6 EDCAL September 19, 2016
Equity PD builds LCAP capacity
With ensuring equity in education one
of the eight priorities in the state’s new
accountability system, ACSA’s Equity
Institutes are an invaluable resource for
building educator capacity.
California’s Local Control Funding
Formula defines equity as a necessary component in narrowing the achievement gap.
According to Priority 1: “Teachers and
school leaders ensure equity by recognizing, respecting and attending to the diverse
strengths and challenges of the students
they serve. High-quality schools are able
to differentiate instruction, services, and
resource distribution to respond effectively
to the diverse needs of their students, with
the aim of ensuring that all students are able
to learn and thrive.”
ACSA and its equity partners have
designed a unique professional development
experience designed to build cultural proficiency capacity in order to lead for equity.
Equity Institutes are scheduled through-
out the state, starting as soon as Sept.
23-24 in Lynwood and Oct. 7-8 in Orange
County and Oakland. The course is recommended for district teams and individual
leaders from all educational levels.
The institute program aims to assist in
the development
of deep
belief systems and understanding of diversity that
empower education leaders to be proactive
and responsive to the diverse needs of the
communities they serve. The multi-session
institute focuses on major themes, including
disrupting patterns of inequities.
Additional Equity Institutes are scheduled to begin Oct. 17-18 in Victor Valley;
Oct. 21-22 in Fresno; Oct. 28-29 in
Murrieta; and Jan. 27-28 in Yolo. A Solano
institute is in the planning stages.
Find information and links to registration online at www.acsa.org/equity.
Time to submit GPAs for FAFSA
Starting this year, the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid and California
Dream Act Application will become available Oct. 1, and all districts and high schools
are reminded to upload senior Grade Point
Averages by then to ensure Cal Grant and
other financial aid information is communicated to eligible students as early as possible.
Students entering college in fall 2017
can begin submitting their applications Oct.
1. The earlier window aims to provide more
time for students and their families to plan
and prepare for college, according to the
California Student Aid Commission.
The commission sent a letter to district
superintendents, charter school administrators, high school principals and counselors
last month urging electronic GPA upload
as mandated in Assembly Bill 2160. All
public high schools and charter schools
must submit GPA for seniors to the CSAC
by the March 2, 2017, Cal Grant deadline.
However, to align with the earlier FAFSA/
CADAA, the CSAC opened the GPA submission window in June.
These notifications will give students
financial aid information that will assist
them in making informed decisions during
the college application process. Cal Granteligible students will receive their notification after their GPAs have been uploaded
and matched to their FAFSA/CADAA.