UCLA’s Tyrone Howard addresses board members on ways to avoid racism and stereotypes.

Racism and stereotypes continue to plague LA Unified, and it’s up to leaders to change that, according to a UCLA professor who is holding seminars at some schools.

Tyrone C. Howard, associate dean for equity and inclusion at UCLA’s graduate school of education and information studies, spoke to the Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Equity Committee on Tuesday about how he is helping principals and teachers understand how to identify underlying racism and avoid enforcing stereotypes on their students. He said that initiating this difficult dialogue is among the steps needed to help persistently low-performing students, particularly African-American and poor children.

“Bias is real and discrimination is rampant,” Howard told the committee, made up of four school board members, administrators and representatives of some of the major school unions. “People don’t want to talk about race because it is not the politically correct thing to do. If we don’t talk about race, then we ignore one aspect of who they are as young people.”

He added, “Even teachers of color have biases against students of color. Lots of students feel like they have two strikes against them when they walk into a classroom because they are black or brown and poor and the teacher feels they can’t succeed.”

Every administrator and school board member will receive a copy of Howard’s book “Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in America’s Classrooms,” and some schools will get personal training by Howard, said Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson.

“We have a bold mission, and Tyrone Howard is an esteemed educator,” Gipson said, noting that some of his philosophies about understanding racial complexity “will intimidate some educators.”

Howard held a two-hour session last week with teachers at Cleveland High School in Reseda to discuss stereotypes and where those ideas come from in people’s lives. “It is going through a process of recognizing implicit bias and how we are all affected by it in one shape or form,” Howard said.

He suggested that requiring ethnic studies classes and emphasizing early literacy are also important steps to helping black and Latino students.

Frances Gipson

“We are one of the most racially diverse cities in the world, and we have the momentum and will and need to start having those conversations,” Howard said.

Howard, who grew up in poverty in Compton, said he would not have succeeded unless teachers put aside racial biases and saw his potential.

Howard said the district is moving in the right direction. He pointed out that 42 percent of students are now making a C or better in the A-G classes, twice what it was a decade ago. But he also noted African-American and Latino students make up more than 60 percent of California’s population but less than 25 percent of the UC system. And under-represented minority groups have not experienced substantial increases in college-going rates.

“We have to tell the narratives and promote things that are moving in the right direction on an ongoing basis,” he said. “We have to be frank and honest that African-American students lag seriously behind others and that it continues to happen. We also have to dismantle the belief that poor kids cannot succeed.”

School board President Steve Zimmer praised Howard for his books and as well as for his seminars at Cleveland High. Zimmer recalled a mentor explaining how a school with 98 percent Latino and African-American enrollment and with 90 percent minority teachers can still be considered a “white supremacist school,” and that changed his mindset about “deep and intentional deficit mindset and how pervasive it is.”

Zimmer asked for suggestions of what they could do, saying, “We don’t legislate hearts and minds, but we do set the direction.”

From Tyrone Howard’s presentation.

Howard said, “The issues about race are the big pink elephant in the room.” He said that educators need to understand the trauma that some students face outside the classroom.

“There is an impact of poverty, bullying, displacement, and many do not have the psychological support services they need,” Howard said. “Leadership is key here.” He said some principals don’t know how to deal with the issue with certain teachers.

Howard also said that support workers such as secretaries, nurses and janitors must all be on board to understand racism. “If we could cultivate that approach into the entire school culture there’s a lot of promise in the communities, but there are a lot who have written them off and that has to stop.”

Howard added, “The political craziness that’s going on doesn’t help. But I want to believe that most folks want to see what’s right for our children.”

Board member Richard Vladovic, who chairs the committee, said, “This has been really invigorating and good food for thought. We will move on it.”

“We have a crisis with our youngsters,” board member Richard Vladovic told the district’s chief academic officer.

LA Unified’s chief academic officer came before board members Tuesday with an upbeat-titled report called “Breaking Our Own Records,” but instead of resting on the improvement in overall test scores, the four school board members in attendance grilled her for nearly two hours throwing out terms like “frustrating,” “depressing” and “disappointing” and saying the district is in “crisis” when educating certain segments of the student population.

“I had to say this because it depressed me as an educator and after eight years I was told it was going to get better, and I’ve been assured it will get better,” said board member Richard Vladovic, chairman of the Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Equity Committee that met Tuesday. “I’m most concerned about those children not getting what they deserve, and that is quality education.”

Math scores highlighting groups that need attention.

Board member George McKenna said, “I’m as frustrated as I can possibly be. The data is miserable. Test scores are still almost embarrassingly low. It is continually depressing and disappointing.”

The committee was discussing the list of lowest performing schools and other test score numbers that the district was touting as “breaking our records!”

Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson pointed out that the district’s record 75 percent graduation rate is up from 72 percent last year, and she showed other upward trends in the Smarter Balanced Assessments. She also noted that 265 schools are now participating in the Early Language and Literacy Plan, up from 85 in the 2015-16 school year.

“Some of the scores are record-breaking, but we have not hit the finish line yet,” Gipson said. “Our goal for graduation is 100 percent.”

Gipson tried to paint a positive spin repeating district catchphrases including “A District on the Move” and “All Hands on Deck” used by Superintendent Michelle King. But the four of seven board members on the committee were having none of it. Other members of the committee included representatives of three unions and USC and UCLA.

She pointed again to the increase in students meeting or exceeding English Language Arts standards, to 39 percent, up from 33 percent last year. Math scores rose to 29 percent from 25 percent in 2014-2015.

But then came the board members’ harsh reaction to zero improvement for English learners’ math scores: only 5 percent met standards, and only 4 percent met English standards, up one point. There was no improvement for students with disabilities: 6 percent met math standards two years in a row, and 8 percent met English standards.

Frances Gipson

Gipson said some successes were made through personalization of graduation goals and a dozen different types of interventions. “We are assessing what worked best for students and are accelerating that while eliminating things that did not work best.”

Another new number showed that 42 percent of students received a C grade or better in each of the 15 required A through G courses. Even though students can graduate by getting a D in those classes, Gipson said they want to strive for a C grade or better. California’s public universities require a C or better in those classes.

State math score rankings for the largest school districts in California.

School board President Steve Zimmer said, “I want to ask staff what specific crisis we are addressing? What do we need to see in due time? We need to reflect the urgency to see some positive results in continuing areas of inequity and our failure for public education.”

Zimmer said the board needs to hear “some type of strategy plan and urgency and honest feedback of what we need to do.”

Gipson had staff members from Beyond the Bell, Counseling Services and the Charter Schools Division ready to explain other recent successes in various departments but cut some of the presentations short as the board members asked her questions for nearly two hours.

