NorCal Educator's Digest
July 2023
NorCal ELC -- Going Forward
NorCal ELC (the Northern California Educational Leadership Consortium) the regional provider for 21st Century California School Leadership Academy services has been awarded funding for 2023-2026. NorCal ELC provides professional learning and networking opportunities for school and teacher leaders that help them make local school transformations to improve student outcomes.
Project goals remain the same:
- Focus on increasing equity for all students
- Expand our understanding, together, about school improvement processes
- Increase leadership capacity among all educators
- Create supportive cross-agency networks for Northern California educators
With a new round of funding, services will expand and opportunities for educators will increase. We want to tell you about some of our upcoming events and encourage you to watch this newsletter for more announcements in coming months.
NorCal ELC Local School Team Program -- This is our signature program. School teams form to address local equity-centered problems of practice. Together we engage in learning, support for applying continuous improvement processes, and leadership development including individualized leadership coaching. This annual program runs from August to June in collaboration with Abeo School Change, LLC.
If you care about equity, have a problem of practice, and want to learn and work with your colleagues with support, form a team and join the NorCal ELC 2023-24. $10,000 of participant support will be available for each team.
Click here for more information and to submit a Team Application. (Google Doc)
Share the flyer with your colleagues!(opens in new window)
21CSLA Principal Collaborative Support Network
If you are a school principal who wants to join a collaborative community of practicing principals, the Network is for you. It’s primary objective is to help principals create coherent and effective systems of instruction in their schools; as well as explore strategies to develop teacher leadership using a “case study problems of practice and theories of action” model of inquiry.
Case studies provide a springboard for discussion and analysis. Network facilitators support principals in developing case studies. This process aims to strengthen principals’ core leadership capabilities of engaging systems, catalyzing reflective conversations, and exploring creative approaches in a supportive, safe, and confidential space. There will be eight sessions from August to May. NorCal ELC is partnering with the Center for Applied Policy in Education at UC Davis to provide this program.
To learn more and join the Network, click here.(opens in new window)
NorCal ELC 3rd Annual Leadership Institute
Everyone is a Leader!
Kicking off the two day virtual institute with over 200 educators across the North State region was keynote speaker Dr. Gregory Peters with the San Francisco Coalition of Essential Small Schools. Dr. Peters keynote was titled, “How do we foster a culture of inquiry to systematize and maintain a commitment to equity”. Dr. Peters discussed how to create conditions to interrupt inequities in schools. He uses three essential “gears for transformation:” Radical Discourse, Inquiry and Accountability.
The Summer Leadership Institute is all about learning. It featured 11 content sessions offered by local educators on a variety of topics, such as: The Science of Reading, Addressing Chronic Absenteeism & Neurodiversity and Inclusive Practices, among others. Recentbooks that influenced Year 3 professional learning events, Street Data and Belonging through a Culture of Dignity, were offered to attendees to extend and expand equity-focused knowledge, shared language and practices.
The summer institute was a culminating event for local school teams that engaged in a year's worth of work (or more!) to address a local equity-centered problem of practice (PoP). Each team presented a 5-10 minute overview of their work and progress to other teams with similar problems of practice. Presentations addressed PoPs on Math, Social & Emotional Learning, Instruction, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, Student Engagement, and Program Implementation.
One NorCal ELC participant reflected on the past year’s work and shared, “We have gathered a lot of data and done a lot of planning to prepare us well for launching on some more in-depth focused work next year, collaborating with people outside my usual group, and expanding my focus on students to serve.” Another summed up the NorCal ELC’s unofficial motto, “Everyone is a Leader”.
The keynote and content sessions were recorded and are available for viewing here.
Region 2 Expanded Learning Institute
Registration Sponosrship from NorCal ELC
- When: August 2-3, 2023
- Where: BMU Auditorium at California State University, Chico(opens in new window)
Calling all credentialed educators! NorCal ELC is offering a sponsorship for FREE registration (regularly $150) to a select number of credentialed educators who wish to attend the Region 2 Expanded Learning Institute. Delve into innovative teaching strategies, explore interdisciplinary connections, and gain new perspectives. Customize your experience with workshops, presentations, and discussions on STEAM, global perspectives, sustainability, and entrepreneurship. Invite a colleague or go on your own – expand your horizons!
If you are a credentialed educational professional in our 11-county service region and can make this event the first week of August, please use the link below to register for 1 of 30 NorCal ELC Sponsorships.
Register and secure your spot as 1 of 30 NorCal ELC Sponorships.(opens in new window)
Interested in learning more about this event? Visit the main event site.(opens in new window)
"Dos Languages!"
New Dual Immersion School in the North State.
Gerber School in Tehama County is becoming a Dual Immersion School in 23/24. This program has three focus areas: 1) bilingualism & biliteracy 2) high academic achievement and 3) socio-cultural competence, which is the ability for students to see differences as a cause to unite. County office staff designed a two year experience in conjunction with West Ed designed to thoughtfully partner with families. About 40 teachers throughout the county participated in training to support dual language learning through a Community of Practice.
Currently, Gerber School has about 70% Hispanic/Latino students. Students with a primary language of Spanish often lose their primary language and this will allow them to learn both English and Spanish in a way that they can carry with them, increasing their opportunities throughout life. Being bilingual and biliterate will allow students to access new benefits and opportunities.
Just Released! Safe Spaces: Foundations of Trauma-Informed Practice for Educational and Care Settings
From the Office of the California Surgeon General, this free, two hour professional learning module (three age ranges) given online is designed to help educators respond to trauma and stress in children.
Learn more information and how to participate(opens in new window).
Attention Secondary Principals utilizing Restorative Practices:
Please consider sharing your experience with student researcher, Lan Nguyen.
Message from Student Researcher:
My name is Lan Nguyen, and I am a student researcher in UCSD/CSUSM’s Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership. I am reaching out to ask for your assistance with my dissertation study.
I’m interested in understanding the experience of secondary principals who are working toward changing their school cultures through the implementation of restorative practices. Specifically, my goal is to learn more about how school leaders integrate restorative mindsets and behaviors into their leadership practices.
View and share Ms. Nguyen’s flier today(opens in new window).
Interested in the College and Career Indicator (CCI)? The CA Dashboard recently released the 2022 CCI Additional Report
The CA Dashboard recently released the 2022 CCI Additional Report. Local educational agencies (LEAs) and high schools with grade twelve students can now access the 2022 College/Career Measures Only Additional Report, which displays the number and percentage of graduates who completed any of the measures in CCI.
View the approved CCI measures included in the report(opens in new window).
State and Local Education Agency Targeted Technical Assistance – No Cost Opportunity
Seeking support to move beyond inclusion to Rightful Presence for your district? The SWIFT Center, creator of the CA MTSS Framework, is offering free technical assistance to selected partners.
See more about the no-cost opportunity here(opens in new window).
Resource Alert! Comprehensive Resource that Supports Equitable Learning Environments for Young Boys of Color
A Goldmine of Activities
While this resource is identified for young boys of color, the activities included can support equitable conditions for many. This resource “was developed in collaboration between the California Department of Education Early Education Division and the WestEd Center for Child and Family Studies. It is a groundbreaking resource for early childhood educators committed to improving race equity within their classrooms and programs and disrupting the exclusionary disciplinary practices— suspensions, expulsions, and pushouts—that disproportionately impact our youngest Boys of Color. Drawing on the most contemporary research, the authors discuss the rates of exclusionary disciplinary practices in early childhood and the underlying reasons for these patterns including different forms of oppression with a focus on structural racism and implicit bias”