At , you wrote:
>The California Single Gender Academies Pilot Project was initiated by Governor
>Pete Wilson and established by the California legislature during the 1996-97
>budget deliberations. During the budget discussions, a bill establishing the
>program was passed and $5,000,000 was allocated for up to 10 start-up grants
>of $500,000 apiece. Following the normal process in California, the
>implementation and administration of the program were assigned to the
>California Department of Education (CDE). [NOTE: The CDE is headed by the
>State Superintendent of Public Instruction, an independently-elected
>nonpartisan statewide official; one of its major roles is to administer
>policies and programs established by the legislature and the State Board of
>Election, whose members are appointed by the Governor.]
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>Following a process to develop a Request for Applications and establish legal
>guidelines, an invitation was sent to California school districts and county
>offices of education which operate middle and/or high schools to make grant
>proposals. Included was an extensive CDE legal memorandum; it concluded that
>academies created by the program must provide programs for BOTH boys and girls
>that 1) are "substantially equivalent in terms of funding, facilities, level
>and training of staff, equipment and instructional materials, curriculum, and
>extracurricular opportunities, and 2) "provide the full range of curriculum
and
>extra-curriculum options and are not single-gender classes or programs." The
>academies were required to be totally voluntary, and proposals were to
identify
>the "unique educational need" which the program would address and how it would
>do so.
>
>Only nine local educational agencies submitted proposals by the June, 1997
>deadline. Initial review eliminated two proposals and one withdrew. After a
>period of working with the remaining applicants to make technical adjustments
>in the proposals, all six were eventually funded for a total allocation of
>$3,000,000. Three of the programs began operation in late August and early
>September, 1997; by January 1998, all six were in full operation. They are
>required under the grant to operate through the 1998-99 school year, and will
>then have an additional six months to submit reports to the legislature on the
>results of their self-evaluations.
>
>The programs currently operate in Butte Valley Unified School District, a
>small rural district near the Oregon border in northeast California; Lincoln
>Unified School District in Stockton; San Francisco Unified School District;
>Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto; East Side Union High School
>District in San Jose; and the Orange County Office of Education. The East
>Side program is for grades 9 and 10; Orange County provides academies for
>mixed grades 7-12 in an alternative school program; the other 4 programs serve
>middle school students. The smallest program is a total of 60 students in
>both academies; the largest is 180 students. While all the programs target
>students who are not performing to the full extent of their abilities
>academically, the academies are open to any student in the agency's
>jurisdiction.
>
>At this point, the programs report that they are doing well, although all
>experienced some early logistical problems with staffing and facilities that
>are not uncommon in new programs. Several are now full or nearly full; all
>anticipate being fully enrolled in the 1998-99 school year. Many of the
>program directors report improved self-esteem and behavior among students;
>some report apparent improvements in academic performance, although no
>standardized test results are yet available. Anecdotal information indicates
>that students and parents seem generally satisfied with the programs. No
>lawsuits have been filed against any of the academies, nor to our knowledge
>are any lawsuits pending.
>
>The state legislature did not initially provide funding for a comprehensive
>statewide evaluation; however, the governor has proposed to do so in his
>1998-99 budget; he also proposes providing second-year grants to the existing
>programs at a somewhat reduced level (they are to be self-supporting by the
>third year) and has also proposed funding for an additional six pairs of
>academies. All of all these proposals is still pending in the state
>legislature and will probably not be finally decided until mid-June or later.
>
>
>Some information about the program is available on the California Department
>of Education website at
>http://www.cde.ca.gov/spbranch/Educational_Options/sga_eo.htm; we hope to
>add more material soon.
>
>Karen Humphrey
>khumphre@cde.ca.gov
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