Focus Area: Education

Why Is This Important?

Changes in student population and demographics have implications for future program, facility and infrastructure needs within TTUSD and our community.

How are we doing?

TTUSD has seen an overall decline in enrollment since 2002. The decline has slowed dramatically between 2007 and 2012, with small increases in TTUSD enrollment 2013 to present.

During this period of declining enrollment overall, the percentage of students receiving free and reduced lunch has increased as has the percentage of students who are English Learners.

Why Is This Important?

Third grade reading skills are pivotal to the future academic success of students. There are important “watersheds” in reading where the demands on students change drastically. The first and most critical watershed comes in the 4th grade when students transition from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”.

How are we doing?

Overall, TTUSD 3rd grade readers outperform their California counterparts, but fall short of their cohorts across Placer County. English Learners in TTUSD fare poorly compared with their counterparts in both Placer County and California. Despite a steady rise in the proficiency rates of English Learners, there remains a distinct gap in the performance of TTUSD's English learners and its English speakers.

Closing the achievement gap for students below the proficient level in all academic areas is one of TTUSD’s top five goals. TTUSD is working to close the achievement gap through specific academic intervention strategies, staff development, and increased counseling time with students and their parents.

Why Is This Important?

A college degree or other career technical credential provides students with greater knowledge and critical thinking skills, access to a wider range of career choices, greater earning power, and a better understanding of our community, nation and the world. A better-educated society is also linked to lower crime rates and better health.

How are we doing?

A higher percentage of students at TTUSD complete CSU/UC requirements and take the SAT when compared to Placer County or California. In 2012, 49% of TTUSD students scored above 1,500 on the SAT, comparable to the statewide average, but 14% lower than county averages. However, with the considerably higher percentage of TTUSD students completing the SAT, the lower average score would be expected.

TTUSD high school counselors place a high level of importance on individual meetings with students and their parents to educate them on, and then monitor their progress towards high school graduation requirements, as well as the course requirements for the UC and CSU systems. Parental encouragement and support combined with high expectations for achievement is also a strong contributing factor.

TTUSD recently implemented the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program at the middle and high school level. AVID is designed to help middle and high school students prepare for and succeed in college.

Why Is This Important?

We know from more than 100 years of research that young people lose skills they’ve learned in math and reading over the summer without practice. What we’ve learned is that while their middle- and higher-income peers continue to make slight gains in reading skills in the summer whether or not they attend a program, low-income youth lose two to three months of their reading skills without regular practice.
-Sarah Pitcock, National Summer Learning Association.

Why Is This Important?

Many children from low-income families begin school already far behind. The research also shows that children from low-income homes are less likely to be read to or spoken to regularly or have access to books, literacy rich environments, high quality early care, and prekindergarten programs. As a consequence, these children may hear as many as 30 million fewer words than their middle-income peers before reaching kindergarten. Research shows that such interactions are critical for language development, an important precursor to literacy. 

Why Is This Important?

NEEDS TO BE UPDATED

Graduation rates are an important metric of student and school success. API is an accountability measurement of student performance on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program and the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). Since API not only measures a school's overall student performance,but also the performance of its significant subgroups, a school can fine tune its program to meet the needs of all students.

How are we doing?

TTUSD graduation rates are in the same range as the rest of Placer County, which scores higher than the state's average.

Examining the overall API scores for 2012, TTUSD is at 815 versus 851 for Nevada County, 659 for Placer County and 791 for the state. This shows a marked increase from 2006, when TTUSD’s API scores were at 780 and compares favorably to the statewide and Placer County scores.However, if you look at the scores by sub-groups, there is a significant gap. Students who are identified as “socioeconomically disadvantaged scored at 726 in TTUSD, 92 points below the district-wide average, versus 697 statewide. English learners in TTUSD are at 684, 134 points behind the student body as a whole, compared to 651 at the state level.

Why Is This Important?

Regular school attendance is critical to individual and classroom academic success. Research has found that one in 10 kindergartner and first grade students nationwide misses nearly a month of school each year in excused and unexcused absences.