The Colton Joint Unified School District (CJUSD) is a district located in San Bernardino County, California.  It is a geographically large district, spanning 48 square miles and 15 miles from east to west.  It serves three distinct communities, Bloomington, Colton, and Grand Terrace, as well as portions of surrounding neighborhoods, creating a demographically rich and diverse district.  CJUSD was formed under a consolidation of several smaller districts in the area and has existed in its present state since 1966.  The smaller districts that unified under the CJUSD umbrella date back to the mid-1800s, marking them as some of the oldest school districts in the state.  This long-standing history of the educational communities within the district provides a context for the traditions, identity, and culture surrounding our community.  

This depth of history also provides perspective on our challenges as we examine our system, its operations, capacity, resources, and willingness to change.  The phrase, “The Colton Way” has been casually used to describe the district’s operating practices.  “The Colton Way” has become a benefit to some and a barrier to others.  To many, this long-standing idiom reflects negative traditions such as nepotism, favoritism, a lack of accountability, and a culture of mediocrity; in contrast, some see it as a deeply held community identity with a sense of family.  Moving beyond those negative beliefs and building an organizational system that is driven by the needs of its students, employees, and schools is adaptive to changing conditions, and focused on continuous improvement is endemic to the work that we are trying to achieve through the district system design.  

From an employee perspective, trust has historically been precarious at all levels within our hierarchical structure.  A lack of transparency, systems that are siloed, and a culture of unprofessionalism have led to a belief that the system has operated to protect those within the inner cliques at the expense of the overall organization.  From the genesis of the hiring process, interviews have often been conducted in isolation, further fueling a sense of disconnectedness in the district.  CJUSD hires highly qualified professionals, but staff must rely solely on the administration to make decisions on fit, content knowledge, and other characteristics.  A professional culture would engage staff in the decision-making process relating to hiring.  Creating a hiring system that engages experts from their respective positions will help to build an association between new hires and existing employees.  Ensuring that the hiring process works to attain the most qualified and beneficial candidates who possess the attitude, skills, experiences, backgrounds, and a mindset of continual growth will create a culture in which employees strive to work toward district and personal goals while accepting challenges as opportunities to grow. 

The evaluation process, when used faithfully, becomes a system that builds employee capacity from the point of hire throughout an employee’s tenure with the district.  The evaluation process should complement and work in conjunction with the individual needs of staff.  However, there exists a long and widely-held belief that “nothing happens” to employees who do not meet expectations.  This frustration exists from both manager to employee and employee to employee.  The existing system currently operates for the benefit of the adults as opposed to the children that we serve.  Dispelling the belief that the evaluation and assistance process is punitive is imperative to move forward and build a highly successful district system. 

Intention and purpose have at times not been communicated in a way that builds understanding of initiatives or programs, further degrading trust within the organization.  In terms of professional learning, a lack of clear expectations has led to confusion and a lack of fidelity in implementation.  From the hiring process and throughout an employee’s tenure with the district, professional learning should be a continuous, individualized, and dynamic process.  It is widely understood and accepted that professional learning needs to be a key driver of student achievement.  However, in the past, learning opportunities have been limited in scope, responsive to state requirements or curricular mandates, or based on perceptions of needs rather than actual needs.  Professional learning has been imposed on staff to fulfill requirements and not addressed to identified needs, and a lack of follow-through or accountability relating to implementation has impacted its success.  

Current initiatives, plans, and partnerships are many, varied, and well-intentioned, but they lack momentum in the absence of a cohesive district plan for professional learning.  There is a perception that when new initiatives are introduced, this new thing will be simply that, something new, and that this too shall pass.  The lack of a clear, districtwide plan creates inequities between schools and misalignments with district goals, opportunities, and plans.  Currently, increasing personal capacity in the CJUSD is not embraced by all staff.  Although some district staff are receptive and have the mindset of growing professionally, others have a lack of professional learning inquiry, reflection, and action.  To change the mindset, CJUSD will need to invest in and focus on the professional learning of teachers, administrators, classified employees, parents, and the community as key drivers of our success in lifting student learning.  The development and implementation of a comprehensive districtwide system of continuous improvement that is based on inquiry, reflection, and change and has clear expectations will strengthen our capacity and benefit everyone at CJUSD.  

