Dear Superintendent:
On February 17, 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) was signed into law by President Obama. The Act “is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century.” (www.recovery.gov)
Included in the ARRA are important provisions for the public education system: the Act provides approximately $100 billion for education. California is expected to receive nearly $8.0 billion of these funds. One of the four key principles that will guide the distribution of funds is “to improve student achievement through school improvement and reform.” Another is “to invest one-time ARRA funds thoughtfully to minimize the ‘funding cliff’.”
As a leader in California in supporting the sustainable transformation of public schools into learner-centered organizations where all students can achieve at high levels, UCLA School Management Program (SMP) is encouraged by the intent of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It promises to further support the state’s districts and individual schools in their efforts to close the student achievement gap. The funds come with conditions, including the advancement of education reform with a heavy emphasis on, among other things, “improving teacher effectiveness” and “providing better interventions and supports to low-performing schools.”
Over the last fifteen years, UCLA SMP, a non-profit organization in the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, has worked with districts throughout the state to support the sustainable transformation of public schools. Our approach leads schools to address issues of practice, establish connections to professional development, design processes of assessment, and, finally, apply professional learning toward creating and sustaining a school culture of consistent, universal, standards-based student learning. Test scores among those schools that have participated in our programs have shown dramatic increases.