The governing board of the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) met virtually on June 15 to receive updates from each of its three centers on endeavors with school districts and county offices of education.
Executive Director Matthew Navo reported on the agency’s goals for 2023–24, which include prioritizing technical assistance with local educational agencies to enhance teaching and learning; improving statewide system of support accessibility for the field; and spreading and scaling learning acceleration and community engagement projects.
Equitable education systems
Staff from the Transformative Systems for Equitable Educational Outcomes Center (TSEE) presented accomplishments, current happenings and future plans related to the Statewide System of Support (SSOS), One System Collective and community engagement.
Regarding the SSOS, achievements included the launch of a tool, created in partnership with Santa Clara County Office of Education, that generates tailored blending, braiding and layering funding options for LEAs as well as a resource hub to assist with universal prekindergarten implementation.
Under the One System Collective, staff advised on the development and refinement of the CCEE Statewide Summary for Students With Disabilities Monitoring, which shows information by district on student demographics, support, Annual Performance Report indicators and more.
In the coming months, the CCEE Statewide Initiative Inventory will be soft launched and the Basic Levers 2.0 electronic version will be beta tested with LEAs in the fall.
The community engagement initiative’s future includes collaborating with the California Community Schools Partnership Program, making more outreach to community schools available on a regional basis and making professional learning series and modules publicly available.
Board member Paul Gothold reminded staff that with so many resources forthcoming, there needs to be a focus on how resources are distributed to LEAs and educators to ensure they are utilized.
Instruction and innovation
For the Innovation, Instruction, and Impact Center (I3), CCEE’s Data Research Learning Network (DRLN), launched in January to support LEAs in innovating their data and assessment practices, was a main topic of discussion.
The DRLN — which consists of Rincon Union School District, Santa Clara Unified School District, Taft City School District, San Ramon Valley USD, Sanger USD, Imperial COE and San Bernardino COE — “focuses on developing deeper capacity around data analyses, data practices, and internal data dashboards to support student outcomes,” according to the presentation.
Between January and June, the LEAs did data dives to define their problems of practice and finish drafting their action plans. Their goals, strategies and measurable outcomes can be viewed here.
In hopes of meeting their Local Control and Accountability Plan of improving math scores, Rincon Valley Union SD is focusing on formative assessment practices in math at two elementary schools. District staff spoke on their plans to provide foundational training on both formative assessments and anticipated impacts such as strengthening universal math instructional practices; having more collegial, data-centered conversations; improving student outcomes; and having a new model for strategic planning.
Efforts around Universal Design for Learning, like the release of the UDL Journey Guide for LEAs, was covered too.
Also at the meeting:
- Five LEAs’ (Fresno USD, Lynwood USD, Pittsburg USD, Napa COE and San Diego COE) objectives, strategies and desired outcomes as part of the African American Student Success Network were discussed. Details can be seen in a presentation from the network’s May gathering.
- Staff from the Teaching, Learning and Leading Center gave an update on Learning Acceleration System Grant projects, including Project CLEAR, which is based in San Diego COE and focused on literacy development for students. COE staff shared the story of a student’s progress after intervention.
- Governing board members received updates on direct technical assistance efforts in six districts (Mt. Diablo USD, Vallejo City USD, Sacramento City USD, Inglewood USD, Oakland USD and Salinas Union High School District) as well as successes and next steps for the schools in five districts (Inglewood USD, Sacramento City USD, Vallejo City USD, Fillmore USD and Madera USD) that are participating in the intensive assistance model.
- The board approved meeting dates for 2023–24 and plans to convene in-person in Sacramento on Aug. 31 and Dec. 14, 2023, and Feb. 29 and June 6, 2024.
A recording of the meeting will be available to view here. CCEE’s governing board will meet next on Aug. 31.
