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Understand the Role of the California School Dashboard in New Renewal Criteria

By Annice Weinstein, Senior Manager, Assessment Data & Analysis

December 18, 2019

If you have questions about your Dashboard or would like to know what renewal track your school qualifies for based on 2018 and 2019 Dashboard data, contact EdTec’s data specialists.

 

California’s 2019 School Dashboard was just released in mid-December 2019. The 2019 Dashboard reflects your school’s performance during the 2018-19 school year and performance improvement from 2017-18 to 2018-19. The Dashboard indicators will be central to charter renewal criteria starting July 1, 2020, when AB 1505 legislation goes into effect, so take time now to review your indicators closely, both schoolwide and for your student groups. The new renewal criteria will apply to Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS) schools as well.

The new charter renewal criteria splits schools into three groups based on their Dashboard performance:

High

High-performing schools can expect a streamlined renewal for a term of five to seven years. Schools that receive all blue and green indicators in the most recent two years (2018 and 2019 Dashboards) qualify, as well as schools that meet the following criteria for closing the achievement gap:

For all measurements of academic performance, the charter school has received performance levels schoolwide that are the same or higher than the state average and, for a majority of subgroups performing statewide below the state average in each respective year, received performance levels that are higher than the state average.

The secondary criteria indicates schools must perform equal to or better than the state indicators schoolwide for ELA, math, English learner progress (ELPI), and college and career (CCI), and the majority of the school’s disadvantaged student groups must also perform better than the state indicators for those student groups.

When the state average performance increases, the criteria become more challenging to meet. Statewide indicators improved either schoolwide or for student groups in math, ELA, and the CCI from 2018 to 2019. Whereas 8.2% of charters would have qualified for the high track in 2018, only 4.3% qualify in 2019.

Determinations are based on Dashboard performance over the last two years. Schools identified for differentiated assistance cannot qualify for the high-performing track.

Low

Low-performing schools can expect non-renewal or at best, a two-year renewal. These schools have all red or orange indicators on the dashboard for the past two years, or meet the following criteria:

For all measurements of academic performance, the charter school has received performance levels schoolwide that are the same or lower than the state average and, for a majority of subgroups performing statewide below the state average in each respective year, received performance levels that are lower than the state average.

The secondary criteria reflect the opposite of the high group – a majority of a school’s student groups are performing below the state’s student group performance on the academic indicators.

A “second look” consideration will be given to schools in the low category to consider alternative measures of achievement growth and post-secondary success, but the that process will only be available through 2026. The “second look” process will take into account evidence-based “verified data”[i] that the school is producing measurable increases in academic achievement equivalent to one year’s progress for each year the student is in school.

Middle

The remainder of charters will fall into the middle category, and they can expect a five-year renewal if approved. This will encompass 80-90% of charter schools. The “second look” process also applies to these schools if the Dashboard indicators are not a good reflection of the school’s achievements. This process will likely benefit schools with high rates of school mobility or with many students who enter far below grade level, small schools with few Dashboard indicators, and high schools achieving post-secondary success not represented in the college and career indicator.

As you review your school’s Dashboard indicators, take note of the two elements that make up the indicator: your status for 2018-19 and the change from 2017-18 to 2018-19. Even relatively small changes from one year to the next can cause your indicator color to fluctuate. Also make sure to click “View More Details” to review the performance of each of your significant student groups.

 

CA School Dashboard

 

If you have questions about your Dashboard or would like to know what renewal track your school qualifies for based on 2018 and 2019 Dashboard data, contact EdTec’s data specialists

[i] “Verified Data” criteria will be released by the state in January 2021

California Charters, Stay Calm and Focus on Your LCAP Submission and the 2019 Dashboard!

By Jennifer Reyes, Ed.d., Educational Support Services Manager; Chris Lim, Senior Director of Data Management; and Annice Weinstein, Senior Manager, Assessment Data and Analysis 

April 16, 2019

California charter leaders, as you enter the last few months of the school year, pay attention to these important tasks to help you stay on top of your LCAP submission as well as ensure accurate reporting on the 2019 Dashboard.

CALPADS Submissions and the Dashboard

Demographic data reported to CALPADS informs the subgroup information reported on the CA School Dashboard. The CA Department of Education (CDE) typically extracts this information shortly after CAASPP testing is completed, so review the 8.1 ODS report in CALPADS to be sure the right demographic information is reported for each student: race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, homeless, foster, English learner, and disability status. For corrections, update the information in your student information system (SIS) first, then push an updated extract up to CALPADS, so the original source of your data (your SIS) is accurate and matches what’s in CALPADS.

We also recommend you push up an enrollment update to CALPADS prior to testing to make sure all students enrolled at your school are represented in TOMS.

The end-of-year submissions (EOY 1, 2, and 3) provide information on program eligibility, chronic absenteeism, suspension rate, and other disciplinary incidents, as well as college and career readiness. EOY information is also used to determine graduation rates along with cumulative enrollment, which the CDE uses to determine which students will factor into each of the Dashboard calculations.

LCAP Annual Update

Coordinate with your staff to gather the data necessary to update all the measurable outcomes defined in your LCAP. You’ll notice that some of the measures may be a year old (SBAC scores or graduation rate from 2017-18),but do your best to gather current data when available (example: local assessment data). Gathering the data early will give you a chance to share progress with your stakeholders and get their feedback, as well as use the data to determine if the actions or services you implemented are showing the results you anticipated. If they aren’t, this is the perfect time to update your plans in the 2019-20 LCAP.

If you haven’t been coding your finances to align with your LCAP goals, actions, and services throughout the year, you’ll need to start reviewing your general ledger to identify how each of the expenses line up with your LCAP. The Annual Update requires you to include your estimated actual expenditures for each action/service, including the funding source (base, supplemental/concentration, title funds, CSI), so this task can take some time.

It’s also a good time to start planning for that final round of stakeholder engagement prior to Board approval.  This will allow you to get quality input on your draft LCAP so that your entire school community is represented in the plan.  You will be able to include these efforts in the stakeholder engagement section and show that you are meeting this LCAP requirement.

One last item to start preparing is your responses to how you’ve addressed each of the local indicators. You will need to present the information at a regularly scheduled board meeting either at the end of this school year or the start of the next school year. Your overall score – Standard Met or Standard Not Met – will be entered by your Dashboard Coordinator next fall, but since you will be including that information in the LCAP Annual Update, it makes sense to prepare your narratives for the Dashboard local indicator reporting at the end of 2018-19.

The end of the school year will be here before we know it! We recommend planning ahead and allotting time to get these items right, as they have a significant impact on your school. For additional questions on the LCAP, Dashboard, or CALPADS submissions, please contact LCAP360@edtec.com.