JANUARY, 2007

Translation Requirements Just Got Tougher For SARCs and More

A recent revision to the Ed Code may affect the ways in which you're sharing SARCs with your community:

Ed Code 48985—which sets the guidelines for when schools and school districts must provide translations of notices, reports, statements, or records sent home to parents—was recently amended when AB 680 became law. The CDE will now be notifying school districts of their translation obligations under Ed Code 48985, and also monitor adherence through the regular Categorical Program Monitoring (CPM) process. This new law took effect January 1.
This has been interpreted by the CDE to mean that SARCs must now be translated in full, if 15 percent or more of the students in a school speak a single language other than English at home. (Note this is based on the R-30 Language Census of March 2006.)

However, although providing full translations of the SARC may satisfy state law on language equity, it falls short of state and federal requirements about understandability. Short reports, in English and translated into other languages, are essential to meeting these requirements. In fact, "concise" and "understandable" are the exact terms used in the federal law, as well as in the guidelines on accountability reporting issued by the U.S. Dept. of Education in September 2003. Click for further detail.

Please let us know if:

you need to know which of your schools require SARC translations, and in which languages;
you want to know how the 15 percent threshold is determined;
you need help in meeting these translation requirements, and want a quote.

For more information:

See a recent report from the California State Auditor regarding compliance with these translation requirements.
The CDE's website on accountability reporting, where Question #9 in their "Frequently Asked Questions" addresses translation policies.
Ed Code 48985, as amended by Assembly Bill 680, chapter 706.

The School Wise Press website contains key sections of NCLB Section 1111(h), as well as links to the legislation itself.
The U.S. Dept. of Education Guidelines on Accountability Reporting, September 2003.

This advisory is from School Wise Press, publisher of school accountability report cards. You are receiving this advisory because you are listed as a SARC liaison by the California Dept. of Education. To e-mail comments, please reply to: alisonn@schoolwisepress.com. To unsubscribe to SARC Bites and this advisory service, please reply to this email, with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.

To reach us by phone, please call (415) 432-7800, ext 202. Your comments are always welcome.

We at School Wise Press have extended our translation services to include full-length SARCs as well as Fact Sheets (one-page summary reports). We are currently translating Fact Sheets into Spanish, Chinese (short form), Tagalog and Hmong. And we are expanding our capacity to provide translations in additional languages, as well.

For information about our accountability reporting services, please go to:
http://www.schoolwisepress.com/sarc
To ask for a quote for accountability reporting,
please go to: http://www.schoolwisepress.com/SARC/inquiry.html

School Wise Press
"Helping educators and parents make sense of school facts since 1995"
http://www.schoolwisepress.com