March 11, 2019
EDCAL 3
We are significantly disproportionate, now what?
The following article was written by Adam
Clark, superintendent of Vallejo City USD.
In fall 2017, Vallejo City Unified School
District was identified by the California
Department of Education as being Signifi-
cantly Disproportionate.
Similar to many districts throughout
California, VCUSD also faced budget
shortfalls, flat test scores and a shortage of
qualified educators. As the newly appointed
superintendent, these were just a few of the
many tasks that needed immediate atten-
tion. Although this might appear daunting,
addressing Significant Disproportionality
was actually an opportunity to understand
the culture, infrastructures and belief sys-
tems in my new school district. Developing
the Comprehensive Coordinated Early
Intervention Service (CCEIS) Plan would
provide a clear picture of the district’s
needs.
Under the leadership of VCUSD
Special Education Director Rachel Chang,
a team was assembled to lead the process
of addressing disproportionality. The team
included behavior intervention specialist,
Victoria Galbert, and technical facilita-
tors Mildred Browne, Gary McHenry
and Suwinder Cooper. They dove into the
programmatic improvement process under
the guidance of the State Performance Plan
Technical Assistance Project.
The team led meetings with multiple
focus groups, which included students,
parents, teachers, counselors, psychologists
and administrators. These groups worked in
partnership to complete a district self-as-
sessment and to discuss the results through
a cultural lens. Director of Information
Technology Lucius McKelvy provided
disaggregated data by gender and ethnicity
in relation to academic achievement, atten-
dance, and discipline. Our district utilizes
various information systems such as Aeries,
Special Education Information System
(SEIS), California Department of Educa-
tion DataQuest and California Longitudi-
nal Pupil Achievement Data
System (CALPADS). The
team conducted a reflective
analysis through the cultural
lens of VCUSD policies, pro-
cedures and practices, as well
as a deep dive into processes
Clark
such as special education eligi-
bility standards, student study
team processes and intervention strategies.
The data were presented to stakeholders
during a meeting held at the district office.
Stakeholders included the leadership team,
parents, community members, and employ-
ee groups. Participants had the opportunity
to analyze the findings and discuss the
implications for racial and ethnic disparities
within the district.
During the meeting, there was a level
of discomfort and tension amongst the
stakeholders. VCUSD was identified as
having a significant disproportionality of
white students identified in the category of
emotional disturbance.
Through this process, it was deter-
mined that the root causes of the district’s
disproportionality included: data quality,
underutilization of Section 504, shift in
socioeconomics and ethnic demographics,
implicit bias and cultural dissonance, an
inconsistent pre-referral process for special
education, inconsistencies in instruction
and access to curriculum across the district,
minimal parent involvement and lack of
transparent infrastructure.
Once the CCEIS plan was complet-
ed, we had a clear understanding of the
culture, infrastructures and belief systems of
VCUSD. I was proud of the plan and stood
by the findings as well as the recommenda-
tions. However, I was concerned about the
high number of plans and initiatives that
were already present.
The root causes identified in the CCEIS
plan were not isolated to one particular
department or school within the district.
These were areas that we needed to address
in order to improve the educational expe-
riences of all students, not just those who
were identified as being disproportionate.
In order to address our shortcomings, we
needed to pursue systemic alignment. It
was imperative that we establish a culture
that aligns our daily decisions and actions
with the strategic direction of the district.
Often the message from the top of an
organizational chart can mutate as it is
communicated throughout the organiza-
tion. In order to avoid this, I developed a
Superintendent’s Action Plan (SAP) that
addressed many of the issues identified in
the root cause analysis. We also examined
our Local Control and Accountability Plan
to determine where similarities existed. A
strategy to communicate and execute the
plan was put into place. We focused on
trust and engagement in order to roll out
the components of the LCAP, CCEIS and
SAP.
Although we are still striving to achieve
our goal of supporting all students, the
alignment of these three plans is increasing
our chances of success.
More information about Vallejo City USD
can be accessed at http://bit.ly/2C3XuCI.
Report shows strong teacher evaluations needed
Analysis from the National Council on
Teacher Quality finds tangible evidence
that teacher evaluation systems, when
implemented well, are coinciding with real
and measurable benefits.
The past decade has been marked by
rapid changes in teacher evaluations. While
many districts and states announced their
intention to install better systems, they
faced political and structural challenges.
The districts and states highlighted have
surmounted these challenges to implement
successful teacher evaluation systems that
are yielding substantial benefits.
“Our analysis suggests that moving
forward with teacher evaluation systems
presents students and teachers with a huge
opportunity,” said Kate Walsh, president of
the National Council on Teacher Quality.
In Making a Difference: Six Places
Where Teacher Evaluation Systems are
Getting Results, NCTQ examines evidence
of the impact of teacher evaluation in six
places (four districts and two states) that
have stayed the course in developing and
implementing improved teacher evalua-
tion systems: Dallas Independent School
District, Denver Public Schools, District of
Columbia Public Schools, Newark Public
Schools, New Mexico, and Tennessee.
These six evaluation systems have
achieved a more meaningful and realistic
measure of the distribution of teacher talent
than such systems have done historically,
when virtually all teachers received the
same rating. For example, New Mexico’s
teachers earn evaluation ratings that are
widely distributed across its evaluation
rating categories, with nearly 30 percent
of teachers earning ratings below effective
in recent years. This enables New Mexico
to differentiate the supports that are made
available to teachers.
