Oversight, coaching top targets for reform

Mercury News 5/6/07

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared 2008 the Year of Education Reform. That shouldn't stop the Legislature in its tracks this year, however.

Two bills dealing with the training and development of school administrators are pending. Both should be approved to jump-start bigger efforts.

Program oversight.

In response to scathing critiques of education leadership programs, the state group that oversees administrative credentialing programs is revising its accreditation process to add rigor to credentialing programs. Currently, schools like San Jose State University and Santa Clara University must base their administrator training programs on national standards, but the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing hasn't held them accountable for results.

That would change under AB1415. A school's accreditation would be based in part on the success of those who get credentials: the graduation rates, the ability of graduates to find and retain jobs as administrators, and the ability of graduates to actually improve student learning.

The California State University system opposes including the last factor, claiming there is no single correlation between administrator training and student performance. But Connecticut and other states have adopted performance measures, and AB1415 would leave it up to deans of education, county offices of education and others to define them.

Principal coaches.

Many principals in California soldier alone. Unlike other states, California provides no mentors. SB961 would provide the same kind of coaching that new teachers receive.

Retired principals would provide six hours of personal attention and two hours of e-mail help per month. The priority for the $4.6 million expenditure would be 925 administrators in the lowest performing schools.

State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, is co-sponsoring the bill for the Association of California School Administrators.