SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced the creation of the Education Technology Task Force to recommend how to bring 21st century tools into California’s classrooms to improve teaching and learning.

In creating the 48-member Task Force, Torlakson said he recognized the severe financial limitations currently facing schools, but was establishing the group now so that a plan for making better use of technology would be ready when more resources were available.

“Technology is changing nearly every aspect of our lives. But in California—home to Silicon Valley and the world’s leading technology companies—many schools have been all but left out of the technology revolution,” Torlakson said. “If we’re serious about providing our students a world-class education, we need a plan that leaves no school and no child offline.”

Torlakson also discussed the Task Force during the annual Computer-Using Educators Conference held over the weekend in Palm Springs.

The all-volunteer, unpaid Task Force is comprised of teachers, administrators, technology directors, local and county superintendents, school board members, parents, researchers, policy advocates, and foundation/community members from around the state.

The Task Force will work in groups led by facilitators to explore education technology in five key areas—learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure, and productivity.

Members will assess the state’s current education technology infrastructure and identify gaps between the current National Education Technology Plan and California’s most recent plan, which was approved in 2005. The group also will assess future needs and recommend how to improve teaching, learning, and equal access to technology for all students.

Creation of the Task Force was among the goals set out in the Blueprint for Great Schools, a report on the future of education in California prepared for Torlakson by his Transition Advisory Team, a group of nearly 60 parents, teachers, and business and community leaders.

The Blueprint calls for incorporating one-to-one technology as a key component of teaching, learning, and assessment that supports high levels of literacy, bi-literacy, and prepares students for success in the global economy.

As part of its duties, the Task Force will get input from stakeholders and experts in the field. A Web page also has been created on the Brokers of Expertise Web site for anyone who would like to contribute information, research, and case studies at http://commentedtech.myboe.org/.

The Task Force is expected to present recommendations to Torlakson to revise and develop a California Educational Technology Blueprint over the next few months, followed by a series of public meetings to gather comments on issues identified by the Task Force.

For more information on the Education Technology Task Force, please visit the California Department of Education Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ettf.

California GEAR UP kicked off it’s six year whole school services model with a one day planning phase workshop in Glendale, CA with many Southern California GEAR UP middle schools in attendance. The agenda includes:

California GEAR UP schools commit to strong academic programming and a cohesive college and career readiness curriculum, beginning at the middle school and connecting with area high schools and local postsecondary institutions. GEAR UP provides a network of support and professional development activities to integrate a college-going culture into school site reform efforts.

Forty-six middle schools will be selected to receive support developing a college-going culture through professional development, engagement of families and communities, counseling support, partner services and resources for the six-year grant period.

The purpose of California GEAR UP is to develop and sustain the organizational capacity of middle schools to prepare all students for high school and higher education through a statewide network of support for adults who influence middle school students, specifically their counselors, faculty, school leaders and families. As a result of this expanded capacity, a higher proportion of students, particularly from backgrounds and communities that have not historically pursued a college education, will enroll and succeed in higher education.

To view the planning phase presentation from the Glendale Workshop, please click here.

For more information on California GEAR UP, please visit our website.

Released today by The New American Foundation’s Asset Building Program, a new policy paper entitled Overcoming Obstacles to College Attendance and Degree Completion: Toward a Pro-College Savings Agenda.

The rise in student loan debt has directed critical attention to the growing pace of college costs as well as the reliance on loans to finance those costs. For graduates entering the workforce in recent years, many are finding that they are unable to find the type of job they thought they were securing when they received their degree, if they are able to find a job at all. Consequently, more loans are going unpaid and student loan debt has become the only class of consumer debt where defaults are increasing.

While debt is a clear indicator of the flaws in the current way that postsecondary education is financed, a less visible consequence is the number of students who never make it to college because they perceive it as financially out of reach or the attrition of students who cannot afford to persist. Students need a way to finance college that helps them build the expectation that college is an attainable goal and the resources to make it a reality without compromising their future financial well-being.

Even in times of economic downturn, a college education continues to be a predictor of job protection and higher earnings. Despite these advantages, students from low income homes are earning a college degree at the lowest rate in three decades. The divergence of college costs and a family’s ability to pay has resulted in a gulf that traditional forms of financial aid fail to bridge. Unfortunately, this translates to a perception that college will be inaccessible in the minds of the students who have the most to gain from that credential.

