California Department of EducationNews Release California Department of EducationNews Release Release: #21-96 November 30, 2021 Contact: CommunicationsE-mail: Phone: 916-319-0818 SACRAMENTO—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond today announced a partnership with Renaissance that will provide unlimited access to myON digital books and daily news articles for all pre-K to grade twelve students in California from December 1, 2021, through January 31, 2022. This initiative aims to give students The Gift of Literacy during the winter break by providing opportunities to engage in reading at home, at school, and in the community and is part of the Superintendent Thurmond’s statewide literacy campaign to help all California students reach the goal of literacy by third grade, by the year 2026. “I encourage every parent and student to use this free service to continue to read over the holidays,” said Superintendent Thurmond. “This is a great opportunity for our families to share the joy of reading and establish routines that support literacy growth for our students.” Literacy is a key benchmark in measuring and predicting student success, which is why Superintendent Thurmond is taking bold action to help students meet this important milestone. “We hope that free access to thousands of digital books will create and cultivate a lifelong love of reading that can continue to be nurtured by our school and local libraries,” Superintendent Thurmond said. Through this initiative, students—with the support of their families and educators—will access books and news articles in English and Spanish using a special shared account on Renaissance’s myON digital reading platform. myON is compatible with computers, Chromebooks, and tablets, and low-bandwidth and offline reading options provide expanded opportunities to access reading materials. All myON books and news articles include natural-voice audio narration, which is particularly helpful for younger learners and encourages read-alouds and read-alongs outside of school. This initiative is intended to support California schools and districts that are not currently using myON with their students. School and district leaders can access information for this special, shared login on a new web page created for this initiative . They will also find a number of helpful resources to help them launch this initiative with students, staff, and families, including an overview of myON, tips for getting started, family reading activities, and short video walk-throughs. The myON personalized literacy solution is currently used in hundreds of California schools. Students in these schools and districts who have their own personalized logins should continue using them to access myON and take advantage of the enhanced personalization. “We are excited to support Superintendent Thurmond’s bold vision of literacy and access to books for every student in California,” said Chris Bauleke, CEO of Renaissance. “This partnership provides access to myON digital books and news articles through the end of January and reinforces Renaissance’s mission to accelerate learning for all children, in partnership with the California Department of Education.” As part of his literacy effort to ensure students can read by third grade by 2026, State Superintendent Thurmond is working to expand...

Stability Rates ReportStability Rates Report (with County data)Stability Rate Downloadable Data Files These reports were developed in response to requests from educators, policy makers, and stakeholders across the state. The SR reports identify the number and percent of students who receive a "full year" of learning in the same school. This measure was developed after an extensive review of various stability metrics calculated by other state educational agencies, an evaluation of the data the CDE collects, and in collaboration with internal and external stakeholders. The CDE is also providing these data to fulfill a recommendation stemming from the Superintendent of Public Instruction's Impr...

Announcements  Emergency Connectivity Fund Second Application Window Closes Wednesday, October 13, 2021 Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced the $7.17 billion Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF), a temporary federal funding program available to E-rate eligible schools. ECF program funds may reimburse schools for the purchase of internet service and laptops or tablets necessary for students and teachers to participate remote learning activities away from school. October 13, 2021, is the final deadline to file applications for ECF funding for purchases between July 1, 2021, and June 30, 2022. More information may be found on the FCC's website at https://w...

https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/announcement-letter-202108.pdfThe U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) sent a letter to district superintendents announcing that it will administer a 2021–22 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), marking the first time that OCR has conducted a CRDC, including all public school districts and their schools, two school years in a row—2020–21 and 2021–22.  Read the superintendent letter PDF (78K)

 The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights issued two resource collections—one for elementary and secondary schools and one for postsecondary institutions—designed to assist in planning for a successful and equitable return to schools and campuses. The two collections include fact sheets, Q&As, letters to educators, and other materials explaining the obligations that elementary, secondary, and postsecondary schools have under the federal civil rights laws enforced by OCR to provide educational environments free from discrimination. Read the Elementary and Secondary Resource Collection PDF (508K)Read the Postsecondary Resource Collection PDF (356K) As we look forward...

Kahoot! today announced the acquisition of Clever, one of the most widely-used digital learning platforms by U.S. K-12 schools, to make learning awesome worldwide. Oslo, Norway (May 6, 2021) – Kahoot!, a global learning platform company, announced today the acquisition of Clever Inc., a privately-held, California-based company that is one of the most widely-used digital learning platforms by U.S. K-12 schools. The partnership between two of the most popular platforms in education, with distinct and highly complementary offerings, will provide improved learning solutions and offerings to U.S. schools, while accelerating the global expansion of Clever's solutions. Kahoot! Group will acquire 10...

Illuminate Education and Education Advanced have joined forces in a collaborative partnership to provide educators with support and practical solutions for assessment concerns. The onset of COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 caused significant disruptions in the education world and changed how public schools function at their core. Educators across the country suddenly found themselves making substantial shifts in operations to maintain instructional continuity, despite lacking the advancements necessary to support remote and hybrid instructional delivery models. As fears for student safety shut schools down and prevented in-person attendance, another historical effect of COVID-19 emerged – the ...