Changes have occurred more recently to begin to develop individualized professional learning experiences, focusing instead on self-paced, self-selected, or manager-recommended content.  A districtwide effort has been made to reduce the practice of pulling teachers from classrooms for professional learning sessions.  The prior practice of pull-out professional development led to 10-15 days a year away from classrooms.  The district has recognized the need for a comprehensive, districtwide professional learning system that has a long-term vision, is cohesive, is based on student needs, acknowledges student context and has measurable outcomes for students while providing time and support for staff to become proficient.  Through professional learning and development, CJUSD will support, educate, and grow its current staff in the areas of cultural proficiency, equity versus equality, and best practices for ALL students.  

CJUSD uses benchmarks for analyzing data to drive decisions to support the goals of the education partners.  District data include demographics, subgroups, and enrollment data from the California School Dashboard.  The data provide information about related activity (local and national) that sheds light on the project as well as an assessment of the current gaps within our schools based on research and evidence from other contexts.  CJUSD sites, departments, and divisions understand the need to analyze data to drive decisions that align with our goals and resource management to ensure that resources are used effectively, efficiently, and for their intended purpose.  Using data collected by periodic education partner surveys, district programs, and applications, resources are distributed equally, although not with a systemic equity lens.  Students with the most needs should receive the most resources to ensure that all students have full access to a high-quality education.  

CJUSD enjoys a diverse community and student population; however, that same diversity is not reflected in our educators and district employees.  Many educators at CJUSD have an in-depth and diverse educational foundation; however, our teachers must have an understanding of the backgrounds and cultures of our students for them to effectively meet their needs in a way that is meaningful to them.  It is the goal of CJUSD to create a system that embraces the principles of Ubuntu, I am because You are, which means the collective is the vehicle for growth of the individual.  This idea of community centers on those furthest from fulfillment so that each of us can meet our individual greatest potential.  

Historically, CJUSD has not taken a systematic position on equity.  Legislative changes such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have provided an opportunity for reflection on inequitable practices, which led to diverse academic outcomes.  A model of full and faithful replication of academic improvement models from outside consultants provided alignment; however, it also disregarded and disenfranchised teachers, students, and parents.  A lack of coherence resulted in no systems-level change in educator pedagogy and practices.  NCLB was followed by the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, by which district-organized teams worked to align instructional practices with the demands and scope of the new standards.  However, its fidelity is impacted by the lack of understanding of how deeply held beliefs of student capacity and agency have affected its success.  There has been no systemic acknowledgment of the roles race and racism, prejudice, patriarchy, and meritocracy have played and continue to play in diverse student outcomes.  

Core Values and Assumptions were developed in the 2016 school year as part of CJUSD’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) requirements.  Committees and decision-makers included administration, employees, parents, and community members.  This process produced common understandings among everyone involved at the time.  The outcome was the creation of the CJUSD Core Values and Assumptions, which were presented and approved by the Board of Education.  It has been communicated that the Core Values should drive all decision-making at CJUSD school sites/departments.  Resources should be allocated only to services, materials, and processes that support the Core Values and Assumptions of CJUSD, and guidance documents are designed to attend to that compliance. 

Equity for All—Increase the success of ALL students by ensuring that systems are responsive and supportive to the needs of ALL students.

• Family and Community Engagement—Encourage and promote parent, family, and community engagement in the education process, providing opportunities for active input in decision-making.

• Safety and Wellness—Cultivate a positive, engaging school climate in which students are provided with resources to address their social, emotional, physical, and academic needs while providing a safe environment to succeed.

• Student Achievement—Prepare all students for college and career success in a global society by providing a rigorous course of study in all academic areas emphasizing proficiency in literacy and mathematics.

• Access to Resources—Ensure students have access to quality resources, facilities, and highly qualified teachers. 

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are a part of the district’s core values and should drive decision-making, the equitable allocation of resources, and the development of policies and practices using the improvement science process.  This process can be described as using a problem-solving approach centered on continuous inquiry and learning.  Ideas are tested in rapid cycles, resulting in efficient and useful feedback to inform system improvements.  Our 2020 equity policy is an example of how this approach works.  As we learn and understand more, the equity policy will be a living document so that relevant needs are consistently met promptly.