SAN JOSE, CA – The Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) has received two Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association (CSBA) for two programs the Annual Inclusion Collaborative State Conference and DataZone. This award recognizes outstanding programs and governance practices of school boards in school districts and county offices of education throughout California; CSBA acknowledged 51 exemplary programs.
SCCOE began the Inclusion Collaborative conferences in 2014. This annual event is an interactive and reflective educational opportunity to understand and learn evidenced-based practices for individuals involved in the care and education of children from birth to 12th grade with and without disabilities to create or enhance equity and inclusive practices in their respective programs and communities in which they live.
"The Annual Inclusion Collaborative Conference provides new and innovative education, support and tools for administrators and educators who work with students in inclusive classrooms. Participants report that attending this conference has assisted with increasing the number of inclusive classrooms in their school districts. Increasing equity, access and inclusion is a marker of quality education that reaches all students." Rosemary Kamei, President of the County Board of Education.
The SCCOE initiated the DataZone project in 2012 with discussions with Juvenile Probation, the Department of Family and Child Services and the Juvenile Courts to fulfill a Juvenile Court Bench Order requiring appropriate sharing of education, foster youth and probation records among case-workers, probation officers, and school district personnel. DataZone fulfills this need for an integrated data system to better serve the county's 1,400 foster youth. Through the development of one specific DataZone application called FosterVision, SCCOE has engineered one of the few integrated data systems in the nation that integrates disparate education records from many school districts with foster youth and probation databases. DataZone's FosterVision now enables timely and coordinated services to students who are involved in these systems.
In addition to its FosterVision application, DataZone has made significant progress helping school districts in Santa Clara County connect, integrate, and analyze data from a variety of source systems including student information systems, state and local testing files, educational technology applications, intervention programs, and human resource systems. As with FosterVision, automated processes transfer data from these source systems into the DataZone for reporting and analysis.
"Our office is committed to partnering with districts to strategically use their data to better understand their students' academic, social and emotional needs is a passionate commitment of our Santa Clara County Board of Education and our office," commented County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mary Ann Dewan.
"Knowing how to use the data brings powerful lessons in organizational change management for schools and agencies. In order for data to inform educators' work, we first need to make data actionable for teachers and administrators, and to begin building a data culture geared to leveraging these insights," Dewan added.
"The Golden Bell recipients exemplify the spirit of innovation and excellence for which all of California's public schools strive," said CSBA CEO & Executive Director Vernon M. Billy. "The Golden Bell Awards reflect the depth and breadth of outstanding education offerings in our state, and demonstrate the tenacity, vision and dedication of school leaders across California."
Both programs will be honored at a reception and ceremony on Thursday, November 29, from 5 to 7 p.m. at CSBA's Annual Education Conference and Trade Show in San Francisco at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis located at 780 Mission Street.
# # #
About the Santa Clara County Office of Education
Working collaboratively with school and community partners, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) is a regional service agency that provides instructional, business, and technology services to the 31 school districts of Santa Clara County. The County Office of Education directly serves students through special education programs, alternative schools, Head Start and State Preschool programs, migrant education, and Opportunity Youth Academy. The SCCOE also provides academic and fiscal oversight and monitoring to districts in addition to the 22 Santa Clara County Board of Education authorized charter schools.