Many reports have been published, including those of the California Business Roundtable and the Education Commission of the States, that call for significant changes in education, the Challenge incorporates many of these recommendations. The reports all call for:

• Improving results for students by setting high standards
• Adopting clear accountability measures
• Building partnerships with parents, businesses, and communities
• Moving critical decisions to the school and district level

These basic tenets will move the public education system to become focused on increasing student achievement based on high standards, helping us change from regulating processes to facilitating needed improvements and focusing on the most important product--high levels of learning for all students.

The initial Challenge school districts will lead the way for all California districts in making the fundamental changes needed to move to a high-performance, standards-based system of public instruction for all students.

Elements of the Challenge

The Challenge initiative has ten elements, organized into three major categories.

Student Achievement

• Content and performance standards

Challenge districts will develop and adopt content and performance standards at every grade level in language arts, mathematics, science, history-social science, foreign language, visual and performing arts, health education, physical education, career preparation, service learning, and applied learning for kindergarten through twelfth grade.

• Assessment and accountability systems

Challenge districts will adopt a comprehensive assessment and accountability system to measure student performance annually by individual, school, and district results to determine whether students are achieving below, at, or above grade-level standards.

Data collected in spring 1997 will serve as baseline data. Beginning in 1998, Challenge districts will agree to meet specific growth targets. The minimum goal for all Challenge districts are to make regular progress so that 90 percent of all students meet or exceed grade-level expectations within ten years.

Learning Support

• Safe and healthy schools

Challenge districts provide safe, secure schools and a healthy environment in which to learn and teach for all students and staff.

• Facilities and technology

Challenge district schools are clean and well lit, with up-to-date technology for learning and working.

• Family-school-community partnerships

Challenge districts, together with parents and community members, develop a multi-dimensional plan, including family-school compacts, to foster strong and meaningful partnerships among parents, other family members, school staff, businesses, and community members and agencies.

• Student learning plans

Challenge districts provide a learning plan tailored to each student's needs and provide parents with a clear description of learning expectations.

• Site-based decision making

Challenge districts foster school-site decision making that gives staff, parents, and students responsibility for key decisions.

• Staff and community training

Challenge districts provide comprehensive staff and community training in the elements of the Challenge, with the assistance of California Department of Education materials.

High School Completion

• Graduation Requirements

Challenge districts adopt rigorous high school graduation requirements, and students demonstrate mastery of the following 18 year-long courses:

• 4 courses in English, including literature and writing
• 3 courses in history-social science, including world history, geography, American history, government, civics, and economics
• 2 courses in mathematics, including algebra and geometry
• 2 courses in laboratory science, including physical science, life science, and environmental science
• 1 course in foreign language
• 1 course in visual or performing arts
• 2 courses in physical education
• 1 course in health education
• 1 course in a career preparation, including workplace learning
• 1 course in service learning, which may be integrated into any of the above

• Golden State Achievement Certificate

A Golden State Achievement Certificate, beginning with the Class of 2004, will replace the current diploma. Students will earn the certificate when they pass examinations to demonstrate mastery of the curriculum. The Golden State Examinations (GSE) are the end-of-course examinations approved by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction for this purpose in English, history-social science, mathematics, and laboratory science (all these are currently available). Until GSEs are developed for all courses required for graduation, districts will administer locally developed assessments that meet the grade-level standards in foreign language, visual and performing arts, physical education, health education, career preparation, and service learning.

Waivers

To ensure the success of the Challenge, the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Challenge districts will forge a new relationship that emphasizes local autonomy and flexibility. Districts may discover that, in order to carry out their plans to improve student achievement, certain provisions of the Education Code or federal regulations impede their efforts. The CDE will encourage and support Challenge districts in seeking waivers of those requirements through one of the following four vehicles:

• General Waiver Requests to the State Board of Education

Most sections of the Education Code may be waived by the State Board of Education. CDE staff will assist Challenge districts in preparing General Waiver requests and presenting those requests to the State Board.

• Alternative School Provisions

Under the alternative school provisions of the Education Code (Sections 58500-58512), the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may waive any provision of the Education Code, except those relating to earthquake safety. To take advantage of this waiver authority, all teachers and students in a school must agree to participate in the program offered by the alternative school.

• Charter Districts

The charter school legislation allows for the creation of charter school districts. A charter district has the same focus as a charter school. A charter school constitutes a performance-based system exempt from most state laws affecting schools, and a charter district would enjoy this same flexibility on a broader, districtwide basis. To create a charter district, a charter petition must be approved by the school district governing board as well as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. If the legally mandated cap of 100 charter schools has been reached, the State Board also must approve a General Waiver request to waive that cap. Challenge charter districts will adhere to the ten elements of the Challenge.

• Federal Waivers

CDE is also prepared to assist districts in requesting waivers of federal law and regulation that constrain their efforts to meet one or more of the Challenge elements. Under the federal waiver authority, CDE is required to comment on any waiver of federal law. Challenge districts making such requests would receive CDE's active support.

For more information on the Challenge, contact Sonia Hernandez, Deputy Superintendent, Curriculum and Instructional Leadership Branch, at 916/657-3850

Challenge Districts Demographic Information
(As of October 1, 1996)

• 55 Districts (Including 2 State Special Schools)
• 29 of 58 Counties Participating
• Statewide Geographic Distribution

9 Districts from the North
15 Districts from North-Central
8 Districts from the Bay Area
13 Districts from South-Central
10 Districts from the South

• 625 Schools in the 55 Districts
• Over 450,000 Students in the Districts

Percentage of Students by Ethnic Group in Challenge Districts Compared to the State

	State Percentage	Callenge Percentage
American Indian	1	1
Asian/Pacific Islander	11	16
Hispanic	39	27
African American	9	9
Caucasian	40	46

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