Don't Swett It!
Komments by Karen
What's going on at your District Advisory Council meeting?
DAC representatives are at the DAC meeting on behalf of their schoolsite council. They are not at a DAC meeting to learn about how
to become better parents or how to better prepare their own children for STAR testing. It is the roll of the SSC to analysis the SCHOOL
STAR data. SSCs are supposed to be addressing the issues - right now - of how to spend large sums of Title I and EIA funding that are
allocated to their schools for SUPPLEMENTAL programs for those students most at risk of not reaching proficiency. DAC members, if
they need to learn how to better prepare their own child, should attend parenting classes offered by the district. There is so much
important work the SSCs should be doing right now to ensure that their school's plan - the Single Plan for Student Achievement (SPSA) - is
prepared based on an analysis of the SCHOOL SITE DATA.
Parent DAC members take on an extended parent responsibility when they agree to become DAC members. They are responsible for plans that
affect all the students in the school. Not just their own child. There is not the time, nor is the DAC meeting the correct venue, for the
district to present on "Parents Preparing Their Child for STAR Testing".
The district data department - or someone who understands the process - should present school data. A data discussion needs to include
disaggregation, longitudinal analysis, and comparisons to the "100 schools" list. The data analysis should include current and
longitudinal API and AYP. These data sets need to be triangulated with suspension and expulsion data, and "grade distribution' data. At
the high school level it is also important to look at the data disaggregated by small learning community (SLC). If a school site is
receiving funding for behavioral, truancy, and/or drop-out prevention the SSC must analize the data gathered to determine the efficacy of
the categorically funded programs. Per EdCode, schools receiving several different resources (categoricals) are required to include in
their SPSA the action steps funded by said funds, thereby requiring them to collect data as to the funding's contribution to student
achievement. As stated in the CDE's SSC handbook, "School and Library Improvement Block Grant (SLIBG)" and the "Pupil Retention Block Grant
(PRBG)" must be include in the SPSA. The budget department has a list - and allocation amount - of the schools that received funding from
these 2 categoricals. The DAC members need to look at the action steps/ goals/data to see if the funding was well spent. This needs to be done
now.
Who is Karen Swett
Karen Swett is a concerned member of the Sacramento Learning Community. She is passionate about education and parent involvement. She works for the SCUSD and is the parliamentarian for Sac City DAC and advises parents and community groups.
Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this web site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the SCUSD District Advisory Committee (DAC) or official policies of the SCUSD.