news & highlights
Using Results!
A new tab 'Using Results' has been created on our website. This tab, not unexpectedly, is there to help you to use your data and your CHKS results. Currently there are two pages under this tab:CSU East Bay
Both are available to help you put the results into action and make changes that help your schools and communities.
Posted 04/17/2008
2005-07 Statewide CHKS Reports
The 2005-07 California Aggregated Reports are now ready and available online. These reports can be used as comparison data for districts and counties. To download and view the Elementary (5th grade) and/or Secondary Reports go click on Comparison Reports and scroll down to State Level.Posted 04/17/2008
New Free Workshop
RYDD and School Improvement WorkshopsPowerPoint Is Now Available!
Learn how to use the Resilience & Youth Development Data (RYDD) for your school improvement initiatives and efforts. School connectedness affects a wide range of youth outcomes including academic achievement, risk taking behavior and wellbeing.
To find out more and download the PowerPoint go to the Workshops Page
Posted 12/07/2007
New School Safety Grant
A new RFA for School Community Violence Prevention (SCVP) has been posted.The School/Law Enforcement Partnership (S/LEP), a joint entity of the California Department of Education (CDE) and the Office of the Attorney General (AG), allocates approximately $18.7 million annually through a competitive grant application process. Successful LEAs are awarded funds up to $500,000 each.
For details go to our Grants page
Posted 11/29/2007
Factsheet 8 is up! The Achievement Gap, School Well-Being, and Learning Supports
The factsheet summarizes a study of how academic performance and school well-being vary by the racial/ethnic composition of schools. School well-being refers to a school having a developmentally positive learning climate characterized by environmental supports, safety, and school attachment, as measured by student-reported data collected in 2004-06 by the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS). Both academic performance and school well-being varied consistently and persistently across schools by racial/ethnic groupings.To download go to Factsheets
Posted 11/08/2007
EdSource Policy Brief Available
The purpose of this brief - presented at the EdSource Educational Policy Convening by Greg Austin - is to raise the awareness of the value of the CHKS and CSCS among educators and policy makers concerned with improving schools and student achievement. It is a useful document for both School Health and Prevention Practitioners to share with districts looking at school reform efforts as well as those connected with the CHKS.To view click here EdSource Policy Brief
Posted 11/05/2007
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CHKS in the news
Is your school accepting of gay students?
LA Youth - Los Angeles,CA
...Last month 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot to death in his Oxnard classroom by a classmate after recently telling other students he was gay. Students told the Los Angeles Times that he was often teased, and he’d had a confrontation about his being gay with the suspect a day before he was killed. His 14-year-old classmate was arrested and charged with murder in his death. A recent California Healthy Kids Survey said that every year in the state more than 200,000 students are harassed because they are gay or lesbian or someone thought they were. We asked the teen writers at L.A. Youth if their schools are safe and accepting places for gay students, and how to make schools more tolerant. Below are responses from five students....
4/20: Time to Celebrate Drug-Free
North County Times - Oceanside,CA
...Since 2004, the North Coastal Prevention Coalition has been countering the "unofficial" marijuana smoking holiday of April 20, commonly referred to as "4/20," by partnering with local high schools to promote healthy alternative activities.
This year, coalition members decided they didn't want to "counter" a marijuana smoking holiday ---- they were going to create a new holiday! April 20 doesn't have to be associated with pot smoking or have to be any kind of an "unofficial" anything. Instead, local educators, law enforcement officers and health advocates are planning an "official" celebration of their own, and encourage you to join them. In preparation, April 20 was declared "Sober and Drug Free Life Choices Day" throughout the county by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently.
Nearly 70 percent of youth admitted to treatment programs in San Diego report marijuana as their drug of choice, and nearly 75 percent report they began using marijuana before they were 15 (San Diego CalOMS). More teens smoke marijuana than cigarettes, with more than 15 percent of high school juniors reporting use in the past 30 days (CA Healthy Kids Survey, 2007)....
$370,000 Grant Helping Combat Teen Drinking
San Mateo Times - Daly City,CA
...Suspicion prompted Nadine Samorano a year ago to walk into the bedroom shared by her two daughters and a niece. She snooped around while the three were at the movies. Samorano went to the closet, where she found an empty Smirnoff vodka bottle. Going through the closet some more, she took out a second bottle, then another and another.
"I pulled out 18 freaking bottles," she said Wednesday at a town-hall meeting tackling underage drinking. "I called my husband. We both were surprised and shocked."
