SBE News Release for September 4, 2015

For Immediate Release
September 4, 2015

Contact
Julie White
916-319-0691

Board Plans to Align State Accountability System
with LCFF Priorities

The California State Board of Education (SBE) moved forward its plans to align the state accountability system with educational priorities outlined in the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) legislation.

The legislation that established the state’s new school funding formula laid the foundation for a corresponding new state accountability system by outlining eight broad priorities for student and school success. These priorities include student achievement and engagement, parental involvement, implementation of state standards and school climate. The board is working to shift from an outdated accountability system based solely on test scores to a new system that includes additional state and local measures to assess progress.

The board’s plan calls for the elimination of the currently-suspended Academic Performance Index (API), which used to measure school progress by using results from the state’s old achievement tests. The API has been suspended for the past two school years as the state transitions to a new state testing and accountability system and as the new funding law is implemented.

“The priorities outlined in the new funding formula allow for greater transparency about assessing results than ever before,” explained SBE president Mike Kirst. “The next step is to align the state accountability system with these priorities so the work that is underway to improve student outcomes is well-defined through multiple measures.”

Next steps for the board include developing evaluation rubrics that will assist local education agencies to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas that require improvement. The deadline for the board to adopt evaluation rubrics is October 2016. In addition, the board will review a full implementation plan for the state’s new accountability system at its November 2015 meeting.

To access the board’s most recent agenda items on accountability and to review presentations made to the board about existing approaches to accountability and systems of support, visit the SBE Agenda for September 2015 Web page [http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/yr15/agenda201509.asp].

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