This week's clueless media person of the week is the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee for this editorial about Luther Burbank High School in Sacramento Unified. The editorial holds the school out as an example of what other schools should be doing.

Still, there are some inspiring turnaround stories.

Luther Burbank High in Sacramento City Unified is one. That school struggled for years. Finally, after failing to make adequate progress for two consecutive years, it was placed by the state in "program improvement."

Now the school is one of the few high schools in California to escape "program improvement." And it has posted tremendous improvement in dropout rates – going from 23.8 percent of the Class of 2007 to 13.4 percent of the Class of 2008.

Of Sac City Unified's five comprehensive high schools, Burbank brings in the second-best dropout-rate performance. That's cause for celebration. So what has made the difference? Three things:

• Burbank has been the best of Sac City's high schools in implementing "small learning communities" of 300 to 500 students. Teachers, counselors and other staff work together across departments, and a culture of responsibility for each student is evident. Burbank has strong, stable leadership; the principal is in his sixth year at the school.
• Burbank also has made good use of state Quality Education Investment Act funds to reduce class sizes and apply team teaching. When the money came, the school was ready because the faculty had worked on a plan.
• Finally, Burbank has established a first-rate after-school program supported by a federal grant. Again, when the money came, the school was ready. It had surveyed student interests and created a plan. Burbank now offers extra preparation for the exit exam, tutoring, classes such as music and art – and partnerships with city agencies and businesses.

This school stands in contrast to McClatchy High, which has had uneven success. McClatchy has some standout programs. It is a 2009 California Distinguished School. But its dropout rates have shown little improvement – 19 percent for the Class of 2007 and 18.2 percent for the Class of 2008. Among Sac City's comprehensive high schools, McClatchy is second from the bottom in dropout rates.

One key issue is that McClatchy has not embraced the district's reform effort to the degree other schools have. In fact, some McClatchy teachers recently submitted a proposal to the school board to eliminate small learning communities – the hallmark of the reform effort.

The editorial board seems to be fixated on the graduation rate. While the graduation rate is important, it isn't the best measure of student success. What parents want to know is whether their student is "at grade level." In California, that is measured by the California Standards Test (CST) or in the case of high schools, by the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Actually, even the CAHSEE isn't a great measure, since it only test students to 8th , 9th and 10th grade standards, but it is what we have since the state Department of Education selected it for their compliance plan for No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

Here's where the cluelessness comes in. When you look at the data, it is pretty clear that McClatchy has actually made greater increases in student achievement than Burbank. Here are some subgroup charts from Just for the Kids - California:

Burbank

Mathematics

McClatchy

Language Arts


Mathematics

While neither school is really all that hot, it seems pretty clear from the data that if anything McClatchy is showing better improvement in student achievement than Burbank. If you look at the 2008 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) data, it is crystal clear that while McClatchy made Adequate Yearly Progress and has never been in Program Improvement (PI), Burbank somehow managed to escape PI in 2007, but failed to make the AYP goals last year. If they don't improve dramatically in 2009, they'll be right back in PI.

If Burbank is supposed to be a "big turnaround story", it is evident that the Sacramento Bee Editorial Board has a lot to learn about public education. Neither school is great, but McClatchy certainly didn't deserve to be thrown under the bus to highlight the low performing Burbank High.