The dispute over what replaces it, though, that is just beginning. Male thank you for coming out to our smarter balance assessment results meeting. Jessica School Officials in San Francisco are explaining the many changes happening in education. Male were implementing new curriculum to go with the new standards, to go with the new tests. Male and do they revisit those sections . Jessica and a new, different way to evaluate schools. State law now requires a move away from standardized test scores. Male it needs to be more than justinclude more than just the academics. Jessica for 15 years, the api, the academic performance index, has been the yardstick for school success. Its a three digit number based on test scores. Take this Blue Ribbon School in the east bay. Its api was 945 out of 1,000. A Suburban School in the peninsula, 831. A High Poverty School in San Francisco, 726. Eric it gives one number. And its nice because you can take that number and compare it to another number. But really, its kind of misleading because it doesnt really tell you whats going on in the school. Jessica the head of the Largest Teachers Union in the state is involved in the overhaul of the api. Eric well, they wontthey may not see an api at all. There wont be a ranking system because theres no point in comparing one school to another school. What you really want to look is at the school itself, and then look at multiple indicators in that school. Jessica those multiple indicators could include attendance records and Graduation Rates. Eric you want to look at all the different kinds of things that actually indicate whether students are learning in that school. So, its more than just looking at a test score. Ted im sympathetic to folks saying, we dont want to just be judged on a couple of numbers. I get that. But on the flip side, you know, accountability is essential to having confidence in our education system. Jessica many advocacy groups across the state say the new system should be, first and foremost, easy to understand. Ted the api, with all its faults, was a very simple way to see how your school was doing compared to other schools in the area and throughout the state. Jessica theyre pushing for a combo that would, they say, blend the best of both worlds. Ted cant we have a system where, sort of similar to the api, you can quickly see how your schools doing with just a few numbers, but then be able to delve deeper . Jessica and while experts debate the best way to measure schools, this much is clear. It is the dawn of a new era in education. Now, sacramento will take up the issue of how to measure schools in 2016, and it is expected to be a very heated debate. Well, critics said it wasnt needed, backers said it would make a big difference. Transitional kindergarten was controversial when it first started. Its a Free Public School program for 4yearolds who missed the cutoff for kindergarten. Transitional kindergarten, or tk as its often called, came into being 3 years ago, when the state pushed back the start age for kindergarten. Well, new data now shows that traditional kindergarten is actually having an impact. Students who attend tk are more advanced than their peers when they arrive at kindergarten. The new study shows tk students have an edge in language, literacy, mathematics, and executive function. The difference, they say, amounts to a 5month head start in some areas. Karen so, that means that the tk students who enter kindergarten on average have sort of 5 months more of skills in that area, that was specifically on letter and word identification, than their peers. In other words, students who are very similar in age, but did not attend tk. Jessica so, experts at the american institutes for research in san mateo plan to continue to study that impact of transitional kindergarten. Now, to our ongoing coverage of the Teacher Shortage. Weve told you before in class action about the lack of teachers. Lots of classrooms, just not enough teachers. School districts are struggling to fill their openings. The problem is the pipeline. Fewer and fewer people are going into teaching. But there are new signs that that may be changing. At the beginning of the school year, the Teacher Shortage in the bay area hit crisis levels as districts scrambled to fill classrooms. Female weve seen a sharp decrease in the number of individuals coming out of credentialing programs. Jessica those credentialing programs are the allimportant pipeline for new teachers. Linda darlinghammond well, weve had an enormous drop over the last dozen years in the number of teachers going into preparation, so its been a 70 drop. Jessica the teacher pipeline cratered for many reasons, including layoffs and low salaries. But for the first time in years, there is a trickle that could translate into good news. Linda weve had a slight uptick in the beginning of the school year in response to the fact that districts are hiring again instead of laying people off. Jessica take cal state east bay. Enrollment is up this year in the teacher credential program. Jenna landry i fought it for a long time. All through my undergrad, i had tried to change majors, i tried. And last year, i worked fulltime in a classroom, and i was like, okay, stop fighting it. Apply to the credential program. Jessica the job market is expected to be good for these teachers in training. Chelsea brazil i feel really good because i know that im not going to have to stress out like people did years ago about finding a job your first year. Jim cirillo most of our graduates last year had offers from more than one district. Jessica college of education interim dean jim cirillo says he