Once in Place, Will School Accountability System Really Work?
October 18, 2016 | EdSource

The State Board of Education spent two years creating a new district and school accountability system–revising multiple drafts in response to thousands of public comments–before adopting it in September. The plan is ambitious in concept and impressive on paper, but passage...

California’s Dashboard Data Will Guide Improvement PDF

California’s Dashboard Data Will Guide Improvement

Commentary authors
Heather J. Hough
Michael W. Kirst
Published

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.

How Should States Design Their Accountability Systems?
September 28, 2016 | Education Next

With the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replacing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, states have gained substantial new freedom to reshape their school accountability systems, including criteria for how to measure and communicate school performance to the public. One...

Districts Join New Data Sharing Partnership
September 18, 2016 | EdSource

School districts and charter schools serving 1.7 million students in California will compile, analyze and compare data on student performance beyond what the state collects under a new agreement announced last week. The additional data will include information on school...

Parsing Public Opinion on Policy
September 12, 2016 | C-SAIL

As the presidential election mercifully moves toward its conclusion, there are important education policy questions that will need to be answered in the coming years. Public opinion and its drivers could well influence state and national policy under the new...

Single Score Is a Misleading Way to Judge California’s Schools PDF

Single Score Is a Misleading Way to Judge California’s Schools

Commentary author
David N. Plank
Published

California lawmakers are facing a challenge in how to effectively evaluate schools. Historically, schools have been assessed using a blended approach, combining various factors into a single score, much like blending different ingredients in a soup. However, this method obscures the specific performance details of each school and lacks guidance for improvement. California is moving towards a smarter accountability system resembling how students are evaluated, utilizing a dashboard to showcase eight state priorities. This dashboard provides insights into where schools excel and where they need improvement, considering factors like test score growth, safety, and parental engagement. Despite these efforts, federal regulations are pushing for a single school rating, similar to the outdated blended score method, which recent reports have found to be arbitrary and misleading. Advocates argue for simplicity, but a singular index oversimplifies complex school performance, underestimating parents' ability to comprehend nuanced evaluations. California seeks a more comprehensive and accurate school performance assessment system and urges flexibility from the federal government in designing effective evaluation methods.

Tough Measurements for School Success Needed
August 13, 2016 | San Francisco Chronicle

The state of California, the federal government, and your local school district all agree - our lowest-performing schools need support and improvement. The problem is that every entity has its own idea about how to make changes. A conflict between...

Pre–K Policymakers Need to Wake from Nap Time PDF

Pre–K Policymakers Need to Wake from Nap Time

Commentary author
Daisy Gonzales
Published

In California, the landscape of early childhood education is evolving, moving away from traditional nap times to meet state standards for kids transitioning to kindergarten. However, the system is diverse and fragmented, incorporating various providers, leading to communication challenges and inconsistent quality. Recent studies suggest that aligning Pre-K education with later grades is pivotal for sustained benefits, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to propose a plan for this alignment. Despite this, the final budget didn’t include this alignment, leaving gaps in funding and coordination across the system. Some districts have taken proactive steps, integrating Pre-K into their plans, but hurdles persist, including insufficient funding, low teacher standards, and a lack of alignment between Pre-K and later grades. Addressing these issues demands both local and state-level efforts, advocating for greater alignment, improved teacher training, and adequate funding to create a more coherent education system benefiting all students.

California Data Show Flaws in Federal Regulations
August 2, 2016 | Education Week

When Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015, it was celebrated as relief from its predecessor, but as regulations emerge it’s beginning to look like its evil sibling of the discredited No Child Left Behind Act’s name-and-shame policy...

The PACE Perspective on 'The California Way' PDF

The PACE Perspective on 'The California Way'

Commentary author
Daisy Gonzales
Published

This is one of the most exciting, daunting and critically important moments in California's education policy history. We are all in uncharted territory. Policymakers and educators at all levels of the system are wrestling with the virtually simultaneous implementation of four radically new and promising policy initiatives: the Common Core State Standards (CCSS); computer adaptive assessments developed by the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium; the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF); and a new accountability system that focuses on Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) and an evaluation rubric rather than the traditional Academic Performance Index (API) scores. The implementation of these major reforms has redefined the roles and responsibilities of virtually every education actor—from state policymakers to county superintendents to local school boards, teacher, and parents. States across the country are watching to see whether California will succeed in implementing these reforms and how they can replicate parts of what state superintendent Tom Torlakson calls "the California Way."

Strategic Student Teaching Placement PDF

Strategic Student Teaching Placement

Commentary authors
John Krieg
Roddy Theobald
Dan Goldhaber
Published

Evidence shows teachers often begin their careers near their hometowns, a phenomenon known as the "draw of home." This preference affects teacher distribution across districts. In Washington State, data indicates that a significant percentage of districts lack graduates from major teacher education programs, placing them at a hiring disadvantage. The draw of home is powerful, with new teachers ten times more likely to start in their hometown districts than 50 miles away. A new study suggests student teaching placements significantly influence initial job locations. In Washington, 15% of first teaching jobs occur where student teaching took place, while 40% are in the hosting district. Encouraging placements in needy districts could aid teacher hiring and performance. Novice teachers perform better in areas resembling their student teaching demographics. Purposeful placement in such districts could benefit both student teachers and these under-resourced areas. This strategy may improve job placement rates and enhance teacher effectiveness in needy districts.