March 11, 2019
EDCAL 1
Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 49 | Number 20 | March 11, 2019
Applications open for 2019 NAESP
National Distinguished Principal
The National Association of Elemen-
tary School Principals, in partnership with
ACSA’s Elementary Education Council, is
seeking to identify an exceptional elemen-
tary school principal to represent California
as its National Distinguished Principal.
April 1 is the deadline to submit nomina-
tions, and that is not an April Fool’s joke.
The NDP program was established in
1984 to recognize Pre-K-8 level principals
who set high standards for instruction,
student achievement, character and climate
for the students, families and staffs in their
learning communities. The program is
based on three fundamental ideas:
• Children’s attitudes toward learning
and their perceptions of themselves as life-
long learners are established in the begin-
ning school years.
• The scope and quality of children’s
Women’s History Month
Castro Valley USD Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi was honored as a California Woman of the Year for
Senate District 10, as nominated by Sen. Bob Wieckowski. Here she poses at a ceremony with mem-
bers of ACSA Governmental Relations. L-R, Legislative Advocate Martha Alvarez, Ahmadi, Legislative
Advocate Cathy McBride, Senior Director of Policy and Governmental Relations Edgar Zazueta.
Castro Valley superintendent
named a CA Woman of the Year
A prominent school district lead-
er was an honoree in a state Capitol
ceremony last week. Parvin Ahmadi,
superintendent of Castro Valley USD, is
the 2019 Woman of the Year for Senate
District 10, Sen. Bob Wieckowski
announced. Ahmadi and other Women
of the Year honorees were recognized
during a ceremony on the Senate floor.
“Superintendent Ahmadi is a
statewide educational leader who has
dedicated her professional career to
educating all students and enhancing
their learning opportunities so they can
achieve their goals,” Wieckowski said.
“For over 30 years, she has worked in
several positions in our educational sys-
tem, including as a teacher, site adminis-
trator, assistant superintendent and now
as a superintendent who also teaches
Periodicals
Dated Material
aspiring superintendents. Her commit-
ment to public education, students of
all ages and social justice is recognized
throughout our community.”
Ahmadi, also a member of ACSA’s
Board of Directors, has been superin-
tendent of CVUSD since 2015. She
started her career as a teacher in San
Jose and taught there for 10 years before
moving to Fremont USD. She worked
there for 13 years as a teacher and a site
administrator, before becoming an assis-
tant superintendent. She then served as
superintendent of Pleasanton USD for
five years.
In 2017, Ahmadi was appointed to
the Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission
on Early Childhood Education and is
currently working with other advocates
See AHMADI, page 4
educational experiences are determined
primarily by the school principal, who
establishes, through the important work of
teachers and the support of caring par-
ents, the character of a particular school’s
program.
• The dedication and enthusiasm of the
outstanding principals who guide children’s
early education experiences should be
See NDP, page 4
SPI Thurmond
congratulates
Schools to Watch
Superintendent of Public Instruc-
tion Tony Thurmond announced that 16
high-performing California middle schools
have been newly recognized in the 2018-
19 Schools to Watch-Taking Center Stage
program. They join 33 previously chosen
schools whose sustained progress will allow
them to retain their “Schools to Watch”
designation.
“These middle schools make a great
impact on students, and I want to thank the
staff, administrators, teachers, and parents
at these schools for ensuring all students
get the education they need to realize their
potential,” Thurmond said. “These schools
study and support students’ needs, which
helps close achievement gaps and creates a
better future for these young students.”
These high-performing model schools
demonstrate academic excellence, social
equity, and responsiveness to the needs of
young adolescents. For example, Creekview
Ranch School in Roseville created “Raptor
Time,” embedded four days per week in the
school day to offer student support and en-
richment opportunities. Southridge Middle
School teachers participate in instructional
rounds to observe best practices, cognitive
tasks, and learning targets, and then provide
consistent feedback to staff and admin-
istration. In Ray Wiltsey Middle School,
which has a schoolwide International
Baccalaureate model, all students partici-
pate in student-led conferences where they
analyze academic progress and set individ-
ual academic goals for improvement with
their families.
The 16 newly designated “Schools to
Watch” schools are:
• John Burroughs Middle School, Los
Angeles USD.
• Creekview Ranch School K-8, Dry
Creek Joint Elementary SD.
New PACE brief. Policy Analysis
for California Education has a new
brief out that updates a 2018 analysis
of the California Dashboard. The brief
also identifies continued low use and
potentially troubling equity gaps. De-
spite the shortcomings of the update,
there is high support for the Dashboard
and a strong preference for the new
Dashboard over the old. The brief can
be accessed on the PACE website at
http://bit.ly/2VC4vBU.
CAST video. A new video “California
Science Test (CAST) and the Next Gen-
eration Science Standards” provides
an overview of the CAST and describes
how it aligns with the California Next
Generation Science Standards. This
video is especially helpful for teach-
ers, parents and students. It explains
how the CAST is designed not only to
measure student progress, but also to
encourage and reinforce the innova-
tive ways in which science is taught
in classrooms throughout the state.
You can access the six-minute video at
http://bit.ly/2H8hrLS.
CAAASA conference. The Califor-
nia Association of African American Su-
perintendents and Administrators is en-
couraging registrations for their annual
Statewide Professional Development
Summit scheduled for March 27-29 at
the Hyatt Regency Orange County in
Garden Grove. This year’s conference,
“Creating an Equitable Education for
African American and Other Students
of Color,” will focus on highlighting
policies and practices that promote
education equity for African American
and other students of color. The goal of
the conference is to provide strategies,
solutions, and resources that educators
can use to ensure that students are
able to achieve academically and excel
in life. ACSA and a number of other
education groups is a co-sponsor of
the event. Please go to www.caaasa.
org to register.
See STW, page 5
Blended learning symposium
coming to Carlsbad in May
ACSA is pleased to announce that the
association is partnering with CUE (Com-
puter Using Educators) on the BOLD:
Blended and Online Lesson Design Sym-
posium happening May 4-5 at Sage Creek
High School in Carlsbad.
“We hope this will provide an excellent
learning opportunity for our members, who
are all well-aware that technology is a now,
and future, critical component of educa-
tion,” said ACSA President Holly Edds.
“Although all schools have moved into the
world of ed-tech, there is a wide spectrum
of how far along schools statewide are right
now, and this should help those districts
who feel they need a little boost in this
area.”
This event is designed for districts who
are struggling to design modern classroom
environments that enhance learning and for
those seeking to dig deep into 1:1 lesson
planning. With live demonstrations and
expert speakers, this is an event not to be
missed.
Teachers, administrators, and district
leaders will take a deep dive into the world
of blended and online lesson design. This
event will challenge all educators to meet
and lead their students in the 21st century
with a focus on the symbiotic relationship
of learning environment design, digital
learning systems, and rethinking traditional
lesson design as the essential components
to launching a personalized 1:1 learning
environment.
See BOLD, page 5