Charter Impact

Here's some information on CALPADS from the CDE website. The website is http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sp/cl/index.asp.

California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS)

The cornerstone for compliance with federal law, as delineated in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, is increased accountability for student achievement. Schools must be able to show adequate yearly progress (AYP) in academic achievement and increases in graduation rates. California has adopted rigorous academic standards and developed assessments to track whether students are achieving the standards set for them. To fully comply with federal accountability requirements, however, California must be able to track individual student enrollment history and achievement data over time.

To enable California to meet the federal requirements, Education Code (EC)sections 49084 and 60900 were enacted in September 2002 to require: (1) the assignment of a Statewide Student Identifier (SSID) as an individual, yet non-personally identifiable number to each K-12 student enrolled in a California public school; and (2) the establishment of the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) that includes statewide assessment data, enrollment data, teacher assignment data, and other elements required to meet federal NCLB reporting requirements. In 2006, Senate Bill 1614 was also enacted establishing the California Longitudinal Teacher Integrated Data Education System (CALTIDES) to facilitate teacher assignment monitoring through automation and enable monitoring of Highly Qualified Teacher requirements under NCLB.

CALPADS-CALTIDES will be the foundation of California’s K-12 education data system, enabling the migration from the current numerous aggregate data collections to a flexible system based on quality student- and teacher-level data. CALPADS will include student demographic, program participation, grade level, enrollment, course enrollment and completion, discipline, and statewide assessment data. CALPADS will also include teacher assignment data, and will be linked to teacher credential and authorization data in CALTIDES that is sourced from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing. The student-level, longitudinal data in CALPADS will facilitate program evaluation, assessment of student achievement over time, the calculation of more accurate dropout and graduation rates, the efficient creation of reports to meet state and federal reporting requirements, and the ability to create ad hoc reports and respond to questions. CALPADS provides local educational agencies (LEAs) access to longitudinal data and reports on their own students, and immediate access to information on new students enabling them to place students appropriately and to determine whether any assessments are necessary.
For the purposes of administering the requirements of SB 1453 and NCLB, the CDE shall treat independently reporting charter schools acting as their own LEA, as an LEA. Charter schools electing to report CALPADS data independent of the authorizing LEA shall be accountable for meeting all of the reporting requirements of an individual LEA.

In order to meet the requirements of EC Section 60900, LEAs shall retain and report to CALPADS individual pupil and staff records, including:
Statewide Student Identifier (SSID) data
Student enrollment and exit data
All necessary data to produce required graduation and dropout rates
Demographic data
Data necessary to comply with the No Child Left Behind Act
Other data elements deemed necessary by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the State Board of Education, to comply with the federal reporting requirements delineated in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-110), and after review and comment by the convened advisory board
LEA maintenance of individual SSIDs includes the accurate and timely reporting of demographic, program, local student enrollment and exit data to CALPADS, and the timely resolution of SSID anomalies with other LEAs.

Failure to comply with state law by not meeting CALPADS reporting requirements may result in zero enrollment counts for official state and federal reports as well as zero enrollment counts posted publicly on official web sites. In addition, zero enrollment counts will result in a loss of any funding based on official enrollment. Independently reporting charter schools failing to meet reporting requirements may result in a local authorizing agency decision for charter non-renewal or revocation.

July 24: High-Quality Charter Schools “Essential Component” of Race to the Top Plans

July 24: High-Quality Charter Schools “Essential Component” of Race to the Top Plans

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July 24: Top Story - Race to the Top Unveiled

July 24: Top Story - Race to the Top Unveiled

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Thursday, July 23, 2009

July 23: Top Story - Tennessee Metro Schools Avoid Take-Over

July 23: Top Story - Tennessee Metro Schools Avoid Take-Over

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July 10: Public Charter Schools See $40 Million Increase from House Appropriations Subcommittee

July 10: Public Charter Schools See $40 Million Increase from House Appropriations Subcommittee

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When you find a stunning success – you let it grow

When you find a stunning success – you let it grow

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

July Revenue for DC Schools Partially Dispersed

Looks like DC schools will finally be receiving a partial payment of revenue funds.

http://www.examiner.com/x-2763-DC-Charter-Schools-Examiner~y2009m7d22-July-charter-school-payments-partially-dispersed

Internal Controls

Internal control is the process designed to provide reasonable assurance that the operations of the charter school are effective and efficient; the financial information produced is reliable; and the charter school is operating in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. The internal control structure includes the policies and procedures used by the staff, the accounting, attendance and other information systems, the work environment, the attitudes and abilities of those who work in the charter school.

What are the best ways to implement?

•Management establishes strong internal control consciousness.
•Adequate policies and procedures are in place.
•Financial information is accurate and accounting and attendance systems reliable.
•All laws and regulations are followed.
•Organizational structure is effective and efficient.
•Duties are properly segregated and proper work environment is maintained.