Alisal Union reviews 2024 California School Dashboard; district flags long‑term English learners and homeless youth for targeted action

Deputy Superintendent Monica Ansell presented the Alisal Union School District'wide California School Dashboard and first‑trimester student benchmark results at the Jan. 29 board meeting, saying the state'published dashboard for 2024 (released Nov. 21, 2024) will inform the district's Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP).

The presentation showed mixed results across the five dashboard indicators: chronic absenteeism remains in the yellow band, suspension rates improved from orange to green, English learner progress and certain English learner performance measures remain red, and math and English language arts overall are largely in yellow. Ansell also noted that science was added as a baseline content area this year and that a new student group, long‑term English learners, appears on the dashboard for the first time.

Those red indicators will drive actions in the next LCAP cycle, Ansell said. "This data actually helps our parents, our, educators when they're we're having the the input decisions for LCAP to give more information as they have informed data," she told trustees. She highlighted that the dashboard identifies groups needing targeted interventions and said the district is not in differentiated assistance.

Ansell described two district changes she credited with recent progress: switching assessment platforms (from STAR to I‑Ready) so teachers have more granular diagnostic information, and focused professional learning for teachers, assistant principals and instructional coaches to align daily instruction with standards. She displayed district benchmark figures showing growth in reading diagnostics (for example, one district report showed an increase from 188 to 382 students at mid‑or‑above grade level on a recent reading diagnostic) and said principals and site staff can drill down to individual student plans.

On long‑term English learners (students classified as English learners six years or more), Ansell said the district is using a tool called Elevation to identify students by site, classroom and ELPAC progress so targeted supports can be assigned. She also described supports for homeless students that include social‑worker outreach and school‑led home visits to improve school attendance.

Board Vice President Ocampo said the I‑Ready approach "sounds promising," adding that the way the program breaks skills down should help the district target instruction. Ansell said a district ELPAC academy and site interventions are already underway; she also announced an after‑school professional development day for staff on Feb. 11 to compare diagnostics and support site implementation.

Why this matters: District dashboard colors are the state'framed signal for where the district must add or continue specific actions in its LCAP. Persistent red indicators for particular student groups mean the board will need to authorize or continue targeted resources and progress monitoring.

Areas called out in the presentation include long‑term English learners and homeless youth (both flagged red in some measures), students with disabilities (showing modest growth), and site‑specific turnaround examples such as Barton Elementary, which moved off a CSI designation after year‑over‑year gains.

The district did not propose new policy at the meeting; the presentation was informational and will feed the district's LCAP planning cycle and follow‑up site work.