| LDOE Contacts | |
John White
State Superintendent of Education
877.453.2721
(toll-free)
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LDOE Weekly Newsletter 10/17/2012
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Dear Colleagues:
Louisiana Believes puts decision making authority in the hands of those closest to kids. Leaders of children should be leaders of the adults who serve those children. Just as we are accountable for our students, principals and superintendents should want responsibility for those educators in their charge. We make no more important decision, after all, than the one to place a teacher in front of children.
Act One of the legislative session gives superintendents and principals full authority to hire, assign, and retain teachers (a recent study by TNTP provides a compelling basis for why this is so critical). As part of this, school boards are changing critical policies so as to allow managers to make decisions that do just that.
Already the vast majority of districts have adjusted their reduction in force policies to ensure that, in the unfortunate event of a layoff, decisions will be made based on classroom effectiveness rather than seniority. This Thursday, as communicated before, the state will release a list of those districts whose policies fully comply with the terms of Act One or are progressing toward full compliance. These districts have taken tremendous strides toward protecting their top teachers. Four districts continue to include seniority as a factor in reduction in force policies, risking both academic outcomes and potential litigation from wrongfully laid off educators. Their status will also be noted in the release. If you have concerns or questions regarding your status, please contact Gary Jones at gary.jones@la.gov.
The law also charges school boards with adjusting compensation scales so that districts can attract teachers they need most and retain the most effective classroom educators. No district is the same as another, and this is complex work. Thus, next week, the state will launch a set of regional workshops and will release a set of tools districts can use to adjust salary scales. Our team is available to support your team as you undertake this ambitious process; you certainly do not have to use the tools or guidance we provide. But we want to be there to assist you and your team. For further questions on the workshops or the policy, please also contact Gary Jones at gary.jones@la.gov.
This is a time of great change. Those who embrace the change and create opportunities will bring their students and families better opportunities than ever before. Thank you for leading our state through the change.
Thank you, as always, for all you do for our children,
John
John White
Louisiana Department of Education
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Assessments and Accountability
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Letter Grade Release
Letter grades will be released next week. Results and additional information will be provided to districts in advance of the public release so as to allow district leaders and principals time to review the results.
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Top Gains Schools
With the letter grade release later this month, we will announce our 2011-2012 "Top Gains" schools. For this year, Top Gains schools are those schools that achieved their Growth Targets (and did not fail Subgroup AYP). Each of these schools will receive monetary rewards to be used for any educational purpose, as is the case with all MFP funds.
In future years, Top Gains schools will determined as follows:
- "A" schools that improve 5 or more SPS points overall (through general improvement or bonus points awarded for progress with students that are below grade level); OR
- "B" - "F" schools that improve 10 or more SPS points overall.
For more information on the newly created bonus, please click here for the summary doc.
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Accountability Updates
As outlined in the ESEA Waiver, Louisiana is updating and refining its accountability system in anticipation of Common Core State Standards. For an overview of how the system will work in 2013-2014, please refer to this summary document. Also, at this week's State Board (BESE) meeting, the LDOE will ask for BESE's approval of a few minor modifications.
For any accountability related questions, please reach out to Jennifer Baird (jennifer.baird@la.gov).
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More Teachers Using EAGLE
LDE has seen a rapid increase in usage of the online EAGLE system. School usage has increased by 30% compared to last year at this same time. At present, with over 600 schools statewide using EAGLE, students completed over 215,000 tests in September 2012--an increase of 71,000 tests compared to September 2011.
It is also evident from EAGLE usage that more teachers are using constructed-response questions compared to the previous years, which will help to prepare students ahead of time for transitional assessments and the types of items aligned to the CCSS.
Statewide training for EAGLE was completed October 5, 2012. Approximately 1400 teachers and administrators attended these workshops to gain information about transitional assessments and the use of CCSS-aligned items in the classroom to prepare students for the upcoming PARCC assessments. Teachers new to EAGLE participated in hands-on activities to learn how to use the system. Districts are making requests for more trainings, and new workshops are being added in CourseWhere under 2012 Fall EAGLE Workshops for Lead Teachers.
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Advanced Placement® Course Audit
Please forward to all Principals, Counselors, AP® Coordinators Teachers and Teachers.
