IMPROVING K-12 SCHOOLS IN LOS ANGELES: HIGHLIGHTS, 2005-2012

Los Angeles Unified School District Funding, partnerships, and resources

Since 1996, voter-approved bond initiatives have brought in nearly $20 billion, allowing LAUSD to build 129 new schools and complete 65 school addition projects. This program is the largest public works project ever undertaken in the US after the nation’s highway system.

Quality options

• Since 2005, LAUSD schools have improved in a number of areas:

o Parents now have more high quality school options. The number of charter schools has tripled, with a nine-fold increase in high-performing charters (800+ API). There has also been a proliferation of locally-empowered school models, including pilot schools, the Expanded School Based Management Model (ESBMM) and Local Initiative Schools (LIS).

o Through network partners, NCLB restructuring authority, Public School Choice (which fostered innovative instruction) and other focused school improvement efforts, 164 schools have undergone aggressive turnaround efforts.

o The number of LAUSD schools meeting the state academic performance goal (800 API) has more than doubled, while low-scoring schools (below 650 API) have been reduced from one in three to less than one in ten.

o LAUSD’s API has grown 96 points, rising from 649 to 745.

o Through the construction of new schools, 224 (of 227) schools have been relieved of overcrowding and returned to a two-semester calendar, gaining up to 17 additional days of instruction.

o The percentage of students proficient and advanced in ELA has risen from 27% in 2005 to 48% in 2012 (78% rate of increase) and in math from 29% in 2005 to 45% in 2012 (a 55% rate of increase).

o The percentage of 10th graders passing the high school exit exam (CAHSEE) on their first try has increased from 50% to 67%.

o LAUSD third grade reading proficiency has increased to 43% in 2012, almost double the 2005 rate of 22%.

o The four-year cohort graduation rate has climbed from 48% in 2008 to 64% in 2012.

o The number of instructional days lost to suspensions plummeted 65% since 2007-08, from 75,000 to 26,000. Among African American and Latino students, the number has been reduced by two-thirds.

Empowerment and accountability

• LAUSD-UTLA approved a new contract that allows for charter-like flexibilities at every school and empowers teachers to lead the effort to improve schools.

• In the SY 12-13 every school site administrator in the district (over 1,000) and over 1,000 teachers are participating in the evaluation pilot system.

IMPROVING K-12 SCHOOLS IN LOS ANGELES: HIGHLIGHTS, 2005-2012

Partnership for Los Angeles Schools Founded by Mayor Villaraigosa in 2008, the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools is a collaboration between the City of Los Angeles and LAUSD to turn around LA’s lowest performing schools. It is the largest public school turnaround project in the nation, serving nearly 16,000 students across 22 schools in the city’s poorest communities.

• In 2012, the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools was number one in the State in terms of API growth, relative to all districts serving 3500 or more students. The Partnership's API score grew by 34 points, outpacing both LAUSD, which grew by 16 points, and the state, which grew by 10 points.

• In 2012, Jordan had the highest API increase (93 points) of any high school in LAUSD. The highest of any medium or large high school in the state.

• Over the past four years, Partnership schools have shown improvements in a number of areas:

o API scores have increased 84 points.

o Attendance rates have increased from 91% to 93%. Suspension rates have decreased from 12% to 7%.

o High school exit exam pass rates for 10th graders have increased from 40% to 57%, faster than the rate of increase for LAUSD.

o Graduation rates have increased from 36% to 50% at the Partnership’s original schools (excludes Jordan). With Jordan, graduation rates have increased from 36% to 46%.

• The Partnership has prioritized family and community engagement, enabling over 25,000 instances of parent and community participation since 2009. o Opened Parent College in all Partnership neighborhoods. Over 1,400 parents have participated to date.

o Established Family Action Teams at all Partnership campuses and refurbished most parent centers.

• The Partnership has piloted and exported innovations now implemented throughout LAUSD: o Reed v. California protects 44,000 students at 45 schools from disproportionate teacher layoffs

annually.

o LAUSD rolled out the school report card at all schools.

o LAUSD began testing all second graders students for the Gifted and Talented Program.

o LAUSD implemented Apex online credit recovery, allowing students who fail classes to recover credit and get back on track to graduate.

o LAUSD implemented MyData, a data system providing information on student progress to education staff in order to monitor student performance and intervene when students fall behind.

o LAUSD expanded the per pupil funding model to other schools beyond the Partnership.

o LAUSD created a Family Summit modeled after Parent College, launched a Parent Compact; set aside $20 million to upgrade parent centers; adopted the family action team model.

• The Partnership has raised more than $72 million and has partnered with over 85 organizations to support key initiatives.