Updated School Quality Snapshot Available - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education)

Updated School Quality Snapshot Available - Year 2013 (CA Dept of Education):

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Announces Updated School Quality Snapshot Now Available

SACRAMENTO—An online accountability tool that provides the public an easy way to see a variety of measures of how well the state's more than 10,000 schools are performing is now updated with the latest information available, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today reported.

"Since we created these School Quality Snapshots, Californians have viewed more than 100,000 copies to learn more about their local schools," Torlakson said. "The Snapshot puts the information parents and the public need and want right at their fingertips."

California Department of Education staff developed the School Quality Snapshot Web application last year using existing state resources. Since the program was unveiled last October, 115,737 Snapshots of local schools have been downloaded. Previously, it had required visits to more than a dozen CDE Web pages to compile the same amount of information about individual schools. The Snapshot instead compiles the data in a matter of seconds and produces a two-page document that is easy to understand. It provides a longitudinal overview of information about each school and its performance on several indicators. It also provides data on a state and district level for comparison purposes, as well as some demographic information on each school. 

The first page displays information about a school's performance on the Academic Performance Index, which is a focal point of the Snapshot. It also includes data on a school's California Standards Tests (CSTs) results at the proficient-and-above level for English-language arts, mathematics, and science. A pie chart summarizes a school's enrollment by race/ethnicity, and other diagrams show subgroup enrollment and average class size.

The second page shows information on CSTs results for history/social science, the percentage of students in the Healthy Fitness Zone from the Physical Fitness Test, the percentage of graduates meeting University of California "a-g" requirements, the cohort graduation rate, suspension and expulsions as a percentage of enrolled students, average SAT scores, the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) English-language arts grade ten passing rate, and the CAHSEE mathematics grade ten passing rate.

The development of the School Quality Snapshot was part of Torlakson's A Blueprint for Great Schools initiative, one goal of which is to give parents and the public more information about student learning and school success.

Related Content

• A Blueprint For Great Schools Report - Table of Contents of the Transition Advisory Team report submitted to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson on August 9, 2011.

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction

State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Unveils New Web Help for Students Exploring College and Careers

SACRAMENTO—California students have new online help as they plan for careers and college, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson announced today.

"The diversity of our global economy can provide many opportunities for students, but having so many choices can be challenging as well," Torlakson said. "With new features on two really great Web sites, we're working to give students the resources they need to plan their path to a successful future."

The enhanced Web sites are part of Torlakson's Career Readiness Initiative, aimed at boosting the graduation rate in California and providing high school graduates with the knowledge and skills they need to be ready for further training or entering the workforce.

The California CareerZone®  Web site already has many features, but the new enhancements include:

• Make Money Choices : This feature asks users what kind of lifestyle they want to live, tells them how much it will cost, and links directly to information about jobs that could realistically support that lifestyle and salary.
• Cost of College : This feature helps students find colleges that are good matches for their career choice and provides cost information.
• Parent Guide : This feature offers parents advice on how to help their children explore careers.
• User profile: Logged on users can see everything they are working on in one place―including plans, recently viewed items, assessment summaries, journals, and a list of upcoming events.
• Calendar: Logged on users can see aggregated information about deadlines from colleges, training programs, and plans in a calendar so students can track their deadlines.
• Updated home screen: Logged on users can now see a summation of their previous career exploration and can pick up where they left off.
• Military occupations: Users can now search for jobs in the armed services by title or Military Occupation Code, see job profiles, and find equivalent civilian jobs. Users can also add military experience to the resume builder.

New enhancements to the California Career Center  Web site include:

• Classroom-Ready Curriculum : This feature has 17 new ready-made lesson plans for teachers to help their students set goals, develop an action plan for college and career, research jobs, assess their skills, and more.
• Career Surfer: This is a new application that students can download from iTunes and Google Play to begin exploring careers on their mobile devices.

Both the California CareerZone and the California Career Center Web sites operate under the umbrella of the California Career Resource Network  (CalCRN) program, a program designed to help anyone develop their careers.

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Tom Torlakson — State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Communications Division, Room 5206, 916-319-0818, Fax 916-319-0100