1) Achieve High-Quality Teaching and Learning in Classrooms
- (2010-2013) LAUSD and the IHE Collaborative formed the Los Angeles Educator Pathways Partnership. LAUSD and eight Schools of Education have signed a landmark MOU to share student, candidate, and teacher data in order to investigate best practices and drive continuous improvement in educator preparation, placement, and induction.
- (2013) The L.A. Compact issued a coordinated response from LAUSD, CSUN, and the L.A. Chamber to the release of the National Council on Teacher Quality’s (NCTQ) Teacher Prep Review 2013 Report. The widely criticized report purports to assess and rate teacher preparation programs throughout the U.S. The L.A. Compact’s response highlighted the collaborative work undertaken by 11 local higher education institutions and the Los Angeles Unified School District to inform local teacher preparation efforts.
- (2012) LAUSD, Higher Education, and Compact partners established the Teaching and Learning Framework as a first step in the development of a rubric on High Quality Teaching. Institutions of Higher Education have begun to use the framework and corresponding data to inform program design.
- (2012) UNITE-LA’s President David Rattray was a member of State Superintendent Torlakson’s Educator Excellence Taskforce, which produced the “Greatness by Design” report, addressing fundamental questions about the education profession: how to recruit the best candidates into the profession, how to develop their skills before they begin work and throughout their careers, and how to provide useful feedback, including using measurements of learning to improve teaching.
2) Build Collaborative Leadership Capacity
- (2013-2014) The Los Angeles School Development Institute (LASDI) piloted a Leadership Institute with five Public School Choice schools to support the development of collaborative leadership practices and professional learning communities that drive continual improvement in teaching and learning.
- (2011) The IHE Collaborative conducted an asset mapping of the focus and course requirements for existing education leadership programs across the 11 Compact higher education institutions. They identified several opportunities for further development of leadership programs, including: alternative pathways, program design, and capacity for mentorship.
3) Streamline and Decentralize Operations
- (2011) LAUSD and UTLA ratified the Local School Stabilization and Empowerment Initiative, which empowers schools to choose from different governance autonomy models and exercise local control by adopting waivers from some articles of the collective bargaining agreement and District policies.
- (2008-2010) LAUSD worked with partners through the Budgeting for Student Achievement workgroup to move more funding decisions and budgeting control away from the central office and down to local school sites. The model was eventually rolled out in Pilot schools and Partnership for Los Angeles Schools (PLAS). These efforts laid a foundation for LAUSD to expand implementation of per-pupil funding through the new Local Control Funding Formula in 2014.
4) Expand Innovative Practices that are Working
- (2014) The Lumina Foundation selected Los Angeles to participate in its Community Partnership for Attainment cohort to focus on increasing postsecondary access and success in the Los Angeles region by re-launching the Compact’s IHE Collaborative Student Success Workgroup. When reconvened, the group will focus on sharing best practices that promote college student success, coordinating efforts to increase college completion rates in the Los Angeles region, identifying policies and practices that limit student success and act as barriers to college completion, and addressing pipeline issues that exist as students transition from one institution or system to another.
- (2013) The L.A. Compact launched a Business Collaborative to bring together civic engagement and philanthropy leaders from LA’s corporate community to share best practices in business-education partnerships and to support regional efforts to connect student learning with career preparation. Representatives from Deloitte and Toyota served as co-chairs.
- (2011) The L.A. Compact was represented on the Student Success Task Force convened by California Community Colleges Chancellor Jack Scott to study practices that can help improve student outcomes and make community colleges more responsive to the needs of students. The Task Force issued 22 recommendations which have been endorsed by the Board of Governors, and are being implemented throughout the state.
- (2011) The success of LASDI inspired the establishment of the Local Options Oversight Committee (LOOC) as a collaborative approach to school improvement that includes representatives from LAUSD, UTLA, and AALA. LOOC is charged with providing training, mediation, and dispute resolution with school autonomy models to facilitate their successful implementation. Autonomy models include Local Initiative Schools, Pilot Schools, and Expanded School Based Management Model.
- (2010) The L.A. Compact partners jointly submitted a proposal and won a $5 million federal i3 grant to implement the Public School Choice process, engage parents in school reform, and provide support to PSC schools through LASDI. The Compact proposal was selected from a pool of 1,700 applications from all over the country, aiming to support about 60,000 students at some of the district’s lowest achieving schools.
- (2009-2014) The L.A. Compact launched the Los Angeles School Development Institute (LASDI) to support internal school teams participating in Public School Choice. LASDI has provided over 24,000 hours of personalized design and implementation support to over 100 PSC schools since 2009.
5) Improve Accountability Systems
- (2014) The Joint Advocacy Workgroup hosted a stakeholder meeting on LAUSD’s draft Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). Over 50 stakeholders attended to learn more and provide feedback about LAUSD’s plan to target new resources for low-income students, English-language learners, and foster youth.
- (2013) The California Community Colleges launch the “Student Success Scorecard” tracking student success outcomes at all 112 community colleges. The Scorecard includes data reported by gender, age, and ethnicity. Its accompanying “Salary Surfer” tool allows students to access aggregated data on the earnings of graduates by certificate/degree program.
- (2012) The L.A. Compact aligned its K-12 measures of success with LAUSD’s new Performance Meter.
- (2011) The LA Compact releases its baseline measures report highlighting metrics of LA student success across k-12, higher education, and career pathways.
- (2010) LAUSD completed the full implementation of MyData, a web-based and user-friendly data tool for all Los Angeles public school teachers to use daily to monitor, assess and improve instruction.
- (2010) The New School Report Card was fully rolled out with substantial enhancements to qualitative and quantitative data and presentation. United Way led community meetings to improve and promote the value of the School Report Card.
6) Coordinate Advocacy on Priority Educational Issues
- (2013-14) Through letters of support and public testimony, Joint Advocacy members supported the passage of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), the most comprehensive education funding reform in over 40 years. Ensured that the implementation of LCFF benefitted LAUSD students by advocating with the State Board of Education in the development of the Local Control Accountability Plan regulations.
- (2013-14) With First 5 LA joining the L.A. Compact in 2013, the Joint Advocacy workgroup embraced the importance of early learning and its impacts to the K-12 pipeline. Members’ advocacy efforts contributed to a $264 million funding allocation to expand access to quality pre-k for low-income families.
- (2014) Joint Advocacy partners supported an improved statewide data collection system (AB 1866) to track chronic absenteeism.
- (2014) Supported legislation to expand access to dual language programs for California students, increasing opportunities to develop the multilingual skills students need to compete in the global workforce (SB 1174).
- (2013) Supported the passage of the CA Career Pathways Trust, which appropriated $250 million in 2013-14 Budget. The fund provided competitive grants to districts to support career pathways programs, build partnerships between employers and schools, and expand work-based learning opportunities.
- (2013) Successfully advocated for the adoption of a new curriculum framework in science aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (SB 300).
- (2013) Successfully advocated for $1.25 billion in state funding to support the adoption and implementation of common core.
- (2012) Quickly mobilized and built stakeholder support for increased revenue through a Parcel Tax. Though the measure was postponed, the Joint Advocacy Group was able to come together under tight time constraints to develop a strategy to increase funding for education in Los Angeles.
- (2012) Supported and helped pass SB 1458 (Steinberg), strengthening the API by ensuring that it includes more than just student results on standardized test scores in limited subjects. This bill calls for the API to incorporate a more comprehensive set of expectations for high school performance, such as graduation and/or dropout rates, and, as appropriate, measures of pupil preparedness for college and career.
- (2011) Supported and helped pass AB 790 (Furutani), creating a Linked Learning Pilot Program throughout the state, an approach that integrates rigorous academics with career-based learning and real world workplace experience. In 2012, several LAUSD schools were chosen as pilot sites.
- (2011-2012) Joint Advocacy members joined the LA Chamber’s 2011 and 2012 Access Sacramento trip to advocate for stabilization of K-12 funding and implementation of the new common core standards.
- (2011-2012) Joint Advocacy members joined the LA Chamber’s 2011 and 2012 Access DC trips to advocate for reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Act, federal linked learning legislation and increased collaboration between federal agencies and stakeholders. Group also successfully advocated for individual districts to apply for the U.S. Department of Education Race to the Top grants.
- (2009-2012) Successfully advocated for Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) funds for 10 different schools to remain in LAUSD by writing joint letters and having several members testify at the California Board of Education Meeting; this effort brought hundreds of millions of dollars back to the District.
- (2008–2014) The Joint Advocacy workgroup has signed joint support letters and testified in support of 3-5 bills at the state and federal levels each year since first convening in 2008.
7) Provide Students Multiple Pathways for Career Preparation
- (2014) After a successful planning year, the LA Opportunity Youth Collaborative received a 4-year, $400,000 implementation grant to improve education and career pathways for transition-age foster youth through cross-sector collective impact. UNITE-LA transitioned the convening role of the LA-OYC to the Alliance for Children’s Rights.