“This group does represent a sense of urgency,” Gipson responded. “We have taken some bold steps.”

Gipson said she plans to report back with how some of those bold plans are working at school sites.

“We have a crisis with our youngsters and our youngsters need the very best, and if we are paying someone 15 percent more why aren’t they concentrated in schools that need it the most?” asked Vladovic. “There needs to be a concentrated plan. We are in the process of being confronted with a budget crisis that we have never confronted before, and people don’t know that.”

George McKenna and Scott Schmerelson.

Vladovic was particularly concerned with Long Term English Speakers who have scored persistently at 23 percent and never higher. “I feel like we have written them off,” he said.

Board member Scott Schmerelson echoed that, saying, “I’m not concerned about the cracks in the system, but the craters.” He also referred to students continuing from fifth to sixth grades or eighth grade to high school without the appropriate skill sets.

McKenna pointed out that some schools celebrate successes while African-Americans and poor children are still failing. “Is it that these poor children have gangs, or don’t have a momma or a daddy, or there’s no literacy at home? I got all that! So, what are the extreme measures that we should do?”

McKenna pointed to math scores, for example, that showed 18 percent of African-Americans and 23 percent of Latinos exceeding standards while Asians hit 70 percent, Filipinos hit 56 percent and whites were at 57 percent. Economically disadvantaged students scored 23 percent compared to 50 percent for non-economically disadvantaged.

McKenna, the only African-American on the school board, added, “Girls do better than boys and African-American males are at the bottom of the ladder. Am I surprising anyone? Absolutely not! What else can we do? Do we tell them to sing and dance and play baseball?”

McKenna said the district must focus on middle schools because only then “graduation becomes an aspiration rather than an illusion.”

Gipson pointed to working with the community colleges, using block schedules, holding twilight classes, getting grants and creating a director of innovation to review what is working in education. She also said a new dashboard computer program allows teachers to quickly figure out what each student needs to improve on the most.

Gipson said her team “ended some curriculum chaos” by pulling together many different teams and figuring out how to support each other. The district tripled their work in English language development. Gipson said the district saw a large drop in reclassification percentages because of changes in state accountability, and, because the year is from October to October, she said she expects some better numbers in a few weeks.

Zimmer said, “I think we are on the right path, but I want to caution that if we want to eradicate the school readiness gap we have to see the literacy foundation results” and see how early learning initiatives are directly linked to early elementary and math initiatives.

“We need to align the resources with the neediest students,” Gipson said.

One of the committee members, Mojgan Moazzez, principal of Logan Street Elementary School and representing AALA, the principal’s union, praised Gipson and said, “I have personally seen how she works with schools and has allocated resources where it is needed.”

The school board members wanted to see a more precise plan of action to help the lowest-performing students.

“And if we believe in the plan, why not have the plan anchor our approach?” Zimmer asked.

Vladovic added, “We need to see a plan rather than wishes of what we want to do. We need to shore up those youngsters and need a timeline and expected outcomes and what will happen if they are not achieved. We have to make a change.”

“We are doing it now,” Gipson said.

Vladovic continued, “We want to see some real particulars in what you’re doing. I truly believe all kids can learn. It’s our fault, … not theirs. I’m hoping you’ll do it. Let’s not just wait.”

After the meeting, Gipson was asked if the board seemed particularly harsh.

She answered, “We all want better. We have done better. We have a way to go.”

Zimmer asked for a breakdown of how many students are graduating with D grades and in what subjects.

“How many graduate with several D’s? How many of those D’s are in algebra?” asked Zimmer, who said he tries to remain data-driven in his decisions. “I see this and it causes me a lot of stress.”

He also wanted to know if the district is notifying local colleges and universities to let them know that the second-largest school district in the country is hiring academic counselors again.

“We know about the teacher shortage coming up, but I’m worried that we need to be working on hiring academic counselors,” Zimmer said. He pointed out that the district administrators should let the local colleges know of the district’s needs. “If they know we’re hiring, they will graduate them. This is a pretty market-driven system.”

Those academic counselors will also help students with their credit recovery program and push them toward graduation, he noted.

Although some of the academic scores came close to the district’s targeted goals, some were sorely lacking.

Cynthia Lim, the executive director of the Office of Data and Accountability.

For example, every high school student is supposed to have an Individualized Graduation Plan (IGP), but only 59 percent do, said Cynthia Lim, the executive director of the Office of Data and Accountability for LA Unified.

“We had a few glitches in the system,” Lim explained.

At one point Tuesday, Zimmer turned to the new student school board member, Karen Calderon, and asked if she had an Individualized Graduation Plan. No, she didn’t, but she said she has a good relationship with the counselors at her high school.

Also, about 38 percent of the district students taking the college-level Advanced Placement Exams received a 3 or higher, making them eligible to get college credit, Lim said. The target that the district is striving for next year is 40 percent.

“We have some improvement needed there too,” Lim reported.

The school district also wanted at least 48 percent of graduating seniors to pass the A-G class requirements with a C grade or better. They hit 42 percent.

“We have some work to do there,” Lim said. She also pointed out that the school board voted that students could get their high school diploma if they received a D-grade in the A-G classes, but “the goal is still to be college prepared and we want to cap it at a C. We are trying to improve that D to a C.”

Fellow board member Ref Rodriguez echoed some of Zimmer’s concerns and said, “We need to know how we got some of those scores up.” He added, “As far as the Individualized Graduation Plans, we need to do something about that.”

Zimmer pointed out that the district had laid off academic counselors in the past that were supposed to be helping students achieve success in graduating and steer them toward college. He said he fears that not enough academic counselors are graduating from local universities, and the district will suffer.

“We cut so much during the recession in non-roster classroom positions,” Zimmer said. “I know well that USC is only now restarting their counselor education program and we are two to three years out to getting those counselors.”

Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson said the district is working with Title 1 money to help schools that need extra resources. She said the district is also encouraging students to consider a counseling career.

In an interview, Gipson said, “What we’re doing puts a whole new perspective on what credit recovery is.”

She said the district is creating more pathways to accelerate student graduation and encouraging dual enrollment with community colleges. They are also working closely with USC, UCLA, Cal State and schools to share resources and produce the best graduates.

As far as the D grades, Gipson said, “a D-grade is not the goal. The goal is 100 percent graduation and high grades for all students. We will be increasing the rigor and calibrating the work we do in the system.”

Gipson said they want to encourage college-bound students from the early level of schooling. “You can imagine we’re pretty excited about what we’re doing and what can happen in every single grade level.”

