California Department of EducationNews Release Release: #24-28May 8, 2024 Contact: CommunicationsE-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.: 916-319-0818 SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced that the California State Board of Education (SBE) approved $1.3 billion in community schools implementation grants today as proposed by the California Department of Education (CDE). Today’s approval marks the continued expansion and third cohort of the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP), which has become the largest single investment in community schools anywhere in the nation. Today’s cohort builds on successful efforts to accelerate student learning by integrating academics, health and social services, and family and community engagement to improve the achievement and wellness of children by serving the whole child and the whole family. “Our Community Schools strategy is fundamentally about breaking down barriers in order to unlock the brilliance of every child,” Thurmond said. “Our community schools grantees build strategic partnerships with service providers in their area, which leads to an incredible return on investment for our students and families. And by remaining committed to transformative outcomes for our students, our community schools have become leaders in not only identifying the barriers that hold kids back but also creating innovative solutions that effectively support children to learn and thrive.” With a total investment of $4.1 billion, the CCSPP is the nation’s largest investment in the community schools model and represents the first comprehensive rethinking of the role of schooling since the end of the Cold War. Community schools partner with education, county, and other nonprofit entities to provide integrated health, mental health, and social services alongside high-quality, supportive instruction with a strong focus on community, family, and student engagement. COMMUNITY SCHOOLS HIGHLIGHT: Fresno Unified In Fresno Unified, CCSPP dollars have funded food and clothing pantries, family resource fairs, and Community School Coordinators for each site alongside innovative transportation solutions for students who are late for the school bus. These efforts have resulted in increased average daily attendance, increased family engagement, and elevation of parent and teacher voice. With today’s vote by the SBE, the CDE is awarding community schools grants that account for more than $1.3 billion in total. The list of awardees is available through the May 8, 2024, SBE Agenda (DOCX). This allocation is in addition to more than $1.3 billion in implementation grants in 2021 and 2022 to 204 local educational agencies and 1,028 school sites. The CDE plans to administer a final round of implementation grants during the 2024–25 school year. Thurmond sponsored community schools legislation in 2019 and, since the passage of the Community Schools Partnership Act, the CDE has continued to pioneer efforts that support the whole child and transform public education. Thurmond has championed community schools for almost 20 years, first as a school board member in West Contra Costa Unified, where he authored the resolution that made the entire district a full-service community schools district, and then as a California Assembly Member, where he supported community schools legislation. Now, as State Superintendent, Thurmond leads the largest community schools implementation...

CDE Launches new CAASPP & ELPAC website

The CAASPP and ELPAC websites have been redesigned and combined into a single website that can be accessed at www.caaspp-elpac.org. Beginning today and extending through June, a soft launch of the new website provides LEA coordinators early access to become familiar with the new website prior to the 2024–25 administration year. The CAASPP Website and ELPAC Website will remain available for the remainder of the 2023–24 administration, and test administrators and test examiners can continue to use those sites to complete 2023–24 testing. It is at your discretion to determine the best timing to introduce site and school staff to the new website. Webinar To help orient you to the new website, ET...

Los Angeles, CA (March 20, 2024) – Los Angeles Unified and AllHere launched a first-of-its-kind learning acceleration platform named Ed, designed to provide students and families with an ecosystem of valuable resources and support for fast-tracking student achievement beyond the school day. Fueled by Artificial Intelligence (AI), this innovative digital platform creates personalized action plans uniquely tailored to each student. The official unveiling took place at the Edward R. Roybal Learning Center, bringing together students, families, educators and the community to immerse themselves in this groundbreaking platform. Ed is currently available to students and families at select schools a...

Our 9th Annual District Systems Survey is now live! Help us cultivate the largest public domain database of software systems used by California school districts. We are tracking over 650 different systems in 50 different categories currently known to be in use by at least one California district. This information is in the public domain and is collected from our annual survey, google searches of school district websites and board notes, as well as from vendor provided lists. You can see the results of our survey by visiting our systems pages.

