San José Unified School District

Continuous Improvement Day (CI Day)

Día de Mejoramiento Continuo

On August 4th, 170 district administrators gathered at Cisco Systems to hear Superintendent Dr. Matthews deliver the state of the district message.
SJUSD Moving Forward Together

Dr. John Q. Porter, former Deputy Superintendent from Montgomery County Public Schools, was the keynote speaker who showed the data behind how their school system successfully closed the achievement gap and described the systems and structures put in place to accomplish that feat.

Following Dr. Porter’s presentation, Dr. Matthews demonstrated – through trend data focusing on gaps in student outcomes between Hispanic and White students – the urgency we have in SJUSD to close the opportunity gap and the need to move our students further in their knowledge and 21st century skills.

Great synergy could be felt across the room as interdepartmental groups of administrators gathered to discuss the opportunity gap and what skills a SJUSD student, moving through each level within the district, should know and how we would measure those skills.  Below are questions that were discussed, along with various needs and resources identified to close the opportunity gap and have all students be 21st century learners. The district will compile the data from CI Day, Community Meetings and various Feedback Sessions and use them as a guide when we reset the Strategic Plan and develop a criteria of 21st century skills we believe necessary for all SJUSD students to be successful in a global society.

• Which student data had the most impact for you and why?
• From your experience, what is the difference in opportunities for the various student groups in SJUSD?
• In what ways (processes, activities, programs or services) is coordination and alignment of efforts between departments, sites, the district office and unions “Great,” not just “good?”  (“Great” includes getting results.)
• In what process and activities has there been minimal, or lack of, coordination and alignment between and among district office, departments, sites and unions?  (slows or impedes our ability to get to “Great,” i.e. communication)
• What recommendations do you have to improve coordination and alignment between sites and departments and the district office?
• What 21st century skills are needed by SJUSD students today and throughout the 21st century?
• How can we best prepare our students to enter post secondary institutions and/or the world of work with those skills?
• What strategies and approaches do you recommend that we explore, pilot or fully implement to close the achievement gap for all students?
• How can we best involve our community (including employees, parents, and partners) in helping SJUSD students develop 21st century skills?
• What support can we offer each other as we focus our work on closing the achievement gap and 21st century skills?
• What support do we need as we focus our site or department on closing the gap and 21st century skills?

Feedback on 21st Century Skills

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Recommended books by Superintendent Matthews:

Opportunity Gap

• The Global Achievement Gap -Tony Wagner
• Leading for Equity - Stacey M. Childress, Denis P. Doyle & David A. Thomas
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard - Chip Heath & Dan Heath

21st Century Education

• The Flat World and Education - Linda Darling-Hammond
• Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning - Michael Schmoker