An extremely enlightening report and supports the California GEAR UP financial literacy pilot that will provide the vehicle and resources to talk with students and families about this reality.

Shelley Davis-Director, California GEAR UP

While expanding existing financial aid for low-income families would help offset costs for students already on a college bound path, introducing these resources at the point of entry are unlikely to expand access to students who may have long dismissed a college education as a financially realistic option. A growing body of evidence, however, suggests that savings uniquely build both the resources and expectations necessary to increase access by students from low-income families.

Unfortunately, these families face considerable barriers when trying to save, including, ironically, from the financial aid and public assistance programs that are designed to increase college affordability and material wellbeing. Many of these programs have complex rules and explicit restrictions on the amount of savings families can have, making them less likely to save for both short-term and long-term goals. Removing these barriers, while providing additional savings incentives, could expand the ranks of college educated workforce, especially among students from low-income families.

This paper examines current trends in college cost and college financing, the role of savings in increasing postsecondary access and completion, and present a framework for developing a pro-college savings agenda and specific policy recommendations to overcome obstacles currently faces by low-income students.

To read the entire report, please visit the Asset Building Program website HERE.

For more information about California GEAR UP and it’s financial literacy pilot information, please visit our website.

The 2012 NCCEP/GEAR UP Capacity-Building Workshop provides professional development and strategic planning activities for new and experienced GEAR UP professionals to effectively meet their project goals and objectives. Most importantly, the Capacity Building Workshop is a unique opportunity to have your GEAR UP team learn and explore new concepts together, developing common strategies to positively impact the valuable college access work at your program sites. The Capacity-Building Workshop will address issues pertaining to STEM, parent engagement, meeting the needs of Rural schools, evaluation, and much more. The Capacity-Building Workshop is designed and coordinated by the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) and planned in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education.

This year’s Capacity-Building Workshop is different from the NCCEP/GEAR UP Annual Conference in that participants register for a specific strand each day over the three-day event. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore different topics during the workshop sessions, as well as the opportunity to participate in lively dialogue during Wednesday’s roundtables.

The conference is also a valuable professional development and education tool for long time GEAR UP folks as well as first time attendees. Here are some quick tips to get the most out of this year’s National Conference:

• Help make the conference dynamic: participate and ask questions during sessions and share your successes.
• Attend panels and workshops you wouldn’t normally attend, you will be surprised how this sparks new thinking.
• Connect and converse: get to know fellow GEAR UP community members and learn about their program.
• Make a plan. Focus on the purpose of the conference “Linking Programs, Practice and Policy”. How does this pertain to you?
• Take notes and collect resources like business cards and sponsor materials.
• Follow up-to-the-minute conference news and information on the California GEAR UP blog and Twitter. http://castategearup.org/blog ::http://twitter.com/CAGEARUP
• Have fun!

Welcome to our first installment of an ongoing series featuring California GEAR UP Education Trust Awards Student Ambassadors. Rosie Powell attended Valley High School in Elk Grove, CA where she was a member of the GEAR UP class of 2011. She received an Education Trust Award from California GEAR UP and it has forever changed her life. Rosie participated on a panel with other ETA Student Ambassadors at the 2011 GU Community Conference. Their stories were the highlight of this statewide event and this article is the first of many students we will follow through their college experience.

Rosie was kind enough to sit down with us and answer a few questions about the impact of GEAR UP in her life.

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Rosie, thank you for participating in the California GEAR UP Education Trust Award Ambassadors program. Your journey as a GEAR UP student will be an inspiration and example for young people for years to come.

How did receiving the Education Trust Award effect your educational path?

The Education Trust Award was my first scholarship, so it has more significance than just financial help. Receiving the award instilled in me a realization that it is possible to receive scholarships. The concept was something I knew before, but had doubts about. Being awarded with the scholarship encouraged me to apply for more scholarships and removed the intimidation I felt by the competitiveness of the scholarship world.

How did your friends and family respond to you receiving the Education Trust Award?

My family was very grateful for me receiving the reward, even more so after I received my financial aid package from Howard University. The scholarship removed a lot of stress from my families’ lives because it provided me with the money I would need to pay for books. My friends congratulated me on winning the scholarship which was more than enough for me, because my receiving the scholarship didn’t directly effect them.

How did being a GEAR UP Student effect your education?

