In March, the California Department of Education will be launching the new California School Dashboard. The Dashboard will affect all public school districts in California. In an effort to prepare for this new Dashboard, we hosted three Community Forums this past October and November to explain to the community how to interpret the performance data included in the Dashboard. The California State Board of Education approved a new accountability and continuous improvement system last fall. The new system includes the eight State priorities that define a quality education from a broader perspective than a single test score. The State will use a new accountability evaluation rubric to analyze state and local performance standards. The rubric will assist districts in identifying strengths and areas for improvement.
The new California School Dashboard will provide multiple measures of student performance and a more complete picture of the students’ educational experience. The Dashboard will include academic indicators, progress of English learners, college and career indicators, high school graduation rate, suspension rate and chronic absenteeism. A few of these measures are still a work in progress at the State level. The academic indicator for measuring progress of student achievement is the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in English Language Arts and Math for 3rd through 11th grade. The schools will continue to host meetings to inform the parents and community about the new Dashboard in the spring.
The State will also be launching new accountability webpages on the California Department of Education Website for the California Accountability Model and School Dashboard at http://www.cde.ca.ga.gov/dashboard/.