Samorano, a Jefferson High School parent leader, and others shared their experiences with youth alcohol use and offered ways to combat it as part
of a campaign to rid their community of the problem. The campaign is funded by a $370,000 federal grant awarded last year to the Jefferson
Union High School District.
"Everybody in the district realizes we have a problem with alcohol use among teens," said Richard Boitano, Jefferson Union associate
superintendent of education. "We intend not to sweep it under the rug. We decided to take it head-on."
The 2007 California Healthy Kids Survey indicated that nearly one in four, or 23 percent, of ninth- and 11th-graders in Daly City high schools drinks alcohol, organizers said. The survey also showed that 55 percent of 11th-graders have used alcohol, while 36 percent have been very drunk or sick after drinking....
Partnership for a Safe and Healthy Pacifica announces third annual RAMA Program
Pacifica Tribune - Pacifica,CA
...The Partnership for a Safe and Healthy Pacifica (The Partnership) is announcing Pacifica's third annual Responsible Alcohol Merchant Award (RAMA) Program. RAMA awards recognize local merchants who go above and beyond in their efforts to reduce youth access to alcohol - merchants who are committed to reducing youth access, maintain responsible selling practices and provide exemplary, on-going training programs for their employees.
Alcohol-related deaths are the number one cause of death among young people. A significant alcohol access point for young people is at the retail environment. The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) reports that 32% of 11th graders are able to buy their own alcohol from a store.
The Partnership has a work group dedicated solely to addressing this community problem and we utilize proven strategies of education and rewards as part of the solution....
Every 15 minutes-be aware
Times-Herald - Vallejo,CA
...The powerful Every 15 Minutes program is scheduled for Benicia and Liberty High Schools on April 8-9. This is a program about teens, the choices they have to make about alcohol and other drugs, driving and the consequences. It is a program designed to show teens in a demonstrative, dramatic and emotional way they are not invincible and that their choices affect not only themselves but their family, friends and community. The free program ends with a community wide session at 7 p.m. April 9 in the BHS gymnasium.
To any parents or community members who might naively think otherwise, the California Healthy Kids Survey documents that the problem of alcohol and drugs should be a concern to all Benicians. Indeed, alcohol and other drug usage by our youth is somewhat higher than both the county and state averages according to the survey. An important presentation recently at BHS by Earl Miller of Reach Out Benicia underscored just how prevalent the problem is in our town....
Truckee To Receive Mental Health Funding
Sierra Sun - Truckee,CA
...
Behavioral health services in Nevada County have suffered from state budget cuts over the past 15 years, but a new special tax on California’s millionaires will boost mental health programs for the Truckee community.
Last Thursday over 50 Truckee residents gathered to discuss what mental health resources are missing in Truckee and where proposition 63 funds should go, said Rebecca Slade, children’s program manager for the Nevada County Behavioral Health Department.
Some suggestions made by Truckee residents for ways to support the mental health community included teen therapy groups, mental health education in local elementary schools, physician outreach to seniors, postpartum — or depression after pregnancy — screening and parent-child interactive therapy, Slade said.
Additionally, 100 percent of Tahoe Truckee ninth and 11th-grade students questioned in 2006 on the Healthy Kids Survey said they wanted more information on depression and suicide, according to the Nevada County Behavioral Health Department....
A Pilot Program Specifically Targets Teenage Users
Ventura Star - Ventura,CA
...Seventy-three days without methamphetamine. The accomplishment drives a pilot program outside Camarillo that leaders say could begin to fill Ventura County's need for a residential treatment program to help teens addicted to meth and other substances.
Launched earlier this year at the Casa Pacifica center for abused and neglected kids, the treatment includes counseling on what makes users use, peer pressure to stay clean and random drug tests for 16 youths already at the center.
Meth use among adolescents is hard to measure, but in the 2006 California Healthy Kids Survey, about 5 percent of high school freshmen in Ventura County public schools said they had tried the drug. That rose to about 7 percent for juniors.
Last year, about 321 youths were treated for drug and alcohol abuse in county outpatient centers. About 12 percent said methamphetamine is their drug of choice. County officials say they're working on bringing more meth prevention programs into schools....
Paso High To Get Free Drug Tests
San Luis Obispo.com - Paso Robles,CA
...High-schoolers can sign up starting Monday; results will be sent to parents, not the school
A drug testing program for students and teachers at Paso Robles High School aims to provide parents with incentives to get their children involved — and promises to give the results only to parents. The testing, set to begin Monday, is being organized by Partnership for Responsible Parenting, a North County nonprofit group that says it wants to give parents the tools to keep kids from alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. Paso Robles High School is the first public school to partner with the group.
