LAUSD REPORTS LITERACY INCREASE.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer Los Angeles schools The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. Superintendent Ruben Zacarias and his top deputies solidified so·lid·i·fy v. so·lid·i·fied, so·lid·i·fy·ing, so·lid·i·fies v.tr. 1. To make solid, compact, or hard. 2. To make strong or united. v.intr. their hold on 6 percent raises Thursday when school officials announced improvements in third-grade literacy. The percentage of students reaching third-grade literacy increased from 35.68 percent in 1996-97 to 37.57 percent last school year. However, two-thirds of all third-graders still are not reading at their grade level. Earlier this week, Zacarias announced a decrease in third-grade literacy. The error occurred when a Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. employee mistakenly misread mis·read tr.v. mis·read , mis·read·ing, mis·reads 1. To read inaccurately. 2. To misinterpret or misunderstand: misread our friendly concern as prying. a column of test data and the district failed to make equivalent comparisons between different versions of Spanish-language standardized test A standardized test is a test administered and scored in a standard manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent" [1] scores from year to year. ``We started an examination of data and did a lot more in-depth review,'' said Roger Rasmussen, an independent analyst for the district. LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) officials began the audit after noting an increase in standardized tests for third-graders but a decrease in the percentage of pupils reaching third-grade literacy. The literacy increase means the district has met six of seven student performance goals ranging from improved test scores, attendance and dropout (1) On magnetic media, a bit that has lost its strength due to a surface defect or recording malfunction. If the bit is in an audio or video file, it might be detected by the error correction circuitry and either corrected or not, but if not, it is often not noticed by the human rates to an increased number of Advanced Placement courses offered at high schools. If the district meets four of the seven goals, Zacarias and his top three deputies are eligible for 6 percent raises. Zacarias earns $178,000 a year. ``It meets qualifications for compensation, and that's just the tip of the iceberg tip of the iceberg n. pl. tips of the iceberg A small evident part or aspect of something largely hidden: afraid that these few reported cases of the disease might only be the tip of the iceberg. ,'' said board member Jeff Horton Jeff Horton, born (date?) in Arlington, Texas, is currently an assistant coach (Special Assistant/Offense) for the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League. He has also been active as an assistant coach at the collegiate level (Minnesota, Nevada, UNLV, Wisconsin) and as a . ``We've never had such a focus on actual measurement of student achievement. That's a big achievement.'' The board is set to vote on the pay raises at its next meeting. Board President Victoria Castro already has indicated that she will approve the pay raises, and board member George Kiriyama seemed ready to follow suit. ``Absolutely,'' Kiriyama said. ``They have achieved their goals. I'd like to see higher percentiles, of course.'' Board member David Tokofsky also expressed disappointment with the low percentage of literate third-graders. He said the superintendent's list of goals doesn't provide enough relevant data to improve student achievement. ``I'm happy that things by and large are improving, but I don't think there's anything here significant at all,'' Tokofsky said, suggesting that the LAUSD work with Rand, a Santa Monica-based think tank, to ``come up with indicators that are much more on track'' with the district's strengths and weaknesses in student achievement. While Zacarias praised the thousands of teachers, administrators, support staffers and students responsible for the district's accomplishments, he acknowledged there is room for improvement. ``It still calls for us to do more to improve district performance,'' he said, noting he wants to focus especially on third-grade reading, an indicator of a student's future academic performance. Zacarias plans to recommend to the board that the district approve three phonics-based reading programs for schools to choose from and require schools in the same geographic area to have the same program, so children who move won't have to learn a new reading system. |
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