students across the developmental spec- trum, from school readiness to readiness for college and career; and a multi-sector approach that involves business, education, community organizations and philanthropy working together toward our common goal. This multi-sector approach was a key fac-
tor in the recent move to build an EDUCARE early learning facility in San Jose. With nearly $4.5 million in seed money raised, we have powerful momentum to build a state- of-the-art facility that will serve children and families in Santa Clara County through this renowned model for early education, which is closely aligned with SJ2020. Sup- porters include the Bounce Learning Net- work, the Buffett Foundation, First 5 Santa Clara County, First 5 California, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. EDUCARE of California at Silicon Valley
will house an early learning center, a profes- sional development institute and a commu- nity Family Resource Center adjacent to an elementary School in southeast San Jose. Committed partners are widespread; they
are local, state and national. The success of the EDUCARE model elsewhere (Chicago, Denver, Miami and Seattle, among others) shows that a proven model can be regener- ated. Especially in these extremely challeng- ing budgetary times, the key is not to rein- vent, but to replicate.
Career tech and STEM a focus Another key component of SJ2020 is ca-
reer technical education – “Creating 21st Century Career Choices for All.” This brings together students, educators and employ- ers to strengthen the relationship between what’s being taught in the classroom and its application in the workplace. With an em- phasis on STEM (science, technology, engi- neering and math), this endeavor integrates academic and technical training to provide students with a pathway to postsecondary education and 21st century careers. “Creating 21st Century Career Choices
for All” is designed to engage students, in- crease attendance and graduation rates, raise grades, and ultimately help close the
achievement gap. To measure our progress in closing the gap, we developed a set of 13 metrics, ranging from readiness for kinder- garten to completion of post-secondary edu- cation. The majority of the metrics are based on measures collected by the California De- partment of Education California Standards Tests; for example, English/language arts and math in the third and fifth grades. We also included measures in high school
graduation rates and graduates eligible to attend the California State University/Uni- versity of California system, and we plan to refine post-graduate tracking measures as well. To view the metrics, as well as other information on SJ2020, visit our website:
www.sccoe.org/sj2020. I think you’ll find a great deal on the website about community and collaboration.
A genuinely collegial spirit We have been highly encouraged by the
enthusiasm demonstrated by our commu- nity partners for SJ2020. We knew well that the culture of Silicon Valley, which is dis- tinctly entrepreneurial, is ideal for breeding innovation, but not necessarily collabo- ration. However, we have found that our partner community-based organizations and entrepreneurs have adopted a genuinely collegial spirit in joining the SJ2020 effort. For instance, United Way Silicon Valley has made reducing the achievement gap one of its three “aspirational goals.” The Cisco Foundation has made working with SJ2020 a criterion for local grant support. In the same spirit, charter schools and
traditional district schools have resolved to work together and learn from one another in this common, mutually beneficial effort. This has been especially gratifying, because in my 40 years in public education, I have found that educators – much like the innova- tors of the Valley – often are good at innovat- ing, but not always so good at collaborating. We are working to overcome that ten-
dency by propagating efforts such as Pro- fessional Learning Communities, in which educators work collaboratively (within a school-wide culture conducive to this) to focus on learning rather than teaching, and utilizing formative assessment results to im- prove student learning.
20 Leadership
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