The United States Department of Education on Tuesday April 6, 2021 approved in writing a request from the California Department of Education to waive some accountablity, school identificiation, and related reporting requirements for the 2020-21 school year due to challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic.   Please note that these accountabilty requirement waivers did NOT extend reporting or testing deadlines nor did they waive the administration of any CAASPP, CAST, CAA, ELPAC, or related state tests.  In addition no extension to testing deadlines were issued. You can read the full report below: 

Be an ESSER III Hero: Three Technologies that Facilitate A Successful Return to School On Thursday, March 11, 2021, the first anniversary of the pandemic declaration, H.R. 1319, the "American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021," was signed and became Law 117-2. The ARPA, a $1.9 trillion plan, included an even larger relief package for ESSER III than ESSER I and ESSER II combined, providing $123 billion for schools to tackle learning loss and prepare to reopen in the fall. These funds provide critical assistance to help schools and districts maintain a high-quality learning environment, continue the establishment of innovative learning methods, and combat COVID-19 related learning loss. Our ...

Jason DuBose, MBA, M.Ed. Vice President of Sales - TestHound The holidays have passed us by and the season for testing is upon us. As a testing coordinator, you know what is coming, but even the best among us can get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the new semester and it is easy to let things slip. These five reminders will help new and seasoned coordinators alike set the stage for testing success this season. #1 - Build a Team I consider building a team the most important piece in having a successful testing season. You do not have to bear the testing load by yourself, and if you are to thrive in this demanding role, you need allies. Whether you are a teacher, counselor, assistant pr...

California's Safe Schools for All Plan provides the support and accountability to establish a clear path to minimize in-school transmissions and enable, first, a phased return to in-person instruction, and then ongoing safe in-person instruction.   The Safe Schools For All Hub consolidates key resources and information related to COVID-19 and schools. New resources will be added to the Hub on a routine basis. CA Safe Schools for All This new website for school administrators, staff, and parents outlines the funding, testing, and safety measures the state offers to support safe in-person instruction for California’s kids. https://schools.covid19.ca.gov/

The California Teachers Association (CTA) is calling on the State Board of Education and the California Department of Education to apply for a federal waiver for the English, Math and Science portions of California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) in spring 2021. They've issued a petition: cta.org/takeaction. This year has been extraordinarily challenging for our students. CTA's position is that annual standardized tests – never meant to be administered remotely – would be detrimental to students and of little use to schools. "CTA recommends that to truly meet California's diverse needs, the state must pursue a waiver from standardized testing," said CTA Pres...

In ten years, will historians look back at the 30-year effort to get teachers to interpret test data as a failure? I'm impatient. I don't want to wait ten years. Although I'm no historian, here's my verdict. Yes, it was a failure. This long push to make teachers do "data-driven decision-making" has flopped. But of all those who share responsibility for this flop, teachers are the least culpable. Evidence of its failure is everywhere. The tests most teachers favor are the ones they create. Those teacher-created tests often reveal the least about the degree to which students have mastered the subject matter they've studied. State tests are disliked, disrespected and misunderstood. Proof of how...

 The Data Entry Interface (DEI) is used to enter student responses and scores for the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and the English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). This video will demonstrate how to enter student responses and scores into the DEI.

The Napa County Office of Education has a position open for Coordinator of Data and Analytics.  Download the job description below!  

The California Department of Education has partnered with the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) to hold the annual California Assessment Conference on October 6 and 7, 2020, through a virtual conference platform. Details about this professional learning opportunity and registration are available on the conference website at https://www.cdecac.org.

Focusing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System and English Language Proficiency Assessments of California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California's other statewide assessments. New Resource! Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments Today, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond announced the availability of a new resource, "Guidance on Diagnostic and Formative Assessments." This informative document describes how educators can use California's approved assessments to evaluate where students are academically at the start of and throughout the school year. CALPADS and the ELPAC: Changes Beginning July 1, 2020, the California Longi...

Editor's note:  Still not sure if they understand schools or not.  Keeping students 6 feet apart from each other is clearly not a viable option in schools where 40 students are crammed into a single classroom.  Unclear what resources, if any, will actually flow to schools to enable these recommendations to lead to actual implementation.  But here they are . . . . California Releases Guidance on Re-Opening of Schools Stronger Together -  Published June 8, 2020. https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/he/hn/documents/strongertogether.pdf

Assessment Spotlight Focusing on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System and English Language Proficiency Assessments of California (ELPAC)—and including, when timely, updates on California's other statewide assessments. Newly Updated Smarter Content Explorer! The Smarter Content Explorer has recently been updated! Offering new features based on educator feedback, this user-friendly web tool combines the information provided in the Smarter Balanced Content and Item Specifications—key resources used in test and item development—into an easy-to-use search interface. Users can access customized content generated by a quick search by subject, grade, and targ...

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