Read & Download Position Papers

• Administrative Services Credential Position Paper (October 2008) pdf
  A special task force of ACSA members has developed a position paper for the association on the issue of administrative credentialing. The paper came in response to a decision by the state Commission on Teacher Credentialing to review the administrative credentialing program, particularly focusing on the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential. The paper was developed after three months of input from representatives of ACSA's Superintendency, Human Resources, Elementary Education, Middle Grades Education and Secondary Education councils, along with the Co-Administration Committee.
• Career Technical Education Position Paper (February 2008) pdf
  Career technical education in California's high schools, regional occupation programs and adult schools can play a critical role in engaging students in academics that offer career and job opportunities of interest to all students. It is imperative that California's pre K-adult education system be reformed to ensure that all students are given the opportunity to complete rigorous academic coursework and acquire the necessary skills that will lead to postsecondary education, as well as training and employment. Comprehensive changes in policies that will lead to fully integrated and well-funded CTE programs are necessary to achieve this goal.
• Got Homework? An ACSA Policy Position Paper on Homework (Oct 2007) pdf
  This position paper is intended as background knowledge to inform the work of California school administrators as they deal with the growing controversy that is surrounding the issue of homework.
• ACSA Equity Position Paper (March, 2005) pdf
  This position paper is designed to guide educators, lawmakers and community leaders in closing the achievement gap in all of our schools. It highlights nine specific areas of our education system; for each area, it provides ACSA’s beliefs about a standards-based, equity-driven education system and it offers conditions that would manifest if all stakeholders in the system held the same beliefs.
• ACSA High School Reform Position Paper (March 2005) pdf
  High school reform has become the focus of politicians at both the state and national level of late. President Bush has recently outlined a $1.5 billion dollar high school initiative to help every high school graduate gain the skills necessary to succeed in college and be competitive in the work force. California Superintendent of Education Jack O’Connell has proposed reform of high schools in California to meet those same goals.
• Recruitment & Retention of School Leaders: A Critical State Need (June 2001) pdf
  We urge the decision makers at the national, state and local levels to use the information in this report to create policies that will both eliminate the shortage of school leaders and ensure that the stories they will tell involve making a powerful difference in the life of a child, the success of a school, or the effectiveness of a district.
• Organization Response to CTC Draft Standards of Quality and Effectiveness for Professional Teacher Induction Programs (May 2001) pdf
  Since 1998, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) has launched an extensive standards and assessment development effort designed to significantly improve the preparation of K-12 teachers. This paper is in response to CTC sponsored legislation SB2042 (Alpert/Mazzoni.)
• Position Paper in Response to CTC Review of the Administrative Services Credential (May 2001) pdf
  ACSA developed this paper so that it might communicate our organization's position clearly to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing as it considers revisions in both the standards and structure of the Administrative Services Credential.
• ACSA Charter School Position Paper (July 1999)
  The primary goal of charter schools must be to improve student performance. However, there remains a need for a certain level of accountability to ensure first and foremost that students are learning and that public money is being spent appropriately. As a general guideline, ACSA maintains the following positions with regard to charter schools.
• A Master Plan for Public Education (July 1999)
  This document sets forth what ACSA believes should be the goal, purpose, principles, and components of a master plan. It represents the collective thinking of those who make up ACSA's diverse membership; school principals and vice principals, classified and certificated central office administrators, and superintendents.
• Task Force Review of Shared Decision-Making (September 1998)
  Recent trends in collective bargaining necessitate clarification of issues related to the implementation of shared decision-making in California schools. Serious questions have been raised about the role of the principal and other administrators involved in the process of shared decision-making, as well as the effect of shared decision-making on student achievement in light of recent mandates concerning accountability. Are those who share the decision-making process held accountable for those decisions? Probably not, in the models we have seen. Does the process of shared decision-making improve student achievement? So far the research is inconclusive.
• Student Success in a Standards-Based System: Moving Beyond Social Promotion and Retention (September 1998)
  The challenge of helping all California students meet high standards sometimes appears to be a daunting one. As an organization whose mission focuses on the importance of student achievement, ACSA believes the challenge can and must be met. However, to do so involves realizing that simplistic solutions will not work.
• Standards-Based Accountability: A Design for Student Success (November 1997)
  Student learning and achievement are at the heart of our educational system in California. They are not ends in themselves, but means to a successful transition to postsecondary education, a career and to becoming effective and productive members of society.
• Welfare Reform in the Golden State: How Will California Implement the New Federal Programs? (June 1997)
  This second paper in a series on welfare reform explores the implications of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in August 1996.
• Welfare Reform in California Schools (December 1996)
  ACSA has developed this analysis of welfare reforms to provide school leaders with a "heads- up" to assist in planning for possible impacts on school services, programs, and populations.
• Statewide Academic Standards - Doing it Right (June 1996)
  The ACSA position paper on implementation of the California Assessment of Academic Achievement Act of 1995 (AB 265), which mandates the development and adoption of statewide academically rigorous content and performance standards in the core curriculum areas of reading, writing, mathematics, history, social science, and science for grades K-12.