Berkeley’s three-year LCAP identifies student needs, sets measurable goals, and accounts for the funding to implement the actions and services that will have the greatest impact on the education of our highest need students.
Here’s a quick reference guide to the key goals and actions in Berkeley’s 2015-16 LCAP.
LCAP Goal 1: High-quality classroom instruction and curriculum, with academic interventions to eliminate barriers to student success.
- All students are college and career ready.
LCAP Goal 2: Culturally and linguistically responsive practices in every classroom
- All students are engaged and experiencing success in school.
LCAP Goal 3: Safe, welcoming and inclusive climates
- All students feel safe and ready to learn.
The LCAP includes a variety of action steps delineated over three years, including the following programs and expanded services in the first year of implementation:
Literacy Coaches in every elementary school
The Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from Columbia University is the research-based curriculum used in every K-5 Berkeley classroom to teach English Language Arts. Reading proficiently by the third grade is a key indicator of long-term academic success. With funding from both BSEP and state funds, each elementary school employs a full-time literacy coach. These local experts in the teaching of reading and writing serve as coaches to classroom teachers, and are specially trained to teach reading in small groups, and one-on-one, to emerging and struggling readers.
During this time of transition to the Common Core State Standards, literacy coaches also work closely with teachers on adjusting the curriculum to meet new standards, and collaborate with them on the assessment of student work.
Advancement Via Individual Determination – AVID
Designed to meet the needs of students in the “academic middle”, AVID prepares students for academic success by providing them with a special course focused on a nationally recognized set of research-based strategies. Beginning in 7th grade, AVID students are prepared for rigorous academic work by learning how to dive into text and read closely, take notes, use academic writing mechanics, practice effective organizational strategies, and develop a college-going mindset through exposure to guest speakers, college visits, and mentors.
The LCAP increases the number of students able to participate in AVID, while improving the school-wide college and career-going culture.
Academic Support & Interventions for middle and high school students
Early outreach, resiliency programs, and academic supports are part of the three-tiered Response to Instruction and Intervention (RtI2) model being built to better support students identified with known risk factors. For example, Bridge, RISE, and other similar after school programs create a structured setting with access to a network of resources and mentors that can often guide students on the path to college and a career.
The success of these programs led to action steps in the LCAP that expand counseling, academic interventions, and the kinds of skill development and support students need to overcome challenges in their daily lives. The role of the high school intervention counselor is to mentor and monitor the students who need it the most. Building relationships with students is the first step in connecting them with resources and mentors on campus.
Specialized instruction for English Learners
Targeted English language instruction is provided every week to ensure that English Learner (EL) students can access the challenging academic curriculum to meet performance standards in all content areas. EL students develop fluency both through in class instruction and small-group English Language Development lessons.
The LCAP now ensures that every K-12 school has a dedicated ELD teacher to work with students in fluency level groups, as well as monitor and assess individual EL student progress.
Social-Emotional Health: Prevention and Restoration
To succeed in school and in life, students must have the social-emotional readiness to learn. Teachers and staff are now expanding successful preventative and restorative practices to manage the big emotions and behavioral challenges that come with the complex academic and social world at school. Several components in Berkeley’s LCAP improve conditions of learning for all students by advancing the Positive Behavior Intervention & Supports framework.
- The Toolbox, a highly successful social-emotional curriculum, is based on a set of twelve tools that create a common language and strategies to solve problems and build resiliency. Toolbox is now being taught to all students in grades K-6.
- SEEDS Community Resolution Center is now working in every middle school to train students as peer mediators, and teachers and staff in the use of restorative practices that serve to promote positive relationships, de-escalate conflicts, and reduce the use of suspension in discipline.
- The Lifelines Academy, based on Dr. Joseph E. Marshall Jr.’s Alive & Free prescription for violence prevention, meets weekly with groups of students in grades 4-12. These facilitated groups provide a more intensive setting, using film study and reflective writing, as well as discussion, to teach students how to identify and avoid the risk factors for violence.
- On-site mental health counseling and therapy for Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention (ATOD) at our three middle and two high schools is provided by the New Bridge Foundation with matching funds from the city of Berkeley.