She added, “The entire LAUSD family knows it starts in preschool. And we’re mapping those opportunities not just for the seniors who are getting ready to go to community college, but doing some design planning that takes them from preschool and graduation to high school and beyond.”

A meeting of community college presidents and LA Unified officials. (Courtesy: LACCD)

California’s largest coalition of community colleges is finalizing two new programs with the nation’s second-largest school district to give LA Unified students a free year of college tuition and encourage them to enroll in college classes while still in high school.

The details are expected to be announced in September, with the goal of offering the first year of free tuition beginning next fall. The dual enrollment plan could start even earlier.

LA Unified Superintendent Michelle King talked about the first program, Los Angeles College Promise, at the first day of school Tuesday. “We could not be more pleased and excited about this opportunity. Now one of the barriers that inhibit our kids from going onto college is being removed. Our students will be able to have one year of free community college upon graduation. Each student is guaranteed a seat,” she said as she stood beside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti at John C. Fremont High School at Tuesday’s news conference. The mayor said, “For our seniors that are here today, this is our promise to you: When you graduate, (the first year of) community college will be free.”

Some of the 38 LA Unified grads who also received AA degrees at Harbor Teacher Prep Academy. (Courtesy: LAUSD)

The two separate initiatives arose simultaneously for LA Unified and the Los Angeles Community College District, which has nine community colleges.

“This is an opportunity and partnership we are very excited about,” said LA Unified’s Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson. “We are all coming together to show what a city of graduates looks like.”

This past weekend, administrators from the nine Los Angeles community colleges, LA Unified and the mayor’s office met to figure out the details.

“This is really a momentous agreement for education that the rest of the state and nation will look at potentially duplicating,” Ryan M. Cornner, the vice chancellor of Educational Programs and Institutional Effectiveness for the Los Angeles Community College District, said Friday as he was returning from a retreat involving the training for the new plans. “It’s the biggest school district in the state working with the biggest community college district in the state making the pathway easier for higher education for students, and that is pretty meaningful. It is a significant moment in education.”

The two programs in the works are the Los Angeles College Promise and the College and Career Access Pathways, called CCAP.

The Los Angeles College Promise is Garcetti’s localization of the White House’s proposal for tuition-free community college.

“There are other Promise programs in other cities, but not the scope and scale that is going on in Los Angeles,” Cornner said. “There is nothing like it.” Long Beach has a similar program.

The funding is expected to come from private fundraising through the mayor’s office. When asked if wealthy philanthropists active in public education will be participating, Cornner said, “We certainly expect and hope so.”

It’s more than free tuition, though, Cornner said. “Free tuition is what hits the press, but really it is to make sure that students have unfettered access to college that is most meaningful. We want to make sure they stay in school and walk across that college graduation stage. It is a game changer.”

The plans are to start the students graduating in the high school Class of 2017 to begin the free community college courses in the fall of 2017.

The community colleges locally are also working closely on the College and Career Access Pathways program to allow for dual enrollment at LA Unified and in college courses.

“We are the first in the state to take advantage of a new state law passed (Assembly Bill 288) that makes it easier for students to dual enroll,” Cornner said.

LA Unified Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson

Cornner and Chito Cajayon, the former vice chancellor of economic and workforce development, worked with Jesus Angulo, LA Unified’s director of College and Career. Angulo said, “We have been told that we were the first ones who submitted plans to the state office.”

The Memorandum of Understanding between the school district and the community colleges will be on the agenda for approval at both school boards in September. A public hearing will detail the plans for students to enroll in the college-level classes.

For the first year, all the classes will be held on LA Unified school campuses and taught by LACCD teachers. In the future, qualified LA Unified teachers can also teach the courses, and the classes may be held at the nine campuses throughout Los Angeles.

More than 300 classes have already been designated, from American Sign Language to Yoga Skills. The classes are as varied as Forensic Fingerprint Evidence, Auto Body Construction Welding and Repair Fundamentals, Heating and Air Conditioning Theory and Culinary Arts Orientation along with traditional credit courses.

“We want the courses to be as broad as possible and figured out by the principals at the local level by people who know the community,” Cornner said.

At the Promising Practices Forum before school started, Local District South Superintendent Christopher Downing lauded 38 students who graduated with Associate Arts degrees along with high school diplomas at the same time from Harbor Teacher Preparatory Academy. Gipson said that number throughout the district is probably higher.

“We will have more data when we present this all to the board in September,” Gipson said. “Really, this is several partnerships coming together in very thoughtful ways so that we’re strengthening opportunities for students instead of having so many systems that might make it challenging for our youngsters.”

Angulo said, “The dual enrollment with help students find career pathways through Linked Learning and in some places through credit-recovery efforts. This will happen before and after school days as well as during the school day.”

Gipson added, “We want to be known as a city of graduates and make sure everyone knows there’s a place for them.”

Ways to pay for technology, as indicated by the task force.

After studying technology issues for more than a year, an LA Unified task force this week offered their ideas for the district after the botched iPad debacle that was supposed to result in one computer device in every student’s hands.

The price tag would be $311 million for “a 1:1 environment,” providing every student with a tablet or laptop, but the Instructional Technology Initiative Task Force also explained how much the district has already done in a year in their comprehensive report issued Tuesday and presented to the school board.

For example, 749 school sites have had full wireless infrastructure added this year, and 89 Early Educational Center sites will get it by the end of next school year, according to the report. Bandwidth in the district expanded to 119 gigabits, nearly double from a year ago.

More than 160,000 iPads, Chromebooks and Windows devices have been distributed to the schools since 2013.

“We are aware that as soon as we pressed the button to print this out, it is all out of date,” said Frances Gipson, who was put in charge of the task force last year by former Superintendent Ramon Cortines. “The world has changed by the time we do it.”

Superintendent Michelle King praised the more than 50 teachers, principals, parents, students, community computer experts, business people and administrators who were part of the task force and met every Thursday for the past year to work on the instructional technology issues facing the district.

“They met in small groups and large groups and even virtually to see how it can be done and have given us some principal-driven recommendations,” King said.

The task force in action during the Cortines administration.

The task force suggested ways of paying for the plan through bond funds, textbook funds, external partners and leasing devices, as well as having students bring their own devices to school to use for classwork. They also identified problems with the existing computer distribution devices, such as keeping track of them.

The recommendations involve the students being self-directed and the teachers being able to design their own instruction. They suggested avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach and emphasized flexible learning environments and a personalized approach. The recommendations include support for teachers and tools to identify effectiveness so there is consistent learning in all areas of the district.

“I would like to know what we would need to implement this,” said board member Monica Garcia. “What I see is us closing the digital divide that separates our families from others.”

