District is one of three in OC to report exceptional results in the performance of traditionally underperforming specialized populations due to high quality of teaching professionals and programs
In the Centralia Elementary School District, students of color are reaching extraordinary levels of achievement—defying trends and exceeding the performance of students of similar backgrounds in other districts across the county and state.
Centralia has established its place among the top of California’s districts and one of only three in Orange County in a new report by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI) called “California’s Positive Outliers: Districts Beating the Odds.” This report examined which districts have excelled at supporting the learning of students of color as well as caucasian students, taking into account socioeconomic status. The one identifier that stood out as a major predictor of student achievement success is highly qualified teachers.
“Despite persistent achievement gaps throughout much of the state—and the nation—students of color and students from low-income families in these positive outlier districts are beating the odds and achieving at higher levels than their peers of similar socioeconomic background in the rest of California,” said Stanford Professor Sean Reardon, co-author of the report. “Our research aims to identify these districts so that researchers can uncover the strategies associated with their success.”
“It is no secret that Centralia has highly qualified and fully supported teaching staff within a well-established structure for success,” said Superintendent Norma E. Martinez. “We pride ourselves in having structures in place that not only identify student needs, but put processes in place to address those needs.”
She added, “The LPI report just proves Centralia offers an equitable and excellent education program tailored to the specific needs of the communities we serve.”