PUC Lakeview Charter Academy and PUC Triumph Charter Academy & PUC Triumph Charter High are two of only 51 LAUSD schools to receive the honor. PUC Lakeview Charter Academy and PUC Triumph Charter Academy and PUC Triumph Charter High are 2024 California Distinguished Schools, announced State Superintendent Tony Thurmond. This recognition is granted by the state department of education to an exceptional group of 293 public schools across the state. Schools are recognized in one of two categories: those closing the achievement gap and those demonstrating exceptional student performance. "We are incredibly proud of our schools for being recognized as the Class of 2024 California Distinguishe...

California Department of Education News Release Release: #24-13March 13, 2024 Contact: CommunicationsE-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.: 916-319-0818 SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced that nine California schools were selected for the California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award. This award program identifies and recognizes schools with exemplary dual enrollment programs and allows these schools to share the exemplary programs and practices that have contributed to their success. All Early College High Schools, Middle College High Schools, and alternative education schools with dual enrollment programs were eligible to apply for the 2024–25 award. “These programs are a beacon of excellence and equitable opportunity in California’s public schools,” said Superintendent Thurmond. “Dual enrollment programs provide a unique option for public high school students who seek to accelerate their achievement, launch their careers, and access a high-quality free college education even before they walk the high school graduation stage.” Awardees had to demonstrate excellence in several areas of program focus. Applicants had to demonstrate and provide evidence of strong, collaborative relationships among the high school, the college, families, community members, and industry partners. They also had to demonstrate and provide evidence of equity, integration of college and district plans and frameworks, dual credit for high school graduation, outcome data, pathways, and student supports. Schools receiving the California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award will hold the title for two years. Read more at the California Department of Education California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award web page. 2024 Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award Schools CountyDistrict/County Office of EducationSchoolCollege Partner Fresno Firebaugh-Las Deltas Unified School District Firebaugh High West Hills Community College Coalinga Kern Kern County Office of Education Wonderful College Prep Academy - Delano Bakersfield College Kern Kern County Office of Education Wonderful College Prep Academy – Lost Hills Bakersfield College Los Angeles Antelope Valley Union High School District SOAR High Antelope Valley College Nevada Nevada Joint Union High School District William and Marian Ghidotti Early College High School Sierra Community College Orange Huntington Beach Union High School District Valley Vista High Orange Coast College Coastline College Golden West College San Bernardino San Bernardino City Unified School District Middle College High School San Bernardino Valley College Santa Clara Santa Clara Unified School District Mission Early College High School Mission College Ventura Oxnard Union High School District Oxnard Middle College High School Oxnard College # # # # Tony Thurmond — State Superintendent of Public InstructionCommunications Division, Room 5602, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100  

Hello members!  We are making some minor tweaks to the School Data Leadership Association's website.  Please bear with us as we tweak some of the User Interface elements, add some additional functionality, and update the site.  We will be adding back any missing pages as we update them over the course of the next week or two. -Chris

A lot of energy, time, and money is being spent on state assessments, so it is proper to check in and ask how it is going. It would not make sense for us to continue to spend the effort on testing only to ignore the results. And yet, eight years into the California CAASPP system, little is known about individual-level student scores responses to the Summative tests, especially with the multiple-choice section of the test. The overall scale score each student receives does not actually break down the types of questions each student answered correctly. Over the last eight years this fact has remained – individual student level data on the Computer Adapted test is still unknown. In the las...

The School Data Leadership Association is co-presenting a webinar on September 15, 2022 at 10 AM PST.   TOPIC:  Modernizing Your Approach to EdTech: From Management to Optimization DESCRIPTION:    Schools, districts and charter networks of every size are managing increasing numbers of edtech products - often with few dedicated resources and limited bandwidth. In this webinar, we'll sit down with Christopher Moggia, EdD, to discuss best practices every district can follow to drive more value from their edtech investments. We'll cover six steps to update your approach to edtech management:1. Document which edtech tools your students and teachers are using.2. Understand dist...

K12 district information teams navigate a confusing array of data management strategies to connect, and pass data between, an ever-growing collection of applications.This webinar, led by the School Data Leadership Association, will answer the question that persists for all K12 educators and technologists: How do move towards truly connecting all of our data systems?Topics will include:What are districts' best data integration options?What is the future of data warehousing and data exchanges?What questions should data leaders ask if a district wants to achieve better cross-district data access?Presenters:Chris Moggia, Executive Director, School Data Leadership AssociationKathryn Grady, Senior...

