A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Oregon Goals 2000 State Plan - January 1995

Criterion II (continued)

Program Improvement, Accountability and Regular Review

The Annual Oregon Report Card Monitors Overall Progress toward Implementing the State Plan

The implementation of all elements of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century is closely tracked and monitored by the 21st Century Schools Advisory Committee (the Oregon Goals 2000 State Panel) and the State Board. Required by the legislation, an annual report card describes statewide progress toward educational improvement and the condition and performance levels of Oregon school systems in the following areas: student achievement, student participation in programs/ services, school finance, student demographics, staff characteristics, and Oregon's progress toward the National Goals. In September 1992, State Superintendent Norma Paulus issued Oregon's first annual report card to the citizens of the state. The third report card was issued on September 30, 1994.

Goals 2000 Supports System Review

The Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, together with earlier legislation, and the 21st Century Schools Advisory Committee, qualify as "Preexisting State Plans and Panels," respectively under Section 306 (q) of the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. Therefore, Goals 2000 provides Oregon with the opportunity to determine the status of our long-term planning effort and commitment to statewide school improvement. The Oregon Goals 2000 first year application, approved September 30, 1994, proposed a system review in order to:

• assess the current status of the development and implementation of the State Plan, including the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century,

• determine the areas needing improvement to support the further development and implementation of the State Plan at the local district and classroom level and,

• align the State Plan and state standards with the National Goals.

Program Improvement, Accountability and Regular Review

Coherent and Coordinated Strategies

Integrating Strategies to Help All Children Learn to High Standards

In addition to preparing a consolidated state plan under the Improving America's Schools Act, the Oregon Department of Education actively supports a variety of coordination strategies as follows.

Joint Boards Articulation Commission Links all Education Sectors

In July, 1992 the Joint Boards Articulation Commission was formally appointed by the State Boards of Education and the State Board of Higher Education. All education sectors in the state (including private educational institutions) are represented on the commission. The charge to the Commission is to encourage active cooperation and collaboration among sectors and within systems (K-12, community colleges, and four-year colleges and universities). As a result, the Commission, which started its work in Fall 1993, has undertaken studies that enable it to advise the Joint Boards on major intersector policy issues regarding improvement of student access and transfer, curricular development and articulation, standards assessment and student data integration. In addition, these studies will help the Commission establish procedures for the submission, review and approval of all applied academic courses.

Proficiency-based Admission Standards System (PASS) Links K-12 Reform to College and Universities

In January 1994, the Board of Higher Education adopted the proficiencies contained in the Proficiency-based Admission Standards Study (PASS) report as a policy direction for the Oregon State System of Higher Education (OSSHE). These proficiencies will be used to develop new admission procedures that enhance the alignment between high schools implementing the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century and higher education admission. Beginning in 1999, freshman students will be admitted to OSSHE institutions based on their demonstrated proficiency in six content areas (Math, Science, Social Sciences, Foreign Languages, Humanities/Literature, and Fine and Performing Arts) and nine process areas (Reading, Writing, Oral Expression, Critical/Analytic Thinking, Problem Solving, Technology as a Learning Tool, Systems/Integrative Thinking, Teamwork, and Quality Work). After seeking input for revisions, the Board endorsed these proficiencies as the basis for developing the assessments and performance levels necessary to determine proficiency for admission.

Oregon Benchmarks Link Economic Development with Education Reform

As referenced previously in this document, the Oregon Progress Board publishes the Oregon Benchmarks, the work of six steering committees and thousands of Oregon citizens that established a 20-year strategic vision for Oregon. This vision includes the integration of economic development with education reform.

State Level Partners Coordinate Teacher Training and Licensure

The changes realized in Oregon's classrooms through the implementation of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century are changing the type of training required of classroom teachers, the programs through which they are prepared, and the requirements for licensing. At the January 28, 1994 meeting of the Joint Boards it was determined that coordination among the Board of Higher Education, the Board of Education, the Office of Community College Services, the Oregon Department of Education and the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission was required. Ten areas of policy and key questions were defined. Throughout 1994-95, each of these partners working in concert are redesigning the entire system by which Oregon prepares educational professionals.

