April 1, 2019
EDCAL 1
Education California | The official newspaper of the Association of California School Administrators
Volume 49 | Number 23 | April 1, 2019
Administrators of the Year announced
ACSA’s Awards Committee has com-
pleted the challenging task of selecting the
statewide Administrator of the Year award
recipients.
After reviewing the 265 high-quali-
ty nominations that came forward, the
committee selected the best of the best to
recognize.
The five special award winners and
winners in 21 job-alike categories will be
honored at the 2019 Leadership Summit,
Nov. 7-9 in San Francisco.
“I want to congratulate the impressive
list of nominees this year, who represent
the quality and commitment of California’s
education leaders,” said Holly Edds, ACSA
president. “I look forward to honoring the
winners and sharing their stories at this
year’s Leadership Summit.”
The award winners for each category are
as follows:
Special awards
Ferd. Kiesel Memorial Distinguished
Service Award: Suzan Solomon, governing
board member, Newhall School District,
Region 15.
Marcus Foster Memorial Award for
Administrator Excellence: Julie Mitchell,
superintendent, Rowland Unified School
District, Region 15.
Robert E. Kelly Award: Sheila
McGann-Tiedt, Region 8.
Partners in Educational Excellence
Award: Torrance Education Foundation,
Region 14.
Valuing Diversity Award: Michele
Bowers, superintendent, Lancaster School
District, Region 15.
See AWARDS, page 5
Campaign
pushes
for ‘full
and fair’
funding
California is the fifth largest economy in
the world. It produces the highest gross do-
mestic product of any state. It is the heart
of innovation, opportunity and the digital
economy. Yet when it comes to education,
California lags woefully behind.
When adjusted for cost of living, Cali-
fornia ranks 41st in per-pupil spending and
45th in student-teacher ratios, according to
data from the California Budget & Policy
Center and National Education Associa-
tion.
ACSA and the California School
Boards Association have partnered to
launch a Full and Fair Funding campaign,
which seeks to raise awareness that Califor-
nia sits near the bottom nationally in nearly
every measure of school funding and school
staffing.
“This level of investment is simply not
good enough for the students or our state,”
said Wes Smith, executive director of
ACSA.
In partnership with ACSA, CSBA has
drafted a resolution calling on the state
Legislature to fund California schools
at the national average by the year 2020,
and to the average of the top 10 funded
states by 2025. The two organizations will
be pursuing a ballot measure in 2020 that
they say will provide the resources needed
for high-quality, rigorous education for all
students.
Inadequate school funding is com-
pounded in California, which is home to a
high-needs student population, including
more low-income students than the na-
CAASPP guide. The California
Department of Education has made
available the “CAASPP Security Inci-
dents and Appeals Procedure Guide.”
This resource is linked on both the
Manuals and Instructions webpage and
the CAASPP Security and Test Admin-
istration Incident Reporting System
(STAIRS)/Appeals Process for Sum-
mative Assessments webpage. Find
out more at the CAASPP Portal, http://
www.caaspp.org.
NGSS resources. The Stanford
Jerry Almendarez, superintendent of the Colton Joint Unified School District, addresses district stake-
holders and community members. The district has established a Community Cabinet, which brings
together a diverse group of partners to support schools and build community involvement.
Community engagement
goes beyond meetings
How important is it for a school
district to create avenues and oppor-
tunities for engagement? Colton Joint
Unified School District Superintendent
Jerry Almendarez said from engaging
the public to engaging the board, school
leaders have to leverage every opportuni-
ty to strengthen the district at all levels.
“Engagement starts with having con-
versations and building relationships,”
he said. “Our work as district leaders is
student focused, but we have to have a
plan for two-way communication with
stakeholders.”
CJUSD serves more than 22,000
students in San Bernardino County.
Almendarez graduated high school in
the district, began his education career
as a math teacher and moved up through
school and district leadership to the
superintendency.
In August 2013, CJUSD formed
the Community Cabinet with the goal
of bringing a diverse group of partners
together to support schools and build
community involvement in education.
The effort included representatives from
business, government, other educational
entities, community, nonprofit and faith-
based organizations, and parents, all
recognizing that success for students will
provide a strong workforce and more
economic growth for the region.
“If you want to bring in some-
thing new, you have to start small,”
Almendarez said. “Once you launch,
you have to be committed to successful
growth while also assessing your chal-
lenges and adjust as you move forward.”
In its inaugural year, Community
Cabinet members formed commit-
tees focusing on Mental and Physical
Health Awareness, Literacy, Early
Preparation, and Academic and Career
Readiness. Projects included Colton’s
See ENGAGE, page 2
NGSS Assessment Project has
developed free resources to engage
teachers, coaches, and administrators
in professional learning on the devel-
opment and use of assessments to
support three-dimensional science
learning. The resources include sample
performance assessments for the
Next Generation Science Standards
and a toolkit for developing and using
the performance assessments. To find
out more, visit the SNAP website at
https://snapgse.stanford.edu.
MTSS Institute. The Orange County
Department of Education, Butte
County Office of Education, and the
UCLA Center for the Transformation of
Schools are hosting the 3rd annual Cal-
ifornia Multi-Tiered System of Support
Professional Learning Institute on July
29-31 at the Long Beach Convention
Center. The 2019 California MTSS PLI
theme “All Means All — Know My
Name, Face, and Story” will focus
on promoting excellence, equity and
access for all learners. Visit
camtsspli.ocde.us for information
regarding the event.
CAST video. The new video “Califor-
nia Science Test and the Next Gener-
ation Science Standards” provides an
overview of the CAST and describes
how it aligns with the California Next
Generation Science Standards. This
video geared toward teachers, parents
and students explains how the CAST is
designed not only to measure stu-
dent progress, but also to encourage
and reinforce the innovative ways in
which science is taught in classrooms
throughout the state. View the video at
http://bit.ly/2H8hrLS.
See FAIR, page 3
LUSD senior wins $40,000
Edison STEM scholarship
Periodicals
Dated Material
Lynwood High School senior Alan
Lopez learned all about the Edison Inter-
national STEM Scholarship when his older
sister, Abieiden, received one of the exclu-
sive scholarships in 2018. Last month, it
was his turn to celebrate when he received
the $40,000 award—which is given annu-
ally to just 30 high school seniors pursuing
majors in science, technology, engineering
and math fields at four-year universities.
A representative from Edison Interna-
tional surprised Lopez with a giant check
and medal of recognition during his engi-
neering class on March 20.
“It was really exciting to win the schol-
arship in front of my entire class,” Lopez
said. “I’ve received so much support from
my classmates, teachers and family, so it
was fitting to be able to share it with them.”
Lopez has a 4.6 GPA and is well pre-
pared to pursue computer science at which-
ever university he chooses. He has spent
the last three years taking extra courses in
See STEM, page 2