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STATE LAW CAN'T BE SATISFIED WITHOUT HARD WORK

It takes more than a cookie-cutter approach to satisfy the Education Code's requirements for school accountability report cards. Senate Bill 1632 spells out the particulars. It is only the most recent of many laws that have mapped out the details of the school accountability report card.

In brief, compliance requires data, descriptive writing, explanatory writing, and distribution.

DATA: More than 50 data items for elementary and middle schools, and more than 60 for high schools, are required. In certain cases you need to provide data over a three-year time span.

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING: It requires that principals write descriptions of more than a dozen facets of their schools.

EXPLANATORY WRITING: Accounting for data alone is not sufficient. Explaining its meaning is now required "... to ensure that the report cards are easy to read and understandable by parents."

DISTRIBUTION: The law specifies two forms of distribution: printed reports and on-line (for all schools already online). In fact, districts must "... ensure that all parents receive a copy of the report card."

The CDE's staff enables you to get partial compliance with a technical document known as the "state template." It will give you a a pile of data for each of your schools, displaying data in tables for many of the items the SARC requires. However, this will get you only part of the way to compliance.

For full compliance, you must still track down and add data that your district has not reported to Sacramento, and include descriptive writing that only your principals can provide. You must still publish it online and in printed form. And you must distribute it to parents and staff.

School Wise Press can help your district meet these challenges — comply with the law and communicate effectively — with minimum expense and effort.