State Schools Chief Tom Torlakson Launches Web Tool to Help Improve Student Success

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson introduced a new online tool, the Quality Schooling Framework (QSF), to offer guidelines and spread best practices to administrators to help them create a better learning environment for their students.
“This Web-based tool will help administrators improve teacher training, testing, budgeting, parent participation, and other aspects of school operations,” said Torlakson. “This is just one of our efforts to help schools prepare students for college, careers, and a bright future.”
The QSF came about as a result of Torlakson’s A Blueprint for Great Schools initiative, which recommended the California Department of Education increase its role in sharing resources and tools with administrators throughout the state to help improve schools.
The QSF acts like a map, providing guidance to administrators on how to make effective plans, policies, and fiscal decisions. It is organized around 10 elements that focus on improving instruction, testing, teacher learning, school leadership, and getting parents more involved in their children’s learning. These elements, which are drawn from research on effective schools, can be applied to planning at the district level for the Local Educational Agency Plan and the Local Control and Accountability Plan.
The QSF is designed to add best practices recommended by school leaders. It should be particularly valuable in helping districts and schools as they move toward greater local flexibility and decision-making.
The QSF was developed by the California Department of Education with the help of the California Comprehensive Center at WestEd.

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