Here's a video from the CALPADS team regarding the changes.  https://youtu.be/7hjse9TiDeQ

Hello SDLA members!We've just put the finishing touches on the 7th annual district systems survey.You can find it here: 7th Annual District Systems Survey The URL is https://www.schooldataleadership.org/ca-k-12-school-districts/2022-district-systems-surveyPlease help us compile the best single resource for systems used by California school districts by taking 5-10 minutes to complete the survey. Hint - you can print the list out and use that to review your district's systems, checking them off as you go. The list can also be used to help your district understand what OPTIONS exist within each category.Each year we review the results and update the product pages listed on our site. Our goal i...

Stability Rates ReportStability Rates Report (with County data)Stability Rate Downloadable Data Files These reports were developed in response to requests from educators, policy makers, and stakeholders across the state. The SR reports identify the number and percent of students who receive a "full year" of learning in the same school. This measure was developed after an extensive review of various stability metrics calculated by other state educational agencies, an evaluation of the data the CDE collects, and in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. The CDE is also providing these data to fulfill a recommendation stemming from the Superintendent of Public Instruction's Impr...

 The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issued two resource collections—one for elementary and secondary schools and one for postsecondary institutions—designed to assist in planning for a successful and equitable return to schools and campuses. The two collections include fact sheets, Q&As, letters to educators, and other materials explaining the obligations that elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools have under the federal civil rights laws enforced by OCR to provide educational environments free from discrimination. Read the Elementary and Secondary Resource Collection PDF (508K)Read the Postsecondary Resource Collection PDF (356K) As we look forward...

Kahoot! today announced the acquisition of Clever, one of the most widely-used digital learning platforms by U.S. K-12 schools, to make learning awesome worldwide. Oslo, Norway (May 6, 2021) – Kahoot!, a global learning platform company, announced today the acquisition of Clever Inc., a privately-held, California-based company that is one of the most widely-used digital learning platforms by U.S. K-12 schools. The partnership between two of the most popular platforms in education, with distinct and highly complementary offerings, will provide improved learning solutions and offerings to U.S. schools, while accelerating the global expansion of Clever's solutions. Kahoot! Group will acquire 10...

The United States Department of Education on Tuesday April 6, 2021 approved in writing a request from the California Department of Education to waive some accountablity, school identificiation, and related reporting requirements for the 2020-21 school year due to challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic.   Please note that these accountabilty requirement waivers did NOT extend reporting or testing deadlines nor did they waive the administration of any CAASPP, CAST, CAA, ELPAC, or related state tests.  In addition no extension to testing deadlines were issued. You can read the full report below: 

Jenny Rankin, whose research revealed that teachers drew the wrong conclusion from test data most of the time when using conventional reports.

In ten years, will historians look back at the 30-year effort to get teachers to interpret test data as a failure? I'm impatient. I don't want to wait ten years. Although I'm no historian, here's my verdict. Yes, it was a failure. This long push to make teachers do "data-driven decision-making" has flopped. But of all those who share responsibility for this flop, teachers are the least culpable. Evidence of its failure is everywhere. The tests most teachers favor are the ones they create. Those teacher-created tests often reveal the least about the degree to which students have mastered the subject matter they've studied. State tests are disliked, disrespected and misunderstood. Proof of how...

The California Department of Education has partnered with the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) to hold the annual California Assessment Conference on October 6 and 7, 2020, through a virtual conference platform. Details about this professional learning opportunity and registration are available on the conference website at https://www.cdecac.org.

CAASPP Update

Focusing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System and English Language Proficiency Assessments of California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California's other statewide assessments. New Resource! Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments Today, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced the availability of a new resource, "Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments." This informative document describes how educators can use California's approved assessments to evaluate where students are academically at the start of and throughout the school year. CALPADS and the ELPAC: Changes Beginning July 1, 2020, the California Longi...

Editor's note:  Still not sure if they understand schools or not.  Keeping students 6 feet apart from each other is clearly not a viable option in schools where 40 students are crammed into a single classroom.  Unclear what resources, if any, will actually flow to schools to enable these recommendations to lead to actual implementation.  But here they are . . . . California Releases Guidance on Re-Opening of Schools Stronger Together -  Published June 8, 2020. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/documents/strongertogether.pdf