Board President Steve Zimmer suggested the district look at how the devices could be used in the students’ homes. He said he would like to see all students being bilingual and also be able to write code for computers.

Board member Monica Ratliff said she thinks this should get to all the high schools as soon as possible and hopes the training for the teachers would not create too much of an extra burden for them.

The ideas and recommendations will continue to be collected on a free publishing platform called Scalar, said Sophia Mendoza from the task force.

“We knew the minute we printed it, it was out of date because of the rapid nature of technology,” Mendoza said. “This platform allows us to build out the recommendations as they change.”

The superintendent is now reviewing the recommendations and determining how to implement them.

LAUSD Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson

LA Unified increased its official graduation rate to a new high last school year, with 72.2 percent of students receiving a diploma, the district announced this week. The number is a two-point increase over the previous year, which was also a record high.

Since 2009-10, when the state began using four-year cohort rates as the official measuring stick for graduation, LA Unified has increased its rate by 10 percentage points.

“I am very proud of the work we are doing – not only in raising our graduation rates, but in preparing our graduates to enter college or the workforce,” said Superintendent Michelle King in a statement. “Our students, parents, faculty and staff have worked together as a team, and they can take great satisfaction in this accomplishment.”

Graduation rates also were raised to a new high in the state of California, up to 82 percent, the sixth year in a row the rate has climbed, the East Bay Times reported.

The news comes as LA Unified is entering the final few weeks of school under a new raised bar for graduation requirements. The “A though G” series of classes, which if a student passes all with a C will make them eligible for admission info California’s public universities, have presented extra challenges for the district.

In the fall, LA Unified had a projected graduation rate of 54 percent because to many students being unprepared for the new A-G standards. Due to a $15 million credit recovery program that has been hailed as widely successful by district officials but criticized by some education experts, the last projected A-G completion rate calculated by the district was 68 percent — but predicted to potentially top 80 percent.

The district will not be doing any more A-G projections for the rest of the school year, and the preliminary graduation will not be fully calculated until November. Students who complete summer courses will also be eligible to graduate with the class 2016. 

Current efforts by LA Unified in the final few weeks are focused on contacting students shy of credits and getting them enrolled in credit recovery or summer classes. Students are being tracked based on their “tier.” For example, a Tier 1 student is missing one or two classes, a Tier 2 is missing three or four, etc.

“We are focusing on our tiered efforts” said Frances Gipson, LA Unified’s chief academic officer. “Is a student off by one class? Are we monitoring a student who is close to that edge? We have identified steps for each student depending on what tier they are at.”

Gipson also pointed out that since A though G is new this year, as is the credit recovery program, the district is sending officals out into the field to learn what is working.

“We are going out into the filed and meeting with counselors and students and mining those most promising practices thus far. This has ben a pilot program,” Gipson said.

In a May 2 memo from Gipson to King, some schools that are doing interesting credit recovery work was pointed out.

Ana Sanchez, Title III coordinator at the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center.

Teachers were praised at a committee meeting Tuesday by LA Unified’s Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson, honoring this week of celebrating educators, national Teacher Appreciation Week.

“We want to celebrate our teachers, as this is Teacher Appreciation Day, and I want to mark that some of us in this room do not have credentials, but we are all teachers, everybody is. They are all watching us, they are learning from us and we are leading the way. And there may be those of you who may come forward to help us with the future teacher shortage,” Gipson said.

While the meeting was being held downtown, across the country an LA Unified teacher, Daniel Jocz, stood at the White House with President Obama where he was recognized as one of the Teachers of the Year.

Other notable LAUSD educators:
• Anthony Yom: How this math teacher helps kids get perfect scores
• Jan Price: At 71, teacher who feared computers is now an LAUSD tech champion
• Bobby Carr: Chinese educators check out what Alliance charter school does best
• Nancy Se and Jackie Paredes: LA Unified high school puts a focus on computer science and gaming

Gipson introduced several teachers who helped show the Curriculum, Instruction and Educational Equity Committee how they are succeeding in their instruction.

Ana Sanchez was introduced as the Title III coach who trains teachers and helps students with English Learner programs at the Ellen Ochoa Learning Center located in Cudahy.

“She is an immigrant herself and attended seven different schools in LAUSD,” Principal Mara Bommarito said. The school has 1,500 students, about 98 percent Latino, and teachers like Sanchez keep demand for the school high, Bommarito said.

“We do preventive measures and intervening measures,” said Sanchez, who meets with every teacher in the school, often on their conference periods, and goes over the school plan for EL students with the teachers and parents along with the students. Together they focus on development of literacy skills so the students can go on to high school and college.

Adriana Salazar teaches EL students.

“We focus a lot on resiliency,” Sanchez said. “We did model lessons in order for teachers to understand the way in which conversations are specifically taught. I provide daily support and plan weekly with lessons driven by the standards.”

The idea is to integrate students into all the classrooms. Fellow teacher Adriana Salazar has been trained by Sanchez and said, “I grew up as an EL and see myself in these students. I’m excited to see the growth in these students who are growing in confidence and transferring what they are learning to their English and history classes.”

Salazar, who has taught EL classes for three years and often works with the same students year after year, said, “It’s exciting to see that they have the confidence to speak up and not be that student sitting quietly in the back who does not want to be called.”

School board member George McKenna, himself a former math teacher, said to all the teachers at Tuesday’s meeting, “You should all not be ashamed to tout your successes and let people know about the good work you do. There is no more honorable a profession.”

To be labeled “on track” a student need only be enrolled in the required A-G courses, and if these failing grades do not improve to at least a D by the end of the semester, these roughly 6,400 seniors would not be eligible to graduate on time — which would drop the current projected graduation rate from 68 percent to 48 percent.

Frances Gipson, LA Unified’s chief academic officer, said a number of actions have been taken to get extra help and resources to the students who are failing a course, and the district is still hopeful that last year’s record graduation rate of 77 percent will be surpassed.

“We are seeking to exceed last year’s expectations, that is our goal,” Gipson told LA School Report. 

Due in part to a $15 million credit recovery program that has been aggressively implemented this school year, the projected A-G completion rate has risen steadily, up from 54 percent in January and 63 percent in February to now stand at 68 percent. District officials in February predicted LA Unified may graduate 80 percent of its seniors, which would be an all-time record.

Gipson said the extra help being given to seniors failing an A-G course include having counselors meet with the students and letters sent to the student’s parent or guardian. School counselors “have met with all students in the class of 2016 that are currently on-track but received a fail at the 10-week mark to discuss intervention and supports needed to pass and stay on track,” according to an April 18 memo to Superintendent Michelle King from Gipson and Carol Alexander, director of A-G Intervention and Support.