Being a GEAR UP student was a profound experience. The GEAR UP staff tremendously aided my preparation to make the transition not only from high school to college but also from a young adult to a woman. Some of the information I received being a GEAR UP student I would have never otherwise asked about, but it was information that I needed and has helped me transform into the college student I want to be. GEAR UP helped prepare me to make time management adjustments and gave me financial aid advice along with advice concerning life as a whole.

What were some of the challenges in high school you had to overcome, and how did you get through?

About half way through my senior year of high school my mother moved to a different city. Of course I didn’t want to leave my current high school and she, being a very understanding mother, allowed me to stay. I stayed with Ms. Blick, a GEAR UP staff member, for six months and I enjoyed it, but being separated from the woman I had known and been attached to my whole life wasn’t easy. I talked to her every day but at times that was not enough. The love and prayer I received from both my mother and Ms. Blick is what helped me persevere with the severe homesickness I was feeling.

What is some advice you can give current middle and high school students that will help them stay on the road to college?

Don’t be discouraged by the amount of work that people say college is, because being a college student I found that if you are doing something you really want to do, working for something you really want to achieve, then the work does not seem so plentiful and at times may be something you will actually enjoy doing. I know many high schoolers love their friends and might not like this advice but anyone who is bringing you down or doubting you should not be a main factor in your life whether it be family and/or friends. A line from one of my favorite gospel songs is “sometimes you have to encourage yourself.”  If no one is telling you that you are going to make it, don’t let it discourage you. Encourage yourself, motivate yourself, make a way for yourself.

What are your initial impressions of college? Do they match your expectations?

My first impression of college, as far as academics, was that it wasn’t that different form high school. Yea, there is more information I have to learn on my own, but that was something I expected. Once you become a college student you really are independent. You make your own decisions and handle your own business. I can honestly say I do miss the days when my mother handled all the important things. Overall my initial impressions of college did match my expectations.

What can you tell younger students that will help them be more prepared for their first year in college?

The most important thing is to manage your time. I find that it helps if you reward yourself for accomplishing work. For example, If I finish my English essay Friday like I planned to then I can go out with friends Saturday night. Rewarding yourself serves as a form of motivation. A healthy balance between your social and academic lives is my main priority now and something younger students should work on before getting to college.

What else can you share with us about being an Education Trust Award recipient or GEAR UP student at Valley that might help other students?

Anyone who can be a GEAR UP student should be one. Teachers provide information about college, but sometimes they accidentally leave things out. The GEAR UP team being more than one person makes sure all questions are answered and leaves nothing seeming ambiguous. Besides providing a plethora of essential information about college, GEAR UP builds a family. It was with them that I went on my first camping trip. They make it so that while they are stuffing you with information they are also rewarding you for taking it in. I’ve always felt comfortable talking with my GEAR UP family about anything and they always helped me through whatever was bothering me. I know Valley has a bad reputation but if I had had the choice to attend a different high school I most definitely would not have taken it. Although Valley is not seen as the greatest high school it was the only high school that I felt adequately prepared me for college with its AP course options, career center, and genuinely caring faculty.

And finally, do you keep in contact with any of your GEAR UP teachers or staff?

Yes, I keep in contact with Ms. Blick and Ms. Davis. They continue to give me guidance.

Rosie is currently attending Howard University  in Washington, DC and achieved a 3.77 GPA in her first semester. She is interested in studying nursing and is loving her college experience.

For more information on California GEAR UP, Education Trust Awards, and inspirational stories from students, schools, and families please visit our website. You can also call our ETA line 916-479-6742, or email Gear-Up@csac.ca.gov.

Keep checking for updates, we will keep you apprised of Rosie’s continued success. Look for another Student Ambassador Story coming soon!

Monday, January 16, 2012–We are excited and pleased to announce the planning phase for the new cohort of California GEAR UP middle schools!

On behalf of Governor Jerry Brown and the California Education Round Table, the State of California proposes to conduct a State GEAR UP grant to be administered by the University of California.  The goal of this grant is to:

To develop and sustain the organizational capacity of middle schools to prepare all students for high school and higher education through a systemic network of  support for adults who influence middle school students, specifically their counselors, faculty, school leaders, and families.  This expanded organizational capacity is expected to result in a higher proportion of students, particularly from  backgrounds and communities that historically have not pursued a college education, enrolling and succeeding in higher education.

