Orange, CA – March 13, 2017 – The Orange Unified community will soon be able to get a better look at how local schools and districts are performing through the California School Dashboard, a new website offered by the state.

This Dashboard is a new accountability system that will provide users with a comprehensive overview of several indicators, including high school graduation rates, career and college readiness, suspension rates, English learner progress and how diverse student populations are being served. It is based on 2013’s Local Control Funding Formula which supports the educational goals that all school districts set in their annually updated Local Control Accountability Plan.

The California School Dashboard places greater emphasis on changes in performance from year to year and will replace the former Academic Performance Index (API), which was based solely on testing results. Programs that are making positive changes will be highlighted, allowing schools and districts to learn from each other’s successes, and areas where schools need assistance to improve performance will be easier to identify. Districts will be held accountable for all eight of the state priority areas, while schools and student groups will be held accountable for five. For accountability purposes, charter school data will not be included in their district's Dashboard report.

A public preview of the Dashboard is expected to be available starting in mid-March at caschooldashboard.org, with full implementation slated for the 2017-18 school year.

More information is available on the California Department of Education website at www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/cm/