Within the System of Support, providers (e.g., county offices of education, geographic lead agencies, SELPA leads, charter authorizers, and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence) work alongside LEAs to engage with local educators, families and communities to identify key challenges and opportunities to improve student performance. The first line of support for school districts, and in some cases, charter schools, is the County Office of Education (COE) and the Geographic Lead Agency. Support for All LEAs: This first level of support is voluntary and consists of general assistance that include resources and assistance all LEAs may access to improve student performance. For example, each county office of education provides a range of services such as standards implementation, professional learning and support for business and personnel systems. These services are intended to ensure equitable outcomes for all students and develop the capacity of the LEAs.
Differentiated Assistance
LEAs become eligible for the second level of assistance based on student group performance on the California School Dashboard. This support is differentiated and unique to the needs of each LEA.
- For school districts, if any student group does not meet performance standards for two or more LCFF priority areas, the assistance is provided by county offices of education. School districts are eligible for differentiated assistance beginning with performance on the 2017 California School Dashboard.
- For county offices of education, if any student group does not meet performance standards for two or more LCFF priority areas, the assistance is provided by the California Department of Education (CDE). County offices of education are eligible for differentiated assistance beginning with performance reported on the 2018 California School Dashboard.
- For charter schools if three or more student groups, or all student groups if the charter has less than three student groups, does not meet the performance standard for any LCFF priority area in three out of four consecutive years, the charter authorizer will provide assistance. Charter schools are eligible for differentiated assistance beginning with performance on the 2019 California School Dashboard.
When providing an LEA with assistance that is tailored to meet local needs, the LEA and provider (e.g., COE, CDE, or charter authorizer) may collaborate with additional providers within the system of support, such as the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) and the county geographic lead agencies to collectively work with the LEA to identify and implement assistance and improvement strategies.
(Education Code sections 52071 for school districts and 52071.5 for county offices of education; Education Code section 47607.3 for charter schools)
Intensive Intervention
The third level of assistance provides more intensive support, which is necessary if the State Superintendent of Public Instruction (SSPI) requires more intensive intervention for LEAs with persistent performance issues and a lack of improvement over a specified period of time. School districts and county offices of education become eligible for more intensive support when three or more student groups, or all student groups if there are less than three, does not meet the performance standards for two or more priorities in three out of four consecutive school years.
(Education Code sections 52072 for school districts and 52072.5 for county offices of education; Education Code section 47607.3 for charter schools, although this is not referred to as Level 3 Intensive Intervention for charters)
Following the release of the 2019 California School Dashboard, only school districts are eligible to meet the three out of four consecutive school year requirement. However, for this ongoing intensive support, it is important to note that eligibility is not based entirely on student performance data. Other factors relevant to student performance are considered. Further, intensive intervention will not be made until all other improvement strategies have been utilized (e.g., district eligible for differentiated assistance is receiving support from a county office of education and the CCEE). Therefore, there are no school districts identified as eligible for Intensive Intervention for the 2019-20 school year.