How serious is the achievement gap as it relates to Grossmont Union?
The gap problems are clear. English-learners are the lowest-performing sub-group in this district. They represent about 10 percent of the student body. Students with disabilities represent another 11-12 percent and score substantially below where other students in this district score. African-American students, the same thing, not as low as our English-learners but not as high as where we want those students to be. So the gap is a significant issue. Some of our teachers have come up with some very good answers and responses to that, but we need to put them into play systemically. So, item one is going to be the whole issue of reading in our schools. We simply cannot allow kids who are reading two, three, four grades below grade level to continue through the system without a specific targeted intervention. So I’ll be proposing an additional support reading class in all schools. That will be timed with an issue of training teachers to be literacy and reading specialists. English teachers