As far as if the 20 percent failing an A-G course was cause for concern, Cynthia Lim, executive director of LA Unified’s Office of Data and Accountability, said that it was hard to determine what the number meant because “this is new. We’ve never had A-G as a graduation requirement before, so this is all new.”

Gipson added that the 20 percent number “is relatively consistent with past patterns we have seen with students in terms of, as you think about your own child or your friend’s children, there are always those who may be getting a D or an F and we need find out why they may be getting a D or an F. Is it because of attendance? Is it because they need extra tutorial support? Are they not turning in assignments? Do they need extra assignments? I think there are multiple pathways we can explore.”

The credit recovery program was enacted by the school board this fiscal year to help offset a potential graduation crisis, as this year is the first time the A-G courses are required for graduation. The courses, if all are passed with a C or better, would make students eligible for acceptance in California’s public universities, although seniors only need to get a D in order to graduate.

Before the credit recovery program began across the district in the fall, the projected graduation rate was 54 percent, a steep decline from last year’s all-time high of 77 percent.

The credit recovery program involves getting seniors not on track to take extra coursework on weekends, after school and during holiday breaks. Many of the courses are online and only require students to demonstrate basic proficiency in the subject, which has caused some to question the academic rigor of the online courses. The district and Gipson have previously defended the academic value of the courses.

Over spring break in late March, the district enacted the “Spring Plus” program at 15 high schools that provided resources and dedicated staff to get students back on track, according to Gipson and Alexander’s memo. The program has continued on Saturdays since spring break and is scheduled to be completed May 28. Attendance has varied depending on the day, but 313 seniors showed up at the 15 high schools on the first Monday of spring break.

According to the April 4 memo, 21,729 seniors are currently on-track to complete their A-G requirements, but 6,428 — or 30 percent — received an F at the 10-week mark. There are 4,746 seniors off-track by one or two courses, 1,455 off-track by three or four courses and 3,878 off-track by five or more courses.

In June, when facing the stark graduation projections due to the coming A-G requirements, the school board lowered the required grades in A-G courses from a C to a D for the class of 2017. (The class of 2016 could always receive D’s for graduation.) The A-G courses, which were first conceived and passed by the board in 2005, are aimed at getting more LA Unified students into California’s public universities. Despite the lowering of the bar, the district has made significant progress since 2005, according to a March 7 memo by Gipson and Alexander that showed 48 percent of all LA Unified high school students are passing their A-G courses with C’s or better.

“This shows tremendous growth since the class of 2005, when only 18 percent graduated meeting the A-G course requirements with a C or better,” the memo stated.

Top-ranked Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies

In the extensive U.S. News & World Report ranking of all the public high schools in the country, LA’s top 10 include four independent charters, three magnets and three traditional schools.

The Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies was the top-ranked LA school and the only LA Unified school in California’s top 20. It was 18th in the state and 138th nationally. The school was just honored last month for exceptional merit and innovation by the Magnet Schools of America.

The magazine evaluated nearly 20,000 public high schools throughout the country and ranked them on several factors, including state test scores, the number of students taking Advanced Placement and college-level courses and overall college readiness.

The rankings showed that 47 LA Unified schools, or 19 percent of all local high schools, rank above the California average.

“These results affirm our commitment to prepare our students for college and careers,” said Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson. “LA Unified is proud of our students, teachers and leaders for their scholarly accomplishments, both locally and nationally. This recognition represents the best of the best.”

LACES Principal Harold Boger pointed out that 90 percent of students at LACES take Advanced Placement classes, and minority enrollment is 72 percent.

“Obviously we are thrilled to get recognized for creating a culture where students are not afraid to challenge themselves by taking AP courses,” he said. “We have made a special effort to eliminate middle school courses that have the effect of tracking students at an early stage of either being AP or non-AP students. In fact all of our students know that they will take AP World History in the 10th grade and that all of their prior courses will have been sufficient preparation to succeed in this course.”

But they may be a victim of their success. Boger added, “On the other hand we are a little concerned that we have done such a great job in developing this AP culture among students that maybe it is time to encourage students to consider taking less AP courses. Presently about 40 percent of our juniors and seniors take four or more AP courses. Even though students continue to find ways to ultimately be successful in these courses, we have noticed that the stress level of some students has increased. This has led us to pay more attention to students’ emotional development as we strive to maintain high academic standards.”

The second-highest ranked LA Unified school is Harbor Teacher Preparation Academy at 196 nationally, and third is the charter school Magnolia Science Academy 2 at 223. Two charter schools, Wallis Annenberg High and Bright Star Secondary Charter Academy, rank 246 and 247 nationally, and fourth and fifth in the LA Unified rankings.

Listed at sixth in the district is the magnet school Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High, at 252 nationally, seventh is Elizabeth Learning Center at 277, and eighth is Downtown Business High at 360.

Rounding out the top 10 locally are the charter school Alliance Gertz-Ressler Richard Merkin 6-12 Complex at 383 and, at 406, the traditional school Foshay Learning Center.

Five Alliance College-Ready Public Schools are in the top 20 California schools in the rankings.

Dan Katzir, Alliance’s CEO, said in a statement, “A record-breaking 14 Alliance high schools were recognized. Six were ranked among the top 10 percent of high schools in Los Angeles County. We are proud to announce that, once again, Alliance schools rank among the best in the nation.”

Green Dot has one school in the top 200 high schools nationally, Animo Leadership Charter High which came in at 168, and six schools in the top 200 charter schools nationally.

KIPP had two schools in California’s top 20, both in Northern California.

Magnolia Public Schools had two schools in California’s top 100 and also had the top charter in LA Unified, Magnolia Science Academy 2 in Van Nuys. It was the 66th highest-ranked charter high school in the nation.

In California, Magnolia Science Academy 2 was ranked 32, and Magnolia Science Academy Reseda was ranked 96.

“We’re proud to once again have our schools recognized as among the best in the state and nation,” said Magnolia CEO Caprice Young. “When our charter schools repeatedly rank high on this list, it’s further validation of Magnolia’s successful track record of ensuring that all students—no matter their socioeconomic, ethnic or cultural background—graduate prepared for college because they’re already succeeding in college-level work in high school.”

For more: Read LA School Report’s in-depth look at one of the top schools, Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet. 

The news of the potentially record-breaking graduation rate came mere weeks after a projection in January showed only 54 percent of seniors were on pace to complete their “A though G” course requirements for graduation. Within a month, the district said that number had jumped to 63 percent and was expected to climb to 80 percent, in large part because of its new $15 million credit recovery program.

While district officials and some board members are saluting the credit recovery program, some academic scholars and institutions are skeptical of online credit recovery programs, saying they are an easy way to boost graduation rates without boosting student learning.