To apply the AP® label on report cards, transcripts, the school web site or in a course catalog or other printed information, a school is required to have all AP courses authorized through the AP® Course Audit. If your school currently offers or plans to offer AP® courses, the school administrator or designee must create an AP® Course Audit account. Each academic year, the school is responsible for finalizing AP® Course Audit forms, renewing authorizations, and assuring the AP® Course Ledger entry accurately reflects AP® Offerings at the school. For more information, see http://tinyurl.com/d52jtt4. Additionally, each AP® teacher must create an AP® Course Audit account and submit the AP® course syllabus and electronic Course Audit Form. To create an AP® Course Audit Account and submit the required materials go to http://tinyurl.com/6sqvrhv. The attached AP® Course Audit Calendar identifies teacher and school administrator roles and responsibilities.
For questions about the AP® Course Audit process, contact the AP® Course Audit Helpline at 877.274.3570. For other AP® questions, contact Dr. Ernise Singleton at Ernise.Singleton@la.gov or 225.219.0451.
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Testing Additional Seniors on the ACT
Per Louisiana's approved ESEA Waiver, the ACT will be administered annually to all juniors except for students who take LAA 1. The data collected from the 11th grade students will not be used for accountability purposes until the following year. The highest score of every student (including through to the Spring of their 12th grade year) will be used in accountability.
Because we are using the highest score through a student's 12th grade year and because the current class of seniors did not all take the ACT last year, for this year only, LDOE will need to collect data for current year seniors to be used for accountability in 2012-13. Seniors who have not yet taken ACT mustnow take a state-funded test on March 19, 2013 and will be pre-coded by the Department. The data for seniors who have previously tested, along with the data from seniors who test in March, will be combined and used for the 2012-13 SPS. NOTE: It will not be necessary for the state to test senior students in future years because we will have scores from all 11th grade students.
Some superintendents have expressed the desire to test all seniors or a certain subset of their seniors (e.g., students that have tested but scored below 18)since the accountability system uses the highest ACT score that can be matched to students. The cost is $32/student.
Next Steps To Test Additional Seniors:
- Please fill out this form and return it to Bernadette Morris (Bernadette.morris@la.gov) as soon as possible, if you are interested in testing additional students.
- Within the next few weeks, the Department will provide a list of the students that it will fund (i.e., non-tested seniors by name).
- After the list of names is provided, districts can confirm the additional students that they wish to fund and a formal Cooperative Endeavor Agreement must be signed between the Department and a district by the end of the month.
If you have any questions about assessment administration, contact Bernadette Morris at Bernadette.Morris@la.gov.
If you have any questions about accountability, contact Jennifer Baird at Jennifer.Baird@la.gov.
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Act 1 - Compensation
Act 1 requires that compensation for educators is linked to effectiveness and demand. This change is an opportunity for districts to:
- Align compensation policies with academic goals, priorities, and challenges
- Recruit, recognize and retain the highest performing, most valuable educators
The LDOE will provide support to districts as they design compensation plans that meet local priorities and satisfy the requirements of Act 1:
* During the week of October 22nd, the LDOE will release materials - including two, customizable, Act 1-compliant compensation models - to guide and support districts' work.
* The LDOE will also facilitate six Act 1 Compensation workshops across the state. These workshops will provide your district with assistance as you begin the process of revising your district's compensation model in accordance with Act 1. The intended audience for this session is district leadership who will be leading this work. The superintendent or school leader should plan to join, along with the business manager, HR director, and potentially the academics officer. Each participant should bring a laptop. Attendance at each workshop will be capped at 50 participants. For more information and to register for an Act 1 Compensation Workshop, please visit Coursewhere (https://www.solutionwhere.com/ldoe/cw/main.asp). Dates and locations for these workshops are as follows:
Tuesday October 23, 2012
Morning Session
Time: 8:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Location: Bossier, LA
Afternoon Session
Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Location: Alexandria, LA
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Morning Session
Time: 8:30 AM - 11:30 PM
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Afternoon Session
Time: 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Morning Session
Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Harvey, LA
Afternoon Session
Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Location: Harvey, LA
Ongoing support and individual consultation will be available by contacting act1@la.gov.
If you have any questions, please contact Gary Jones at gary.jones@la.gov.
