District Assistance and Support

SDCOE is committed to providing Differentiated Assistance (DA) for eligible local educational agencies (LEA) through personalized and unique support to address identified performance issues, including significant disparities in performance among student groups.

Districts and charters are eligible for DA based on the results of the annual release of the California School Dashboard. This provides accountability for the work they are doing to support all student groups as outlined in their LCAPs.

New in 2026-27

The state budget includes several changes to DA and Direct Technical Assistance (DTA) eligibility criteria and funding, and the State Board of Education (SBE) recently took action to adopt reformed criteria to reduce the number of LEAs eligible for DA. Current DTA criteria is unchanged, however those will be evaluated in 2027 with the goal of aligning DTA with the new DA framework. 

Some changes include: 

• DA will be identified once every three years, rather than once every year, with three years of data used to determine DA eligibility 
• Determines DA eligibility based on student performance on state indicators rather than state priorities 
• Adds a new student group, "All Students," to the DA eligibility criteria 
• Removes California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) and Local Indicator Reporting from eligibility criteria 

What to Expect Next

2026-2028 DA Cohort

The updated DA criteria will be used to identify a cohort of LEAs eligible for DA through the 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 school years. LEAs may not “exit” DA during this time.

2026-2028 DTA Cohort

The existing DTA criteria will be used to identify a cohort of LEAs eligible for DTA through the 2026-27, 2027-28, and 2028-29 school years. The DTA criteria will be revised to align with the revisions made to the DA criteria by May 2029. LEAs may not “exit” DTA during this time. The DA and DTA criteria will be misaligned for this first cohort. The CCEE will leverage their current consultation process to engage with each county superintendent who may have LEAs eligible for DTA but not DA to ensure support is meaningful. Charters may be included in this cohort if they meet the criteria and they are referred to the CCEE for support, in accordance with the charter DTA pathways. Click here for more information.

2025 Dashboard DA LEAs

LEAs who became eligible for support based on the 2025 Dashboard must receive their second year of support through 2026-27, regardless of 2026 Dashboard DA eligibility.

For more information on Differentiated Assistance, please visit California's System of Support webpage from the California Department of Education.

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