The 2011-2017 cohort begins whole school services with a planning phase already underway. For a list of schools chosen for the planning phase click the link below:

CGU Planning Schools 2012

Selected California GEAR UP schools commit to strong academic programming and a cohesive college and career readiness curriculum, beginning at the middle school and connecting with area high schools and local postsecondary institutions. GEAR UP provides a network of support and professional development activities to integrate a college-going culture into school site reform efforts.

Following a six-month Planning Phase in 2012, schools are selected to participate in the program from January 2012 – August 2017.

If selected to participate in the planning phase of the California GEAR UP program, schools are asked to mark their calendars for the following activities and dates:

• Host a School-Site Visit for GEAR UP Orientation (2 hours maximum) with key leaders (potential GEAR UP Leadership Team) to be scheduled between January 27 and February 29, 2012. GEAR UP staff will work with the school to ensure a mutually convenient time.

• Participate in a Planning Session for GEAR UP: A full-day session, 8 am – 4 pm, for the school leadership team.

• Schools Receive Notification by May 21, 2012: Schools will be notified of their final selection for participation in the 6-year California GEAR UP Program.

Schools are also required to complete an annual school survey. A webinar is available on how to complete the survey on the WestEd website found HERE. (Please note clicking this link will automatically launch the WebEx in your browser.)

We welcome our new schools to take on the challenge of whole-school reform lead by a strategic leadership and coached by California GEAR UP School Services Coaches. Together we are confident we can lead the school toward academic excellence and college access for all students.

For more information about California GEAR UP please visit our website.

OAKLAND, CA (January 12, 2012) – Today, The Education Trust—West releases the findings of a two- year-long study of data from the second largest school district in the nation, revealing profound inequities in access to effective teaching.  In Learning Denied: The Case for Equitable Access to Effective Teaching in California’s Largest School District, The Education Trust—West finds that low-income students and students of color in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) are less likely to be taught by the district’s top teachers – the very teachers capable of closing the district’s achievement gaps. These inequities are exacerbated by teacher mobility patterns and quality-blind layoffs.

“This is one of the largest and most comprehensive analyses of this type ever completed, accounting for over 17,500 teachers and more than a million students,” said report co-author Carrie Hahnel, Director of Policy and Research at The Education Trust—West. “We were able to quantify the impact of effective teachers on student learning. We looked at the extent to which students of color and students in poverty had access to effective teachers, and we also looked at the impact of quality-blind teacher layoffs.”

The report reveals that:

• Teachers have the potential to dramatically accelerate the learning of their students – with the average student taught by a top 25% teacher (top quartile in terms of value-added) gaining half a year more of learning in English-Language Arts and four months in math than a student placed with a teacher in the bottom 25% (bottom quartile).
• Second-graders who started off behind academically and then had three top quartile teachers accelerated to academic proficiency, while students with consecutive bottom quartile  teachers remained stuck below grade level.
• Commonly used measures of teacher quality, such as years of experience, are poor predictors of effectiveness in the classroom. While teachers do improve over time, the differences among teachers are far greater than those between teachers at different levels of experience.  For example, the difference between a 10th-year teacher and first-year teacher is only about three and a half weeks in ELA and two and a half weeks in math.
• Effective teachers are inequitably distributed in LAUSD with Latino, African-American and low-income students much less likely to have access to top-quartile teachers. In addition, these top teachers are more likely to leave the district’s highest need schools.
• Quality-blind teacher layoffs in 2009 resulted in the removal of high value-added teachers from the highest need schools. If the district had instead laid off teachers based on effectiveness, only about 5 percent of the ELA teachers and 3 percent of the math teachers actually cut by LAUSD would have been laid off.

The report reveals that a low-income student is more than twice as likely to have a low value-added ELA teacher as a higher income peer, and 66 percent more likely to have a low-value added math teacher.  Latino and African-American students are two to three times more likely to have bottom-quartile teachers in math and ELA, respectively, than their white and Asian peers.

According to the report, state and local policies can prevent students from accessing the most effective teachers or cause students to lose access to these teachers. The report recommends that district and state leaders invest in high-quality evaluation systems to identify effective teachers and those who are failing to improve student performance. It calls for developing programs and policies that attract and retain the best teachers in the highest need schools, offering teachers the high-quality professional development that leads to gains in student achievement, and fundamentally reforming state policies that prevent local leaders from making decisions in the best interests of students. This includes ending once and for all quality-blind, “last in, first out” (LIFO) teacher layoffs.