“It looks very fishy,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an editor of Education Next and research fellow at the Hoover Institution. “I think that we all need to be extremely skeptical that [LA Unified] can make that amount of progress in such a short amount of time and have it be meaningful.”

In the credit recovery program, seniors without enough credits to graduate retake classes during free periods, after school, on Saturdays and during the winter break. Many of the courses are online and have either a teacher running the class along with a computer program — known as blended learning — or an all-online course known as virtual learning. One online program in wide use by the district, Edgenuity, has students taking eight five-hour sessions online. If students prove proficiency with the material they receive a “C” grade. A’s and B’s aren’t an option.

LA Unified leaders, including Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson, defended the credit recovery program as academically sound.

“Whether it’s online or any other credit recovery course, it’s the same. It is still an LA Unified teacher working with LA Unified students,” Gipson told a group of reporters on Feb. 23 after she made a presentation to the school board about the credit recovery program. Gipson also said the district had worked with California universities and colleges to make sure the online credit recovery programs are approved by them.

But Petrilli and others question the academic value of online credit recovery courses. A report in September issued by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, or iNACOL, was highly critical.

“This doesn’t come close to passing the smell test,” Petrilli said. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen all across the country urban districts get very excited about credit recovery programs and we have very little confidence that they are maintaining academic standards while catching kids up. It looks like a very rational but dishonest response to accountability systems that are now holding schools and districts accountable for increasing their high school graduation rates.”

A 2012 report by the Center for Public Education pointed to a lack of overall regulation of credit recovery programs, as well as a lack of any full academic study of their effectiveness. The report found that credit recovery “is a highly decentralized, unregulated and under-researched dropout prevention initiative. There is little information on enrollment numbers or effectiveness. So far, credit recovery programs have not been evaluated for rigor or equal access either.”

The report also said the number of district-initiated online learning programs is unknown and “there is no coherent definition emerging among states that cite credit recovery programs in statutes or administrative code.”

With LA Unified set to potentially break its graduation rate by riding the back of its credit recovery program, more critics are taking notice. The Los Angeles Times Editorial Board joined the ranks of the skeptics recently, saying, “Some legitimate questions are now being raised about whether all these students have truly mastered the material that had previously eluded them.”

After Gipson’s progress report on the credit recovery program to the LA Unified school board’s Committee of the Whole on Feb. 23, board members had mostly positive things to say. Only board member Monica Ratliff raised any questions, saying, “Are these credit recovery courses really rigorous A through G courses? How do we know? What’s our evidence? And are we making sure that the ultimate diploma is the same for everyone?”

Petrilli pointed to a lack of outside studies of online credit recovery programs, and that most of the evidence of their effectiveness comes from the companies that make the programs. Edgenuity’s web page, for example, contains many reports highlighting how the program has helped districts around the country boost graduation rates. Petrilli said these online programs are injecting vendors into the setting of academic graduation standards like never before.

“I think there needs to be an external exam, external to the school and external to the vendor that the kid can in fact show that he has mastered algebra II or whatever it is,” Petrilli said. “But when the assessment is embedded in the program, it is the vendor’s own program, and it’s all controlled by the vendor and the district, there is no way to ensure some measure of quality control or academic standards. I think we are further degrading the high school diploma, and we don’t have a good way of knowing if the diploma LAUSD is handing out is going to mean anything.”

Mike Szymanski contributed to this article. 

In fact, the percentage of students maintaining a C or better in college prep or A-G classes has more than doubled in 10 years, according to the latest LA Unified statistics.

In a report presented at a committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson noted that only 18 percent of the students had a C or above in 2005, but in 2015 that number hit 43 percent — a nearly 20 percent jump just from last school year — and this year it is expected to hit 49 percent.

Gipson repeatedly used the phrase “cautious optimism” when discussing the recent numbers with both the school board members and later with LA School Report. She said part of the reason for the new statistics and the optimistic outlook is “an action plan for incredible personalization” that was implemented by new Superintendent Michelle King when she took office last month.

“It was evident from the first week that Michelle King wants all students to be college ready, and that is C or better,” Gipson said. “We want a diploma from LAUSD to mean something. Ms. King has their families’ best interest at heart.”

In her first meeting as superintendent, King let her local district superintendents know that they should all be personally accountable for contacting students who are not on track to graduate. Staff was notified to help students get into credit recovery programs so they can turn F grades into passing grades. Although the district lowered standards so that students can also graduate with D averages in A-G classes, that is not enough for King.

“You can receive a D to graduate, but we are looking toward the C college-ready achievement, and we would be very pleased to look at how we moved the needle for our kids to make them more college ready,” King said.

In the latest statistics, 63 percent of seniors districtwide are on track to graduate, and 17 percent are off by one or two classes, according to Gipson. The remaining 20 percent need to complete three or more courses.

In order to help those students, the district has 138 auxiliary classes and also offers independent study, blended learning, virtual learning and other individualized programs. At the moment, about 700 students are enrolled in Performance Assessment Student Support (PASS) in-class programs at 28 schools, and 330 have participated in the Students Taking Action for Readiness (STAR 17) program that gives extra instruction and testing time for students who need it. Since August, more than 4,000 students have enrolled in after-school classes at 38 high schools with 1,213 semester courses currently completed.

“We would love to move that green bar for those students who are off by one or two classes, and we have cautious optimism,” Gipson said. “Our predictive data is that it is heading in that direction. We have to wait for the grades.”

Frances Gipson, chief academic officer

Last year, the graduation rate was an unprecedented 74 percent, and this year it could be 80 percent if those students lacking one or two classes are helped. Board member Monica Ratliff exclaimed at the committee meeting, “This could be the highest graduation rate ever!”

George McKenna, a board member and chairman of the Committee of the Whole that heard the report, said, “I’m enthusiastically encouraged” and he suggested looking into the “ethnicities and gender data to see what subgroup is not doing well, we need to know that.”

School board president Steve Zimmer said, “It is evident we are changing what we’ve done before, and I want to keep us positive and keep us moving in the right direction.”

Local District Northeast Superintendent Byron Maltez gave a presentation showing how his district is working with students who are lagging behind. He said they have better ways of identifying and targeting the students now and offer unique individual programs. If students can’t make Saturday or after school programs and have trouble while on computer courses at night, Verdugo High School, for example, has hired a teacher available from 7 p.m. to midnight to answer questions. And San Fernando High School arranges counseling support for students who may have social or emotional issues that prevent them from performing well in class.

Ratliff said she wants to make sure that students in the credit recovery program are getting the same kind of education. “We want to make sure that ultimately the diploma is the same for everyone,” she said.

