CalWatchdog Morning Read – September 28

by CalWatchdog Staff | September 28, 2016 9:57 am

Good morning. Happy Hump Day. As Jerry Brown draws headlines for deciding which passed bills from the recent legislative session live or die, another measure from within his administration is in the hot seat.

The state of California appears to be on a collision course with the federal government over how it responds to a school accountability provision in the Every Student Succeeds Act,[1] the measure approved last year to replace the controversial and unpopular No Child Left Behind Act.

No Child Left Behind… included a long list of mandates that states had to follow to receive federal funding. But it quickly became a lightning rod because of its heavy emphasis on testing. 

Last year, the House and Senate moved to pass a new federal framework that included far fewer requirements. U.S. Department of Education officials charged with drafting rules for this provision want states to adopt simple metrics based mostly on test scores that provide one number for each school, making it easier to assess academic performance.

But Gov. Jerry Brown, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson (pictured) and state Board of Education President Michael Kirst have for years disapproved of the single-score rating. This led to the scrapping[2] of the Academic Performance Index that had previously provided snapshot looks at school performance.

Instead, the state Board of Education earlier this month unanimously adopted[3] a system that rates schools on several factors, including math and English test scores; graduation, suspension and absenteeism rates; and effectiveness of English-learner courses. Kirst and Torlakson wrote a letter[4] to a U.S. Department of Education officials urging that California’s multi-metric standard be accepted.

CalWatchdog[5] has more. 

In other news:

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Endnotes:
  1. Every Student Succeeds Act,: https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/every-student-succeeds-act/
  2. scrapping: https://edsource.org/2015/state-board-of-education-suspends-api-for-another-year/76316
  3. adopted: https://edsource.org/2016/state-board-unanimously-adopts-new-school-accountability-system-essa-lcff/569147
  4. letter: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3002952-ESSA-Regs-SBE-TT-let010116.html
  5. CalWatchdog: http://calwatchdog.com/2016/09/28/state-defies-u-s-edict-single-score-schools/
  6. Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-governor-expands-hands-free-driving-1474932274-htmlstory.html
  7. The Modesto Bee: http://www.modbee.com/news/nation-world/national/article104618816.html
  8. Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-sac-essential-politics-updates-more-granny-flats-to-ease-housing-1475012357-htmlstory.html
  9. The Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article104533396.html

Source URL: https://calwatchdog.com/2016/09/28/calwatchdog-morning-read-september-28/