September 2000 News Archive

Friday, September 22, 2000

National Merit Semifinalists

The 2001 National Merit Scholarship Program’s Semifinalists have been announced. Nationally, 16,000 Semifinalists were selected from a field of almost 1.2 million students in more than 20,000 U.S. high schools who took the 1999 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. In order to advance to Finalist standing, Semifinalists are required to have an outstanding high school academic record, be endorsed and recommended by their school principal, and submit SAT scores that confirm their PSAT performance.

According to Public Information Director Elaine Detweiler of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, "Fewer than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors were named Semifinalists." The Semifinalists are seniors who will continue in the competition for some 7,900 Merit Scholarship awards. Only those students who advance to Finalist standing will be eligible for the awards. This year, the Merit Scholarship awards are expected to total more than $31 million. The awards will be announced in the spring.

Local Semifinalists are:

Dos Pueblos High School

• Aurora Burd
• Daniel Cohen
• Andy Lin
• Carol Simpson
• James Wilson
• Mark Woolley

San Marcos High School

• Jason Finney

Santa Barbara High School

• Matt Barbabella
• Aron Bothman
• Samuel Cross
• Katelyn Gamson
• Jevon Heath
• Samara Weiss
• Caitlyn Wilson

Wednesday, September 20, 2000

Harding Elementary Leads the Way in Level I Technology Proficiency

Technology is changing, and so is "Team Harding." From databases to e-mail, technology is a hot topic at Harding Elementary School, and for good reason. All 26 regular education classroom teachers, as well as the principal, head secretary, clerk, librarian, and resource teacher, completed training that certified them as Level I Technology Proficient. Harding now has the distinction of being the first elementary school in Santa Barbara County to receive Level I Technology Proficiency Certification through the Santa Barbara County Education Office. This accomplishment was also unique for another reason, the certification was accomplished on a voluntary basis. At 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 21, 2000, Harding’s teachers and staff will celebrate their achievement when they receive certificates from Steve Hillery, Santa Barbara County Education Office’s Education Technology Coordinator.

Level I proficiency is demonstrated by the use and maintenance of a personal workstation; use of a word processing application to create and edit a document, save it for future retrieval, and print it; use of desktop publishing, graphics, or other classroom productivity tools; ability to successfully use a grade program, spreadsheet, or database to assist with classroom record keeping; use of proper file management techniques to save information on a network, hard drive, zip/external drive, and floppy disk; use of appropriate printing procedures; use of display media such as an overhead projector, VCR, laser/video disc player, etc.; ability to access the Internet and use a search tool to locate information; ability to send and reply to e-mail messages.

Principal Marlyn Nicolas noted, "With an average of three computers in each classroom, plus our top-notch computer lab, it is very important that our teachers be proficient in computer technology. Our next step is to continue training so that we reach Level II proficiency."

The Technology Certification program is a state-wide initiative to train teachers to utilize technology in education. Level I and II proficiencies are now required of teaching-credential candidates and applicants for state technology grants. According to Education Technology Coordinator Steve Hillery, "I am most impressed that Harding School voluntarily certified its entire staff for Level I, Basic Technology Proficiency. The program sets high standards for teachers, administrators, and staff. It must be noted that an important outcome of this process is that Harding’s students will benefit from technology-aided instruction delivered by teachers who are proficient with technology use. My heartiest congratulations go out to the entire staff of Harding School."

Harding Elementary School is located at 1625 Robbins Street, Santa Barbara.

Wednesday, September 13, 2000

What Should Students Know and Do? When Should They Learn It?

The Santa Barbara Elementary District has just released its content standards brochure for the 2000-2001 school year. The brochure, printed in English and in Spanish, includes language arts, reading, and mathematics standards for grades 1 through 6. The standards, an academic blueprint, outline what students should know by the end of each school year. The brochure, which includes key content standards, is based on standards established by the California Board of Education and adopted by the Santa Barbara Elementary School District Board of Education. In addition, each classroom has an 11"x17" grade-appropriate standards poster on display. Complete sets of the six different posters – one poster per grade level – are on view in each elementary school’s office and/or library.

While this is the second year that a content standards brochure has been produced and disseminated to parents and community members, the brochure reflects a larger dialogue within the District about ways to improve the delivery of educational services. In 1995-1996, discussion began at the District level when administrators, teachers, and parents from each elementary grade level met to discuss content standards. That dialogue was taking place locally and at the State level. In December 1997, the State Board of Education adopted mathematics and language arts content standards. Ten months later, the State adopted the history/social science and science standards. [The Santa Barbara School Districts’ Board of Education adopted those State standards in the summer of 1999.]

During the summer of 1997, the Districts’ expanded their systemic alignment efforts to include a more comprehensive, Districtwide assessment plan. During the 1997-1998 school year, the Elementary District began the process of filling in assessments to measure the content standards not addressed in the Stanford 9, the State-required standardized assessment for reading, language arts, and mathematics.

In the spring of 1999, a parent survey was conducted in the Elementary and High School Districts that included questions aimed at determining parent awareness of academic expectations for their student (e.g., "[At my child’s school] There are high academic standards for all students," "I understand the school’s learning goals for my child," "I am aware of the skills my child needs to learn by the end of this school year").

By the beginning of school year 1999-2000, multiple strategies were in place to communicate information about academic expectations:

• the Elementary District’s first key content standards brochure, which included an assessment plan for each grade level, was distributed to parents and displayed on the Districts’ Web site;
• a grade-appropriate content standards poster was placed in each classroom and complete sets were mounted in school entryways;
• Monitoring Student Achievement, a 30-minute video, available in English and Spanish, was prepared to help parents understand the Stanford 9 reporting system and the test’s relationship to the content standards;
• the student report cards were tailored to reflect the content standards.

In the days ahead, as parents visit District elementary school campuses for Back-To-School Night, they will be provided with the revised 2000-2001 key content standards brochures so that they are aware of what students should know and do and when they should be learning it.

Thus far, junior high, middle school, and high school students and their families have not had a content standards brochure that outlines academic expectations. That is about to change. Content standards in the areas of mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies are currently in production. Those standards, for students in grades 7 through 12, will soon be available at all District secondary schools, the Office of Special Projects and Communication (963-4338).