It is important to maintain our educational options as a public independent study charter school within the state of California. iLEAD believes wholeheartedly in educational options and our goal is to remain as flexible as possible while also remaining in compliance with all state laws that govern charter schools.
Overview
We understand that testing isn’t the only way to gauge where each child is at on their educational journey yet, as a public school, statewide assessments are the main way we prove to the state that our school is a viable educational option. Charter schools are not guaranteed survival like traditional public schools and are held to even higher standards. We need to show that we are performing at or better than our local and statewide counterparts.
Political Climate
As you might have seen or heard, 2019 triggered the start of an incredibly challenging era for charter schools. Due to some charter schools not adhering to basic laws, independent study charters are now in the spotlight and we are understandably seeing an increase in the oversight of charter schools. Additionally, a two year moratorium on independent study charters has taken effect. A normal legislative year might pass fewer than 10 laws, but 2019 brought more than 75 new laws that directly impacted charter schools. iLEAD will continue to follow existing and new state laws while remaining committed to our personalized learning model which allows kids the freedom and flexibility to pursue their passions and academic interests.
The Dashboard
Some of these new laws pertain to the
California School Dashboard – a critical piece of California’s new school accountability system. On the Dashboard, you will find data and a color-coding system to easily identify areas for growth. Blue and green are optimal colors, while orange and red indicate a lack of progress.
Beginning in 2020, the California School Dashboard will become a critical piece of California’s new school accountability and continuous improvement system. The dashboard will have a direct impact on our charter renewal terms. Charter schools with great dashboard results will be able to seek the longest renewal terms, while schools with low dashboard results will be in jeopardy of not being renewed at all.
In 2019, our charter received a five year renewal, one of the highest we could achieve. The next time we are up for renewal, our dashboard will determine our renewal. One area we NEED YOUR HELP in is our testing participation rate and our academic performance in both language arts and math. Our school will receive the lowest scaled score for any learner who does not participate which will bring down our overall academic performance. Our goal is to reach 95% school-wide participation! Can you help us achieve this?
Involvement
Each year, the state of California mandates assessments in certain grade levels. With the flexibility we have to educate with so many academic options, it is pretty amazing that we simply need to show growth through participation and performance in testing. This year all learners in grades 3-8 and 11 will participate in CAASPP tests in math and language arts. Learners in grades 5, 8 and once in high school will also take the CAST science test.
Next Steps
In the spring, your EF will send you an email asking you to sign up for the days, times and locations you want to attend testing. We are excited to continue to offer additional testing locations each year throughout the counties we service, and there are many ways we can enhance the testing experience for learners with anxiety or who need more support. We know there are a lot of emotions and questions that surround testing, so please do not hesitate to reach out to your educational facilitator, as our goal is to ensure that testing is a positive experience for everyone. Additionally, we will provide all interested families with test prep resources.
