Some questions and answers about School Accountability Report Cards
How our company, "Revived Images," can help you

1. Are the local school districts required to approve the publication of a School Accountability Report Card?

   Yes. EC Section 35256 states the following:

   (a) The School Accountability Report Card shall include, but is not limited to, the conditions listed in Education Code Section 33126.

   (b) Not less than triennially, the governing board of each school district shall compare the content of the school district's School Accountability Report Card to the model School Accountability Report Card adopted by the State Board of Education. Variances among school districts shall be permitted where necessary to account for local needs.

   (c) The Governing Board of each school district shall annually issue a School Accountability Report Card for each school in the school district, publicize such reports, and notify parents or guardians of students that a copy will be provided upon request.

   
   

2. In what format shall the Local Educational Agency (LEA) provide the SARC?

   "Local educational agencies shall make these school accountability report cards available through the Internet or through paper copies." EC Section 33126.1(l)
   "It is the intent of the Legislature that schools make a concerted effort to notify parents of the purpose of the school accountability report cards, as described in this section, and ensure that all parents receive a copy of the report card; to ensure that the report cards are easy to read and understandable by parents." EC Section 33126(d)

   
   

3. What is the due date for the School Accountability Report Card?

   According to the latest information from the California Department of Education web site,

   "Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, the SARCs must be published by February 1."

4. What information is required to be in the School Accountability Report Card?

   According to the California Department of Education:

   "State and federal laws require specific items to be reported in the following categories: demographic information; school safety and climate for learning; academic data; school completion; class size; teacher and staff information; curriculum and instruction; postsecondary preparation; and fiscal and expenditure data. A summary of these requirements may be found in the "Specific Requirements" section of the Data Element Definitions and Sources."

5. What are the rules concerning language requiements for the School Accountability Report Card? What languages should be SARC be published in other than English?

   The California Department of Education web site states:

   According to EC Section 48985, when 15 percent or more of the pupils enrolled in the school speak a single primary language other than English, all notices, reports, statements, or records sent by the school or district to the parent/guardian of any such pupil must, in addition to being written in English, be written in this primary language and may be responded to by the parent or guardian in English or in the primary language. These translation requirements apply to the SARC just as they apply to any other written communication that a district or school prepares for the purpose of informing a student's parent or guardian. In addition, federal law requires that schools and districts effectively communicate with all parents and guardians, regardless of the percentage of students who speak a language other than English [Title III, Section 3122(c)].

6. How current is the data that the State and LEA can provide in the annual School Accountability Report Card?

   - CBEDS data - collected in the fall of the previous year

   - STAR assessment data - collected in the spring

   - API growth data - calculated in the fall

   - Fiscal data - collected in the spring of the previous year

7. How does Revived Images help you complete the School Accountability Report Cards?

   We pull down the data from the California Department of Education specific to each of your school district's school sites. We then collaborate with your school personnel to get the site-specific data and narratives not provided by the State. We have a stream-lined methodology to make this data and narrative collection as easy and fast as possible for your school district. We then assemble all the data together into one cohesive report format, approved by the California Department of Education. We give you two color copies of each school's SARC and provide you with the necessary web-file format (PDF) for publishing on your school district web site. We can provide this publishing for you on the web if needed for an additional fee.

8. How much does this all cost?

   Other companies take advantage of the fact that many school districts do not possibly have the personnel, expertise or time to complete School Accountability Report Cards, thus they charge $600 to as much as $1,500 per school SARC.

   Our company charges $300 per school site SARC. Translations into other languages are available for a similar fee.
   

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