I have been working very closely with the Standards Plus program for several years now, first in my role as Assistant Superintendent of San Jose Unified School District and now in my role as the Assistant Superintendent of C & I in Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto, CA. Various colleagues and I conferred when I first arrived in RCSD last year and felt that RCSD needed some focused strategies and some “quick wins” in student achievement for the district. RCSD administrators and teachers needed to begin to believe in their accountability and reform work. Dennis Parker, Charlotte Knox and Michelle Karns advised me to confer with Angela Turner and work to implement the Standards Plus system in the district. After an introductory in-service with the administrators and literacy coordinator of the district, I was able to convince them that the reading and math intervention classes were perfect for piloting this system. We began serious implementation after the Winter Holiday break in January 2010.

This focused effort paid off very well in terms of student performance. Both the curriculum and Standards Plus helped move about 80% of the students in FBB at least one level and beyond. You can see this in our API data. We did not reach AYP in any of the schools but we cracked into the 700 club and hoping to get our first 800 school next year. We actually moved about 20 students out of the intervention curriculum because they moved into the proficiency band. More and more school administrators and teachers watched the progress of the students in intervention classes with great interest. Teachers were learning the grade level standards as they began teaching them through this series of mini-lessons. Teachers were also using the program and trying to refine their standards based approaches. More and more schools in the districts signed on after our test results came in August.

Rosa G. Molina, Assistant Superintendent of C & I

Ravenswood City School District

Advanced learners as well as basic, At-Risk, and ELL have all benefited from Standards Plus. My students’ knowledge and skills have improved due to the daily review of standards this program provides.

Linda Barnett, Language Arts Department Chair

Truman Middle School

As a Special Ed teacher (20 years) in middle school it is hard to find materials that are standards based (remedial) that don’t look watered or dumbed down. Thanks, these lessons are to the point (great for goals and objective review and to fi le material on having met the goal) without too much clutter. I am very pleased with both Math and Language Arts. [It is] easy to use and that is really important.

T. Cornwell, Teacher

Eastside Union High

Eastside Union High School District

Since many schools are seeing an increase in the number of math skill deficient students, the Standards Plus program supports the development of much needed mathematics skills.

Dave Fischer, Mathematics Teacher

Fontana USD

I have observed dramatic increases in student achievement using this supplemental program. After a recent district trimester assessment, my students selected Standards Plus as the most common factor that contributed to passing the exam.

Dr. Tyronne Dennett, Ph.D., Dept Chair

Truman Middle School

The middle school and high school teachers demanded it. They said ‘it’s the first thing we’ve seen that’s made sense.’

Michelle Karns, Consultant

I can say that we are very pleased with the results and our teachers are very eager to implement the focal standards we have purchased for both our After School Intervention programs and our Summer School. We serve approximately 1,500 students in our ASP programs during the school year and approximately 1,000 for Summer School.

Roberto Serrato, Coordinator of Ed. Options

Ceres USD

I believe Standards Plus makes a big difference in filling in the skills that student’s have missed and the lessons are building blocks in both LA & Math.

Helen Herd, Principal

Shasta Lake School

Gateway USD

A fast way to review and reteach what was touched upon in previous grades.  My Benchmark scores have gone up because of Standards Plus.

Andreea Jeffries, Teacher

Desert Springs Middle School

Palm Springs Unified School District

Standards Plus has been working for us in a very positive way.  I get good feedback from our teachers on the ease of use and our benchmark assessment results are showing improvement over past years.

Jeffrey Hunt, Director of Curriculum and Instruction

Carter G. Woodson Charter School

Agape Corporation - Fresno

Standards Plus provides quick, user-friendly review of the essential standards and feedback is immediate.  This program is an excellent supplement to any ELA and math curriculum that gives students a chance for practice and review.  The program takes students through each concept one step at a time and allows for group practice.  Kids especially love them because they are basic enough for them to feel successful and confident; it has easily become part of our daily routine.  Plus the dvd is very helpful for students to see work.

Tammie Monroy, Assistant Principal

La Quinta Middle School

Desert Sands USD

Standards Plus creates not only accountability for grade level standards but also takes into consideration students attention span. I have seen a direct line between improved achievement and the use of Standards Plus. The lessons become routine and students easily engage in the short, 10 – 12 minute lessons.

Andy Stenson, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction

Lucia Mar USD

I have been discussing our strategies for improvement with San Mateo COE and letting them know how we have used SP as one of the successful improvement strategies in most of the district’s classrooms.

Maria Molina, Assistant Superintendent

Ravenswood City SD