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Statewide 10th Grade Student Survey
Education's Next Horizon, a statewide non-profit organization that works with districts and schools to increase graduation rates, is conducting a survey of 10th grade students. They are asking for the cooperation and support of school leaders in getting as many 10th graders as possible to take the survey. The purpose of the survey is to gauge student perceptions and values regarding various interventions and support activities that students might have experienced in the 9th grade. Survey results will be compiled by the Picard Center for Child Development at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The final report will be made available to school leaders and education policymakers.
This optional survey can be completed between October 2 and October 26, and should only take 10-15 minutes. All results will be kept confidential. We would like district leadership to disseminate this survey to students in 10th grade. We are particularly interested in responses from those schools, which implemented specific high school programs for 9th grade students last year. Click here for a link to the survey.
For additional information, feel free to contact John Warner Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Education's Next Horizon, at (225) 383-3844 or by email at jsmith@lanexthorizon.org.
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Training on Compass for School Leaders
Training on the Compass system for school leaders is underway! This 1-day training will be facilitated by the LDOE Network Teams. Session registration is now available on the Coursewhere website. District leaders should register for and attend the sessions that have been scheduled with their specific district through the Network Teams. This training is intended for LEA central office staff involved in the support and evaluation of school leaders. Participants are asked to review existing resources on Compass for School Leaders and complete some basic pre-work prior to the training. Pre-work assignments are outlined here.
Districts should not wait for Compass Leader training to redeliver HCIS training, as the processes within the system are the same for both teachers and leaders.
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New Guides for Getting Started in HCIS
The following guides are now available to support your local implementation of Compass using HCIS:
HCIS Support Guide provides instructions on how to receive support for your most common tasks in the system.
LEA Administrator Guide provides instructions on how to perform initial employee maintenance in the system including adding, deleting, and updating personnel information and assigning evaluators and observers.
Evaluator and Supervisory Guide provides instructions on how to assign evaluators and observers, review student learning targets, and conduction observations.
Employee Guide (teachers, counselors, and librarians)- provides instructions on how to create a student learning target and professional growth plan.
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Course Choice RFA Deadline Extended
Please forward to all Principals, Counselors and Teachers.
The Course Choice Request for Application (RFA) deadline has been extended to October 19, 2012. The RFA is a user-friendly, 100 percent electronic process focused on course quality and course provider accountability. Since the Course Choice application window opened in August, the LDOE has received 45 application packages from non-traditional providers, school systems, teachers, online providers, and the four Louisiana post-secondary systems. If you are considering applying to be a Course Choice provider, now is the time to send in your application. The deadline for the LDOE to notify applicants of their notification status is October 26, 2012. The Course Choice program was established by the Legislature earlier this year in Act 2. It creates an education marketplace where parents can choose from a wide range of academic and career-oriented courses that will best prepare a student for success in college and the workplace. For more information, visit www.louisianabelieves.com/coursechoice.
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2012-2013 Industry Based Certification Matrix
Please forward to all CTE Supervisors and Principals.
The 2012-2013 Industry Based Certification (IBC) matrix has been updated and is ready for release. Please take note of the following updates in the matrix.
1. The matrix is sorted alphabetically by IBC, in an effort to make the matrix more user-friendly.
2. An IBC denoted with the superscript N is an addition to the matrix. They have been added to the State IBC Focus list through action of the Workforce Investment Council and can be implemented in secondary schools utilizing Perkins and/or local funds.
3. An IBC denoted with the superscript R was on the previous version of the matrix, but has revised criteria in the new matrix.
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FY 2011-2012 AFR Excellent Rating Reminder
Please forward to Business Managers and Financial Officials of Public School Districts, Charter Schools, Lab Schools, and State Agencies defined as an LEA for these purposes
Timely submission of the AFR is a factor in the Financial Risk Assessment, and the final AFR must be submitted no later than October 31 to receive an "excellent" rating for this factor. Please see the attached memo for specific instructions and guidance.
For further information or questions regarding reporting or coding, contact Keya Williams (Keya.Williams@la.gov) or Marella Houghton (Marella.Houghton@la.gov) at 225-342-8848. For questions regarding the filebuild tools, the electronic submission process, or if you need technical assistance, contact David Kibbe (David.Kibbe@la.gov) at 225-342-3619.
