his proposal to $50 million, but targeted it to high schools under the name of his "Digital High School Initiative." From the description given by the Governor on this issue, the Initiative appears to exclude continuation high schools. However, legislation describing the specifics of this program has not yet been introduced
The Governor's budget briefing materials describe the program as follows.
· A multi-year Governor's Digital High School Initiative with $500 million to he provided over the next four years. A local math requirement raises the Initiative's value to nearly $1 billion to enhance technology in California classrooms, Between 400,000 and 1 million new computers will he added to high schools, depending on each school's technology solution. This innovative incentive program is targeted at students who will soon be entering the workforce, military service or college and will be using computers in those working environments. Specifically, the Initiative will:
· Provide $50 million in first-year funding for grants on a competitive basis for as many as 100 high school campuses to install complete comprehensive educational technology systems within 24 months;
· Distribute funding on a $300 per-ADA (average daily attendance) basis, with smaller schools receiving no less than a specified minimum grant;
· Require a local match including the value of donated Computers and commitments from private industry to enable leverage of the initial state commitment, providing a $1 million total project for the average-sized high school; and
· Include $90 per student per year, split between the state and local match, for maintenance and upgrades once installation has been completed.
It is too early to tell whether the Governor's proposal this year will fare better than his $100 million initiative last year.
This is the first year of the new membership structure in CCEA. As many of you already know, individuals may join as "Professional" members. This membership is still priced at $35.00 and has been upgraded. Professional members receive a new style membership card, their own copy of the state newsletter, a personalized plaque for their home/office, they are entitled to a discount with their state conference registration, and they are guests at a special reception Friday evening at the conference.
Schools are now able to join as a "team" and the price of the school membership is determined by the number of certificated FTE teachers, that are assigned to the school. When a school joins CCEA., everyone who works at the school becomes a member and is entitled to CCEA services. Many schools have joined this year and that enables your state leadership team to represent more continuation professionals when we perform our duties as state officers.
A special thanks goes to those of you who continue to join as professional members even though your school has joined as a team. CCEA needs your support and the leaders of the organization are proud to represent you and your interests as we advance your agenda In Sacramento. Remember, CCEA is the only organization that lobbies for continuation education in California, provides staff development activities, and sponsors recognition programs for students, teachers and schools.
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