McKenna added, “You can graduate with a D, but we should not encourage students to only get D’s. It doesn’t make you eligible for college and we should continue to push them, that’s very important.”

An LAUSD progress report released this week shows the projected A though G completion rate for the class of 2016 has risen to 63 percent. (Credit: LAUSD)

LA Unified appears to be making significant progress on its projected graduation rate this year through a “very personalized approach,” with a new report stating the district may even surpass last year’s record rate of 74 percent.

A January progress report obtained by LA School Report showed that only 54 percent of seniors were on track to meet their “A though G” course requirements for graduation. That report included all data from the fall semester but did not include any from the district’s $15 million credit recovery program, which began in late fall. But now a new progress report including some data from the credit recovery program shows that 63 percent of seniors are on track to complete their A-G courses.

According to the report released Friday, 17 percent of seniors are missing only one or two courses. With the credit recovery program making progress on getting many of them into the courses they need, “there is optimism,” said LA Unified Chief Academic Officer Frances Gipson.

“These two predictive bands (63 percent + 17 percent) could potentially result in exceeding the 2014-15 graduation rates, with higher expectations. We continue to provide additional pathways through our A-G recovery efforts as we continue an ‘all means all’ performance mindset,” the report states.

Principal Cindy Agopian and teacher Brandee Ramirez (standing) from Tustin

By the end of next week just before winter break begins, 95 LA Unified schools will have been issued computer devices for the year — one for every student, according to Bill Wherritt, the district’s Distribution Project Manager for the Instructional Technology Initiative Task Force.

The remainder of the 103 schools in a pilot program for one-to-one computer technology will get their devices when students return to school in January, he said.

The delay to some schools was caused by extra requirements imposed by the district before distributing the Chromebooks, iPads or laptops.

“We are asking for more planning that the schools have to do before we bring the devices to the school,” Wherritt said at an ITI Task Force meeting yesterday. Schools have to get agreements signed by students and parents and have a tech coordinator in charge of the devices at each school.

So far, three schools opted out of the device distribution: One charter school and one magnet school are planning their own one-to-one computer program, and another charter school decided that technology was not part of its vision, Wherritt said.

The task force is made up of nearly 50 teachers, students, principals and district staff, charged with devising a district-wide technology strategy for improving the use of computers in classroom instructions. It’s run by Frances Gipson, who was recently named as the district’s chief academic officer.

“It is important for us to share best practices and learn from each other and other districts,” said Gipson, who invited technology experts from the Pomona and Tustin school districts to attend yesterday’s meeting.

“I’m not a techie person, but I have the vision,” said principal Cindy Agopian of Hicks Canyon Elementary in Tustin, a school of 950 students who speak 25 different languages. “Principals can’t use the excuse that they are not good at technology, because I am able to do it, and I’m not.”

Agopian credits her success to having 13 tech coaches for the teachers and being very clear about tech plans for integration into the school curriculum.

In LA Unified, meanwhile, technicians will be upgrading about 130,000 Apple devices to the new iOs 9.2 system. Also, more teachers will soon be in Schoology, which Is approved for  a two-year run in the district. Already, more than 1,000 teachers are trained on the new shared digital site and will be helping with training of others.

The task force meetings are held every two weeks and are open to the public.

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But there may be a chance to avoid the sudden drop.

With graduation rates growing steadily over the last four years for which data is available, peaking in 2013-14 at 70 percent, and no major surprises for the class of 2014-15 expected, the class of 2015-16 is facing a true crisis. According to district officials and internal documents obtained by LA School Report, the only real hope to avoid a plunge is successful implementation of new credit recovery programs, which have only just begun in recent months.

The credit recovery programs involve seniors who lack enough credits to graduate taking extra classes offered during free periods, after school, on Saturdays and during the upcoming Thanksgiving and winter breaks. In at least two of LA Unified’s six local districts a large number of seniors have already enrolled.

“It’s our goal make sure every student who is missing course work in 2016 has an opportunity to take a course,” said Christopher Downing, superintendent of Local District South.

How did LA Unified end up heading toward such a dramatic downtown? Essentially, it began in 2005, when the school board passed a resolution raising the bar on graduation requirements. The new requirements, known as A though G, go into effect for the first time for this year’s graduating class and call on students to pass a series of courses that would make them eligible for admission into California’s public universities.

The A-G plan also required all students for the class of 2017 to earn a at least a C grade in each course to graduate. Then in June of this year, the board lowered the standard to a D as an effort to improve graduation rates.

Meanwhile, the district has embarked on two studies for the future. The June resolution called on the superintendent’s office to develop a long-term plan to go into effect for the 2016-2017 school year, leaving the class of 2016 caught in the middle. An A-G task force also produced a comprehensive report last month, but much of it is broader and long term without immediate solutions for the class of 2016 other than credit recovery.

Internal district documents show just how dire the situation may become if the credit recovery programs are not successful: Projections show that in each of the six districts, the A-G completion rate for 2016 would be 50 percent or less.

Superintendent Ramon Cortines noted in an internal memo to the school board that “LAUSD has other graduation requirements, such as service learning, which means the total percentage of students on track to graduate might be lower (than 49 percent).”

In the spring, Cortines restructured the overall district, creating six local districts and giving them greater autonomy in solving problems, including A-G challenges.

“In the spirit of decentralization, the Division of Instruction would like to honor autonomy and innovation by providing each Local District Superintendent with the current A-G data for each school,” reads one document titled Decentralization of the A-G Plan.

Frances Gipson, local superintendent of the East District, agreed that the A-G decentralization plan is one of the first big examples of the new autonomy, and said, “I think you are going to see different models in different areas.”

Downing agreed.

“It is a little bit more (autonomous), and we appreciate the opportunity to have a nuanced approach. Different local districts chose different paths based on their knowledge of the community,” Downing said.

In the South District the plan for credit recovery hinges very strongly on a new online program called Edgenuity. Students will be taking the classes mostly on Saturdays or after school, and it involves either a teacher running the class along with a computer program — known as blended learning — or an all-online course known as virtual learning.

Through eight five-hour sessions, students are tested and quizzed in courses they have already taken but did not pass. If they can prove proficiency they receive a “C” grade.

In the South, 53 percent, or 2,635 students, are currently off course on A-G completion, but Downing said 1,342 seniors out of approximately 1,500 that are missing six or fewer A-G courses have already signed up for Edgenuity. If even half of the 1,500 students successfully complete the programs they need, it would raise the A-G completion rate to 62 percent in the South. If almost all of them did, it would raise it to around 77 percent.

Downing expressed a great deal of optimism that the program would make significant improvements to the 2016 graduation rate.

