The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) celebrates significant growth in academic achievement among schools participating in the Intensive Assistance Model (IAM). After three years in the IAM, the 2025 CAASPP scores are showing impressive results for the first cohort of IAM LEAs.

Launched in 2022–23, the Intensive Assistance Model was established to address the growing need for districts requiring more comprehensive support through Direct Technical Assistance. Informed by research on districts that outperformed expectations, this initiative was designed to deliver focused and sustained support to LEAs aiming to strengthen instructional practices and improve academic outcomes for their students.

In this cohort, the Intensive Assistance Model utilized the PLC at Work framework. Through this collaboration, the Intensive Assistance Model leverages needs assessments, Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and leadership coaching, and promotes common formative assessments, aligned curriculum, and data-informed instructional strategies, to incite positive growth among LEAs.

• This year, Highland Elementary (Inglewood USD) has seen extraordinary gains — +13.11% in ELA and +9.96% in Math on the 2025 CAASPP.
• Similarly, H.W. Harkness Elementary (Sac City USD) has seen remarkable growth of +6.42% in ELA and +5.06% in Math on the 2025 CAASPP.
• Fillmore Unified School District saw an increase of +6.38% in ELA and +2.13% in Math on the 2025 CAASPP.

To hear more about their journeys, tune into CCEE’s Podcast: Rising from the Margins. Dive into Episodes 2 and 3 of Rising from the Margins to hear about Highland’s journey through the power of focused coaching and collaboration.
In Episode 4, you can hear how focused, collaborative improvement helped Harkness set a new standard for student success.

Finally, listen to how educators and leaders at Fillmore USD are charting a new path for student achievement in Episodes 5 and 6.

In the Intensive Assistance Model’s short span of existence, it is already proving to make a substantial impact on LEAs. At CCEE, we are excited to continue to support and expand this model in order to grow our reach and impact on California’s schools and improve outcomes for all students.