Closing Opportunity Gaps
Closing Opportunity Gaps by Advocating for Successful Student Outcomes, Community Engagement & Data Transparency
Holding California Accountable to Students
Public Advocates has a long-established and successful track record in advocating for education equity. This includes work to ensure policies that support community engagement, prepared teachers and a diverse teacher workforce, data systems that allow for transparent evaluation and effectiveness, and inclusive curricula and programs that help to close opportunity gaps for students.
Statewide data transparency
California measures school success using a wide range of information on student outcomes, not just test scores or graduation rates. To maximize usage and exposure of this data, Public Advocates has advocated for changes that would help realize and maximize our core tenets of community engagement, transparency and accountability.
This data transparency also assists with Public Advocates’ multi-prong strategy, where our state advocacy works in tandem with our powerbuilding, communications, and litigation efforts. We have also originated its own research and findings through these data systems to support our advocacy efforts.
Required by the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), the Dashboard is an online tool that shows how well schools and districts are performing on multiple state and local indicators.
State indicators include the following:
- Academic Performance Indicators (reported separately for English language arts/literacy [ELA] and mathematics assessments)
- English Learner Progress
- Chronic Absenteeism
- Graduation Rate
- Suspension Rate
- College AND Career Readiness
Local indicators are also included:
- Basic Services and Conditions (Priority 1)
- Implementation of State Academic Standards (Priority 2)
- Parent and Family Engagement (Priority 3)
- School Climate, as measured by a local climate survey (Priority 6)
- Access to a Broad Course of Study (Priority 7)
- Outcomes in a Broad Course of Study (Priority 8)
- Coordination of Services for Expelled Youth (Priority 9) – County offices of education only
- Coordination of Services for Foster Youth (Priority 10) – County offices of education only
Designed to give parents and the public a complete and transparent picture of what is happening in our schools and districts – and to identify districts and schools that need extra support – the Dashboard specifically tracks the performance of 14 student groups, as mandated by law.
Students and families can also see gaps in performance between these groups:
- Socioeconomically Disadvantaged
- English Learners
- Long-term English Learners
- Students with Disabilities
- Foster Youth
- Homeless Youth
- American Indian
- Asian
- African American
- Filipino
- Hispanic
- Pacific Islander
- White
- Two or More Races
With the LCFF Equity Coalition, PA has advocated to improve tracking of these outcomes – so that students, families and communities can advocate for changes in their schools and districts.
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California Cradle-to-Career Data System (C2C)
In 2019, new legislation called for the establishment of a statewide data system for California that considers long-term trends and data. With the understanding that California’s information on early education, K-12 schools, colleges, financial and social services, and employment was disconnected, this new system will integrate data sets from multiple sources to facilitate planning and transitions for students to become college and career ready, and put actionable information in the hands of students, families, and communities.
Public Advocates believes that accountability only happens when data is accessible and transparent. We advocate before the C2C Board and other advisory bodies to ensure that community members and policymakers can access key data to inform their school and career decisions and state policy improvements, including: Integration of Teacher Assignment Monitoring Outcomes (TAMO) into the C2C Data System. With the passage of AB 1219 in 2019, which established the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS), the new TAMO system launched in 2022 to provide local and statewide data to help identify the scope and impact of teacher vacancies and mis-assignments. PA has been advocating for the integration of the TAMO data set in the C2C comprehensive data system, so as to remedy inequities in access to quality teaching that impact low-income students and students of color.
California Cradle-to-Career Data System (C2C)Statewide System of Support (SSOS)
We believe that there must be clear standards and systems set for supporting and building the capacity of schools, school districts and education officials to improve so that our education goals are met. Public Advocates has worked to encourage continuous improvement, engage meaningfully with students, families and communities, and close opportunity gaps for students.
Thus, Public Advocates works with the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) to ensure that programs that support school districts and county offices of education achieve the goals and objectives in their Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs), including:
Community Engagement Initiative (CEI)
Leveraging our 2018 win in establishing the Community Engagement Initiative (with an additional $100 million allocation in 2021), we are working with CCEE to ensure that community voices are heard and supported by their school districts. This includes maximizing participation of trusted community-based organizations in CEI. Working with the LCFF Defend and Mend Coalition, composed of 19 grassroots organizations across California, PA is tackling root causes of ineffective community engagement, which include:
- Lack of belief that the system’s success is critically dependent on its relationship with students and families
- Lack of belief in students and families as experts
- Lack of committed and consistent leaders
- Lack of understanding of what effective student and family engagement look and feel like
- Lack of inclusivity based on race and culture
- Systems/Tools are not community friendly
Due to PA’s 2023 advocacy, CCEE now is required to provide fiscal support to partner organizations to support their capacity for meaningful collaboration and implementation of CEI. We are also working with CCEE to ensure inclusive implementation of the program.