Monthly Emails
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May 2023
Abstract Submission Window Now Open
We are excited to solicit presenters for consideration at the 102nd CERA Conference at the Disneyland Hotel November
13th–15th. With a theme of Educational Research: Guiding the Way Forward we are particularly interested in sessions that will focus on partnerships between K-12, Higher Education and/or Research Organizations and showcase the impact educational research has on the field. Visit the Submit a Session Proposal page for more information.
If you are involved in original research or project implementation, we encourage you to apply! Click here to access the conference registration site and submit your abstract before the June 20th deadline. There will be NO EXTENSIONS to this timeline, so plan to have your abstracts submitted by this date.
2023 Conference Schedule
Our 2023 conference high level schedule has been approved by the board. This year we have made most of the breakout sessions a little longer to ensure presenters have the time they need to showcase their work. We are also bringing back Disney Night on Tuesday November 14. The conference will end by 4 p.m. to ensure that anyone who wants to go to the park has dedicated time to do so. Check out the Schedule at a Glance web page.
May Webinar Archive
The recording of the May CERA webinar is now posted on the CERA website, and can be viewed on the Webinars page.
AERA Job Board
We also want to remind you to keep an eye on the AERA job board if you, or anyone you know, are interested in research jobs!
Spotlight on Accountability
This month’s Accountability Spotlight was written by former CERA president Rachel Perry.
Fall 2022 marked the re-launch of the Dashboard after missing data for a couple of years during the pandemic. The return came with more school districts eligible for Differentiated Assistance in the form of support from their county office of education. More schools are expected to be identified for assistance too, and next year charter schools will be eligible. The capacity of COEs will be tested in the coming years as they continue to support and build capacity in school districts.
One of the significant challenges facing California’s accountability system is pressure from the California Legislature, education advocates, and others to add more information to the Dashboard that is beyond the original intent of the tool. I applaud the CDE and SBE’s attention to developing guiding principles for the accountability system. They’ve revisited them several times over the years to help guide their conversations about the Dashboard’s continued evolution.
Cindy Kazanis believes the Dashboard is here to stay. I agree. The Dashboard is dynamic and responsive, unlike previous accountability systems that were launched but never evolved and seemed to sit on the shelf waiting for their expiration date. It evolves in response to the availability of new data and to user feedback. I know that CERA is a valued partner of the CDE. I look forward to identifying ways that our members can inform the on-going evolution of the Dashboard and the other elements of California’s accountability system. Click this link to read Rachel’s full accountability story.
April 2023
Happy April CERA members. The CERA board is hard at work on the 2023 conference as well as the professional opportunities we are presenting this year. Our April email is full of reminders, important dates, AND a spotlight on the assessment world!
Important Dates
We have two dates that you will want to make sure are on your calendar:
2023 CERA Conference
November 13-15, 2023
Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, California
May Webinar
Don't miss your chance to attend CERA's first Professional Learning Opportunity in 2023—“Stupid Excel Tricks” which will cover timesaving shortcuts, cool formulas, and some fun ways to make your data shine!
When: May 16, 2023 @ 1:30 p.m.
Where: This is an online webinar
How to Register: Register here
If you have a presentation you would like to present as a future CERA webinar, please complete this short form.
Call for Abstracts
Our call for abstracts window is opening soon, so mark your calendars. May 1st is when the window opens, and it will close on June 20. There will be NO EXTENSIONS to this timeline, so plan to have your abstracts submitted by this date. We look forward to seeing what sessions are submitted in 2023.
Spotlight on Assessment
Right now, we are in the thick of the spring assessment period, and everyone has their heads down trying to get through testing with as few STAIRS cases as possible. There are, however, a few exciting announcements we want to call your attention to.
If you are responsible for assessment data in your role and want a recap of how to access that data in CERS, consider registering for the Accessing Summative Assessment Results in CERS webinars hosted by the CDE. These webinars are May 4, 11, and 18, 2023. More information can be found on the Upcoming Training Opportunities web page.
And we know everyone is excited to start getting more information about the CAST and ELPAC Interim Assessments. An email was just sent out by CDE earlier this week about the CAST and ELPAC Interim Assessments. The email gives us more detail about how many interim assessments there will be, and in what content areas. If you did not receive the email, you can find it on the CAASPP Coordinator Emails web page.
March 2023
We are excited to open registration for our first CERA professional learning opportunity of the 2023 year! Like 2022, we will be offering two professional learning webinars leading up to our annual conference for our membership.
For our first webinar, Cathy White and Nikki Antonovich from the Sacramento County Office of Education will be presenting “Stupid Excel Tricks”. Despite the plethora of data analysis tools and programs, we still rely quite often on Excel. One of the reasons is the sheer number of built-in tools and functions that make our work much easier. “Stupid Excel Tricks” will cover timesaving shortcuts, cool formulas, and some fun ways to make your data shine!
When: May 16, 2023 @ 1:30 p.m.
Where: This is an online webinar
How to Register: Register here
We look forward to bringing you additional professional development webinars leading up to our in-person conference at the Disneyland Hotel, November 13-15, 2022!
If you have a presentation you would like to present as a future CERA webinar, please complete this short form.
AERA Reminders
Conference
If you haven’t heard…The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is a national research society, that strives to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. They serve as an organizing body of education researchers throughout the country with nearly 150 special interest topic areas. They publish high quality peer-reviewed research; host conferences, trainings and webinars; recognize scholarly excellence and support researchers-in-training.
Their annual conference is just around the corner, including:
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In-person conference in Chicago April 13–16
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Virtual conference May 4–5
It is not too late to register!!! Learn more at: www.aera.net
Job Board
Keep an eye on the AERA job board if you are interested in research jobs!!
Spotlight on Research—Dual Enrollment
From policymakers in Sacramento to local school boards and district administrators, dual enrollment is one hot topic these days! With the allocation of hundreds of millions of dollars to dual enrollment, the state seeks to expand opportunities for high school students to take community college courses. These efforts are largely aimed at improving increasing access to college for historically underserved youth and improving college readiness more generally. So, you may wonder what we know about who participates in dual enrollment in California currently and the impact of their participation on their educational trajectory. Over the last couple of years several prominent research organizations in the state have been hard at work to understand more about dual enrollment participation. Here is a sample of what is available:
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Dual Enrollment in California: Promoting Equitable Student Access and Success (Public Policy Institute of California)
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Dual Enrollment in California: A Growing and Promising Practice Statewide (Wheelhouse and California Education Lab, UC Davis)
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A Jumpstart on College: Dual Enrollment Resources (Ed Trust – West)