VUSD targets struggling students over spring break

District officials hope to raise test scores at low-performing schools

By STACY BRANDT - Staff Writer | Wednesday, March 26, 2008 12:11 AM PDT ∞

Bobier Elementary School teacher Natividad Godina leads a special "intercession" class at the campus Monday, during spring break for most of the students at the school. Intercession classes are meant to help raise test scores among struggling students. / WALDO NILO Staff Photographer

VISTA ---- School district officials in Vista said this week that they're hoping that an extra week of classes for some students will help raise scores on the next state standardized tests.

While most of the Vista Unified School District's 23,000 students are enjoying spring break this week, 1,600 are taking half-day English and math classes at eight schools.

The extra week of instruction mostly focuses on students who scored just below passing on assessment tests. Some campuses are also offering classes for other students who teachers feel could benefit from additional instruction.

The hope is to bring students' scores up when they take the state tests next month. Higher scores could help some schools meet state performance goals and escape federal sanctions placed on campuses that repeatedly miss the mark.

"We want to target these kids who are just below proficient and give them that extra boost," said Matt Doyle, assistant principal at Crestview Elementary School. Doyle put together the intercession programs at Crestview and Bobier Elementary School.

Officials said raising scores is especially important at those two schools, which have failed to meet federal testing requirements for the last five years. The schools have faced increasingly severe sanctions, which could force the district to completely restructure them or could lead to the county or state education office taking over the schools.

Nearly 70 students at Bobier got a full two weeks of instruction over the break, while the other seven schools started a week of classes Monday.

"This should really make a difference," Superintendent Joyce Bales said about the classes. "When they take the test, we believe this intercession will give them the ability to put their best foot forward."

The school with the biggest turnout for intercession has been Olive Elementary School, with roughly 400 students attending classes. Teachers at the school held the program over winter break last year, making it the first in the district to hold classes over the short spring and winter breaks.

Doyle said the programs at the other schools were prompted by the success at Olive.

In the intercession program, students get extra help by attending smaller classes focused solely on math and English. Some students are also getting reading help in even smaller groups.

"This will give them that extra leg up and these are the kids that need that," Doyle said.

Vanessa Beltran, a third-grader at Bobier, said she thinks the small class sizes will help her learn more and improve her math skills.

The smaller classes are also a great opportunity for teachers to work more closely with their students, said Gina Spina, who's teaching third grade at Bobier during the break.

"They're definitely getting the attention that they need," she said.

Only a small percentage of the district's students are taking classes over the break this year, but district officials said they hope to start small and expand the program in the future.

"We're hoping this is going to become just a regular part of our process every time we have a break," said Vicki Corea, the district's director of academic achievement, who is overseeing the program. "The whole idea is to keep the education continuous for the kids who are struggling."

Contact staff writer Stacy Brandt at (760) 901-4009 or sbrandt@nctimes.com. Comment at nctimes.com.

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6 comment(s)[-]Go to Top

english teacher wrote on Mar 26, 2008 9:14 AM:Is this an intercession or an intersession? Intercede means to interpose on someone's behalf, mediate, attempt to reconcile differences. An intercession might be a prayer to God on another's behalf. On the other hand,maybe that's just what Vista Unified needs. I think the correct word is intersession. I wonder whose mis-use this is?

makes sense wrote on Mar 26, 2008 5:48 PM:hmmm... imagine that! Smaller class sizes actually help learning. VUSD, are you paying attention? Doesn't this justify keeping K-3 Class Size Reduction??

~~~ wrote on Mar 26, 2008 8:26 PM:My child is attending thi sspring break program and it has been awesome. My daughter is dealing with a learning disability and long breaks don't help her retain information. I like this program quite a bit. She is enjoying the smaller class environment. Tonight as she was reading I could hear the difference. It was as though a light bulb has gone off. I wish they could offer smaller classes all year long.

unbelievable wrote on Mar 26, 2008 8:28 PM:Has anyone else caught on to the real purpose of this intersession? It targets the kids who are closest to being proficient, so that their scores on state tests go up and therefore, improve the Vista school district scores. This intersession does not help those who are really struggling- they are just left behind. So the intersessions purpose is to help VUSD, not the students.

what? wrote on Mar 27, 2008 1:15 PM:If the students' reading is improving, thereby causing their scores to go up, how does that NOT help the students participating? The real way to improve VUSD's scores is to improve those students who fall in the basic to below-basic category, because they're a much larger percentage of the District. To keep classroom size reduction in place would help VUSD's scores go up overall.

Question for Parents wrote on Mar 28, 2008 8:53 PM:If Parents feel class size reduction will help their children to learn, then are these parents willing to spend some of their hard earned money on their own children to get them into smaller classes? If so, then either put your child into a private school, or get together with other parents and arrange with VUSD a special fund to cover the costs of some of the teachers. Currently CA spends more money per student than more than half the states in the US, and yet with class sizes that are near normal as compared to the rest of the US our scores are some of the lowest in the nation. So, when the elected officials in Sacramento find revenues dropping due to the current declining population in CA, and the declining business in CA, they are forced to cut budgets across the board. Unfortunately this means your children are going to suffer some losses at their schools. The current budget shortfall in our education system is such that we could close every state park in CA and still not have enough to cover that shortfall. So, maybe it is time for our local schools to be returned to local control and for local citizens and parents to take a bit of responsibility in ensuring that local funds are used to support our local schools. Why not take some of the 1/2 cent sales tax Vista is now charging and invest it in our local education? There are plenty of other ways too, like local businesses, and wealthy residents donating funds to cover the shortfalls at VUSD. From what they are saying it is no more than about $11M. That could be made up very quickly if a few of our Big names were to get serious about investing in Vista's future.

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