Save Fresno Unified is a partnership between Fresno Citizens for Good Government and the citizen advisory group who produced the “Choosing our Future” report. "Choosing our Future" is a plan to turn Fresno Unified from one of the worst school districts in the nation to what we hope will become one of the best. Nothing is more important to the future prosperity of our community. Our purpose is to monitor progress of the District and to encourage community support for this ambitious and vitally important turn-around effort.
Home » Documents Library » Choosing Our Future

II. Methodology

Recognizing that time is of the essence, the methodology employed by the Task Force in the preparation of this preliminary report involved several concurrent activities:


  • A historical review of FUSD’s academic performance and finances;
  • Benchmarking of the District’s academic and financial performance with that of other districts of comparable size and demographics;
  • Visits to high-achieving districts in California, identified through the benchmarking process;
  • Research of published information;
  • Consultation with the FCMAT Team;
  • Consultation with Board members, outgoing Interim Superintendent Walt Buster, incoming Interim Superintendent Chuck McCully, union leaders, principals, teachers, staff managers, the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) and other stakeholders, student groups and parent groups; and,
  • Consultation with education organizations, including the Bay Area School Reform Collaborative (BASRC), School Services and Just for Kids.

Time did not allow the Task Force to evaluate the District’s capital plan. It should be observed, however, that in the course of it’s work the Task Force found that “best practices” districts have either eliminated or are in process of eliminating their multi-track year-round schools, having found that they tend to adversely affect student achievement.
 
District accounting and measurement of student achievement are complex subjects. Appendices C and D provide a brief description of how it all works; a glossary of some key terms, such as “ADA”, “API, “AYP”, “General Fund” and “Categorical Funds”; and a list of web sites for those who want to learn more.
 
Readers will detect differences in writing style in the appendices that are part of this report. While the report represents a consensus view from all nine Task Force members, various members took responsibility for drafting different Appendices of the report.

‹ I. Task Force MissionupIII. Ten-City Benchmarking ›