The goal of California GEAR UP is to develop and sustain the organizational capacity of middle schools to prepare all students for high school and higher education through a statewide network of support for adults who influence middle school students, specifically their counselors, faculty, school leaders and families.  As a result of this expanded capacity, a higher proportion of students, particularly from backgrounds and communities that have not historically pursued a college education, will enroll and succeed in higher education.

To read the full report, click through to the Ed Trust West website HERE.

The Education Trust—West, a California GEAR UP Partner, works for the high academic achievement of all students at all levels, pre-k through college. They expose opportunity and achievement gaps that separate students of color and low-income students from other youth, and identify and advocate for the strategies that will forever close those gaps.

Middle and high schools can reduce the dropout rate by working together to plan the transition to high school, holding activities to familiarize students with the campus, and helping them feel connected to their new schools, according to a new report issued by the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd (WestEd is a California GEAR UP Partner and external evaluator).

“The transition from middle school to high school can be challenging for students,” California State Superintendent of Education Tom Torlakson said. “The good news is that some simple steps to make students welcome, can give them the confidence they need to stay on track and stay in school.”

The report, Making the Move: Transition Strategies at California Schools with High Graduation Rates, is designed to identify best practices among high schools and feeder middle schools.

The California Comprehensive Center at WestEd and its partner, the American Institutes for Research, worked with the California Department of Education to identify and gather information on schools with higher graduation rates than were statistically predicted for certain subgroups of students. The work of the Center is supported with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Researchers then interviewed administrators and conducted focus groups at some of the high schools and feeder middle schools. The research helped identify programs and strategies that help middle grade students transition to high school and ultimately graduate in preparation for college and careers.

“Successfully transitioning students from middle grades to high schools is vitally important to California education,” said Tom Parrish, Managing Research Scientist for the American Institutes for Research. “Students crossing this bridge successfully are much more likely to stay in school and graduate.

This study identified successful strategies that include:

·       Creating opportunities for staff across school levels to jointly plan and collaborate;

·       Arranging activities for transitioning students to become familiar with the high school campus and culture

·       Ensuring all students feel connected to the new school;

·       Identifying students who are struggling prior to transition; and

·       Preparing timely and individualized supports for such students.

Researchers also found some prevailing themes in these strategies. For example, enabling collaboration among teachers, providing students with many opportunities for academic support, helping students feel connected to school, having a strong counseling program, maintaining high expectations for all students, and the importance of having a caring staff and caring environment.

“Steps like these are a central thrust of our Blueprint for Great Schools report,” added Torlakson. “That is, great schools know they have to meet the needs of the whole student—not just their academic needs—to give them every chance to succeed.”

For more information on Torlakson’s A Blueprint for Great Schools, please visit the California Department of Education’s Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/blueprint.

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today announced that four high-performing California schools are newly designated model middle schools in the Schools to Watch™−Taking Center Stage (STW™−TCS) program. Another 11 high-performing California schools will also retain their model middle grades schools status under the same program.

“I commend the students, their parents, teachers, and administrators, for their efforts in helping make these 15 schools models of excellence,” Torlakson said. “Their success is amazing, especially considering they are swimming against the tide of massive budget cuts, crowded classrooms, and school employee layoffs.”

The four newly designated schools are:

1.     Granite Ridge Intermediate (Clovis Unified School District, Fresno, Fresno County) is the fifth middle grades school in the district to receive the STW™−TCS designation. Clovis Unified is the first district in the state to have all its middle grades schools receive this designation. The school’s achievement gap has narrowed 37 points on the state’s standardized tests under Principal Norm Anderson’s leadership since it opened in 2008. Anderson was also recently named Fresno County’s Administrator of the Year.

2.     High Desert School (Acton-Agua Unified School District, Acton, Los Angeles County) is a small rural school. Administrators have worked very hard to turn their school around and close the achievement gap. Hispanic students’ scores on the state’s standardized tests have climbed 88 points in the past two years, while socioeconomically disadvantaged students have gained 81 points since 2007.

3.     Katherine L. Albiani Middle School (Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, Sacramento County) is the second middle school in the district to receive the STW™—TCS designation. The achievement gap of students has narrowed by more than 30 points on the state’s standardized tests since 2007.