“Paso Robles is really being proactive and wanting to give kids an option to resist drug use,” said Aurora William, cofounder.
According to a 2005 state-sponsored Healthy Kids Survey of Paso Robles High students, 48 percent of 11th-graders and 19 percent of seventh-graders had consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the past 30 days.
Among 11th-graders, 20 percent said they had smoked marijuana at least once in the past 30 days, as did 7 percent of seventh-graders....
Increases Considered For Tobacco Penalties
Examiner - San Mateo County,CA
...More merchants could see their right to sell tobacco go up in smoke if county officials vote to strengthen penalties for those caught selling cigarettes to minors.
San Mateo County supervisors will vote Tuesday to amend a code to impose a minimum 30-day tobacco sellers license suspension for businesses caught selling tobacco to minors twice in two years. The suspension will be raised to a minimum 90 days for third-time offenders. Violators who wrack up three or more infractions in two years could lose their licenses for up to 12 months.
Supervisors Jerry Hill and Rich Gordon are sponsoring the measure. Hill said the more stringent requirements are meant to halt smoking at adolescence in order to prevent a future health crisis.
“An adolescent thinks it’s cool or sees it modeled in the movies and picks up cigarettes for the first time. It’s our goal to keep that cigarette out of their mouth,” Hill said.
According to the 2004-06 California Healthy Kids Survey, 18 percent of San Mateo County 11th graders reported using tobacco the previous month — significantly higher than the 14 percent statewide.
While the ordinance has the support of anti-smoking advocates, merchants aren’t so sure it’s a good idea....
Los Alamitos District Takes Student Drug, Alcohol Use To Task
Orange County Register - Los Alamitos,CA
...School district officials are in the midst of unveiling a multilayered substance-abuse prevention plan that includes drug-sniffing dogs, a "party patrol" and random drug testing to deter student drug use at its schools.
The plans, which are preliminary but have gained Los Alamitos Unified school board direction to move forward, could take effect starting in September. School officials at the high-performing district say the plans are necessary to stop drug and alcohol use in students from escalating.
Surveys and suspension and expulsion data show drug use at district schools – though not much different from similar schools – was something to be worried about, school officials said.
"The plans might sound radical to some," said Superintendent Greg Franklin. "It's not really to catch kids. The idea is to deter kids from drugs and alcohol, and from bringing them on campus."
A 2006 Healthy Kids Survey found that of nearly 1,300 students in Los Alamitos High School, 43 percent of juniors said they drink alcohol, 3 percent used inhalants, and 20 percent smoked marijuana. In freshmen, 25 percent drank, 6 percent used inhalants, and 14 percent smoked.
"The data was significant to us," said Phil Bowen, assistant principal of student services and key member of a task force. "Is it different than any other school? Absolutely not. But the problem is still a concern."...
California Adopts Health Education Content Standards for Public Schools
Ms. Magazine - Conta Costa,CA
...California's Board of Education adopted standards that require sex education taught in public schools to be medically accurate. The standards, passed by the state Board of Education last week, cover the entire health curriculum, including drug education, exercise, and environmental health. The specific sections addressing sexual health education echo the requirements under the California Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Law of 2004. That law requires sex education to be medically accurate, objective, and respectful to students of different sexual orientations.
The California Board of Education standards explain that "...data from national and state surveys, such as the California Healthy Kids Survey indicated that although youth had knowledge of what was harmful to their health, they did not have the skills to keep from engaging in the risky behaviors. In other words, the students had the knowledge about why certain behaviors could and would cause harm; however, they were still engaging in these risky behaviors."...
San Lorenzo Leaders Meet To Discuss Kids' Health
Inside Bay Area - San Lorenzo,CA
...Local leaders met Wednesday evening at Alameda County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker's office to discuss how to make the San Lorenzo community healthier.
Even one positive relationship in the world of a child who is facing a stressful situation can make a huge difference, said Jeanne Kettles, an integrative health specialist and consultant with the Alameda-based s2i (strategy to implementation) consulting group, which is coordinating the San Lorenzo Initiative.
The data were mostly gathered through the California Healthy Kids Survey, a statewide survey administered every two years to elementary, middle and high school students regarding their perceptions of many aspects of their lives, including school and home.
