Access and Excellence

By Allene G. Sieling

Every student must have access to challenging courses.

Having said that, I admit that it can be quite a struggle given the disparity of skill levels in language, reading, and math which are brought to us by our ninth grade students. We have many students who come reading below the 5th grade level, while many others are reading at or above the 12th grade level. We do the students no favor by enrolling them in a class where the majority of the students perform either well above or below their grade level.

In concert with state efforts, the district has developed and adopted rigorous standards for English, Social Studies, Math, Science, and English Language Development. Administrators, teachers, and community members worked to develop these standards which were adopted by the board during the 1998-1999 school year. We expect that these standards will help to ensure that students who complete our course offerings will have a high level of competence in the subject matter.

We have added a program called AVID (Advancement Through Individual Determination) which provides a support period for students who wish to perform at or above grade level but whose low skills in math or reading would tend to hold him/her back. We also have other programs (RISE, MESA, and COMPASS) which are designed to help students work on skills while attempting to successfully complete in the assigned class.

Our schools also offer advanced (honors) classes as well as advanced placement classes to those students whose skills and ambition would indicate that they would benefit from the rigorous standards of such classes. Upon completion of the advanced placement classes, the students may take a test which, upon achieving a high score, allows the student college credit for the course.

The district also offers programs in cooperation with the community college district. They are middle college and afternoon college and are an alternate way for students to achieve excellence.