expects enrollment to continue to gradually increase because the job market is strong. Jim there couldnt be a better time to become a teacher. Jessica no one knows yet if a rise in enrollment in credentialing programs can undo years of dwindling teacher numbers. Linda its not at all clear whether the uptick is going to be enough to staff the demand that is happening now and coming in the future. Jessica but for a teaching profession battered by years of bad news, it is a welcome change. Jim were coming back, were coming back. Jessica lets hope they are coming back. Now, in california, people enrolled in teacher credentialing programs can work as teachers while they get their credential. Theyre called intern teachers. School districts turn to intern teachers because they cant find enough fully credentialed teachers. Csu east bay says enrollment is up in its intern program. Okay, were just Getting Started with this class action news special. Coming up next, earthquake safety in schools. Weve been reporting on gaps in seismic safety. Well tell you all about them after this short break. [music] news special. Were recapping some of our best stories of the year. Now, weve spent a lot of time looking into seismic safety in 2015. In fact, we were the first to show you dangerous damage inside classrooms following the napa earthquake, and that led us to dig deeper. And what we uncovered may surprise you. In fact, the damage inside napa schools wasnt at all unique. Earthquakes have caused serious damage inside california classrooms for decades. And some of the failures happened over and over again. Female weve suffered a major earthquake. Female i know its very scary, okay . But i need you to take female this is very scary. Female yeah, i know, i know. We have an earthquake. Jessica when the napa earthquake struck in the middle of the night, schools were empty. But daylight revealed chaos inside the classrooms. Male this particular event was the most violent thing i have ever experienced in my close to 30 years in the fire service. Jessica photo after photo shows the rarely seen aftermath of an earthquake in schools, classrooms with no kids in dangerous disarray. Maryann we were incredibly lucky. Jessica Structural EngineerMaryann Phipps is coauthoring a report on the napa earthquake for fema. She saw our first story, and the photos we revealed concerned her so much, she added schools to her report. Maryann you know, if it had been another time of day, it would have been a completely different story, and we would have been mourning the loss of students. Jessica california is home to stringent School Construction standards. The executive director of the Seismic Safety Commission says our schools are the envy of the world. Richard mccarthy i get many people from around the world coming in, asking about why california schools do so well in earthquakes. Jessica experts tell us schools have come a long way structurally, but the nonstructural elements are another matter. Maryann i dont know that all the nonstructural hazards in classrooms have been evaluated and mitigated as well as the structural hazards have. Jessica take, for example, lights. Overhead pendant lights fell in napa. They can be sharp and weigh up to 80 pounds. Richard one piece is attached and its kind of swinging around like that. And thats a dangerous feature. Jessica dangerous, but not unusual. Lights fell in calexico in 2010, northridge in 1994, coalinga in 83, even kern county back in 1952. Female maryann to be continuing to see those photographs and that kind of damage is a little disheartening, a little shocking, and really unacceptable. Jessica unacceptable since, with the exception of a 5. 3 quake in 1957, there hasnt been a significant earthquake during school hours since 1900. The division of the state architect, or dsa, oversees construction of public k12 schools and community colleges. Dsa is responsible for the safety of pendant lights, but only when schools are built or remodeled. In fact, some schools may not have had a dsa review in years, or even decades. Another danger displaced furniture, shelves, and shop equipment show up again and again in photos. Male well, i think that some of these items are relatively easily fixed. Jessica theyre hazards multiple state agencies have warned about since the early 1970s. Richard theyre like huge missiles in the air, or just giant objects falling down. Jessica these are some photos of classrooms. Male wow. Jessica we showed the photos to the contra costa fire marshal. Male both blocking exits. Jessica looking at this as a parent, and i see this, im not sure that my child could climb out the door in enough time. Robert marshall yeah. And if youcertainly if you had some kind of an emergency that had a time element to it, like a fire or a gas leak, i would share that concern with you. Jessica School Districts are responsible for furniture and securing the contents inside a classroom. We asked the California Department of education to sit down and talk to us. They declined, saying in an email, we would certainly respond to your request if we were the regulating agency in this instance, but we are not. Trouble is there is no regulating agency for classroom furniture. Then theres the earthquake that shook calexico 4 years ago. Maryann if anybody had been standing under those, they would have obviously been very seriously injured. Jessica when the underside of this overhang fell, it sheared off doorknobs and blocked classroom doors. Richard that was a very bad incident. Jessica those undersides fall under the jurisdiction of the division of the state architect, but only at the time of construction