As the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) moves through its fifth year of implementation, districts, counties, and the communities they serve continue to navigate challenges with a central process and product of the LCFF, the local control and accountability plan (LCAP). The LCFF Test Kitchen provides local education agencies (LEAs) with the support and space to implement a solution that addresses these challenges by leveraging the wisdom of local implementers. To that end, Azusa Unified School District (USD), Elk Grove USD, and Oceanside USD are engaging in a user-centered design process to develop alternative approaches to meet the purposes of the LCAP. The LCFF Test Kitchen is led through a partnership between the California Collaborative for Education Excellence, WestEd, the California Collaborative on District Reform, Pivot Learning, and participating LEAs.
Project Overview
What is the LCFF Test Kitchen?
As participants in the LCFF Test Kitchen, Azusa USD, Elk Grove USD, and Oceanside USD are participating in a network of diverse stakeholders organized as design teams that are responding to a design challenge—a problem reframed as an opportunity that identifies an explicit focus. Based on conversations with stakeholders from around the state, the Test Kitchen anchors the design challenge on the following two questions:
- How can LEAs engage in meaningful, strategic planning to most effectively align budgets and priorities?
- How can we communicate transparently and coherently about planning and budgeting to a wide range of stakeholders?
The participating LEAs are engaging directly with subject matter experts and experienced facilitators of the Design Process in both virtual and full network settings. They also have regular opportunities to connect with LEA colleagues to share best practices and troubleshoot challenges.
The LCFF Test Kitchen aims to:
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Engage school districts and other stakeholders in a process to develop products that:
- Improve the strategic alignment of resources to match goals to improve student outcomes
- Support continuous improvement practices in those school districts
- Provide for greater transparency and engagement in local communities
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Document and disseminate this work to:
- Collectively learn about the effective implementation of LCFF and document lessons learned
- Demonstrate viability of the LCFF approach (local control, equity, and community engagement)
The key intended outcomes for this work are to: Build the knowledge base of the field to more effectively implement the LCFF and realize opportunities for student performance gains, create a set of policy and practice briefs on LCFF implementation, develop “LCAP” prototypes products, and draft a policy proposal for implementing these tools.
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