To achieve the level of differentiation
that these six systems have, a number of
factors appear necessary. Each of them an-
nually evaluates all teachers using both ob-
jective and subjective measures, as opposed
to exempting large numbers of teachers
from yearly evaluation, only using sub-
jective measures, or not giving significant
weight to student learning. Each employs
at least three rating categories, with some
using as many as five to seven. Each also
ties the professional development a teacher
should pursue to their evaluation results.
Perhaps most significantly, each of
these six systems to some degree links a
teacher’s evaluation results to opportuni-
ties to earn additional compensation. For
example, D.C. Public Schools teachers who
are found to be highly effective, teach in
a targeted high-poverty school, and meet
other criteria are eligible to earn as much as
$25,000 in bonuses each year.
In addition to attaching consequences to
the results of an evaluation, each place has
made a genuine commitment on the part
of school system leadership to implement
the new systems with fidelity, even as five
of the featured locales in our study survived
turnovers in leadership.
“The buy-in among school leadership
was real and perhaps unique,” Walsh said.
“And the commitment to continuous
improvement among the districts and
states highlighted here stands out. None of
these systems were perfect out of the gate;
system leaders recognized this and worked
continuously to enhance system design,
implementation, and use.”
• Dallas Independent School District
reports retaining 98 percent of its high-
est-rated teachers, compared to 50 percent
of consistently unsatisfactory teachers.
• Denver Public Schools reports retain-
ing 91 percent of its highest-rated teachers,
compared with only 20 percent of the
district’s lowest-rated teachers.
• District of Columbia Public Schools
reports retaining 92 percent of the district’s
effective and highly effective teachers, while
low-performing teachers are now three
times more likely to leave the district.
• Newark Public Schools reports retain-
ing 96 percent of highly effective teachers
in the evaluation system’s fifth year of
implementation, compared to 51 percent of
its ineffective teachers.
Ultimately, well-designed and well-im-
plemented teacher evaluation systems help
all teachers improve. Independent research-
ers in Tennessee have found that teachers
in the state are improving at a faster rate,
with growth that is “much more rapid and
sustained” since the implementation of its
new evaluation system.
Read the report at www.nctq.org/publi-
cations/Making-a-Difference.
Task force meets
ACSA’s Mental Wellness Task Force met recently in Sacramento. The group is being chaired by Darrien
Johnson, assistant superintendent with Berryessa Union SD. The task force had conversations with
Kristin Wright, director of Special Education with CDE; Debbie Look, principal consultant with the state
Assembly Education Committee; and Alex Briscoe, principal with California Children’s Trust. The goal
of the Mental Wellness Task Force is to gather resources for educators on mental health practices,
wellness and social-emotional learning practices, and make them available on the ACSA Resource Hub
at content.acsa.org.
Leaders from all 19 of
ACSA’s regions met for
Leadership Assembly
in Ontario recently and
while the weather outside was chilly, in-
side the Doubletree Hotel the conversa-
tions that were happening warmed not
only the room, but also my heart.
It was a very busy, highly interactive
day. We heard from the three candi-
dates for ACSA state offices about their
commitment to supporting our students
and members if they are elected. We
had the opportunity to hear about the
commendable work occurring in four
districts in our state on their equity jour-
ney. Thank you ABC Unified, Riverside
Unified, Oakland Unified, and Murrietta
Valley Unified for sharing the deep work
you are continuing to do in each of your
districts.
In addition, the One Voice for Students
2019-20 Legislative Platform was
approved, and Governmental Relations
staff shared a summary of the 2019-20
Budget Proposal and notable legisla-
tion that has been proposed. Time was
spent with staff from CDE, CCEE, and
CCSESA, jointly presenting on Califor-
nia’s System of Support. We had up-
dates on ACSA’s Mental Wellness Task
Force and on the upcoming Legislative
Action Day, April 7-8.
One of the highlights of the day was an
activity in which attendees were asked
to provide input for one of the Strategic
Plan Initiatives. As part of the 2018-
19 first year goals, ACSA staff asked
for input from Leadership Assembly
participants. The Key Results Areas,
Milestones and First-Year Focus for
the discussion were centered around
(1) Member Development and Support
and (2) Development and Sustainabili-
ty. Participants were asked to answer
questions regarding their own career
pathways that led them to their current
positions, what professional devel-
opment they found useful along the
way, and to identify what professional
development opportunities not current-
ly offered might have been valuable to
them in their career.
As we continue moving forward, it’s
important to remember that it is our
strategic plan. It’s not ACSA’s plan, but
rather it is up to every one of us to
implement the steps included in the
plan. I had the opportunity to meet with
Region Presidents/President-Elects
prior to the Leadership Assembly meet-
ing, and we discussed what supports
might be helpful as they begin planning
for their own leadership retreats this
summer. ACSA staff is working to op-
erationalize those requests and provide
our leaders with the resources they
need to do this work.
Our ACSA staff works hard to make
events like our Leadership Assembly
successful. The work that goes into
arranging for each and every detail
for multiple days of meetings – it is
absolutely astounding and they do it all
with dedication and professionalism.
Kudos to the ACSA staff and to each
person who participated at our Lead-
ership Assembly. It takes a team to
Create Magic, and that is exactly what
happened in Ontario in February.
– Holly Edds
ACSA President