PrintThe No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 embodies four key principles:
· stronger accountability for results;
· greater flexibility and local control for states, school districts, and schools in the use of federal funds
· enhanced parental choice for parents of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and
· a focus on what works, emphasizing teaching methods that have been demonstrated to be effective.
In May 2002, California’s State Board of Education (SBE) demonstrated the state’s commitment to the development of an accountability system to achieve the goals of NCLB by adopting five Performance Goals:
1. All students will reach high standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading and mathematics, by 2013-2014.
2. All limited-English-proficient students will become proficient in English and reach high academic standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading/language arts and mathematics.
3. By 2005-2006, all students will be taught by highly qualified teachers.
4. All students will be educated in learning environments that are safe, drug-free, and conducive to learning.
5. All students will graduate from high school.
In order to meet legislative requirements for specific state and federal programs and funding, California currently employs four major processes: the Consolidated State Application, the Local Education Agency Plan, the school-level Single Plan for Student Achievement, and the Coordinated Compliance Review.
The Consolidated Application is the fiscal mechanism used by the California Department of Education to distribute categorical funds from various state and federal programs to county offices, school districts, and charter schools throughout California. Annually, in June, each LEA submits Part I of the Consolidated Application to document participation in these programs and provide assurances that the district will comply with the legal requirements of each program. Program entitlements are determined by formulas contained in the laws that created the programs.
Part II of the Consolidated Application is submitted in the fall of each year; it contains the district entitlements for each funded program. Out of each state and federal program entitlement, districts allocate funds for indirect costs of administration, for programs operated by the district office, and for programs operated at schools.
State law requires that school-level plans for programs funded through the Consolidated Application be consolidated in a Single Plan for Student Achievement (Education Code Section 64001), developed by schoolsite councils with the advice of any applicable school advisory committees. LEA’s allocate NCLB funds to schools through the Consolidated Application for Title I, Part A, Title III (Limited English Proficient), and Title V (Innovative Programs/Parental Choice). LEA’s may elect to allocate other funds to schools for inclusion in school plans. The content of the school plan includes school goals, activities, and expenditures for improving the academic performance of students to the proficient level and above. The plan delineates the actions that are required for program implementation and serves as the school's guide in evaluating progress toward meeting the goals.
The approval of a Local Education Agency Plan is a requirement for receiving federal funding subgrants for NCLB programs. The LEA Plan includes specific descriptions and assurances as outlined in the provisions included in NCLB. In essence, LEA Plans describe the actions that LEA’s will take to ensure that they meet certain programmatic requirements, including coordination of services, needs assessments, consultations, school choice, supplemental services, services to homeless students, and others as required. In addition, LEA Plans summarize assessment data, school goals and activities from the Single Plans for Student Achievement developed by the LEA’s schools.
Coordinated Compliance Review (CCR)
State and federal law require CDE to monitor the implementation of categorical programs operated by local educational agencies. This state-level oversight is accomplished in part by conducting on-site reviews of eighteen such programs implemented by local schools and districts. The Coordinated Compliance Reviews are conducted for each district once every four years by state staff and local administrators trained to review one or more of these programs. The purpose of the review is to verify compliance with requirements of each categorical program, and to ensure that program funds are spent to increase student achievement and performance.