News & Announcements

IEP Data Visualization Tool

The CDE funded four SELPAs (East County, Fresno County, Humboldt-Del Norte, and Riverside) to provide IEP Technical Support and Assistance to LEAs across the state. As these SELPAs provided technical support across the state a need was identified for LEAs to be able to have a quick way to visually represent their compliance data to determine where there were improvements, and where support was needed.  The IEP Data Visualization tool was developed by these SELPAs to support LEAs across the state, to allow an easy and quick way to analyze their local data.  The IEP Data Visualization tool can be used with multiple Special Education Data Systems (SEDS) to monitor overdue Initials and Annuals by LEA, School Site and Case Manager, and can track progress over time.

https://thebasics.systemimprovement.org/


CCEE Posts Request for Proposals for the Community Engagement Initiative Professional Learning Services

The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence and its Administrative Agent, the Marin County Office of Education, has issued a Request for Proposals for Professional Learning Services on behalf of the Community Engagement Initiative on November 1, 2022. Review of submissions will begin November 30th. Details on the RFP are now available. Visit the CCEE website for more information about this RFP.

Looking Ahead

Universally Designing Systems of Support:
SSTs, IEPs and Family Partnerships

California Coalition for Inclusive Literacy (CCIL) Winter Learning Series

Join CAST for this upcoming webinar series in January and February of 2023! 

Read More Here


Leadership Institute

CCEE and SSDA are thrilled to have partnered together to invite small school district leaders and aspiring leaders to our inaugural CA Small School District Leadership Institute!! This Institute is designed by leaders for leaders!

This exciting partnership is an opportunity to engage in a collaborative space, focus specifically on building capacity among small district leaders in our state and build relationships! 

This dynamic experience will provide an opportunity to work with new and aspiring leaders and learn from these participants as a community to benefit children, students and families across the state. 

The Institute is built around three system pillars:

  • Transformational Leadership
  • High Impact Data and Instruction
  • Effective Governance 

Anticipated areas of focus include:

  • Development of clear goals with impact for the Board and the Superintendent
  • Alignment and allocation of resources for transformative system improvement
  • Recruitment and retention
  • Capacity building to sustain and scale

Institute Structure

  • Full Institute Workshops (dates to be determined by participants)
  • Common Characteristic Learning Groups (dates to be determined by participants)
  • Coaching sessions after each Learning Group (scheduled individually)
  • In-person meeting(s) to celebrate the learnings

If you would like additional information please contact: Julie Boesch at [email protected]


Equity Corner

CCEE aims to continuously celebrate culture, promote equity, and embrace diversity.

In the month of December there are many reasons to celebrate. Explore just a few reasons to celebrate this month.

December 2-Special Education Day

December 18-26-Hanukkah

December 25-Christmas

December 26-January1- Kwanzaa

Executive Director’s Corner
CCEE Major Impact Projects

By Matt J. Navo, Executive Director, CCEE

Headshot of Matt Navo

As I reflect on the end of my first year with the CCEE, I am reminded of just how much education has been impacted over the last 3 years. How CCEE best supports Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) (inclusive of charter schools) has often been a challenge for our organization given the magnitude of already developed resources, tools, services and supports.  However, with the work of integral partners there are three CCEE resources and tools that standout as helpful to LEAs as we execute our role in the Statewide System of Support for  advice and assisting LEAs in accomplishing their Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP).  

The Community Engagement Initiative (CEI) website developed with the CEI Agency partners has provided incredible resources to the field for engaging with the community to form authentic relationships between districts and the community. See the website here.

 In the 2022 Legislative Budget Act, CEI was provided with 100 million dollars to leverage the their work for transformational school investments and authentic pupil, family, community, and educator engagement. This includes, but is not limited to, Local Control and Accountability Plans, Expanded Learning Opportunity Programs, and California Community School Partnership Act grants. CEI has a network of over 40 LEAs (including charters) who with the collaboration  of Lead Agency Partners, regularly engage one another in identifying effective models of community engagement, developing metrics, having challenging conversations, and building trusting relationships.

Our Innovation, Instruction and Impact (I3) Center developed the Playbook for Accelerated Learning (PAL). This tool was developed in collaboration with State Board and expert partners to provide guidance to LEAs for how to think about and provide professional development to accelerate student learning.

The CCEE also developed the Basic Levers Tool 1.0 (2.0 is in progress now) that will help LEAs think about and design systems for improving outcomes for Students with Disabilities (SWD).
We continue to evolve and expand our resources and tools that LEAs can utilize to help accomplish the goals within their Local Control Accountability Plans. Visit our CCEE website here (https://ccee-ca.org/).

