Page 1 February 17, 2017 Dr. Michael Kirst, President California State Board of Education 1430 N Street, Suite 5111 Sacramento, CA 95814 Via email only (sbe@cde.ca.gov) Re: Add High School Academic Indicator to 2017-18 LCFF Evaluation Rubric Dear President Kirst: In adopting the timeline for the LCFF Evaluation Rubric and as part of its continuous improvement philosophy, the Board committed to an annual review of the evaluation rubric and California School Dashboard at its March Board meeting, as well as consideration of adjustments to be made over time. Now that the first version of the rubric is nearly ready to be released, it is an optimal moment to reflect on potential adjustments that need to be made to the underlying structure of the rubric. In this context, a broad coalition of education stakeholder groups – including equity, parent , teacher, education management, school reform and business – has come together to encourage the Board to consider adding a measure of academic achievement in high school as a state indicator in the evaluation rubric. Specifically, we urge the Board to add to the rubric, starting in fall of 2017, a high school academic indicator that is based on the results of the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBAC) in math and English language arts and derived from the same “difference from standard” methodology that is to be used for grades 3 – 8, and provide not just the performance level and change, but also provide a color coding of this indicator as measured against Board established standards. We collectively support the State’s movement toward a multiple-measures system that relies upon more than just the state assessment – as the prior accountability system did. We believe an academic indicator measuring student outcomes in math and English language arts is a critical component of a comprehensive accountability system, and that the results of the 11th grade assessment should be reflected as one component of the new California School Dashboard. We make this recommendation for several reasons. Specifically,    Stakeholders Value Academic Performance. An accountability system is a reflection of our collective values. We are encouraged that the state has moved away from the exclusive focus on academic outcomes, but stakeholders still value student academic achievement as core component of multiple measures of school quality and to ensure equity and believe it is important to more effectively highlight it in the system. The SBAC Measures Common Core Implementation. Effective implementation of the Common Core standards is a central component of the State’s education reform strategy. We strongly support the effective implementation of Common Core, and we see the SBAC as a key component of measuring its implementation. Parents and Communities Raised Concerns about the Lack of a High School Academic Measure. When the California State Parent Teacher Association (PTA) shared the new evaluation rubrics with parents, the lack of a high school academic measure was a repeatedly raised area of concern. We all believe that parent and community groups across the state will have a similar reaction during the rollout of this first iteration of the rubric. Page 2   College and Career Readiness Indicator. The college and career indicator is a valuable yet separate, supplemental measure that in practice will not incorporate high school assessments from all students and should not usurp the high school assessment’s primary purpose. While the state’s expressed plan is to include the high school assessment within the College and Career Readiness indicator, that indicator is still a work in progress that will not be reported in the initial dashboard. Moreover, the use of the high school assessment in that indicator only demonstrates overall College and Career Readiness---a construct different from the one we request, which directly demonstrates academic progress within the assessed subjects themselves. Moreover, the college and career indicator focuses only on the highest performance of individual students across six different indicators, which for many students may not include their 11th grade test scores. Consequently, any role that the high school assessments might play in the system through the college and career indicator will be nonexistent at the outset, will not reflect scores for each student, and ultimately never directly address the primary purpose for which it was designed. Federal Law. Each state’s accountability system must include an academic indicator for high school grades, and the performance of at least 95 percent of enrolled students must count in this indicator. Including a high school academic indicator based on SBAC scores is consistent with the federal expectation that assessments be an important component of a multiple measures system and is internally consistent with LCFF’s Dashboard and its use of SBAC scores with the lower grade spans. As a result, we recommend that at the March State Board meeting, when the Board reflects on adjustments that it will consider for the fall 2017 California School Dashboard, you move to include a high school academic indicator within the new multiple measures system. Sincerely, Sylvia Torres-Guillen Director Education Equity ACLU of California Teri Burns Legislative Advocate California School Boards Association Dr. Bernie Davitto Executive Director Alliance for Education Solutions Patty Scripter State Board of Education Liaison California State PTA Debra Watkins Founder and Executive Director California Alliance of African American Educators (CAAAE) Vincent Stewart Executive Director California STEM Network Karen Sarkissian Policy Advocate California Chamber of Commerce Norma Rodriguez Organizing and Policy Director Californians for Justice Jed Wallace President & CEO California Charter Schools Association Shelly Spiegel-Coleman Executive Director Californians Together Page 3 Dr. Kenneth R. Magdaleno Executive Director Center for Leadership, Equity & Research (CLEAR) Deborah Escobedo Senior Attorney, Racial Justice-Education Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Samantha Tran Senior Managing Director, Education Policy Children Now Jesse Hahnel Executive Director National Center for Youth Law Ryan J. Smith Executive Director The Education Trust-West Seth Litt Executive Director Parent Revolution Ama Nyamekye Executive Director Educators for Excellence Chase Stafford Senior Manager of Policy and Planning Partnership for Los Angeles Schools Oscar E. Cruz President & CEO Families In Schools John Affeldt Managing Attorney Public Advocates Inc. Brian Lee California State Director Fight Crime: Invest in Kids Lillian Chen Statewide Education Rights Attorney Public Counsel Steve Barr Founder and CEO Future Is Now Schools Stella Connell Levy, J.D. Founder/President Restorative Schools Vision Project Geoffrey Winder and Ginna Breslford Co-Executive Directors Genders & Sexualities Alliance Network Jim Blew Director Student Success California Jonathan Klein Chief Executive Officer GO Public Schools Hillary Moglen Policy & Advocacy Director Students Matter Brit Irby Associate Director Innovation Bridge, Inc. Mike Stryer California Senior Executive Director Teach Plus cc: Members, California State Board of Education Karen Stapf Walters, Executive Director, California State Board of Education Judy Cias, Chief Counsel, California State Board of Education David Sapp, Deputy Policy Director and Assistant Legal Counsel, California State Board of Education Glen Price, Chief Deputy Superintendents of Public Instruction, California Department of Education Debra Brown, Director, Governmental Affairs Division, California Department of Education