Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Assignment Monitoring and California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System Update Trainings

California Education Code Section 44258.9 requires each county superintendent of schools to monitor and review school district certificated employee assignment practices. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, each local educational agency (LEA) is required to submit a plan to the state educational agency that describes how it will identify and address any disparities that result in low-income and minority students being taught at higher rates than other students by ineffective, inexperienced, or out-of-field teachers. Beginning in the 2018–19 school year, LEAs will need to address this provision in the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Federal Addendum.

The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) and the California Department of Education (CDE) have recently entered into a data sharing agreement that will modernize and streamline the assignment monitoring process. The CTC is in the process of developing a new California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAS) that will use data from the CTC and CDE to identify potential misassignments and provide a communication platform for counties and school districts to address and resolve them. The CalSAAS will be fully operational by fall 2019.

In order to effectively discern which credential and authorization is required to teach a course based on the state course code name and description, CDE staff have updated the current set of state course codes collected in the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and added a number of attributes that further refine each course description.

Beginning in March 2019, CDE and CTC staff will be conducting trainings at county offices of education throughout California regarding the CalSAAS, changes in CALPADS, and changes to the state course codes and descriptions. In addition, CDE staff will be providing information about the Promoting Equitable Access to Teachers (PEAT) Program and Title I equity reporting requirements on the LCAP Federal Addendum.

We encourage teams of district office staff—including the credential analyst, curriculum and instruction staff, and staff involved in LCAP development—to attend. Assignment monitors from county offices are also encouraged to attend.

If you have any questions regarding the upcoming trainings, please contact Terra Bennet Brown, Education Programs Assistant, at 916-319-0241 or tbennetbrown@cde.ca.gov. Additional information regarding the trainings is available on the CDE PEAT Trainings web page.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond

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2019-00478