Accountability & Renewal

Learn The Basics

The Leadership Intensive and the Leadership Update Conference offer intro-level sessions and trainings on the California School Dashboard, charter renewal, Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAP) and a lot more.

Stay Informed

Currents newsletters and other CSDC resources and events are important to staying current.

• Charter Currents newsletters – CSDC continually updates the charter school community on latest accountability changes through Currents newsletters. Click to search the Charter Currents archive.
• Trainings and webinars – Accountability is a focus at the Leadership Intensive, the Leadership Update conference, webinars, and other events, including intermediate and advanced sessions.

Plan Ahead for AB 1505 Renewal

Given newly intensified fiscal pressures, many authorizers may feel pressure to close charter schools. CSDC urges charter schools to help authorizers and community leaders to get to know their schools. Political support can be incredibly important. CSDC also advises charter schools to unpack the charter renewal and plan ahead for a strong position with respect to the complex new criteria.

The renewal criteria place schools on three tracks, one that is “safe,” one that favors renewal, and one that defaults to denial. Charter schools should understand the mechanics of placement and also what matters to the underlying decision. Anticipating how these complex statutes will play out for the school may require substantial interaction with the statutes and with the school’s related data. CSDC strongly encourages charter schools to pause to understand the statutes and, for most, to prioritize development of an informed renewal strategy.

CSDC Resources for Renewal

CSDC offers the following resources to charter schools preparing for renewal:

• CSDC’s Guide to AB 1505 Renewal , a quick-reference guide to the complex statutes. Readers may wish to download the guide as a companion reference to this article.
• CDSC’s Renewal Strategy Worksheet , an Excel worksheet format for analyzing past data compared to state trends to assist in developing a renewal strategy.
• CSDC’s Distance from Standard (DFS) Calculation Worksheet , a tool to support data analysis related to AB 1505 renewal track placement by grade level.
• CSDC Data Tool Reports, customizable for your school with numerous data analytics that may be helpful in developing the renewal case. Interested charter schools should contact CSDC for a personalized renewal consultation – a free support for CSDC members.

Spring Accountability Webinars

To support charter school teams with California’s new charter renewal and accountability systems, CSDC has offered a series of webinars on the following topics:

MARCH 2021

• LCAP Update Webinar
• Charter Renewal “Verified Data” Academic Assessments: User Review Panels
• Planning Ahead to Optimize AB 1505 Renewal Track Placement

APRIL 2021

• AB 1505 Charter Renewal for DASS Schools: A Panel Discussion

Additional and updated accountability webinars and trainings will be available in Spring 2022. 

Access Customized Data Analysis

CSDC members can access customized data reports that include the following features:

• Comparison of performance on the California School Dashboard, schoolwide and by student group:
• to demographically similar schools in California
• to resident schools
• to other specially selected schools
• Chart and table format of the above, for ELA and Math data
• Data tables with “points to next color” and other analytics of interest
• Grade level trajectories
• schoolwide and for five student groups
• compared to statewide grade level trends
• compared to selected comparison schools

The reports can yield new insights and can be used for communication of progress to stakeholders, including charter renewal. CSDC cautions that publicly available data does not enable analysis of individual longitudinal progress, and deeper analysis can reveal a fuller, more accurate picture. Interested charter schools should contact CSDC for a personalized consultation – a free support for CSDC members.

Master the LCAP

The Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) is a heavy lift to understand and to complete. To support charter schools with this complex accountability requirement, CSDC has offered numerous trainings, sessions, and webinars. In addition, drafters may want to review our Annotated LCAP for guidance.

LCAP Webinar

For spring 2021, CSDC offered an LCAP Update Webinar:

View the Spring 2021 LCAP Update Webinar

Download CSDC’s Annotated LCAP Addendum

This webinar aims to provide a brief update of the new Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) template and practical guidance on completing the LCAP.  For those newer to the LCAP, CSDC also recommends reviewing the CDE’s new webinars as an introduction to key LCAP components. Learn More »

Consulting Services

On occasion, charter schools and charter-granting agencies may be able to contract for services for customized support with accountability services such as LCAP reviews and charter renewal, including review of the charter petition and demonstration of how minimum renewal thresholds are met.

Members may contact CSDC with any questions at csdc@chartercenter.org or 916-538-6612.