Section 33126.1 Of Article 2. Powers And Duties From California Education Code >> Division 2. >> Title 2. >> Part 20. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 2.
33126.1
. (a) The department shall develop and recommend for
adoption by the state board a standardized template intended to
simplify the process for completing the school accountability report
card and make the school accountability report card more meaningful
to the public.
(b) The standardized template shall include all of the following:
(1) Fields for the insertion of data and information by the
department and by local educational agencies.
(2) A field to report the determination of the sufficiency of
textbooks and instructional materials, pursuant to Section 60119.
(3) A summary statement of the condition of school facilities, as
required by Section 17014, Section 17032.5, subdivision (a) of
Section 17070.75, and subdivision (b) of Section 17089. The
department shall provide examples of summary statements of the
condition of school facilities that are acceptable and those that are
unacceptable.
(4) A description of data available on the DataQuest Internet Web
site of the department, including the Uniform Resource Locator for
that Internet Web site.
(5) A description of admission requirements for California's
public universities, including the Uniform Resource Locator for the
University of California Internet Web site providing information
about the courses offered by each school that are approved as meeting
those requirements.
(6) A statement concerning the availability of Internet access at
public libraries and other locations that are publicly accessible.
(c) When the template for a school is completed, it should enable
parents and guardians to compare the manner in which local schools
compare to other schools within that district as well as other
schools in the state.
(d) In conjunction with the development of the standardized
template, the department shall furnish standard definitions for
school conditions included in the school accountability report card.
The standard definitions shall comply with the following:
(1) Definitions shall be consistent with the definitions already
in place or under the development at the state level pursuant to
existing law.
(2) Definitions shall enable schools to furnish contextual or
comparative information to assist the public in understanding the
information in relation to the performance of other schools.
(3) Definitions shall specify the data for which the department
will be responsible for providing and the data and information for
which the local educational agencies will be responsible.
(e) By February 1, 2008, the department shall report to the
Legislature and the Governor on remaining data elements in the school
accountability report card and the feasibility of combining
elements, linking to other reporting of data elements, and other
possible alternatives for improving the usability and readability of
the school accountability report card. The report shall include a
survey of the conditions for which the department has valid and
reliable data at the state, district, or school level. The report
shall provide a timetable for the inclusion of conditions for which
standard definitions or valid and reliable data do not yet exist
through the department.
(f) The Superintendent shall recommend and the state board shall
appoint 13 members to serve on a broad-based advisory committee of
local administrators, educators, parents, and other knowledgeable
parties to develop definitions for the school conditions for which
standard definitions do not yet exist. The state board may designate
outside experts in performance measurements in support of activities
of the advisory board.
(g) The state board shall approve available definitions for
inclusion in the template as well as a timetable for the further
development of definitions and data collection procedures. Each year
the state board shall adopt the template for the current year's
school accountability report card. Definitions for all school
conditions shall be included in the template.
(h) The department annually shall post the completed and viewable
template on the Internet. The template shall be designed to allow
schools or districts to download the template from the Internet. The
template shall further be designed to allow local educational
agencies, including individual schools, to enter data into the school
accountability report card electronically, individualize the report
card, and further describe the data elements. The department shall
establish model guidelines and safeguards that may be used by school
districts with secured access only for those school officials
authorized to make modifications.
(i) The department shall maintain current Internet links with the
Internet Web sites of local educational agencies to provide parents
and the public with easy access to the school accountability report
cards maintained on the Internet. In order to ensure the currency of
these Internet links, local educational agencies that provide access
to school accountability report cards through the Internet shall
furnish current Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for their Internet
Web sites to the department.
(j) A school or school district that chooses not to utilize the
standardized template adopted pursuant to this section shall report
the data for its school accountability report card in a manner that
is consistent with the definitions adopted pursuant to subdivision
(c).
(k) The department shall provide recommendations for changes to
the California Basic Educational Data System, or a successor data
system, and other data collection mechanisms to ensure that the
information will be preserved and available in the future.
(l) The department shall monitor the compliance of local
educational agencies with the requirements to prepare and to
distribute school accountability report cards, including, but not
limited to, the requirements contained in this section, subdivision
(c) of Section 35256, and Section 35258.