“I had an opportunity to visit five classrooms this weekend, and the students were truly engaged in the work and excited about this opportunity,” he said.

In the East district, Gipson said Edgenuity is being implemented on a wide scale, but other credit recovery programs are also being used at a high level. Every senior in the district short of an A-G course has been enrolled in some type of credit recovery program that will be beginning within the next few weeks, Gipson said.

With the aggressive credit recovery programs showing so much early success, it does raise one question: Why wasn’t this done before? But that’s a question that spans 10 years, many school board members and several LA Unified superintendents. Gipson, who only was promoted to her role in July, said she didn’t have an answer but is pleased that it is happening now.

“As we are coming out of one of the worst financial times in educational history, as a leader I’m happy it is happening now for kids and we can put the resources behind it make sure it happens for kids,” Gipson said.

Leonel Angulo, principal of Griffin Elementary

*UPDATED

Most of his teachers never checked their school emails. Many of them were “seasoned teachers” who never before touched an iPad. The school’s computer lab was rarely used.

Yet, in the past year, Griffin Avenue Elementary School principal Leonel Angulo managed to inspire teachers and students to use computers in their classrooms, and the school became an Instructional Technology Initiative School, eight of which are serving as technology models for other district schools.

At a recent ITI Task Force meeting, Angulo shared some of his secrets with other principals and teachers on how to overcome fears of technology in teaching. Most of the advice included involving students in the education process, and some of it involved encouraging his teaching staff into using online media.

“A lot of times we don’t always take the time to share a success story, so I wanted this to be shared,” said ITI Task Force chairperson Frances Gipson.

Griffin Elementary is a relatively small school of about 550 students Transitional Kindergarten through fifth grade in Lincoln Heights. Angulo is a second-year principal who grew up in a Title I-eligible Latino family with a single parent, and he was designated “gifted.” He was happy to take over as principal in an 80 percent Latino school with 90 percent Title I-eligible families. A lot was going on at the school, with a new principal coming in, as well as an iPad for every student.

“They were all overwhelmed, and I made it clear not to be afraid of these devices,” Angulo said, holding up his iPad. “I made sure I was seen with it all the time.”

One of the first things he did was establish a Technology Committee at the school, comprised of teachers and ITF consultant Allison Jonas. Students involved in helping with the technology wear sashes, and many of them helped come up with the apps used to help with instruction. They held Digital Citizenship assemblies in both English and Spanish, including parents, and then spent two days distributing the devices to all the students. Teachers were trained to find Common Core exercises for the computers.

Angulo asked teachers to sign up for committees on Google docs and shared with them a link where they could access individual feedback when he visited their classroom. Every staff meeting starts now with a student presentation using the tech devices. The students and teachers also make movies for instruction and about their school activities (including this one).

How did he deal with different comfort levels? “First, it was important to have no problems with the wi-fi and connectivity in the school,” the principal said. “Then, allow the kids to help fix problems and feel free to instruct the teachers and collaborate activities.”

How did special education students fit in? Angulo mixed special ed students with the general population, and even found some autistic students thrive while using the devices. Some of them used different apps than the rest of the students.

Was every bit of instruction using computers? No, Griffin still spends only 30 to 40 percent of teaching time using the technology.

So far, their test scores are not exceeding the rest of the LAUSD school population, nor has everyone embraced the devices, but the principal said things have vastly improved.

Favorite apps and websites at Griffin have included: Typing.com, Padlet, StarFall.com, Ticket to Read, Raz-Kids, Skitch, Animoto, Notability, IXL Math and Common Sense Media.

“We can learn from what schools like this are doing to improve their use of the technology,” Gipson said.

* Corrects description of the Tech Committee, apps used, misspellings and how Google docs were used.

Ray Cortines watches as the ITI Task Force discusses issues.

When 50,000 iPads, laptops and Chromebooks went out to LA Unified students last year, about 1,500 were unaccounted for.

So far this year about 1,000 were recovered and district computer techs now say they expect to recover the remaining 500 devices by sometime next week.

“We’ve been like Sherlock Holmes,” said Bill Wherritt, a Facilities Division official on the Instructional Technology Initiative Task Force who is overseeing the device deployment to the schools. “We can see them online and can deactivate them.”

By the end of next week, he explained, the missing computers will generate a message reading: “Go to see the principal if you want to reactivate your device.” Wherritt said he is confident the district will retrieve them all.

He admitted there was not good inventory taking last year and “a few things could be done better” to account for the distribution of the computer devices given out to the students and teachers. “We have learned, and we don’t want to recreate this situation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wherritt said the district is “in the heat of distributing devices” to 103 pilot schools on schedule to get a device for every student. He said that at the beginning of the year 24 schools had their plans completed and approved to get their devices, and now that number is nearly double, at 47. He said 18 other schools have plans submitted and waiting for approval, and 23 other schools that have been approvaled are awaiting their devices.

It’s a complicated process to get the expected 70,000 computers out this year, but it’s a good sign that 88 of the schools are very close to getting them, Wherritt said.

Already, 11 schools have started the two-to-three days of training and distribution to the students, while 44 other schools will have computers distributed to each student in the next two weeks, Wherritt said. Some delays arise because principals have to be digitally certified, the entire school has to go through digital citizenship training, contracts with every student and parent have to be signed and all the forms have to be in before the devices get handed out.

Bill Wherritt

The tech services teams are aware of issues that occur when a school’s network gets a high traffic volume, especially when they are all downloading applications at the same time and when the wireless system goes down. Sophia Mendoza, the interim director of the Instructional Technology Initiative at LAUSD, said about 80 schools have requested support, and that shows widespread enthusiasm among the principals.

“We have some big, big changes going on with schools in the district,” Mendoza said. Some schools are collaborating with neighboring schools to get their devices faster. Also, Mendoza said the district is accelerating the process for schools to use the iPads at schools that students are already using for state tests.

Schools have to answer two questions to use their devices in the schools, Mendoza said. One is how the school will use the tech tools, and a second asks about the school’s vision for use of the devices.

Linda Del Cueto, chief of Professional Learning and Leadership Development, told the parents, teachers, principals and community experts on the task force that she has compiled some feedback from teachers and students so far about the math books. The schools are working with five publishers who all have online computer components to their materials.

“Teachers want more PD (professional development), and that is a good thing,” Del Cueto said. “And students and teachers both love not having to drag around their textbooks.”

The task force meetings are open to the public, and led by Local District East superintendent Frances Gipson. She outlined a loose agenda for the task force to present district-wide tech proposals to the School Board for approval by May.

The next ITI Task Force meeting is planned for Oct. 8 at the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex.