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.

​REGISTRATION
Register today for the reduced rate of $399 for one of the best Professional Development values in education. The registration rate includes your selection among 24 presentations, 2 hosted receptions with carving stations, 2 breakfasts and the RAPSA Awards Luncheon. 
 
Presenters include practitioners, researchers, advocates and agency representatives from across the country. You’ll learn what’s being done in other states as well have the opportunity to talk with the experts in your state. 

The education leaders who serve at promise students continue the most important education battles today. RAPSA is here to help you share strategies and policies that reengage students of color. 
 
Our conference focuses on youth who most need personalized learning and wrap around supports. Our attendees come closer to representing the racial and ethnic diversity of our student population than most education conferences. 
 
The collaboration at the Alternative Accountability Policy Forum is palpable. As you take time to reflect on the progress that has been made and all that needs to be done, remember the Brown Court finding that education is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms. There’s still much to be done to make this aspiration a reality.

Past Keynote Speakers

• Terry Roberts - Little Rock Nine
• Thomas Saenz - MALDEF President
• Howard Fuller- Activist/Author

 
Our keynotes provide context and encouragement for the work that we do. Our presenters invite change and collaboration by sharing best practices for the reengagement of at promise youth.  

​The 2018 Alternative Accountability Policy Forum is almost sold out. You should register today to hold your seat at the table. Education leaders, researchers and advocates for at-promise youth will come together in San Diego on November 14-16th to discuss policies, practices and strategies for expanding service to Opportunity Youth and other high risk students.

In addition to networking and learning, attendees will celebrate the Courage, Heart and Vision Award winners. Individuals who highlight the strength of our students, colleagues and policy makers. 
 
Courage Awards
Thanks to the support of the Walton Family Foundation, we will honor five courageous at-promise students. These awards recognize at-promise students who demonstrate courage in overcoming obstacles and pursuing academic excellence. There were many nominations from students across the country that were considered. 
 
Heart Awards
This year we will honor two of our colleagues - Mike Ilic and Priestley Parker. Mike Ilic is Administrative Director of Student Services for the Corona-Norco USD. A former continuation school principal, past president of the California Continuation Education Association (CCEA), and current president of the ACSA Ed Options Council, he is a tireless defender of the at-promise population. Priestley Parker is a school counselor who teaches students to break down the walls that prevent students from being successful and models how to manage anger, resolve conflict, problem solve, and communicate effectively when the world around them seems in chaos.
 
Vision Award
We are also proud to be honoring San Diego's own Assembly Member Shirley Weber as the 2018 Vision Award recipient. Dr. Weber is a member of the California Assembly Education Committee, California Legislative Black Caucus and Select Committee on Boys and Men of Color and as the author of legislation supporting dropout recovery, closing the achievement gap and increasing funding for the lowest performing student subgroups, she understands the importance of the work that we do.
 
Learn more about this year's Reaching At-Promise Student Award Winners

In addition, to RAPSA Award winners, you will be surrounded by those who share your passion and mission for transforming the lives of underserved students from at risk to at promise.  Among the research and advocacy organizations in attendance are:
 

• America's Promise Alliance

• Big Picture Learning

• California Collaboration for Education Excellence

• Career Ladders Project

• Center For American Progress

• College of Idaho

• EdTrust West

• Education Northwest

• EdVoice

• Harvard University, Homies Empowerment

• Kids in Common

• National League of Cities

• National Youth Employment Coalition

• New Teacher Center

• Opportunity Youth Partnership

• Our Piece of the Pie

• Seattle College

• Stanford University, Gardner Center

• University of California, San Diego

Utah State University

The 6th Annual Alternative Accountability Policy Forum (AAPF) convened 285 educators, advocates and policymakers that work with at-promise students. Forum presenters and attendees from 21 states emphasized that despite obstacles, all students can succeed. Participants were presented with 22 concurrent sessions that addressed: effective alternative accountability policies; workforce, community and post-secondary partnerships; relevant teaching and learning strategies; and addressing student trauma. Our Keynote Session was provided by noted Civil Rights activist, education reform advocate and academic, Dr. Howard Fuller. Our closing session was presented by Congressional education staff experts Mandy Schaumburg and Jacque Chevalier.
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AAPF participants are leaders in advocating that the education of at-promise students’ needs to be the focus of attention at the national, state, and local levels. As a group, they called for a rethinking of policies, practices, and partnerships for building instructional and alternative accountability approaches that support excellence and equity in schools as well as account for the difficult circumstances of at promise students. The Summary of Proceedings is a summary of the key points as presented in each session, along with policy and practice recommendations from the 2017 Alternative Accountability Policy Forum.
View the Summary of Proceedings.

The California State Board of Education has approved a change to its accountability system that would allow alternative schools — such as dropout recovery schools — to report one-year graduation rates instead of the percentage of students who earn a diploma within four years.
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Beginning this fall, the change would apply to the category of alternative schools — known in California as those with Dashboard Alternative School Status (DASS) — that enroll students behind on credits for graduation, but who are expected to complete the requirements within a year.
 
At a meeting last week, the board approved a method for calculating a one-year rate as part of a larger effort to create a set of measurements that better capture what takes place in DASS schools. 

