BJHS gets an improvement plan

BARSTOW - A remedial math class and more training for teachers are two ideas that could get a struggling school out of trouble.

Barstow Junior High School will get $164,550 in state funding to make changes that seek to take the school out of the category of "state-monitored," a label the school got after it didn't meet its goals as an "underperforming" school. Getting back in good standing will require improvement students' scores in reading, language arts and math.

Assistant superintendent of educational services Phyllis Trosper presented the plan to the school board Tuesday night.

"We believe it is very doable, and the teachers ... want their students to be successful, and they're doing everything they can to help their students become more successful in school," Trosper said.

The plan includes putting students who need help in a special math class rather than electives and putting more teachers through a week-long training program.

Carolyn Norman, principal of the junior high, said the school has an "open-door policy" and that she welcomes parent and community involvement. Some parents get involved in looking at how the school operates through the School Site Council, which includes students, parents and teachers.

"The main thing is working together," Norman said.

Norman said that administrators will be popping into classrooms "to make sure we are heading in the right direction." They'll ensure that the plan is put into practice, she said, and that it's working.

In the classroom

The district has already purchased some materials for the new math class, which the improvement plan calls an "intervention" math class, for students who aren't faring well in the subject. Trosper said that using tools such as computer activities, supplemental texts and hands-on activities would help "to make it more concrete for them."

The class will launch in the fall and will replace an elective for students who need to improve in math. It will give students the chance to work on basics, Norman said.

"That's going to definitely help our lower-level students," she said.

Er nest Vogt, however, is skeptical. At the school board meeting, he sarcastically said that it would give failing students the opportunity to fail another class.

Teaching teachers

Trosper is looking not only at teaching students but also at teaching their teachers by putting them through a week's worth of training.

The district must contract with a provider approved by the state Board of Education to train language and math teachers, Trosper said. In the past, the training, called SB472, has come to Barstow. Some teachers have had it, Trosper said, and she hopes more will go through it this summer.

"It goes in-depth with the adopted texts and shows the teachers different strategies to use," Trosper said.

Goals

The school is classified as state-monitored because it did not sustain its improvement on the Academic Performance Index, a number based on standardized test scores. An external evaluator must work with the school; for BJHS, that evaluator is the San Bernardino County superintendent's office.

"We will be following up with them," said Deidra Price, the coordinator of regional system of district and school support. Members of the School Assistance Intervention Team will work with the district and write reports, she said.

The junior high's API score in 2006 was 647, somewhat above the county average. Schools ultimately aim of scores of 800 or higher.

Besides overall targets, the school also must meet targets for scores for the subgroups of Hispanics, whites and specialeducation students.

Staff writer Aaron Aupperlee contributed to this article.