Capistrano Unified School District

School Information

School Name: Capistrano Unified School District
School Address: 33122 Valle Road          
San Juan Capistrano, CA  92675

School Phone: 949-234-9200
School Fax:
Senior Deputy Superintendent (retired): Austin G. Buffum
email: abuffum@mac.com

Demographics

Number of Students: 51,512
Number Eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: 7,624
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 11.1%
Percent of Special Education:  9%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:
-         White 67.4%
-         Black 1.4%
-         Hispanic 18.2%
-         Asian/Pacific Island 5.4%
-         Other 7.6

Present Student Achievement Data in at least three points to demonstrate trends –

Download Capistrano USD Comprehensive Assessment and Accountability Report 2006-07 at http://www.capousd.org/

SAT 1:Comparison of Composite Scores 2006 (combined scores)  

SAT	Nation	State -CA	CUSD
2006	1518	1520	1647

ACT :Comparison of Composite Scores

ACT	Nation	State-CA	CUSD
2004	21.0	21.6	23.9
2005	20.9	21.4	23.7
2006	21.1	21.6	24.0

Academic Growth of AAA/GATE Students: Math MAP Test Spring 05-06 (Avg RIT point growth)

MAP	Nation /CUSD
Grade 4	9 / 11.5
Grade 5	8.2 / 10
Grade 6	5.6 / 7.0
Grade 7	3.9 / 8.4
Grade 8	1/ 3.8

Academic CORE Level Reprot Summary F 05-06 Two Season Comparison

Scale: RIT out of 250

Math	Nation/ CUSD Fall 2005	Nation/ CUSD Spring 2006
Grade 2	179/ 179	191/ 196
Grade 3	192/ 194	202/ 209
Grade 4	203/ 206	210/ 218
Grade 5	211/ 216	218/ 227
Grade 6	217/ 224	223/ 232
Grade 7	223/ 226	228/ 239
Grade 8	228/ 229	233/ 244

 

LA	Nation/ CUSD Fall 2005	Nation/ CUSD Spring 2006
Grade 2	177/ 180	188/ 195
Grade 3	190/ 194	198/ 204
Grade 4	199/ 203	205/ 210
Grade 5	206/ 211	211/ 216
Grade 6	211/ 215	215/ 221
Grade 7	215/ 220	218/ 224
Grade 8	218/ 224	221/ 229

 

Please present any additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact upon students and/or teachers.

Teacher Quality- In 2006 the typical teacher working in CUSD had 10 years of teaching experience and over half held their master's degree.

CUSD continues to provide professional development and support to new teachers to enhnace the quality of instruction.

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly signficant:

The district’s Academic Performance Index (API) has risen over each of the last 4 years, from 793 in 2003 to 823 in 2006. This kind of growth is unusual for a high-performing district, and speaks to the model of continuous improvement realized when PLC concepts are followed with fidelity. Most importantly, Capistrano Unified is the only large district in the State of California (more than 30,000 students tested) with an API growth score above 800 (and it is well above at 823).

**Capistrano Unified is the only large unified school district statewide with an API above 800

API Growth from 2003-2006 (Scale of 1000)

API	CUSD
2003	791
2004	798
2005	813
2006	823

Please elaborate upon strategies you have found to be effective in any of the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

Through the development of frequent, common, formative assessments, teachers are able to monitor student learning on a timely basis.  In the district’s initial stages of PLC implementation, teams struggled with the development of their own formative assessments. As a result, the district responded with specially-designed staff development embedded into the routine work of school teams in order to help build capacity and improve the quality of the assessments.  Much of this training was delivered by resource teachers. More recently, acknowledging that the development and use of common, formative assessments to monitor student learning was rather uneven throughout the district, Larry Ainsworth was brought in to work with district leaders to continue to build capacity in this vital area.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

At the elementary level, the district has developed two differing approaches to providing timely, systematic interventions for students. Approximately ten elementary schools are utilizing an approach known as Teaming for the Learning of All Children (TLC). Modeled after the EXCEL program developed in Hesperia, CA, scaffold instruction is provided by a team of teachers and instructional aides who “push in” to each grade level for approximately 50 minutes each day. Students receive timely and systematic help on a daily basis, in groups with a student-teacher ratio as small as 3:1.  Another innovative, but very different approach is currently utilized at RH Dana Elementary School, where Principal Dr. Chris Weber has worked with the teachers to develop a “master schedule” consisting of eleven time blocks.  Using a pull-out program, students receive up to four additional “dips” of instruction delivered by the school’s re-purposed instructional aides and reading resource teacher.  The master schedule is used to avoid pulling students out of the classroom at a time when they would miss core instruction. The school has experienced almost 100 points of growth on the API scale over just two years by employing this strategy. Middle and high schools are finding great success with a lunch time “mandatorial” in which all students begin the year with a very limited lunch period followed by a 30-35 minute mandatorial in which they must report to a classroom where they can receive help with their work. After the initial monitoring period (usually six weeks), students who are turning in their homework, dressing out for P.E., earning at least a grade of “C” in all their classes, and who have no infraction of school rules, are released to enjoy a full lunch period outdoors with their friends. This has proven to be a powerful motivator for these teenage students!

For a full explanation of this system of interventions, The Pyramid of Interventions, see Whatever it Takes: How a Professional Learning Community Responds When Kids Don’t Learn by DuFour, DuFour, and Eaker or contact Stevenson High School’s Student Services Department.

3. Building the capacity of teachers to work as members of high performing collaborative teams who focus the efforts of their team on improved learning for students.

One of many strategies the district has employed to build teacher capacity is through a special staff development program entitled “ Leading a Learning Community.” This four part, 45- hour training is organized around the following content:

Session I: Overview of PLCs
            Mission, Vision, Values and Goals
            What’s the big idea? The purpose of collaboration in a PLC
            Who are we leaving behind?
Session 2: Using Data
            Expanding our definition of data
            Strategies for organizing data
            Conducting discussions around data
Session 3: Group Facilitation – Setting up for Success
            Setting the stage – establishing group norms
            Dealing with change
            Running effective meetings
Session 4: Group Facilitation – Getting the Work Done
            Strategies for building consensus
            Ideas for brainstorming
 
Schools are encouraged to enroll at as a team for the series, which seeks to build the capacity of teams to function at a high level, rather than simply being told “go collaborate.”

List any Awards and Recognition Garnered by Your School

Magna Award Winners- PD Academy, Voluntary Drug Testing
Top 100 districts for music education by the American Music Conference
Top Arts Education district in the county by Arts Orange County
2006 California School Board Association Golden Bell Award- wellness and fitness models
US Department of Education New American High School- Aliso Niguel High School
California Distinguished Schools Award- 40 schools have been honored and recognized
National Blue Ribbon Winners – 11 schools in the District have been honored
Golden Bell winners (highly effective and innovative-contact District for more information)

• Learning Link
• Project Compel
• Teaming for the Learning of All Children
• CUSD Safety Program
• PEP Physical Education Program