Integration between the Oregon State Plan and the Use of Goals 2000 Funds

The development of challenging academic content and student performance standards that forms the centerpiece of Goals 2000 also drives the school improvement agenda in Oregon. The first year proposal objectives clearly reflect the Oregon educational community's needs and the intent of Goals 2000 to:

• assess the status of our expansive State improvement plan, through a systems analysis of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, improving and refining where necessary, aligning this plan with national standards and the National Goals; while continuing the work of the 21st Century Schools Advisory Committee, as the representative entity (state panel) which guides the state's improvement process and administers the LEA subgrants;

• award subgrants to consortia of local educational agencies (LEAs) to: implement local improvement plans; collaborate with institutions of higher education, nonprofits, and public and private organizations to improve preservice teacher education programs; support the continuing professional development of educators, school administrators, and related services personnel; and

• integrate technology planning into all elements of our state improvement plan.

In 1987, the Oregon State Legislature enacted the School Improvement and Professional Development Act, which used discretionary grants to develop lighthouse schools throughout the state that would engage in innovation while creating their own solutions to educational problems. Since 1987, approximately half of the school districts in Oregon have participated in this program of local school site innovation.

The Goals 2000 subgrants are bringing additional partners into the process of local school site innovation. Partners from Oregon communities, colleges and universities work with classroom teachers to develop curriculum, assessments and instructional strategies aligned with the Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery (CIM & CAM) and national standards.

Coordinating with the Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act

The Carl Perkins Act requires that all professional technical program areas supported by federal funds fully integrate academic and professional technical education. Each grant recipient is required to have full implementation in place by June, 1994.

In Oregon, applied academic and professional technical courses are a major method for integrating academic and professional technical education. During the 1993-94 school year, approximately 27,000 secondary students or about 37 percent of Oregon's total student population in grades 11 - 12 were enrolled in applied academic courses.

With the encouragement of the Joint Boards of Education (the State Board of Education and the Board of Higher Education), Oregon colleges and universities increasingly recognize that many of these courses meet academic requirements for college admission. The promising collaborative efforts of the Joint Boards continue with meetings three times a year, and monthly meetings of the working committee (3 members of each board and staff).

Oregon's School to Work Opportunities System

The Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century and the companion Workforce Quality Act lay the foundation for a comprehensive School to Work Opportunities System. Oregon is one of eight states recently awarded a School to Work Opportunities Grant to implement this system. In addition, the Oregon Transition Systems Change Grant, in its third year, supports the movement of special needs students into this School to Work Opportunities System.

Specifically, the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century calls for schools to "provide students with the knowledge and skills that will provide the opportunities to succeed in the world of work, as members of families and as citizens of a participatory democracy."

The legislation:

• establishes the Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery, benchmarked to world class standards;

• supports business and community partnerships;

• establishes Site Councils to decentralize decision making at the local level;

• emphasizes the value of workforce preparation as a goal of public education;

• bridges the historic gap between education and workforce development by restructuring Professional Technical (Vocational) Education;

• emphasizes real world applications of learning throughout the system;

• establishes alternative learning environments opportunities; and

• establishes curriculum content that addresses national and world class standards.

Also in 1991, the Workforce Quality Act established the Workforce Quality Council in fifteen regions and required agencies to administer workforce, education and training resources through a coordinated strategy. In 1993, Oregon Legislation created an investment strategy that tied together all elements of K-12 reform with higher education and school to work programs. The alignment of the Certificates of Initial and Advanced Mastery (CIM and CAM) with National Skill Standards and National Standards in content and performance areas ensures a seamless system from pre-kindergarten through the workforce.

Coherent and Coordinated Strategies

[Dropout Strategies]

[Building Local Capacity]