and during renovations. And this school was built in the 1960s. Maryann and again, that was not during school hours. That was when there were no students there. So, the fact that every timei mean, one of these times, its not going to happen in the middle of the night. Jessica and thats a scenario that has a lot of people worried, and wondering if more can be done to keep kids safe. Richard were going to be tested here pretty soon, im sure, with a big event. Jessica well, it turns out that more can be done. Fire marshals inspect schools every year, but seismic safety isnt part of the fire code. The fire marshals that we spoke to said they would be glad to take on earthquake safety if the state would give them the legal authority. And so far, the state has not. We have a lot more photos of damage inside those schools. If youd like to see them, go to our website at nbcbayarea. Com. Go ahead and look at them. Theyre a little shocking. Search class action. Okay, while Public Schools are highly regulated for earthquake safety, you may be surprised to learn that private schools are not, except in San Francisco. Its the first and only city in california to require private schools do seismic evaluations. Jessica San FranciscoFriends School has an unusual seismic story. Paul galvin it was built to house levi strausss blue jean Assembly Plant back in 1906. Jessica before the school moved in, it had to do a massive retrofit. Paul basically put the entire building, 82,000 square feet, on stilts and lifted it up off of its then foundation. Jessica everything inside this old building is basically new. Paul you see a lot of steel everywhere. Youll see these huge steel ibeams that are holding up the building, in addition to the original foundation, and preparing it to withstand an earthquake. Jessica an earthquake no one wants to experience, but everyone knows is coming. Simin naaseh it may not happen tomorrow, may happen, you know, the next day or 15 years from now, but we know that it will happen. Jessica as part of San Franciscos ongoing effort to reduce risk, the city has put in place the first law of its kind in california. Private schools have to evaluate seismic safety. Patrick otellini at first, people realized that theyre a little shocked that this isnt already required. Jessica Public Schools have been regulated since the early 1930s, but not private schools. Patrick especially the parents that we surveyed, where you ask them and they assume because their kids were in private school, and they were writing that check every month, that of course it must meet the same standards as the Public Schools, and thats just not the case. Jessica that doesnt mean private schools are dangerous. Theyre supposed to adhere to building codes. And a city report shows 43 of private School Buildings are likely to perform well in earthquakes. But 33 might perform poorly. And for 24 , there just isnt enough information. Simin i think a good first step is evaluating the buildings and assessing the nature of the risk and the magnitude of the risk. Jessica there are an estimated 113 private schools in San Francisco, many in older buildings. Schools occupy a movie theater, a victorian mansion, a former mayonnaise factory, a wide variety of campuses facing the same deadline. They have 2 years to complete the earthquake review. Patrick the schools are going to do these evaluations, and theyre probably not going to want to sit on them. Jessica thats exactly what happened at the archdiocese of San Francisco, which operates more private schools than any other school group, 34 total. David finn we got a call one day that an engineer had identified one of the sites as being in immediate risk based on the configuration of the building and the initial review. Jessica the classroom was a kindergarten located on the bottom floor of a building used for other parish purposes. Its permanently closed. David the school was closed by the end of the day, that particular site, and the children removed. Jessica the archdiocese evaluated all of its schools ahead of the deadline. And its not the only private School Entity already correcting deficiencies. The fixes are voluntary. Schools are not required to retrofit. The law simply doesnt go that far. Patrick to come up with a uniform standard, a way to retrofit this, its not fair because some schools would be very cheap to retrofit given their construction type, other ones might be very expensive. Jessica but experts say if the law spurs action, its an important first step. Simin putting our head in the sand and ignoring the risk isnt going to help us. But knowing what our vulnerabilities are, addressing them and mitigating them, will help. Jessica private schools are filing seismic evaluations at the department of building inspection, and they are Public Record if you want to check them out. Okay, weve got more ahead in this class action news special. Is the new sat ready for you . Coming up next, its a rite of passage for collegebound seniors, and its getting a makeover. [music] that sound. Like nails on a chalkboard. But listen to this family talking thats a different kind of sound. The sound of the weekend. Unleash the power of dough. Give it a pop. Its always worth remembering. That icing the Cinnamon Rolls is a privilege not a right. Unleash the power of dough. Give it a pop. Jessica its a really big change, and it is right around the corner. The new sat is coming. The test is a timehonored tradition and a necessity for getting into many colleges. But the sat is getting a makeover. Female have any of you thought about which colleges you would like to go to . Jessica these High School Students