February 27, 2018 | New University

The University of California released a “major expansion” of UC Scout, a new online program designed to provide high school students with free access to Advanced Placement (AP) and “A-G” subject requirements required for competitive college admissions. UC Scout now...

February 8, 2018 | The Mercury News

New research shows that California’s landmark overhaul of public education finance and accountability is narrowing achievement gaps between groups of students and helping parents learn about school progress, the state Department of Education reported Tuesday. The Learning Policy Institute late...

The Local Control Funding Formula Research Collaborative (LCFFRC) recently released Paving the Way to Equity and Coherence? The Local Control Funding Formula in Year 3. This report seeks to inform policymakers and others about ways in which LCFF implementation is...

Commentary authors
Summary

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) revolutionized school assessment by emphasizing a comprehensive approach over No Child Left Behind's (NCLB) test-focused model. California shifted from NCLB's single-number school ratings to a multi-dimensional dashboard system to better assess school performance. However, ESSA's current draft regulations advocate for a single, summative rating for identifying struggling schools, contradicting the spirit of multiple measures. The approach of condensing diverse measures into one rating would yield misleading outcomes. For instance, PACE found that schools performing poorly on one indicator might fare well on others. Such simplification fails to identify struggling schools accurately, a crucial step for offering necessary support. PACE recommends a tiered approach, considering each indicator separately, rather than amalgamating them into a single score. California's pursuit of a detailed, dashboard-style accountability system aligns with this approach, offering a more nuanced understanding of school performance and supporting tailored improvement strategies. A dashboard not only informs parents better but also enables informed decisions on school choices, focusing on continuous improvement rather than misleading rankings.