District Overview
O’Day, J. A., & Smith, M. S. (2019). Opportunity for all: A framework for quality and equality in education (pp. 3–5). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. Available for purchase at Amazon.com.
O'Day, J. A., & Smith, M. S. (2019). Opportunity for all: A framework for quality and equality in education (pp. 221–222). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. Available for purchase at Amazon.com.
These book excerpts provide an orientation to San Bernardino City Unified School District’s (SBCUSD) journey to “make hope happen” through its work around capacity building, collective impact, and student pathways. In 2010, San Bernardino was the second-poorest of the hundred largest cities in the United States. And in 2015, the Los Angeles Times labeled San Bernardino a “broken city” with 41 percent of the city’s residents and 44 percent of its children living below the poverty line. Yet, during this time, SBCUSD’s graduation rates grew above 89 percent and A-G course taking has seen “exponential growth.” The authors acknowledge that much work remains in SBCUSD, but district and community leaders are driving the district’s continuing improvement with hope and a long-term vision for success.
California Collaborative on District Reform. (2019). San Bernardino City Unified School District (USD) student enrollment & performance. [Collection of student demographic and performance data for December 18–19, 2019, meeting of the California Collaborative on District Reform]. Available at https://cacollaborative.org/sites/default/files/CCDR_2019_SBCUSD_student_enrollment_performance.pdf
This collection of graphics and tables provides key background information about SBCUSD. The pie chart and table show district student enrollment by ethnicity/race for the 2018-19 school year. The table also provides SBCUSD and California student enrollment across other demographic categories, including English learners, students with disabilities, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, foster youth, homeless students, and the unduplicated student count for the 2018-19 school year. We also include SBCUSD data from the California School Dashboard on the college and career readiness indicator, which includes levels of preparedness for 2016-2018 and color indicators for subgroups in the district as well as the state overall. The graphs that follow display English-language arts (ELA) and mathematics California Standards Test proficiency rates for 2009-2013 and meeting standards rates on the ELA and mathematics California Assessment for Student Performance and Progress from 2015-2018 for SBCUSD, California, and other California districts similar to SBCUSD.
San Bernardino City Unified School District. (2019). 2018–19 district overview. Available at https://sbcusd.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_59869/File/School%20Board/About%20Our%20District/District%20Overview.pdf
This document shares information about SBCUSD and the students the district serves. In addition to demographic and enrollment data, the fact sheet includes state-wide awards schools in the district have earned; information on the district budget and per-pupil spending; amount of money students have won in scholarships, including from the district's own Making Hope Happen Foundation; and other important progress markers for the district.
Linked Learning in San Bernardino
Whitehead, B. (2019, October 31). These educational pathway programs at San Bernardino high schools are the toast of the state [Web log post]. Available at https://www.sbsun.com/2019/10/31/these-educational-pathway-programs-at-san-bernardino-high-schools-are-the-toast-of-the-state/
This San Bernardino Sun article shares the story of two educational pathway programs in SBCUSD high schools that recently achieved gold certification by the Linked Learning Alliance: Constructing Opportunities in Renewable Energy pathway at Arroyo Valley High School and Project Lead the Way’s Biomedical Pathway at Pacific High. The two are among the first in the country to achieve gold certification, which recognizes programs that demonstrate the highest levels of implementing Linked Learning’s core components and creating equitable opportunities for all students.
**Linked Learning Alliance. (n.d.). Making learning matter in San Bernardino [PDF file received directly from Linked Learning Alliance staff]. Available at https://cacollaborative.org/sites/default/files/LLA_2019_SB.pdf
Linked Learning Alliance. (2019). Going for gold: Synopsis for school and district leaders. Available at https://d985fra41m798.cloudfront.net/resources/GoldStandards_TABLOID_2019Sept17.pdf?mtime=20190930092801
Linked Learning Alliance. (2019). Linked Learning Silver Certification standards. Available at https://dtpekyqzanfb7.cloudfront.net/resources/Silver_Standards_2019Oct02.pdf?mtime=20191006115125
This collection of materials from the Linked Learning Alliance shares information about SBCUSD and the Alliance's standards for pathways certification. The first document is an overview of Linked Learning in San Bernardino, with a list of which industries the district offers pathways in, the pathways available at each school, and which pathways have been certified at the gold or silver levels. The next two documents describe the gold and silver certification standards, respectively. Both sets of standards organize characteristics of an effective program according to the same three overarching dimensions: (1) integrated program of study, (2) work-based learning, and (3) integrated student supports.
Mitchell, K., Kempthorne, P., Gallardo, L., & Iniguez, D. (2019). Presentation on pathways to post-secondary education and careers (linked learning pathways) [PowerPoint presentation received directly from San Bernardino City Unified School District]. Slides 3–13. Available at https://cacollaborative.org/sites/default/files/Mitchell_et_al_2019_Presentation_on_pathways.pdf
These data come from a presentation by SBCUSD leaders to the board of education about Linked Learning Pathways in January 2019. The slides share percentages of high school students enrolled in pathways by race and ethnicity and by program from the 2017-18 school year. They also provide outcomes such as A-G completion rates, grade point average, suspension rates, and chronic absenteeism rates.
**This document is considered a priority reading.