Report 2016-114 Recommendation 3 Responses

Report 2016-114: College Readiness of California's High School Students: The State Can Better Prepare Students for College by Adopting New Strategies and Increasing Oversight (Release Date: February 2017)

Recommendation #3 To: Coachella Valley Unified School District

To increase students' access to and completion rates of college preparatory coursework, districts should develop and institute an on track/off track student identification model similar to San Francisco's model that will allow them to determine whether students are completing grade-level college preparatory coursework. The districts should notify parents when they identify students as falling off track and should advise the parents and students of available support and credit recovery options. Furthermore, school staff should be required to meet with and document the support they provide to these students.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020

The District piloted the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) in 2019-20 and has fully implemented the program in October 2020. CCGI supports our students, counselors, parents, and community-based organizations with technological tools that help guide the college and career planning and preparation process. The CCGI program provides students with career exploration and career assessments. The students use the program to create a digital portfolio: college searches, financial aid options, college applications, and career assessments. Through this program, the students can also complete career assessments, apply to any CSU or Community College in California and FAFSA/Dream Act applications, and track all applications upon submission. This daily visibility allows the district to make any course coding corrections needed to award A-G credit.

Our counselors also meet one on one with each student to review credits, grades, graduation, and college/career goals. Our schools continue to hold grade level assemblies and parent forums to review graduation expectations twice a year. During registration in August, counselors meet with parents of students that are not on track to graduate. The counselor collaborates with the students and parents on a plan to get back on track. This plan may include one of the following options; credit recovery class during school, after school, summer school, or assigned to our continuation school.

In addition to implementing CCGI, CVUSD partnered with Juarez Consulting Inc. to enhance college knowledge for students, parents, and professionals. This work improves the District's College-going culture through student, counselor, programming staff, and district administration engagement. The consultant provides college-bound support for professional development to our counselors and district staff and parent workshops on FAFSA, Financial Aid & Literacy, AVID, Puente, and College and Career.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

CVUSD developed an on track/off track student identification system to determine whether students are completing grade-level college preparatory coursework. CVUSD also developed a tool to notify parents when they identify students as falling off track and advises them of available support and credit recovery options.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2019

The District is currently in the process of implementing the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI), which manages CaliforniaCollege.edu, the state of California's official college and career planning platform. (I have attached our timeline for the CCGI implementation.)

Our District has partnered with CCGI to support our students, counselors, parents, and community-based organizations with technological tools that help guide the college and career planning and preparation process. The CCGI program will provide the students with career exploration, career assessments, six-year planning, financial aid options, college applications. In addition to CCGI, our counselors meet one on one with each student to review credits, grades, graduation, and college/career goals. CVUSD's partnership with CCGI is currently in the testing mode of student transcripts data uploads and intends to go live in January of 2020. Once we have gone live, daily data uploads from the district will allow our College and Career Readiness Coordinator to review misalignment of courses and ensure students are properly receiving A-G credit on their transcripts. This daily visibility will allow the district to make any course coding corrections needed to award A-G credit. More about this feature can be found here: https://knowledge.californiacolleges.edu/servlet/fileField?id=0BE0H000000Lc6x

In addition to the implementation of CCGI, our Principals hold grade level assemblies and parent forums to review graduation expectations twice a year. During registration in August, counselors meet with parents of students that are not on track to graduate. The counselor collaborates with the students and parents on a plan to get back on track. This plan may include one of the following options; credit recovery class during school, after school, summer school, or assigned to our continuation school.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

Auditee did not respond to our recommednation.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

6-Month Agency Response

We have created two individualized grade-specific (9-11 & 12) review forms that counselors use when meeting with students annually to review graduation status, a-g course completion, transcript review, educational options, and general risk factors as well as risk of non-completion of A-G. The form also contains notation of parent notification. Additionally, a third form, A-G Eligibility Acknowledgement, has been created to notify students and parents (signatures required) each time a change of status for A-G eligibility occurs. A district-wide expectation for use of the forms for every student has been established for all high schools. Furthermore, all high schools have been directed to run reports of course failures after each marking period (4 times per year/each quarter) and meet individually with each affected student to advise of impact on graduation and A-G eligibility, and to arrange for credit recovery when necessary. These meetings are documented in the Aeries student information system. All high schools offer credit recovery during the school day and after school, as well as during summer school, with the exception of West Shores High School, who is currently working on a plan to provide after school transportation for their very geographically remote site, which has been an impediment to currently offering after school credit recovery. CVUSD is continuing its partnership with Riverside County Office of Education to receive support and guidance in our development of a comprehensive, cohesive college and career readiness plan. Finally, we are proposing the creation of a district-level counseling position devoted to college and career readiness who will implement and supervise the plan and work with site administration and counselors to insure regular student monitoring with periodic check-ins and a system of supports including parent involvement and arrays of credit recovery, including during, after school, Saturdays, and in the summer.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

Since 2015 CVUSD has contracted with RCOE for supplemental support and training in the area of school counseling to help identify and plan to intervene with student course planning for promoting A-G completion. Administration, with Counselors, are also working on a uniform district protocol for A-G placement and enrollment that will require parent contact, parent signature, counselor signature, and site administrator approval. Administration, with Counselors, have been drafting uniform policy. This policy will include an A-G acknowledgement element that will require parent communication, parent signature, counselor signature and site administrator signature.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2016-114

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.