The data were then organized and analyzed to search for behavioral patterns. Some of the conclusions showed that seventh- to 11th-graders who do not eat breakfast do not perform as well in school, and that the percentage of African-American and Latino students who do not read at grade level increases as the students progress through school.
"It's a pattern we see everywhere, at state and national levels," San Lorenzo Unified School District Superintendent Dennis Byas said.
Full article:...
Hate Knows No Age: On Lawrence King, Simmie Williams Jr.
Gaywired.com - Ventura,CA
...It’s been a decade since Matthew Shepard was found tethered to a fence in rural Wyoming. His death at the hands of two men who pretended to be gay only so that they could rob, beat and kill him sparked national outrage among the LGBT community and our straight allies who found their acts despicable.
A few weeks back in Oxnard, California, Lawrence King was gunned down for being openly gay. What makes this story so heartbreaking is that King was 15. His assailant, Brandon McInerney, was only 14.
The taunts and jeers of his schoolmates were pretty much par for the course in California. According to a 2005 California Healthy Kids Survey, seventh-graders in the state are 50 percent more likely to be harassed in school because of sexual orientation or gender identity than those in 11th grade....
LA Youth - Los Angeles,CA
...Last month 15-year-old Lawrence King was shot to death in his Oxnard classroom by a classmate after recently telling other students he was gay. Students told the Los Angeles Times that he was often teased, and he’d had a confrontation about his being gay with the suspect a day before he was killed. His 14-year-old classmate was arrested and charged with murder in his death. A recent California Healthy Kids Survey said that every year in the state more than 200,000 students are harassed because they are gay or lesbian or someone thought they were. We asked the teen writers at L.A. Youth if their schools are safe and accepting places for gay students, and how to make schools more tolerant. Below are responses from five students....
4/20: Time to Celebrate Drug-Free
North County Times - Oceanside,CA
...Since 2004, the North Coastal Prevention Coalition has been countering the "unofficial" marijuana smoking holiday of April 20, commonly referred to as "4/20," by partnering with local high schools to promote healthy alternative activities.
This year, coalition members decided they didn't want to "counter" a marijuana smoking holiday ---- they were going to create a new holiday! April 20 doesn't have to be associated with pot smoking or have to be any kind of an "unofficial" anything. Instead, local educators, law enforcement officers and health advocates are planning an "official" celebration of their own, and encourage you to join them. In preparation, April 20 was declared "Sober and Drug Free Life Choices Day" throughout the county by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors recently.
Nearly 70 percent of youth admitted to treatment programs in San Diego report marijuana as their drug of choice, and nearly 75 percent report they began using marijuana before they were 15 (San Diego CalOMS). More teens smoke marijuana than cigarettes, with more than 15 percent of high school juniors reporting use in the past 30 days (CA Healthy Kids Survey, 2007)....
$370,000 Grant Helping Combat Teen Drinking
San Mateo Times - Daly City,CA
...Suspicion prompted Nadine Samorano a year ago to walk into the bedroom shared by her two daughters and a niece. She snooped around while the three were at the movies. Samorano went to the closet, where she found an empty Smirnoff vodka bottle. Going through the closet some more, she took out a second bottle, then another and another.
"I pulled out 18 freaking bottles," she said Wednesday at a town-hall meeting tackling underage drinking. "I called my husband. We both were surprised and shocked."
Samorano, a Jefferson High School parent leader, and others shared their experiences with youth alcohol use and offered ways to combat it as part
of a campaign to rid their community of the problem. The campaign is funded by a $370,000 federal grant awarded last year to the Jefferson
Union High School District.
"Everybody in the district realizes we have a problem with alcohol use among teens," said Richard Boitano, Jefferson Union associate
superintendent of education. "We intend not to sweep it under the rug. We decided to take it head-on."
The 2007 California Healthy Kids Survey indicated that nearly one in four, or 23 percent, of ninth- and 11th-graders in Daly City high schools drinks alcohol, organizers said. The survey also showed that 55 percent of 11th-graders have used alcohol, while 36 percent have been very drunk or sick after drinking....
Partnership for a Safe and Healthy Pacifica announces third annual RAMA Program
Pacifica Tribune - Pacifica,CA
...The Partnership for a Safe and Healthy Pacifica (The Partnership) is announcing Pacifica's third annual Responsible Alcohol Merchant Award (RAMA) Program. RAMA awards recognize local merchants who go above and beyond in their efforts to reduce youth access to alcohol - merchants who are committed to reducing youth access, maintain responsible selling practices and provide exemplary, on-going training programs for their employees.