California’s State Board of Education approved implementation of a one-year graduation rate for alternative schools at its Wednesday, May 9th meeting. The State Board of Education oversees regulations and policy development for California Schools. As part of California’s Accountability Dashboard, the State Board has adopted multiple indicators of school success including high school graduation rates. At it’s May 9th meeting, the Board approved a new metric for measuring graduation success for alternative schools. Until then, all schools were measured by the four year graduation rate.

Recognizing that alternative schools serve high risk students who are frequently highly mobile, credit deficient or out of school for years at a time, the California Department of Education established an Alternative Schools Taskforce to explore alternative ways of meeting the state’s accountability indicators. The one-year graduation rate is one of the first metrics to receive Taskforce support. Among the 24-member Taskforce were RAPSA participants Elisha Arrillaga, Maryann Dewan, Daisy Gonzales, Diana Grotjean, Phil Matero, Elsbeth Prigmore, Roger Rice, Ernie Silva, and Diana Walsh-Ruess.

The Taskforce was coordinated by the Gardiner Foundation’s Jorge Ruiz de Velasco of Stanford University. The Department of Education provided support including detailed modeling of one-year cohort options. Several of the Department’s staff outlined California’s approach at the 2017 Alternative Accountability Policy Forum including Cindy Kazanis and Jenny Singh.

The one-year graduation rate has been a frequent topic of conversation at RAPSA’s Alternative Accountability Policy Forum scoring among the top 3 issues in AAPF polling. The one-year graduation rate was also among the 10 recommended policy needs in the Summaries of Proceedings prepared by WestEd and PACE. In testimony supporting the action, Ernie Silva said, “the Department has brought you an opportunity to be on the leading edge of policy development, but not the bleeding edge. Other agencies that have successfully implemented a one-year rate including Portland Public Schools and Chicago Public Schools.” In addition, to alternative schools, school districts and county offices of education, the initiative was supported by education equity advocates including Public Counsel and EdTrust West.

In recent years, representatives of Portland Public Schools and Chicago Public Schools have participated in the Policy Forum and shared their approaches. Rather than a cohort of every student who graduates four years after entering ninth grade, the one-year rate accounts for all students who graduate by using a cohort of all students expected to graduate within a year based on credits earned. This approach accounts for students who are credit deficient or who have dropped out for a period of time and would otherwise not be credited in the school or districts four-year graduation rate. Information about California’s one-year rate can be found at:
The California Department of Education presented a RAPSA webinar on metrics for alternative schools on April 27th. A recording of that webinar is at: view recording.
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RAPSA Board President, Linda Dawson, expressed her satisfaction of the Board’s action, “I am absolutely delighted that the California State Board of Education has acted on this important alternative accountability measure. It shows the emerging strength of RAPSA’s network to see so many of our members engaged in the state’s Taskforce. I look forward to hearing more about the success of those of you in other states in the coming months. See you at the Policy Forum in November!”

Don't Miss the 2017 Alternative Accountability Policy Forum
REGISTER NOW!

There's still time to register for the November 15-17, 2017, Alternative Accountability Policy Forum in San Diego.
 
Here's a partial list of who will be presenting strategies for success:

 
AAPF17 Presenters 

• Howard Fuller, Distinguished Professor of Education, Marquette University
• Elisha Smith Arrillaga - Chief of Staff, Ed Trust-West
• Jacqueline Chevalier, Director of Education Policy for the Democratic staff, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce
• Linda Dawson, Superintendent and CEO of SIATech
• Carinne Deeds, Senior Policy Associate, American Youth Policy Forum
• Jody Ernst, Vice President of Research and Policy Analytics, Momentum Strategy & Research
• Terry Grobe, Director of Youth Pathways, Jobs for the Future
• Amy Lansing, Director of Cognitive and Neurobehavioral Studies, University of California, San Diego
• Judith Martinez, Director of Dropout Prevention and Student Re-engagement, Colorado Department of Education
• Phil Matero, CEO, YouthBuild Charter School of California
• Curt Peterson, South Seattle College and Highline Public Schools
•  Nicole Pyle, Utah State University
• Jorge Ruiz de Velasco, Stanford University Graduate School of Education
• Mandy Schaumburg, Deputy Director, House Education and Workforce Committee
• Thomas Showalter, NYEC
• Nelson Smith, Senior Advisor, National Association of Charter School Authorizers
• Vanessa Threatte, Executive Deputy Director for Best Practices and Partnerships,  SUNY Charter Schools Institute
• Diana Walsh-Reuss, Come Back Kids, Riverside County Office of Education
• Christina Weeter, Director of the Division of Student Success Kentucky Department of Education
• Darren Woodruff, Chair, Public Charter School Board, Washington DC

 
See the other 40 acclaimed presenters! 
PRESENTERS

 
Awards and Scholarships Luncheon

Courage Award:
The November 16 RAPSA Awards Luncheon will recognize five Courage Awards for students overcoming obstacles and pursuing academic excellence.
 
Heart Award: 
The Heart Award for the capacity to see beyond the trauma faced by at promise students.
 
Vision Award:
The Vision Award will recognize a policymaker who has demonstrated exceptional understanding of the challenges faced by at promise youth.

 
Closing General Session
The Closing Session will answer your questions of what's really going on at the federal level with answers from key House Education and Workforce Committee staff.  And in between it all are opportunities to collaborate and to build and strengthen your networks with 250 education, workforce, and community leaders who understand your students and share your challenges. We hope you will join us.

 
Register today before it's too late!
REGISTER NOW!

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