M E M O R A N D U M

TO:  Berkeley High School Governance Council

FROM:  Jim Slemp, Principal

SUBJECT:  Recommendations for Berkeley High School Redesign – Option 2

I want to first of all thank all of you in our community who have expressed your valued opinions regarding our School Redesign Proposals.  These are important issues and I appreciate the varied and thoughtful input and your concerns for Berkeley High School.  This level of commitment is rare and I do not take it for granted.  I especially appreciate the care for all of our students that has been expressed in most of the comments.  I know that our community understands that we must work for the success of all of our students. 

Based on five input forums, attending Berkeley High School Team meetings, discussions at the Board of Director’s meeting and many written email comments, I am convinced that it is wise to revise our proposals to reflect this input.  I am also concerned about financial implications resulting from cuts in State spending.  This memorandum lays out an alternative proposal.   This alternative proposal would be step one as we look toward our future.  Additional program changes may be proposed after we experience these changes and evaluate their effectiveness.  As with the original proposal, this option is based on the following School Governance Council and School Board approved documents:

BHS Small Schools’ Guiding Principles
Berkeley High School WASC School Wide Action Plan
Berkeley High School WASC Midterm Visiting Committee Report
Berkeley High School Smaller Learning Community Grant
City Wide 2020 Action Plan

The overarching goal of all of these documents is to reduce and ultimately eliminate the achievement gap among our students in an increasingly rigorous academic curriculum.
The school has given regular reports to the BUSD Board of Directors and School Governance Council regarding our progress in these efforts.  The school believes that as a result of our successes that we are currently ready to make the systemic change identified in this plan to achieve our goals.  With this purpose in mind, I make the following recommendations:

RECOMMENDATION #1

Goal:  Increased personalization and student support

• Each student will have a choice of seven Small Learning Communities following our current school assignment plan:

• Academic Choice – 900 – 1100 students.  The Academic Choice Advisory Council will create a plan for a house or core system for Academic Choice to break down into smaller groups within Academic Choice  This plan will be approved by the School Governance Council.
• Arts and Humanities Academy – 240 students
• Communication, Arts and Sciences Academy – 240 students
• Community Partnership Academy – 240 students
• Berkeley International High School – 900 – 1100 students.  Currently in a core/house system.  This would continue throughout all grades.
• School of Social Justice and Ecology – 240 students
• A new small school  - to open Fall, 2010.  A design team will be formed in February, 2009 to begin this process. 
• In all Small Learning Communities, the curriculum areas of English, History, Science and Math will be included as a part of the Small Learning Community team as of Fall, 2009.  Math and Science teachers will be assigned to Small Learning Communities following our usual teacher assignment model.
• Students will have access to classes outside of their Small Learning Community through an expanded passport system.  School Governance Council will develop this plan by March, 2009. 
• The World Language, ELL, PE, Fine and Performing Arts, Special  Education and African American Studies Departments will serve all Small Learning Communities utilizing this passport system. 
• Additional small schools may be added as capacity permits.

• The school will implement an advisory program following the attached Berkeley High School Advisory Program Proposal – Option 2.  The advisory program will be implemented in Fall, 2009.  Two years of specific curriculum will be written by April, 2009 with two additional years of curriculum in general outline form for the third and fourth year curriculums.  The year three and four curriculums will be written by October, 2010 following the evaluation of the first year of implementation.

• As a result of the advisory program, the school will implement a modified student schedule using one of the attached models.

RECOMMENDATION #2

Goal:  To implement a professional development program that will focus on instructional improvement to meet achievement and equity goals set by each Small Learning Community and Department, implementation of advisory and the best use of classroom time.  The plan will provide time for long term, sustainable professional development.

• The design of the professional development plan will follow the specific plans outlined in the Berkeley High School Smaller Learning Community Grant.  This plan began implementation in Fall, 2008.  An evaluation of the first year’s progress will be completed in May, 2009.  The results of this evaluation will be used to develop any modifications in the current plan.

• Professional development for the remainder of this current school year will focus on implementation of advisory and the most effective use of classroom instructional time. 

• Beginning Fall, 2009 there will be a late start day 4 times a month.  These late start times will be used in the following manner:

• One late start day a month for curriculum area coordination and planning.
• Two late start days a month for Small Learning Community professional development.  This will initially focus on advisory implementation and teaching in an alternating block schedule. 
• One late start day a month for individual teacher collaboration time based on teacher’s goals.
• All of this professional development will be coordinated by the Professional Development Coordinator. 

• A teacher will continue to be released .2 in the Science and Math curriculum areas to coordinate Science and Math curriculum school wide. 

• Students will be given the opportunity to provide feedback to their teachers and advisors on teacher performance and use of class time.  These teacher evaluations will not be used by administrators in the teacher evaluation process, but will be only for teacher reflection.  A team of teachers will work with Student Leadership to develop this plan by June, 2009.  The plan will be implemented Fall, 2009.

RECOMMENDATION #3

Goal:  The Berkeley High School Graduation Requirements will be changed to meet University of California and California State University Entrance Requirements.  This will be implemented for the Class of 2013.  Current Berkeley High School Graduation Requirements that are in addition to those of the UC/CSU Requirements will remain.  Credits in advisory will be added to the graduation requirements.

RECOMMENDATION #4

Goal:  Create an accountable evaluation program to evaluate the progress of these plans and assess the effect on improving student achievement and eliminating the achievement gap. 

• Berkeley High School will hire an outside evaluator to plan and complete this evaluation.  This evaluation will also be used to meet the requirements of the Smaller Learning Community Grant.

• In addition to other required District and Federal data, each Small Learning Community and department will set one or two equity and learning goals that will also be a part of this evaluation process. 

• The evaluator will report all data and analysis to the Berkeley High School Governance Council and the BUSD Board of Directors. 

• This data will be used in modifying our Smaller Learning Community Grant and the WASC Action Plan as necessary. 

• Additional information regarding this evaluation plan is described in the Smaller Learning Community Grant.