4.     Olive Peirce Middle School (Ramona City Unified School District, Ramona, San Diego County) is a rural school. Students continue to make gains in all subgroups on the state’s standardized tests. The school has gained 53 points since 2007, while socioeconomically disadvantaged students have gained 71 points.

The redesignated model middle schools are:

1.     Castaic Middle School (Castaic Union School District, Castaic, Los Angeles County);

2.     Culver City Middle School (Culver City Unified School District, Culver City, Los Angeles County);

3.     Clark Intermediate (Clovis Unified School District, Clovis, Fresno County);

4.     Dartmouth Middle School (Union Elementary School District, San Jose, Santa Clara County);

5.     Gaspar de Portola (San Diego Unified School District, San Diego, San Diego County);

6.     McKinleyville Middle School (McKinleyville Union School District, McKinleyville, Humboldt County);

7.     R.H. Dana Middle School (Wiseburn School District, Hawthorne, Los Angeles County);

8.     Silverado Middle School (Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District, Roseville, Sacramento and Placer counties);

9.     Tincher Preparatory (Long Beach Unified School District, Long Beach, Los Angeles County);

10.  Toby Johnson Middle School (Elk Grove Unified School District, Elk Grove, Sacramento County); and

11.  Torch Middle School (Bassett Unified School District, City of Industry, Los Angeles County).

The STW™—TCS program identifies high-performing school models that demonstrate academic excellence, developmental responsiveness to the needs and interests of young adolescents, social equity, and organizational support. STW™—TCS model schools host visitors from California and around the world who are looking for replicable practices that will help them improve their middle grades schools and close the achievement gap.

In order to be named a STW™—TCS model middle school, school administrators must conduct a self-study evaluation and complete an extensive narrative application. Each site is then reviewed by a team of middle grades experts. In order to retain the designation, each school is re-evaluated every three years.

The 11 redesignated schools named today were reviewed in September 2011 and are among 32 others selected in previous cycles since 2003 as STW™—TCS designees. Castaic, Culver City, and Silverado middle schools have been STW™—TCS schools for nine years. Gaspar de Portola, McKinleyville, R.H. Dana, and Toby Johnson middle schools have been STW™—TCS schools for six years.

All of the schools will be formally recognized at the California Middle Grades Alliance annual luncheon on February 23, 2012, and during the California League of Middle Schools conference February 24-26, 2012. Both events will be in Sacramento. At that time, the schools will have an opportunity to showcase their accomplishments and network with other middle grades educators from around the state.

For more information about the Schools to Watch™−Taking Center Stage model school program, visit the California Department of Education Web site athttp://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/mg/stw.asp. If reporters would like to contact the school, they may download the contact information through our California School Directory at http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/sd/.

SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today that the California Department of Education (CDE) has restored a time-saving Web tool to make it easier for school districts to create state-mandated School Accountability Report Cards (SARCs).

“The few dollars the state saved by eliminating this service were clearly outweighed by the time and trouble being shifted to California’s more than a 1,000 school districts,” Torlakson said. “I’m glad we’ve found a creative way to restore this tool, and I’m grateful to Ed-Data for stepping up to the plate to help us meet this need.”

SARCs contain valuable accountability information on schools to help parents and the public evaluate and compare their progress in achieving goals.

Deep budget cuts to the CDE forced the department to discontinue its SARC Web tool in 2010. The SARC Web tool conveniently provided districts with templates pre-populated with data on each of their schools. As a result of the cuts, local educational agencies were forced to fill out the forms manually—increasing the workloads at districts.

CDE responded to widespread concerns from around the state and found a solution by working with the Ed-Data Web site to restore the pre-populated SARC templates.

“The reintroduction of the SARC Web tool will help school districts save personnel time and money, and we’re capitalizing on our existing partnership with Ed-Data to provide this much-needed service,” Torlakson said.

For many years, Ed-Data had already reported much of the state-generated data that are required for the SARC. The Ed-Data Web site is a 15-year collaboration between the CDE, the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, and EdSource.

The SARC Web tool and templates on the Ed-Data Web site are free options local educational agencies may use to help them prepare their SARCs. They are provided in English and several other languages. After downloading the pre-populated templates, school officials complete them with local data, and may then publish them in print or online.

For a sample SARC template, please visit the CDE Web site at 2010–11 School Accountability Report Card Template. School districts may access the SARC Web tool to download the pre-populated templates at Ed-Data Website(Outside Source). To find your existing local SARC, please visit County List – School Accountability Report Card.