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Published on 07/20/1998 All articles from this issue

Fremont high school district gets advice on getting better

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

Schools nationwide could look to the Fremont Union High School District for strategies to increase student achievement. Fremont was among the three California school districts chosen to partner with the Community Training and Assistance Center over the next three years to improve its educational services. The results from the project will be published and distributed to schools nationwide.

The assistance center, a nonprofit organization based in Boston, specializes in school reform and administrative and teacher training.

William Slotnik, executive director of the organization, said he has seen student performance increase 70 percent after working within a school district.

"If there's a problem, districts usually address the symptoms. We train them to address the causes," he said.

During the project, experts from the center will look at factors in the Fremont Union, Campbell Union and Moreland school districts that inhibit or contribute to student learning. They will determine classroom by classroom what is working and what is not, Slotnik said.

The experts will then use this information to guide and train the district staffs on how to implement reform strategies.

Slotnik compares school reform to exercise. "Everyone is in favor of it, but it's hard to make a commitment to do it," he said.

Slotnik said the program comes at a critical time for California schools. He said demographics are changing, making school populations larger and more diverse. He said the state's class size reduction program, which limits 20 students per class, has created a one of the largest teacher-hiring sprees in recent years. He said 50 percent of the teaching staffs are new in many districts. Slotnik said these factors are all key to student performance.

Slotnik said Fremont was chosen to participate in the project for its "willingness to engage in serious and critical assessments of current practices" and its "effort to address the changing demographics and conditions within its schools. Basically, the district is saying business as usual is not acceptable."

Superintendent Joe Hamilton said just because the district is performing well does not mean it can't do better.

"We want to keep getting better," he said.