Alcohol-related deaths are the number one cause of death among young people. A significant alcohol access point for young people is at the retail environment. The California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) reports that 32% of 11th graders are able to buy their own alcohol from a store.
The Partnership has a work group dedicated solely to addressing this community problem and we utilize proven strategies of education and rewards as part of the solution....
Every 15 minutes-be aware
Times-Herald - Vallejo,CA
...The powerful Every 15 Minutes program is scheduled for Benicia and Liberty High Schools on April 8-9. This is a program about teens, the choices they have to make about alcohol and other drugs, driving and the consequences. It is a program designed to show teens in a demonstrative, dramatic and emotional way they are not invincible and that their choices affect not only themselves but their family, friends and community. The free program ends with a community wide session at 7 p.m. April 9 in the BHS gymnasium.
To any parents or community members who might naively think otherwise, the California Healthy Kids Survey documents that the problem of alcohol and drugs should be a concern to all Benicians. Indeed, alcohol and other drug usage by our youth is somewhat higher than both the county and state averages according to the survey. An important presentation recently at BHS by Earl Miller of Reach Out Benicia underscored just how prevalent the problem is in our town....
Truckee To Receive Mental Health Funding
Sierra Sun - Truckee,CA
...
Behavioral health services in Nevada County have suffered from state budget cuts over the past 15 years, but a new special tax on California’s millionaires will boost mental health programs for the Truckee community.
Last Thursday over 50 Truckee residents gathered to discuss what mental health resources are missing in Truckee and where proposition 63 funds should go, said Rebecca Slade, children’s program manager for the Nevada County Behavioral Health Department.
Some suggestions made by Truckee residents for ways to support the mental health community included teen therapy groups, mental health education in local elementary schools, physician outreach to seniors, postpartum — or depression after pregnancy — screening and parent-child interactive therapy, Slade said.
Additionally, 100 percent of Tahoe Truckee ninth and 11th-grade students questioned in 2006 on the Healthy Kids Survey said they wanted more information on depression and suicide, according to the Nevada County Behavioral Health Department....
A Pilot Program Specifically Targets Teenage Users
Ventura Star - Ventura,CA
...Seventy-three days without methamphetamine. The accomplishment drives a pilot program outside Camarillo that leaders say could begin to fill Ventura County's need for a residential treatment program to help teens addicted to meth and other substances.
Launched earlier this year at the Casa Pacifica center for abused and neglected kids, the treatment includes counseling on what makes users use, peer pressure to stay clean and random drug tests for 16 youths already at the center.
Meth use among adolescents is hard to measure, but in the 2006 California Healthy Kids Survey, about 5 percent of high school freshmen in Ventura County public schools said they had tried the drug. That rose to about 7 percent for juniors.
Last year, about 321 youths were treated for drug and alcohol abuse in county outpatient centers. About 12 percent said methamphetamine is their drug of choice. County officials say they're working on bringing more meth prevention programs into schools....
Paso High To Get Free Drug Tests
San Luis Obispo.com - Paso Robles,CA
...High-schoolers can sign up starting Monday; results will be sent to parents, not the school
A drug testing program for students and teachers at Paso Robles High School aims to provide parents with incentives to get their children involved — and promises to give the results only to parents. The testing, set to begin Monday, is being organized by Partnership for Responsible Parenting, a North County nonprofit group that says it wants to give parents the tools to keep kids from alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. Paso Robles High School is the first public school to partner with the group.
“Paso Robles is really being proactive and wanting to give kids an option to resist drug use,” said Aurora William, cofounder.
According to a 2005 state-sponsored Healthy Kids Survey of Paso Robles High students, 48 percent of 11th-graders and 19 percent of seventh-graders had consumed at least one alcoholic drink in the past 30 days.
Among 11th-graders, 20 percent said they had smoked marijuana at least once in the past 30 days, as did 7 percent of seventh-graders....
Increases Considered For Tobacco Penalties
Examiner - San Mateo County,CA
...More merchants could see their right to sell tobacco go up in smoke if county officials vote to strengthen penalties for those caught selling cigarettes to minors.
San Mateo County supervisors will vote Tuesday to amend a code to impose a minimum 30-day tobacco sellers license suspension for businesses caught selling tobacco to minors twice in two years. The suspension will be raised to a minimum 90 days for third-time offenders. Violators who wrack up three or more infractions in two years could lose their licenses for up to 12 months.