- (2014) The LA Opportunity Youth Collaborative launched a campaign to increase transition‐age foster youth participation in the annual Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), serving as a first step in connecting foster youth to work experience opportunities. As part of the collaborative effort, United Friends of the Children funded 5 summer internships for college-enrolled foster youth to serve as “community ambassadors” in local workforce programs to conduct outreach to other foster youth.
- (2014) To prioritize foster youth for summer jobs, the City of LA lifted nearly 1,000 foster youth from the usual randomized lottery process and L.A. County designated $1 million to target foster youth for training and workforce experiences.
- (2013) The Aspen Forum for Community Solutions selected Los Angeles as one of 21 communities nationwide to participate in a new Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund. The L.A. Compact launched the LA Opportunity Youth Collaborative to leverage the collective cross‐sector and community‐based leadership and investments of the L.A. region to improve pathways to education and employment for transition‐age foster youth.
- (2014) Supported a winning Career Pathways Trust application led by LAUSD that resulted in a $15 million award to expand Linked Learning pathways.
- (2014) The LA Regional STEM Hub hosted a multi‐industry discussion at the Los Angeles Times building with more than 200 local business and education leaders around the economic significance of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education during State of STEM + Arts.
- (2013) Launched the Los Angeles Regional STEM Hub to connect the region's leading professionals and educators in an effort to expand student access to high-quality Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, including critical thinking and the arts (STEAM), and provide sustainable models for 21st century workforce and skills development.
- (2006-2014) For the past decade, the LA Workforce Systems Collaborative advocated to modernize federal workforce development policies and regulations through the development of joint strategies, cross-organizational position papers, and multiple party legislative visits on key workforce initiatives. On July 22, 2014, President Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), bipartisan, bicameral legislation reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) through 2020. WIOA will now update and streamline existing federal workforce programs, revamp reporting, eliminate 15 existing federal training programs, and create common measures across programs.
- (2006-2014) To minimize duplication and maximize impact, the LA Workforce Systems Collaborative supported joint funding ventures such as the co-location of WorkSource Centers within community college and school district facilities. The City’s Hollywood WorkSource/One-Stop Career Center co-located at L.A. City College, Harbor YouthSource Student Recovery Center co-located at Harbor College, and CRCD Worksource Center co-located at Los Angeles Trade Technical College have become a single point of entry for the surrounding community to access a large network of workforce development services.
- (2010-2013) The Los Angeles Community Development Department, LAUSD, and the Los Angeles Workforce Investment Board developed a comprehensive dropout recovery system involving 16 YouthSource “dropout recovery” centers with co-located LAUSD student counselors. Older youth may also receive training and subsidized work experience to connect them back to the workforce. In the first seven months, the dropout recovery system reached out to over 5,000 young people, assessed over 3,000, enrolled 2,100 in the Youth WIA program, and returned 800 young people to school.
- (2006-2013) Hire LA’s Youth – a collaboration between the City and County of L.A. and the L.A. Chamber of Commerce –provided over 76,000 summer job or internship opportunities to young adults ages 16-24 to promote career exploration and the development of critical workforce skills.
- (2006-2013) With the support of the LA Workforce Systems Collaborative, the City and County of Los Angeles Workforce Investment Boards co-invested nearly half a million dollars in sector-based intermediary efforts and training programs. Sector strategies build partnerships between employers, training providers, and community organizations around specific industries to address the workforce needs of employers. Several Sector Intermediaries, in Bio-Med, Construction, Healthcare, and Utilities, were funded.
- (2006-2013) Joint advocacy efforts by the LA Workforce Systems Collaborative contributed to nearly $250 million in state and federal workforce development investments to the LA region.
- (2012) Facing budget shortfalls, LAUSD redirected much of their funding from Adult Education. The state's de-investment in English as a Second Language, Career Technical Education, and Lifelong Learning from $240 million to $105 million compelled Compact leaders to commission an Adult Education study on the challenges caused by this disinvestment, the issue of governance, and how the remaining dollars could be best invested. This study has served as a framework for regional Adult Education coordination and investments.
8) Ensure Support Services for All Students and Families
- (2014) Led by Families in Schools in partnership with the L.A. Compact, the LA Campaign for Grade Level Reading is established to improve critical drivers of 3rd grade reading proficiency, including school readiness, early elementary attendance, and summer learning.
- (2014) The L.A. County Board of Supervisors officially joins the L.A. Compact as a signer, opening opportunities for further coordination between education institutions and social services.
Be the first to comment
Sign in with
Facebook Twitter