​Dear AAPF Guest:
 
The RAPSA Board and I look forward to meeting you at the 2019 Alternative Accountability Policy Forum from November 13th to the 15th. The event is designed to be intimate enough so that we all get to network and learn about each other’s students and programs.

Welcome Reception
Wednesday November 13th from 5 to 6 pm will be the Welcome Reception hosted by the Marriott Coronado Island. Great food, carving stations, beer and wine and a roomful of education leaders who share your passion.  

Thank you for all that you do for at-promise youth! 
See you in San Diego.
Ernie Silva
Executive Director
Reaching At-Promise Students Association
Ernie.silva@siatech.org

​California has become the first state to recognize the importance of changing laws to recognize that all students are “At-promise” of success. Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 413 (Jones-Sawyer) on October 12, 2019. The bill eliminates the deficit laden “At-risk” term in the California Education and Penal Codes.
 
Join us to celebrate this victory! The 8th Annual RAPSA Alternative Accountability Policy Forum will be held in San Diego, November 13-15. Participants of this exciting event will collaborate to create a national initiative to ensure that all states recognize the promise of students facing economic, cultural, and emotional challenges.  
 
There are only 3 weeks left to register for this opportunity to participate in the most important equity paradigm shift in decades. 

Understanding California’s Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS)
A special pre-conference has just been added to the 8th Annual Alternative Accountability Policy Forum in Coronado. Due to popular demand, this afternoon session will focus exclusively on the California DASS Dashboard. The session will be led by Jenny Singh, Administrator of the Academic Accountability Unit (CDE), and Brandi Jauregui, Senior Information Systems Analyst at CALPADS. You do not need to register for the entire conference in order to register and attend this preconference session. 
REGISTER NOW

Join your California colleagues for a valuable workshop on what’s being collected, how to submit data, and how the new data will be used.  Here’s an opportunity to have your questions answered and share how the current dashboard is working for alternative school populations.  
 
In just three hours you will dramatically increase you knowledge of the following topics:

• What are the elements of the DASS dashboard;
• Which students are included in the metrics;
• Suggestions for better reporting and integrating DASS metrics in CALPADS and the LCFF local indicators;
• How the College/Career Indicator has been adapted to fit alternative schools;
• How to submit dual enrollment and partner provided coursework;
• How the new CASEMIS integrates in CALPADS;
• What does CalSAAS mean for DASS schools;
• What is being learned with the new One Year Graduation Rate;
• What changes to the dashboard are on the horizon.

       
Space is limited so reserve your spot today! Data administrators are encouraged to attend the preconference session. The preconference session is a 3 hour event on Wednesday, November 13 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm.  
REGISTER NOW

​Why Attend RAPSA’s Policy Forum?

• Collaborate with 300 leaders committed to serving at promise youth
• The event is an important blend of policy, practice, and advocacy from national leaders
• It has a targeted focus on youth who struggle with trauma and poverty making school completion a challenge
• Attend for the amazing Awards event celebrating the courage, vision and heart of our community and its students
• You will hear viewpoints and strategies from across the country to share and implement
• The amazing sessions! 24 concurrent sessions focused on best practices and cutting edge research to improve your outcomes

 
View the preliminary list of sessions like “How to Implement an Effective Trauma Care Program For At-Promise Students,” “What the Science Says About How Adolescents Learn,” and “Creating Policy to Reach All Students.” 

On August 19, the California State Senate approved AB 413 which would replace the deficit term “at risk” in the Education and Penal Codes and adopt the affirmative term “at-promise”.  Senator Steven Bradford, a co-author of the bill, presented AB 413 to his colleagues on the Senate Floor.

The bill was approved by the State Senate on an overwhelming 34 to 2 vote.  AB 413 was introduced by Assembly Member Reginald Jones-Sawyer to implement ACR 197 from last year, a resolution that he authored which was overwhelmingly approved in recognition of the importance of moving from deficit language to positive recognition of youth.  ACR 197 recognized the importance of moving mindsets from the potential of youth who are predicted to fail, despite never being given a chance to prove otherwise, never being given the same access to resources and guidance as other young people, and never enjoying the privileges and opportunities afforded other young.  Jones-Sawyer’s staff attended the 2017 RAPSA Policy Forum and shared the focus that attendees had on changing perspectives and opportunities for “at promise” students.
AB 413 has been approved at each stage of the legislative process and only needs to have it’s amendments approved by the house of origin before moving to Governor Newsom’s desk for signature.  Since it’s introduction, AB 413 has added Assembly Members Santiago, Smith, Weber, and Kalra as co-authors along with Senator Bradford.
AB 413 was sponsored by SIATech and the Los Angeles County Office of Education.  This year’s Policy Forum will feature California’s success with the bill and offer a session that describes how education leaders in other states can provide similar transformations in their statutes.  The “Rising From At Risk to At Promise – Lessons From California’s Advocacy” session will be offered by RAPSA Executive Director Ernie Silva, JD, LACOE lobbyist Pam Gibbs, JD; and Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer’s Legislative Fellow Erika Ngo (invited).

​The fourth annual RAPSA At Promise Awards are now open for nominations. The Awards Event has become the seminal gathering of education, community and workforce leaders who serve at-promise youth. Celebrate with us by nominating students, staff and policy makers who represent the courage, heart and vision of reengaged students and the adults who serve them. The deadline for nominations is September 30th. Nominate your students and colleagues today!
 
Prior year Courage Award recipients have enrolled at Mount Mary University Milwaukee, Wisconsin; College of Sequoias, Visalia California; Johnson & Whales University, Providence Rhode Island; Bethune- Cookman University, Daytona Beach Florida; and University of Tennessee Knoxville.

Join us at RAPSA’s preconference session led by teacher and Education Consultant Larry Bell. His session, Reaching the Promise of At Promise students, will help you gain insights and strategies for reaching the most disadvantaged youth. We’ve invited Larry to kick off the 8th Annual Alternative Accountability Policy Forum because he shares our vision and has a teacher’s heart for the students we serve.  Larry is knowledgeable, passionate and yes entertaining.  
 
Larry Bell is a leading educational consultant and author whose work across the Country demonstrates that all students are at promise of success. From teaching at a large high poverty high school in Virginia to working as Supervisor of Multicultural Education, Larry learned that what we say to students matters. As a multi-state teacher-leader, Larry rekindles the joy of teaching. He believes that when we consistently and intentionally encourage students, the students begin to believe. They believe their teacher believes in them and this in turn makes them believe in themselves.
 
Larry Bell has been an early advocate of recognizing disadvantaged youth as at-promise rather than at-risk. They have the ability to be successful and productive members of our communities. What they need is support.  This year’s preconference session is particularly timely because the California Legislature is considering a change to the Education and Penal Codes to eliminate the biased term “at risk” and replace it with the term at promise. Larry has long been an advocate for recognizing the promise of young people rather than their deficits and helped us name the Reaching At Promise Students Association.

One Year Graduation Rate
Among the issues that have been explored at the Policy Forum are meaningful ways to measure alternative school graduation success. 

After meeting with education leaders at the Policy Forum, the California State Board of Education and their staff and consultants adopted a one year graduation rate starting this past year for alternative schools. Evidence that the AAPF is an important place to be to impact policy development. We have also brought state leaders from Colorado, Kentucky, Washington and other states to exchange ideas and explore metrics with education leaders from their states. 
 
The AAPF is a neutral location for sharing and exploring ideas that matter in the realm of alternative accountability policy.