A Commitment to Collaboration in 2023

By Chris Hartley, Deputy Executive Director of the Transformative Systems for Equitable Educational Outcomes

We each have our own organizational and individual improvement journeys, experiences, and efforts to reflect on as we collectively work to improve outcomes for the students we serve.  Reflecting on the past is an important process in celebrating, acknowledging the hard work of our teams, assessing areas for growth and setting a course for future core strategic actions and initiatives that improve student outcomes. There is much to celebrate and be proud of as we transition to the 2023 year, at the heart of which rests the incredible commitment, expertise and collaboration from the dedicated educators leading the work throughout California! 

The groundwork and foundation for improving universal, targeted and intensive support within the Statewide System of Support (SSOS) for districts is instrumental to our sustained efforts and design of new impact initiatives. The growing collaboration and partnerships with leaders from the California Department of Education, State Board of Education and the numerous SSOS Lead Agencies and initiatives is significant to ensuring alignment of efforts and strategic actions. The programs highlighted in this newsletter serve as examples of how our collective efficacy and shared ownership continues to strengthen our foundation for the work ahead.

From interagency collaboration, to student leadership and involvement in Community Engagement Initiative, to conscious utilization of  improvement science strategies, the real super heroes are all the folks focused on improving outcomes for the children and youth we serve. My most sincere gratitude to the teams at CCEE and our many partners throughout the state for exceptional service this past year.

21CSLA Center Highlights Leadership Lessons from Early UTK Implementers in California in Research-Practice Webinar

By Erik Swanson Senior Advisor – Teaching, Learning & Leading, & David M. Toston – Senior Advisor Transformative Systems

Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) is an umbrella that includes Universal Transitional Kindergarten (UTK) and other programs and services that provide rich early learning opportunities for all three and four year old children in the year or two before kindergarten. By 2025-2026, families in the State of California will have the opportunity to choose among the programs and services offered under UPK to best serve the needs of their children.

The webinar panelists acknowledge that tackling UTK, UPK, and early education can be overwhelming. There is a wide variance in experience, resources, and support, and the majority of districts in the state don’t have other early learning programs beyond Transitional Kindergarten (TK), which has been implemented differently across districts. 

In the webinar, early TK implementers highlight the following pieces of advice for the field:

Reach out to local early childhood contacts: Look into the resources that already exist in your community, including in your county office of education. Share information about inclusion and professional development; all counties should have a First Five Commission that Local Education Associations can reach out to. 

Trust the process: Don’t implement too much, too fast. They are 4-year-olds, so trust your instincts and don’t force them to sit too long. And the same goes for the adult leaders. Check in emotionally. Make sure we don’t pile on too much. 

Remember brain development: Here is where we can make an impact. Learning happens when people—both children and adults—are enjoying the process. Go outside: “There is value to playing with mud in a mud kitchen.” Empower teachers and students. “I want my teachers to know they are brain developers and not babysitters.” 

Apply for grants to hire coaches from the beginning: Recruit the best TK and UPK teachers to be coaches. High-quality coaching tied to PD can have an impact. 

Go into an early learning classroom: K-12 educators need to know what’s happening in our TK classrooms. “If you’re not in early learning, become best friends with the early learning director, coordinator, principal in your district…. Being able to speak about it, to promote it, is really important.” 

Read the full webinar summary here: 2022 21CSLA UTK Webinar Highlights.pdf

Watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBHr_JwB9uM

About 21st Century School Leadership Academy

The 21CSLA initiative provides high-quality, equity-centered professional learning for educational leaders of schools and districts in California that receive Title II funds. Programs are free to participants and include leadership coaching, communities of practice, and localized professional learning to improve instruction and achievement outcomes for multilingual learners, students with disabilities, low-income students, and other historically marginalized students.


About the Transformative Systems for Equitable Educational Outcomes
Meet one of our Transformative Systems Team Members!

Nicole is a valued member on our Transformative Systems team! Read more on her below.

Nicole LoBese
Program Specialist
Transformative Systems – Community Engagement Initiative

Nicole has been with the CCEE since 2020 and works primarily on the Community Engagement Initiative. For the CEI she provides project management, coordination, and facilitation supporting our partners across the state to transform Community Engagement.

Fun Fact: Nicole enjoys the simple things in life – wineries, massages, and traveling! The trifecta if you will. CCEE is safe when she’s around too since she’s a nationally certified EMT.

Click here to meet the rest of the Transformative Systems team

About the CCEE

The California Collaborative for Educational Excellence is a statewide leader delivering on California’s promise of a quality, equitable education for every student.