January 28, 2019
EDCAL 5
Helping practitioners build a successful attendance plan
Many students enter school with under-
lying family and community issues that
negatively impact school attendance. When
students are not in school, whether for
excused or unexcused absences, they lose
out on the opportunity to learn. Without
early identification and intervention, these
students may fall behind academically, and
are at higher risk of dropping out of school
and becoming part of the juvenile justice
system.
Recognizing the impact of school atten-
dance on school climate, academic achieve-
ment and student success, the LCAP
requires LEAs to develop goals and actions
to address attendance rates and chronic
absenteeism rates for all students as well as historically underserved student sub-
groups. California’s new multiple measures
accountability and continuous improvement
system, which includes chronic absenteeism
rates, reflects a clear expectation that LEAs
and schools make progress towards meeting
the needs of their students, increases the
focus on equity, and promotes transpar-
ency by sharing the results of that progress
with all stakeholders through the California
School Dashboard.
The 2018 Dashboard reported, for the
first time, data for the Chronic Absenteeism
Indicator based on two years of data sub-
mission in CALPADS. The Dashboard
results show a significant number of LEAs
in the “Orange” and “Red” performance lev- els for chronic absenteeism; these measures
underestimate the extent of the problem
because high schools are not reflected. In
addition, California’s overall chronic absen-
teeism rate increased from 10.8 percent in
2016-17 to 11.1 percent in 2017-18; the
majority of student subgroups saw increases
in their chronic absenteeism rates as well.
For many LEAs, the performance levels
and chronic absenteeism rates served as a
“wake-up call” and they are now focusing
on how to address chronic absenteeism in a
comprehensive, systematic way.
The Building A Successful Attendance
Plan: A Practitioner’s Approach workshop
will address how LEAs and schools can
analyze multiple measures of attendance, identify student subgroups for targeted
interventions and align LCAP goals to the
needs of students with persistent school
attendance problems. In addition, partici-
pants will be guided through the initial
development of an attendance improvement
plan which will identify age-appropriate
strategies for attendance improvement and
student engagement using a multi-tiered
system of support framework.
Dates / Locations:
Yolo COE, March 7
Santa Clara COE, March 22
Register by going to http://www.cvent.
com/d/2gqx7q. For more information,
email Rhonda Morgan at rmorgan@acsa.
org or call (800) 608-ACSA.
THURMOND County as a Public Information Officer
to assist Paradise Unified School District
during the aftermath of the catastrophic
Camp Fire. She managed media relations
from all over the world in response to the
devastation caused by the fire. PUSD had
3,500 students displaced after the fire, and
Britt helped support the district in com-
munications to first locate families and then provide them with vital information
for recovery efforts and the return to school.
“I am pleased to have such an experi-
enced, passionate, and energetic new mem-
ber on the CDE team,” Thurmond said.
“Kindra brings tremendous knowledge and
dedication to public education, and I know
this will align with my priorities as we hit
the ground running in 2019.” In addition to her work at Placer County
Office of Education, Britt has also served
on the board for the California School
Public Relations Association and is current-
ly president-elect. Her network of school
communicators throughout the state will
serve as a benefit to CDE and her new role.
Continued from page 1
the educational success of military students
and advised military leadership on State
education bills.
This came after Jackson served as deputy
director of Legislative Affairs to the U.S.
House of Representatives for the Marine
Corps. In that role, he traveled to more than
75 countries in nearly five years, on numer-
ous occasions meeting with heads of state,
foreign dignitaries, and U.S. Department of
State ambassadors and staff.
As CDE’s deputy superintendent
of Government Affairs, Jackson will be
responsible for the administration of all
departmental activities relating to state and
federal legislation. Jackson replaces former
Division Director Debra Brown, who is now
the director of Education and Government
Relations at Children Now in Sacramento.
In addition, Thurmond announced that
he has appointed Kindra Britt as director of
Communications.
Britt heads a division that handles inter-
nal and external communications, including
media activities to support Thurmond, and
CDE as a whole. She replaces outgoing
Director Bill Ainsworth.
Britt most recently served as Community
Affairs Director for the Placer County
Office of Education, where she started
nearly 12 years ago as a Career Technical
Education Instructor. Britt brings a unique
perspective to her new role at CDE, having
previously served in the classroom. In addi-
tion to her work in Placer County, over the
last few months, she was on loan to Butte
“I value my membership with ACSA, because I am able to
connect with other educational leaders who understand
my experiences from the classroom to the county offi ce of
education. I have developed lifelong friendships I will value
for the rest of my life. ACSA provides professional learning,
which is my rejuvenation for the work I do every day.”
Gethsemane Moss
Senior Director, Community Engagement
Solano County Offi ce of Education
REGISTER TODAY: https://goo.gl/FqUdXF
january
28
Pre-Symposium for Superintendents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monterey
29-Feb. 1 Superintendents Symposium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monterey
february
1
7
13-15
27
27-Mar. 1
28
The HR Office: The First 90 Days and Beyond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ontario
The HR Office: The First 90 Days and Beyond. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sacramento
Every Child Counts Symposium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anaheim
The Skillful Certificated Evaluator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . San Jose
CEL Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Monterey
Opening Doors for Women In School Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pleasanton
ACSA’s Classified Educational Leaders Institute is the premiere professional
learning event for classified leaders in California. This institute is designed for
educational leaders in business/fiscal services, human resources/personnel,
maintenance/operations, custodial, technology, facilities, student services/
instructional, including confidential and administrative assistants.
march
1
7
22
Lead From Your Strengths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ontario
Building a Successful Attendance Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Woodland
Building a Successful Attendance Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Santa Clara
april
7-8
11-13
25
Legislative Action Day. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sacramento
Lead 3.0 Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Los Angeles
The Skillful Certificated Evaluator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Salinas
may
18
Sisterhood Leadership Symposium. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alhambra
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON ACSA’S PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAMS, CALL 800.608.2272.
ACSA’S PD CALENDAR IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.ACSA.ORG/CALENDAR
Principals’ Summer Institute
June 23-29, 2019
Institute for New & Aspiring Principals
June 24-28, 2019
acsa.org/summerprograms