The Educated Guess � Is CALPADS unfixable? No answer yet

The Educated Guess � Is CALPADS unfixable? No answer yet

Is CALPADS unfixable? No answer yet

Posted in CALPADS, Data

State education officials expressed deep disappointment last week on learning that California was out of the running for money to expand the statewide student data system.
They haven’t heard yet why the state placed 26^th out of 50^th in a grant competition that funded only the top 20 states. But they shouldn’t be surprised if the feds’ answer is, “Are you kidding? Why would you expect taxpayers to enlarge a data system when you have yet to get it to work right?”
Nearly one year into its operation, CALPADS, the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, is still struggling. Five months after a consultantwarned of an imminent system collapse and urged a top-to-bottom review, the student data system is still being fixed. It will take at least a month before it becomes clear whether the processes work, and the system can perform as designed. Still to be determined is whether management problems – a big factor behind the poor operation – have been straightened out.
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By John Fensterwald on May 27th, 2010

Hour of decision for low-performing schools

Posted in Turning around failing schools

With the June 1 deadline looming for school districts to apply for dollars for chronically poor-performing schools, the state hasn’t heard from the U.S. Department of Education whether it’s getting any money to actually pass around. That unanswered question has added uncertainty to what’s already a been tense process for districts.
California’s share of the $3.5 billion one-time stimulus money for School Improvement Grants is supposed to be $414 million – a hunk of change for districts to help turn around schools. And there’s no saying an amount nearly this large will be available for that purpose in coming years, given the federal deficit and growing criticism in Congress over the prescriptive methods that President Obama has chosen as remedies for failing schools.
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