Accountability Policies in California

California’s accountability landscape has shifted dramatically in the past year, with the simultaneous adoption of three new and very different accountability regimes. The approval of SB 1458 requires major changes in the Academic Performance Index (API), which is the state’s main instrument for measuring the progress and performance of schools, while the approval of AB 484 accelerates California’s transition to new assessments aligned to the Common Core.

The adoption of the Local Control Funding Formula requires school boards to adopt Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs), which must be developed in consultation with their local communities. The waiver that the eight CORE school districts have received from the US Department of Education requires them to implement their own accountability system, which relies on the collective responsibility of professional educators to improve educational outcomes for all students.

PACE has organized this conference to discuss the changes that are underway in California’s accountability system, and to analyze what they mean for the state’s schools and students. The conference will feature presentations on changes in the state’s assessment policies, Local Control Accountability Plans, and the new accountability system developed by the CORE districts, with reactions and discussion from state and local policy leaders. The conference will also include a discussion of findings from the recent PACE/USC Rossier poll, which focused on accountability issues.

Welcome and Introductions David Plank, Executive Director, Policy Analysis for California Education

Standards-Based Accountability: Common Core, NCLB, and the API Deb Sigman, Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, California Department of Education

Professional Accountability: CORE’s NCLB Waiver Jonathan Raymond, Superintendent, Sacramento City Unified School District

Political Accountability: Local Control Accountability Plans Sue Burr, Member, California State Board of Education

Commentary and Discussion Arun Ramanathan, Executive Director, Education Trust-West Rick Simpson, Deputy Chief of Staff to California State Assembly Speaker John Perez Merrill Vargo, Executive Director, Pivot Learning Partners Angelo Williams, Assistant Executive Director of Policy & Programs, California School Boards Association

How Voters See Accountability: Findings from the PACE/USC Rossier Poll Jeff Harrelson, Vice President, MFour Strategies, Inc. Ben Tulchin, President, Tulchin Research