News Briefs | FYI | May 1, 2023

Association of California School Administrators

News Briefs | FYI

May 1, 2023

Middle school receives ASCA Model Program designation

Corvallis Middle School has received a national designation recognizing schools that are committed to delivering an exemplary school counseling program.

The Norwalk-La Mirada USD middle school has earned Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) designation from the American School Counselor Association, the fourth school in the district to achieve the honor.

The RAMP designation recognizes schools that are committed to delivering an exemplary school counseling program. Honorees are awarded for aligning their program with the criteria in the ASCA National Model, a framework for a data-informed school counseling program.

“This is an honor for our school and district. It has been a great effort from district leadership, school administration, teachers and staff; they have supported the goals set by our counseling team,” said Erika Vesper, Corvallis Middle School counselor, in a news release. “It’s truly been a collaborative effort by our counseling team as we worked together and supported each other to meet the needs of our students and families.”

Since the program’s inception, more than 900 schools have earned the RAMP designation. Research findings indicate fully implemented school counseling programs are associated with a range of positive student educational and behavioral outcomes. Corvallis joins Norwalk High School, John Glenn High School, and Southeast Academy as RAMP designees in the district.

“We are grateful to have a counseling team that is data-driven and motivated to support our students every day, as well as a team of teachers that understand the importance of socio-emotional support for our students,” said Corvallis Principal Nancy Ruvalcaba.

Corvallis will be honored at a recognition ceremony at the ASCA’s annual conference in Atlanta on July 17.

From left, Corvallis Middle School’s Alejandra Rosales, assistant principal; Erika Vesper, school counselor; Alexis Mendoza, intervention counselor; Daisy Hernandez, wellness specialist; Nancy Ruvalcaba, principal; and Lupe Acevedo, dean of students.

SPI receives award from state financial literacy organization

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was recently given an award for Excellence in Leadership by one of the state’s premier financial literacy organizations, the California Council on Economic Education. Thurmond championed financial literacy during his time as a legislator and previously established a nonprofit program for helping at-risk youth develop their entrepreneurial skills called CEO Youth. Thurmond is now working to have personal finance included as a California high school graduation requirement.

After encountering political difficulties on legislation he sponsored to require that schools teach personal finance (Assembly Bill 984), Thurmond has shifted his focus to getting a ballot measure passed that would require schools to teach personal finance. Thurmond is partnering with Next Gen Personal Finance to launch the ballot measure campaign.

Thurmond intends to host a personal finance convening in May that will show school districts how to implement personal finance courses partially through utilizing resources that were provided to schools to support financial literacy. Thurmond and other advocates are hoping to leverage the more than $3.6 billion allocated to schools in 2022 to support financial literacy to help schools begin laying the foundation for providing personal finance classes in schools while efforts to get a ballot measure passed are underway.

Attendance campaign focuses on ‘Showing Up Together!’

Attendance Works, a nonprofit, national and state initiative to reduce chronic absence, has launched its 2023 Attendance Awareness Campaign with a free toolkit and resources for educators.

With the theme “Showing Up Together!” Attendance Works is focusing on the critical need to develop and strengthen relationships with families and students to improve both engagement and attendance.

The Count Us In! toolkit offers messaging and positive engagement strategies, key concepts and tools to help educators raise awareness about why showing up to school matters and also to build the universal positive conditions for learning (using the 3 tiers of intervention) that motivate all students to attend school. A webinar series will emphasize how monitoring chronic absence can help educators and community partners work together to address today’s education challenges.

Since 2013, the Attendance Awareness Campaign has engaged thousands of schools and communities. Find more information about the campaign at awareness.attendanceworks.org.

FYI

CTC recruiting accreditation site reviewers for BIR

Interested in serving on a Commission on Teacher Credentialing Accreditation Site Visit team? Step one is to participate in program review. Step two is to attend the Board of Institutional training. To become a part of the BIR, please complete the availability survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/G8SD2C9 to register for participation in Program Review this Fall/Winter (2023) and the subsequent site visits in 2024-25. BIR training will be held in the summer of 2024. In order to participate in a site visit, a team member either participated in program review or common standards review for the institution. Individuals should be available in November 2023, December 2023 and January 2024 for participation in program review and availability for the same institution’s site visit in the 2024-25 academic year.

Language program grant applications due May 12

Applications are now open for the 2023 Educator Workforce Investment Grant: Effective Language Acquisition Programs. The 2022 Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill appropriated $10 million for EWIG through the 2024–25 fiscal year. Through a competitive grant process (and subject to approval by the executive director of the State Board of Education), the CDE will award $2.5 million to four qualified county offices of education to design and deliver professional learning to California educators focused on implementing effective language acquisition programs for English learner students. The grant period is three years. Applications are due by 4 p.m. May 12. Learn more at www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/af/, or contact Lorrie Kelling at 916-319-0845 or LPLO@cde.ca.gov.