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California's new accountability system aims to provide meaningful learning for students, allocate resources to schools and districts based on student needs, and offer professional development for educators. The system holds schools and districts accountable through Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs), professional accountability, and performance accountability across eight priority areas. This system is a departure from the state's previous policy of setting performance targets based on standardized test scores.
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The gap between researchers and policy makers is a significant issue. Both sides agree that the current state of affairs is unsatisfactory, but fundamental differences between their orientations and interests inevitably lead to disagreements about which questions merit study and which answers merit attention. The gap finds its origins in intrinsic dilemmas of policy research, making it wide and apparently unbridgeable.
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CA is undergoing significant changes in its education system. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) has decentralized authority and responsibility, with the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) focusing on local strategies for improvement. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) aim for improved instruction and deeper learning, but require significant changes. A PACE/USC Rossier poll surveyed California voters on their knowledge and opinions on these changes, including the Vergara case, teacher employment policies, and charter schools.
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Internet technology can transform the education system in three ways: individualizing learning, making it smart with adaptive software, and creating an open network for learning production. California can lead the way by adopting policies to leverage digital technologies and online resources for Learning 2.0. This would improve the performance of schools and students, and create opportunities for teachers, small enterprises, and individuals to contribute to the production of learning.
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Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will impact many state education policies in fundamental ways. Before 1990, most states did not have uniform K-12 academic standards, and each state developed its own. To align policies with CCSS, CA must eliminate contradictions, look for gaps where no policy exists, and ensure sufficient breadth and depth of newly aligned policies. Common Core will transform instruction by focusing on fewer, higher, and deeper standards. However, current state assessment and accountability systems in CA are not aligned with the CCSS's specific instructional approach.