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E-Rate Deadline Reminders
Please be aware of the following three E-Rate deadlines which are quickly approaching:
- October 29, 2012 -- invoicing deadline for FY 2011 recurring services
- November 7, 2012 - Form 486 deadline for FY 2012, Wave 1
- November 8, 2012 - Form 486 deadline for FY 2012, Wave 2
As always, do not wait until the last day to file as any errors or problems submitting can cost your school/district funding.
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Microsoft IT Academy
Please forward to all District CTE Supervisors and IT Directors.
This is a reminder that through the Microsoft IT Academy (MITA) statewide agreement districts will receive a Certiport Site License for each high school participating in the project. The license includes testing for Microsoft Office Products. Through the statewide agreement districts have the option of adding additional certification testing opportunities, such as IC3, Adobe, etc. The cost for the additional testing opportunities will be based on the state-wide discount. In order to take advantage of the discounted rate, districts must contact Certiport no later than October 31, 2012. The attached document provides specific information.
Additional training opportunities for MITA are available through Microsoft. The attached information provides registration information for follow-up training for all teachers/administrators that completed the August or September training. The attached documents provide specific registration /participation information.
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SER Data Collection
Please complete the attached SER Personnel Table Status Update form as well as the SER IDEA Count Data Status Update form and return to Cindy Delaughter (cindy.delaughter@la.gov) by 5:00 p.m. on October 22, 2012, with the appropriate signatures. These forms provide assurance that you are aware of, and working on these data collections. You may return these forms via email to Cindy Delaughter or via fax to 225.342.1912.
Attachment: IDEA Child Count Data Status Form
Attachment: Personnel Table Status
Remember that the timely return of these forms results in a positive mark for SPP/APR Indicator 20-Timely and Accurate Data.
For questions regarding SER please contact Cindy Delaughter (cindy.delaughter@la.gov) or Susan Kaufman (susan.kaufman@la.gov).
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SIS Free Lunch Direct Certification
The September 30, 2012, SNAP file has been loaded to SIS. Please run your FNS and Direct Certification reports in SIS. Use these to make sure all eligible students have been flagged as Free Lunch eligible in SIS. This must be completed before the close of the OCT 1 MFP Collection on October 30, 2012. Please export the SISF03 Direct Certification Match Extract File and the SISF02 Direct Certification (SNAP list) again for your Food Service staff. The SISF03 file will include both the June 30, 2012, and the September 30, 2012, SNAP data.
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SIS MFP Submissions
Districts should have completed submission of their SIS OCT 1 MFP data. At this point you should focus on running the reports listed in the SIS Reports tree under "MFP Membership Reports" and "Year Round Reports". Please work with your SER coordinator regarding the SIS/SER crosscheck reports. Also, review reports under "504 Record Reports" and "Homeless Reports".
If your district is required to submit Address Record Reports, use the reports under "Address Record Reports to ensure the physical addresses you have submitted are accurate. Descriptions of SIS Reports and Files are found in "Appendix D: SIS Files/Reports" of the SIS User Guide. Data corrections may be made until the close of the collection on October 31, 2012.
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SIS Derivations, Homeless Tracking and Dropout Corrections
SIS Derivations are being run regularly for the 2012 OCT 1 MFP collection. After each derivation data is loaded to the Homeless Tracking System. The 2011 EOY SIS derivation is also being run regularly to update Dropout reports. Dropout Corrections for 2011 continue until January 18, 2013.
For SIS questions contact Annette.Chelette@la.gov
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Additional State Provided Trainings
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VAM Webinar An informational webinar to address concerns around the value-added model will be held on Friday, October 26, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. To participate in the webinar, please follow the instructions below: To join the VAM October 26, 2012 iMeeting: 1. Go to https://ldoe.uc.att.com/la/meet/?ExEventID=YXL8UN&MeetingKey=UK4IKLW8&UserExtEventID=252415 2. Select: Participant Application 3. Dial into the Phone Bridge: (866) 847-7860 4. When prompted, please give the Meeting ID # 1594743 5. You will need to identify yourself in order to be placed into the meeting. |
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Special Education Related Service Tracking System Training Available
Please forward to all Special Education Related Service Providers.