at Impact Academy at hayward have a lot to look forward to these days, including applying to college. Theyre attending a College Spring program that helps students take the high stakes sat. Female well, its nervewracking, actually. Jessica students here say the sat is daunting, partly because it doesnt reflect what theyve learned. Mark graham its just not, like, not telling the colleges who i am as a person because its not showing my academics behind it. Female sometimes, they test you on stuff that youre never going to know, like really need in life. Jessica those are some of the reasons why the sat is getting an overhaul. This is the last year of the old sat. Julie gopalan sayonara. Were really excited about the one thats coming up. Jessica Julie Gopalan says the new sat will more accurately reflect what students learned in high school. The idea behind the remodel, to level the Playing Field and make it more accessible. Julie i think the College Board is really working with equity in mind, and working to make the test more fair. Jessica among the changes coming next year, no more penalties for wrong answers, Vocabulary Words that are more relevant, and the essay will be optional. Mark why couldnt they do this this year . I would have loved to done thedone the optional essay. Male the redesigned sat will be more focused and clear, useful and open, than ever before. Jessica also, the College Board wants to counter pricey private test prep with free online test prep, from bay area based khan academy. Salman khan this will be the best thing out there that happens to be free. Richard johnson iii i think the efforts to overhaul it are moving in the right direction, but not far enough. Jessica but not everyones convinced that the new sat will be a better sat. Richard i think that people that are still marginalized, students that are still marginalized, come from marginalized communities, still wont be impacted positively by any of the changes that the sat officials are trying to make. Jessica whatever the outcome of the new sat, these students in hayward are focusing on conquering this years sat and pursuing their college goals. Mark really, its all about endurance for me. Female remember, you can take the sat more than once. Most colleges will see the last time you took the sat. Jessica now, since we first aired our story, khan academy launched free online test preps, and you can study this years sat, next years sat, and take tutorials. And again, its all for free at khanacademy. Org. Now, if you follow class action, you know we do a lot of reporting about the achievement gap. Thats the gap in academics between underrepresented minorities and their white and asian peers. It has been a problem for decades, so we are happy to report a success story. A local university is one of just two on the west coast to get honors for helping minorities graduate. San Francisco State boosted Graduation Rates among black, latino, and native American Students by nearly 15 in the last decade. A new report from the Education Trust says the school also made strides in closing that hard to crack achievement gap. Jennifer hunt you know, i have to say its a little bit of a misnomer here because were a fantastically diverse campus. And so, we dont really have minorities per se. I think that makes our achievements all the greater because it means that we are closer to achieving equity amongst all of our students, and thats whatthats what we celebrate. Jessica the schools Metro Program supports many lowincome and firstgeneration students in their first and second years on campus, when theyre at higher risk of dropping out. Metro clusters students together in classes, and provides advisers and tutoring. So, kudos. Well be right back with more. Thats going to do it for us. Thanks for watching this class action news special. Well catch you next time, bye bye. [music] ] announcer the following program is sponsored by operation smile. Every year, hundreds of thousands of children are born with cleft lip and or cleft palate. Dr. Bill magee why should any child, anywhere on this planet, have to live a life of misery. Kathy majette a lot of people think that children that are born with these deformities are cursed. Just imagine a life alone, that nobody wanted to be around you. Norrie oelkers and we had children coming in for screening with brown bags over their head. Theyre never allowed to leave their house unless they have a bag on their heads. Kathy majette some children dont live, because they have problems with eating, and drinking, and die of malnutrition. Mel and they see us as their last resort. Dr. Jill gora every child deserves a fair chance at life, Peggy Stillman it may only take an hour to do something that will change their lives forever. Noreen kessler and you just see a whole new person, a whole new beginning. Its almost like theyre reborn. I cant think of another word but phenomenal. [ music ] roma downey as a mother, i would do anything i could to help my child live a normal life. And im sure you would, too. But what if you couldnt do anything . What if you were totally helpless . Thats the situation for hundreds and thousands of parents in developing countries whose children are born with cleft lip or cleft palate. In the united states, these deformities are corrected shortly after birth. But in many countries around the world, these children are left untreated and are shunned. [ music ] [ childrens voices ] roma downey im in le loi hospital. The volunteer operation smile medical team has come from all over the world to perform surgeries, and parents have brought their children here, hoping that theyll be selected