News
Twin Rivers USD Turns Student Data into Actionable Reteach Plans
Teachers at Foothill Ranch Middle School and Foothill High School recently tackled one of the biggest challenges in education: the race against the clock. A common hurdle for educators is the pressure to cover all curriculum materials within the school year, often leaving them feeling that they simply do not have time to stop and […]
Laying the Foundation for Sustainability
Every year, initiatives are launched in school districts with the aim of improving instruction, but often the changes don’t last. Investing in approaches to improved instruction that are effective and also sustainable must be our top priority. At California Education Partners, our approach to sustainability begins with the recognition that district work is collaborative and […]
Spotlight on Placerville: Building Precision and Rigor through PLCs
As part of the CA Ed Partners P3CC Collaboration, the Placerville School District Team at Schnell is making notable progress in strengthening the math instructional system through a clear, standards-aligned approach. By carefully analyzing how their newly adopted curriculum aligns with the depth and rigor of the California Common Core State Standards, the team is […]
Let Me Count The Ways: The Importance of Early Math
Third-grade proficiency starts in preschool. Districts often don’t realize how far behind some of their students are in math until third grade, when standardized tests kick in. The solution is not to put the best teachers in third grade to get children caught up. The solution is to begin early to make sure they don’t […]
Building Capacity and Coherence in Napa Valley USD
The educators and administrators of Napa Valley Unified School District (NVUSD) embarked on an essential dual mission when they joined the On Track collaboration two years ago: to dramatically expand college readiness by strengthening the A-G pipeline, and simultaneously building an internal system that could learn, adapt, and drive continuous improvement. Their ultimate aspiration was […]
Grades Reinforce Learning as Process, Not Event
When it comes to getting students on track for post-secondary opportunities, it’s important to inspect the role played by our grading practices. How do we actually measure and grade learning? We support teachers to ask questions like ‘Are my grading mechanisms sophisticated enough to capture when a student goes from not understanding to understanding? If […]
Collaboration, Curiosity, and Student Thinking Take Center Stage in Ukiah
The Ukiah PK-3 Coherence Collaboration (P3CC) is leading an exciting shift in how math is taught and experienced across their schools. Their goal is to make math a subject students celebrate and enjoy, where every learner feels confident sharing their reasoning and engaging in meaningful mathematical conversations. This transformation began with teachers’ willingness to try […]
Building Systems for Coherence and Rigor: The On Track Program Journey
One of the big gaps that we see over and over again is that students are not consistently exposed to grade-level appropriate material nor are they expected to perform at grade level. This not only compounds their chances of failure throughout high school, it also dramatically reduces their opportunities after they leave. Students who do […]
From Common Sense to Common Practice
I’ve been working with and in public school districts for a long time, 55 years to be exact, and I get to speak with dozens of superintendents every month. When I can support a district leader in staying focused on student learning, it is the best part of my day. I often find myself saying […]
Modesto City Schools on a Mission
Casey Peterson recognized a concerning trend when he began working in Modesto as an intervention specialist with struggling students. When ninth graders struggled at the beginning of their high school career, their challenges continued and compounded in subsequent years. Now, as a participant in Modesto’s California Education Partners On Track Improvement Team, Peterson has time […]