Supervisors Jerry Hill and Rich Gordon are sponsoring the measure. Hill said the more stringent requirements are meant to halt smoking at adolescence in order to prevent a future health crisis.
“An adolescent thinks it’s cool or sees it modeled in the movies and picks up cigarettes for the first time. It’s our goal to keep that cigarette out of their mouth,” Hill said.
According to the 2004-06 California Healthy Kids Survey, 18 percent of San Mateo County 11th graders reported using tobacco the previous month — significantly higher than the 14 percent statewide.
While the ordinance has the support of anti-smoking advocates, merchants aren’t so sure it’s a good idea....
Los Alamitos District Takes Student Drug, Alcohol Use To Task
Orange County Register - Los Alamitos,CA
...School district officials are in the midst of unveiling a multilayered substance-abuse prevention plan that includes drug-sniffing dogs, a "party patrol" and random drug testing to deter student drug use at its schools.
The plans, which are preliminary but have gained Los Alamitos Unified school board direction to move forward, could take effect starting in September. School officials at the high-performing district say the plans are necessary to stop drug and alcohol use in students from escalating.
Surveys and suspension and expulsion data show drug use at district schools – though not much different from similar schools – was something to be worried about, school officials said.
"The plans might sound radical to some," said Superintendent Greg Franklin. "It's not really to catch kids. The idea is to deter kids from drugs and alcohol, and from bringing them on campus."
A 2006 Healthy Kids Survey found that of nearly 1,300 students in Los Alamitos High School, 43 percent of juniors said they drink alcohol, 3 percent used inhalants, and 20 percent smoked marijuana. In freshmen, 25 percent drank, 6 percent used inhalants, and 14 percent smoked.
"The data was significant to us," said Phil Bowen, assistant principal of student services and key member of a task force. "Is it different than any other school? Absolutely not. But the problem is still a concern."...
California Adopts Health Education Content Standards for Public Schools
Ms. Magazine - Conta Costa,CA
...California's Board of Education adopted standards that require sex education taught in public schools to be medically accurate. The standards, passed by the state Board of Education last week, cover the entire health curriculum, including drug education, exercise, and environmental health. The specific sections addressing sexual health education echo the requirements under the California Comprehensive Sexual Health Education Law of 2004. That law requires sex education to be medically accurate, objective, and respectful to students of different sexual orientations.
The California Board of Education standards explain that "...data from national and state surveys, such as the California Healthy Kids Survey indicated that although youth had knowledge of what was harmful to their health, they did not have the skills to keep from engaging in the risky behaviors. In other words, the students had the knowledge about why certain behaviors could and would cause harm; however, they were still engaging in these risky behaviors."...
San Lorenzo Leaders Meet To Discuss Kids' Health
Inside Bay Area - San Lorenzo,CA
...Local leaders met Wednesday evening at Alameda County Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker's office to discuss how to make the San Lorenzo community healthier.
Even one positive relationship in the world of a child who is facing a stressful situation can make a huge difference, said Jeanne Kettles, an integrative health specialist and consultant with the Alameda-based s2i (strategy to implementation) consulting group, which is coordinating the San Lorenzo Initiative.
The data were mostly gathered through the California Healthy Kids Survey, a statewide survey administered every two years to elementary, middle and high school students regarding their perceptions of many aspects of their lives, including school and home.
The data were then organized and analyzed to search for behavioral patterns. Some of the conclusions showed that seventh- to 11th-graders who do not eat breakfast do not perform as well in school, and that the percentage of African-American and Latino students who do not read at grade level increases as the students progress through school.
"It's a pattern we see everywhere, at state and national levels," San Lorenzo Unified School District Superintendent Dennis Byas said.
Full article:...
Hate Knows No Age: On Lawrence King, Simmie Williams Jr.
Gaywired.com - Ventura,CA
...It’s been a decade since Matthew Shepard was found tethered to a fence in rural Wyoming. His death at the hands of two men who pretended to be gay only so that they could rob, beat and kill him sparked national outrage among the LGBT community and our straight allies who found their acts despicable.
A few weeks back in Oxnard, California, Lawrence King was gunned down for being openly gay. What makes this story so heartbreaking is that King was 15. His assailant, Brandon McInerney, was only 14.
The taunts and jeers of his schoolmates were pretty much par for the course in California. According to a 2005 California Healthy Kids Survey, seventh-graders in the state are 50 percent more likely to be harassed in school because of sexual orientation or gender identity than those in 11th grade....
