Each district’s LCAP sets a clear and determined vision for student achievement by establishing goals and a course of action for meeting the standards set within those goals on an annual basis. These outcomes are formulated as per the strict guidelines laid out in eight priority areas developed by the California Board of Education.

Every LCAP reflects the importance of stakeholder engagement by making it the first concern of each school district’s action protocol. By placing such importance on the role of parents in the academic development of the child, the LCFF and LCAP is laying the groundwork with family stakeholders to foster a meaningful and sophisticated learning community that encourages students to excel by working to understand and respond to their educational needs. The LCAP encompasses an extensive engagement process that puts the students first and welcomes input from parents to assist in the development of annual plans for maximum efficacy and positive, goal-oriented outcomes. Parents who are fully invested in their children’s futures play an essential part in the implementation of academic standards and driving positive educational outcomes for students with respect to English proficiency, test scores, and preparation for college by becoming more present and active in the learning community.

Districts can seek to encourage effective school-family communications by adopting a parent center at a majority of schools within the district, engaging in parent surveys, and offering workshops for staff to help parents become more involved in supporting their students’ achievements.

Lectura Books publishes quality bilingual books that are perfect for building diverse libraries at parent centers and school classrooms. Teachers benefit greatly from attending a workshop to better understand the Latino immigrant population and our curriculum with concrete lesson plans for a proven, successful Parent Involvement Program.

The post California’s New Funding Law: The Latest Information for LCAP and Family Engagement appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.

What is the LLCF and what is LCAP?

Signed by Governor Jerry Brown in 2013, the Local Control Funding Formula (LLCF) is a new law that dramatically changes the way California school districts spends their funds on education. The new law allows school districts more authority in deciding how education dollars are spent, while holding them accountable for getting results, and concentrates more money to school districts that serve high-needs students.

I’m signing a bill that is truly revolutionary. We are bringing government closer to the people, to the classroom where real decisions are made and directing the money where the need and the challenge is greatest. This is a good day for California, it’s a good day for school kids, and it’s a good day for our future. – Gov. Jerry Brown

What is the LCAP?

The LCAP is a component of the LCFF and stands for Local Control and Accountability Plan. The LCAP helps with two things: it is the blueprint for how schools districts intend to meet annual goals for all pupils, with specific activities to address state and local priorities, and it ensures that school districts are taking additional measures to involve the community in the financial planning process.

The LCAP must reflect how a school district will concentrate its efforts on certain priorities such as parent engagement, implementation of new state standards, improving student achievement, and readying students for career and college. Moreover, school districts must provide opportunities for input from the community, such as teachers, principals, administrators, other school personnel, district’s unions, parents, and students. Before the LCAP can be adopted, the school district must also present their plan at a public hearing. Districts must reach out to parents through a parent advisory committee, and an English learner advisory committee when English Learners comprise at least 15% of enrollment.

How are funds being allocated?

Funds will go directly to school districts, rather than individual schools. Districts will receive a base grant, a supplemental grant, and, if certain conditions are met, a concentration grant. Base grants are allocated depending on the number of students in attendance in a school district. In general, the base grant will be larger for students in K-3 and largest for students in high school. Each school district will also receive a supplemental grant of 20% of the base grant for every English learner, foster youth, homeless youth, and low-income student enrolled. In addition, school districts with a high-needs population of more than 55% will qualify to receive a concentration grant for every high-needs student above the 55% threshold.

Visit the California State Department of Education’s website for more detailed information about LCFF guidelines.
For more reading, please visit EdSource Local Control Funding Formula Guide and their Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions.
For LCAP resources, visit Lectura Books for bilingual children’s books and for Parent Programs. The Latino Family Literacy Project can provide training for staff to work with hispanic parents in a parent involvement program for Title I or Title III ESL Programs.
California’s LLCF and LCAP for local control
 

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California law states, “the government and the public schools of California have a moral obligation and a constitutional duty to provide all of California’s children, regardless of their ethnicity or national origins, with the skills necessary to become productive members of our society, and of these skills, literacy in the English language is among the most important”. By this statement, California dedicates its efforts to making sure that all students become English language proficient; this includes English learners and non-English learners alike. However, with English the chosen language of instruction, limited English proficient students miss out on the same opportunity of academic success as non-English learners.

According to the California Department of Education, monolingual English-speaking students enter school with speaking vocabularies between 2,000 to 8,000 words, vastly different from the vocabularies of entering English learners. Moreover, there are about 1.4 million English learners in California, constituting about 22.7% of total enrollment in California public schools. So how does California help their English learner population?

Many states and districts form committees with experts to help create guidelines to support their states’ teachers and staff who work with English Learners. The California Department of Education, for example, provides assistance to local schools and districts in helping English Learners achieve the following goals:

• Ensure that English learners acquire full proficiency in English as rapidly and effectively as possible and attain parity with native speakers of English.
• Ensure that English learners, within a reasonable period of time, achieve the same rigorous grade-level academic standards that are expected of all students.

In addition, the California State Board of Education has created a California English Language Development Standards Implementation Plan that provides a very thorough plan-of-action for helping English learners achieve school success. The plan “describes the rationale and strategies for the successful integration of the CA ELD Standards, which align to the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy, to address the English language and literacy skills that English learners need in key content areas”. For additional information on CA ELD Standards and resources for teaching California’s English learners, visit the California Department of Education webpage here.

Getting Parents Involved

A portion of a good district plan includes working with English learners by providing English support and resources for parents. In fact, the California Education Code allows funding for schools “to provide adult English language instruction programs to parents who pledge to provide personal English language tutoring to California school children with limited English proficiency”. Essentially, the provision facilitates increasing parent involvement and developing English language vocabulary skills for English learners –both of which are keys to school success and goals of The Latino Family Literacy Project.

As of yet, parent involvement doesn’t have a lot of structure and standards. However, if a district coordinates its efforts to have all schools provide the same program for strong outcomes in parent involvement with English learners, they can reach their goals in graduating students with the language needed for academic success. The Latino Family Literacy Project is an example of an program designed for  English learners whose native language is Spanish. Moreover, our program also provides expert training to educators so they are equipped to help not only their students learn academic language, but also provide parents with effective strategies that will allow them to support their children as they learn academic language. For more information on our programs, visit our web page.

The post Getting Parents of English Learners Involved in California Public Schools appeared first on The Latino Family Literacy Project.