October 8 , 2018 EDCAL 3
At right , Richard Underhill , coordinator of Categorical Programs with Simi Valley USD , chats with former West Virginia Gov . Bob Wise during a break at the NASS conference .
Advocating for students in Washington , D . C .
Superintendent Kevin Fitzgerald of Caesar Rodney School District in Delaware , left , receives recognition as NASS Superintendent of the Year from Executive Director John Roach .
Front center , ACSA Board member Daryl Camp and ACSA member Cindy Petersen chat in a break in a hearing on ESSA during the ACSA-NASS Federal Advocacy Day . Seated next to Petersen are ACSA member Rob Martinez and President Holly Edds . ACSA Past President Lisa Gonzales and ACSA Legislative Analyst Jason Henderson are seated behind Camp .
ACSA-NASS
Continued from page 1
ers and their staffs . The agenda for these meetings focused on the federal education budget , DACA , and immigration , as well as school safety .
“ As informed educators , we need to be present in Washington , D . C . and saying you ’ re a California educator doesn ’ t open doors in the offices of lawmakers from Georgia and Iowa ,” said ACSA President Holly Edds . “ But when you go to the offices representing a national organization like NASS , the doors open and the opportunity to tell real-world stories becomes possible .”
At the NASS conference , Roach presented Kevin
Fitzgerald of Caesar Rodney School District in Delaware with the 2018 NASS Superintendent of the Year award . Fitzgerald has been CRSD superintendent since 2007 , previously serving as a principal and assistant principal at a district high school . Fitzgerald ’ s experience also includes more than 13 years as a classroom social studies teacher .
“ Students need a visionary who is willing to consider the entire population and how equitable practices can be used to build our next generation of leaders ,” Roach said . “ Kevin Fitzgerald is that visionary and he ’ s guided by a strategy that captures community values and most importantly , his students .”
ACSA member Robert Martinez , assistant superintendent of Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District , was part of the group of California participants and sat in on the ESSA hearing prior to meeting with federal lawmakers . He believes NASS has an opportunity to make a substantive change at the federal level by leveraging the ideas and concepts of members from across the country .
“ We come from different communities and different school environments and we have unique experiences and ideas ,” he said . “ But everything we do is about students and when you put the muscle of a nationwide organization behind the mission of supporting students , you can turn a lot of heads .
For more information on the National Association of School Superintendents , visit NASS . us .
Healthy Kids Survey shows better choices being made by students
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has announced that alcohol , tobacco , and other drug use continues to decline among middle and high school students , and improvements have occurred in indicators of pupil engagement , school climate and mental health among high school students , according to the 2015-17 Biennial State California Healthy Kids Survey .
The survey assesses how well schools are meeting students ’ needs for school safety , drug and alcohol prevention , mental health , and other factors that influence learning and positive development .
Conducted every two years since 1985 , the survey provides insights for educators and health professionals about how to improve services for students .
The California Department of Education and the California Department of Health Care Services coordinated the survey of a representative , random sample of seventh , ninth and eleventh graders statewide .
“ This is the largest statewide survey in the nation to identify the needs of adolescents and how well our schools are meeting those needs . It increases our understanding of how students feel about school and how they rank their school environment ,” Torlakson said .
“ The California Healthy Kids Survey helps behavioral health agencies , schoolbased health programs and community organizations harness support for youth prevention programs , and helps to justify the sustainability of these programs over time by showing real prevention successes to funders and stakeholders ,” said DHCS Director Jennifer Kent .
The survey results have indicated a general decreasing trend in alcohol and marijuana use since 2011-13 . Current use of alcohol , binge drinking , and marijuana use among eleventh graders decreased by four points . Lifetime marijuana use dropped by seven points . Nevertheless , use of marijuana was reported by 17 percent of eleventh graders , only 6 percentage points lower than for alcohol .
“ We must continue to be diligent in our efforts to prevent , or at least limit , marijuana use in light of the potential effect of the legalization for adults as a result of the passage of Proposition 64 two years ago ,” Torlakson said .
The results also show pronounced improvements in all grades in academic motivation ( by 7 points in seventh grade ) and across indicators of bullying and victimization at school . Experiencing any harassment is down more than 6 points in ninth grade , to 31 percent .
Among seventh graders , but not among high school students , there were also increases in school connectedness and perceived safety .
Perceived school safety even declined in eleventh graders by more than 4 points . Only six in 10 high school students now feel their school is safe or very safe .
Also , two indicators of mental health – chronic , debilitating sadness and suicide contemplation – both improved among ninth and eleventh graders after showing little change in the last survey . It is still disturbing that three in 10 high school students appear to suffer from chronic sadness and about one-sixth have contemplated suicide .
“ Although , overall , there are many positive survey findings , our high schools clearly need to do more to be safer , more supportive , and more engaging ,” Torlakson said .
Survey results are available at https :// data . calschls . org / resources / Biennial _ State _ 1517 . pdf .