Cesar E. Chavez High School A School in the Delano Joint Union High School District

How Cesar Chavez Creates Cohesiveness among Staff

• Share a vision of high expectations: The school fosters a “can do” attitude among the administration, teachers and students. With the mantra that if you’re not moving forward you’re moving backwards, complacency in achievement is never allowed—there is always room for improvement.
• Ensure teachers are on a pacing calendar: The Learning Director coordinates efforts with the department chair and assigned resource teachers to ensure communication and fidelity to the curriculum, “Scope and Sequence” (weekly pacing calendar), and Assessment of Core Essential Standards. The Learning Director and resource teachers meet with subject area cohorts once a month to monitor and adjust the curriculum.
• Have a well-defined plan for instructional improvement: Instructional improvement has three main areas of focus at Cesar Chavez: a standards-based curriculum largely focused on the needs of ELs, an assessment system that provides regular feedback to guide future instruction, and an emphasis on quality instruction combined with making maximum use of available classroom time. Department leaders and administrators frequently observe classrooms to ensure quality instructional strategies are being used.

How Cesar Chavez Works to Improve Achievement

• Create an assessment to measure performance in core standards: The Assessment of Core Essential Standards (ACES) is attached to a number of courses, and students must pass it to receive credit for those courses. If students do not pass the assessment, they can go to after-school tutorials for additional help before re-taking the test. ACES is revised each year in various areas to continually strengthen the assessment.
• Provide extra support to struggling students: ELs are placed in two, three, or four periods of English everyday, and teachers constantly receive training on how to move these students forward. Students who are below grade level (not just ELs) are placed in summer school and/or after-school tutorial sessions. In addition, students who do not pass the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) are required to take a seventh period for extra academic instruction.

Cesar Chavez’s Key to Student Achievement:

“Have a vision [for school improvement]. Without a vision, people perish and schools languish.”

—Saul Gonzalez, Principal

How Delano Joint Union High School District Supports Cesar Chavez

• Recognize a need for specialized administrators and teachers: Each school site in Delano Joint Union High School District has a Learning Director, who is an administrator able to focus almost exclusively on student learning. The district also provides resource teachers who have a free period each day to facilitate cohort meetings, collect teacher feedback, and help design curriculum based on data and student needs.
• Provide professional development: The district provides a systematic approach to staff development. CIA (curriculum, instruction, and assessment) Committee meetings are held monthly and are attended by district administrators, site administrators and site English Language Development resource teachers. In addition, the district pays teachers to attend such staff development offerings as Saturday workshops and after-school district-sponsored events.
• Compensate teachers competitively: The district offers competitive salaries, which allows the district to recruit high quality teachers.