New 'coaches' program gets help from a $50,000 grant

Goal is to increase reading achievement

By Steven Raphael

Campbell Union School District received a $50,000 teacher development grant from Pacific Bell on Oct. 12. State Sen. John Vasconcellos, chairman of the Senate education committee, and Assemblyman Jim Cunneen, a member of the Assembly education committee, were on hand at a reception to present the award.

The grant will support a new district program, Campbell Coaches, to increase students' reading achievement by identifying each student's needs.

"It's very hard in a classroom of 30 to meet the needs of the wide diversity of skill levels," Assistant Superintendent Gwennyth Heil said. "We're trying to help teachers."

For the coaches program, the district selected nine "of our best and most dedicated teachers," Heil said, to undergo intensive training. They learn how to best use student data to plan effective literacy programs in grades three through eight.

These coaches then go to each classroom, demonstrating proper teaching techniques for teachers to learn. "So the teachers can see what a good literacy class looks like," Heil said.

Through analysis of student test scores, including the SAT 9 and district-administered tests, students will be grouped according to their specific needs. The district will pay particular attention to vocabulary, comprehension and spelling, Heil said.

The grant money will be used to purchase laptops for the coaches, who will be constantly mobile, so they can access student assessment information. A portion of the money will also purchase reading assessment kits.

Pacific Bell was very impressed by the program, said Leon Beauchman, director of external affairs for the telecommunications giant. The company selected Campbell Coaches as one of four grant recipients from a pool of more than 100 applicants.

Beauchman said the main reason the coaches program stood out was the innovative use of technology to further education. "Being a technology company, naturally we're interested in applications of technology in education," he said.

The company was also impressed by the program's focus on the continual improvement of literacy into the higher grades, Beauchman said.

"I think it would be a model program for other districts to emulate," he said.

The program is especially necessary due to current turnover rates in education. According to Heil, 40 percent of CUSD teachers have less than five years of experience. Furthermore, time and opportunities for staff development have steadily decreased in recent years, and research shows that teachers only implement 10 percent of the information they learn in seminars, according to Heil.

The district hopes Campbell Coaches is the solution to these problems. According to Heil, research shows that teachers implement 90 percent of the coaching they receive when the instruction is given in a classroom.

"With very focused training for each of our teachers, we're going to see an increase in achievement," she said.

Another grant recipient was the Santa Clara County Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program, which is used at CUSD and Campbell Union High School District.

The 20-year-old program targets students who are "in the middle academically" and come from families that are low-income or otherwise disadvantaged, according to Regional Director Andrea Lichter.

These students are enrolled in academic support classes, where they work on study skills, writing, algebra, and college and career exploration. The classes are led by a trained tutor who promotes collaborative discussion among the students.

AVID is extraordinarily successful, Lichter said. Students who participate in the program in middle school enroll in more rigorous classes than their peers in high school, Lichter said.

Furthermore, 93 percent of AVID high school students who were in the program for three years or more go on to college, and 89 percent of those students are still in college two years later.

Currently, there are AVID programs in one CUSD school, Monroe Middle School, and three CUHSD schools--Prospect, Del Mar and Branham high schools.

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