A training webinar and materials have been posted to the Louisiana Department of Education website to assist districts in training their staff in using the Related Service/Medicaid (RSM) Tracking System. The video walks the user through the key components of the RSM system and provides examples of creating student records, entering service encounters and developing reports for accountability purposes. Options in training methods are provided, including a hands-on training site to provide users with real student data and practice. For troubleshooting questions related to the RSM system contact Kathy Wisner, at Kathy.wisner@la.gov; for questions related to medical/health programs and or staff, contact Janice Fruge, at Janice.fruge@la.gov.
The training module can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/93hvkt8.
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Literacy Design Collaborative Training of Trainers Please forward to Teachers and Instructional Coaches from LEAs participating in SRCL and LDC projects. These training of trainers workshops are for teachers and instructional coaches selected by SRCL project directors and district supervisors from districts participating in LDC. As a result of participating in these trainings, districts will have the capacity to scale up LDC to include more teachers in their schools. It is preferred that trainers have one year of LDC implementation experience. Register on Coursewhere at LDC Training of Trainers. November 28, 2012; February 22, 2013; May 10, 2013 Chalmette Elementary School 75 E. Chalmette Circle Chalmette, LA 70043 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sign-in from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. November 30, 2012; February 20, 2013 LA Tech Student Union Center 100 Wisteria Street Ruston, LA 71272 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sign-in from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. May 8, 2013 LA Tech Thomas Assembly Center Waggoner Room 1650 W. Alabama Avenue Ruston, LA 71272 Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sign-in from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. |
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Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) Saturday Teacher Institutes
Please contact your teachers to remind them:
1) that their modules should be written and taught prior to our November 27-28 and 29-30 sessions -- and that they will need to bring students' completed responses to the teaching task to the November sessions.
2) to set up an account on R-Group Space, if they have not already done so, and to contact their R-coach if they have difficulty setting up or navigating the site.
3) to utilize the support of their R-coaches.
Please contribute to this Forum to let us know the status of the above and if you have any questions -- and so that we can support one another with any challenges. For more information, please contact Jill Slack at 225-342-6025 or via email Jill.Slack@la.gov.
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Data-to-Action for SRCL Districts
Please forward to LEAs participating in the SRCL project.
In the Data-to-Action workshops, SRCL subgrantees will use their data to engage in the data-to- action process. Each sub-grantee is invited to bring up to a 12-member team whose roles and responsibilities directly impact literacy instruction from birth through 12th grade, such as the school principal or designee, early childhood director, district instructional supervisors, literacy integration specialists, special education director, lead speech-language pathologist, master teachers, and certified interventionists. Teams should bring the following data, as appropriate, for each school/site in their Literacy Line: Fall benchmarking data for DSC, TELD-3, DIBELS and STEEP and spring 2012 data for LEAP, iLEAP, and EOC. Register on Coursewhere for the workshop date and location that best fits your schedule (Data-to-Action for SRCL Districts).
November 8, 2012
Gladys Higdon Instructional Resource Center
502 Beauregard Street
Alexandria, LA 71301
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
November 16, 2012
St. Charles Professional Learning Center
12727 Highway 90
Luling, LA 70070
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
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Perkins Related Updates - Webinar Invitation Please forward to all CTE Supervisors. In lieu of a face-to-face Fall CTE Supervisors Meeting, the LDOE will host a series of webinars to cover CTE topics for the 2012-2013 academic year. The first webinar will be held on October 30, 2012 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and will focus on the Perkins related topics: Local Application Plans (LAPs), Regional Partnerships, and CATE/DOE Reporting, The webinar will be archived for later viewing, If you have not used AT&T Connect before, go to http://tinyurl.com/ATT-Connect-Download to download and install the participant application before the Event. To join the iMeeting, follow the instructions below: 1. Go to http://tinyurl.com/CTE-Perkins-Webinar a few minutes before the start time. 2. If prompted, enter QUHERP6U 3. Select the participant type: Participant Application (Windows User) or Web Participant (Macintosh User) 4. Select audio options (i.e. computer-based sound or telephone dial-in information). To connect by phone only, follow the directions below. 1. US Toll Free: 1-888-621-7121 2. Enter the Event Number: 391486 NOTE: Dial *6 to mute/un-mute your phone |
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SER/SIS Crosscheck Webinar
A SER/SIS Crosscheck webinar will be held on Thursday, October 18th at 1:30 pm. In this webinar we will discuss the SER/SIS child count crosscheck and the "regular" SER/SIS and SIS/SER crosscheck reports. We will cover the content of the reports as well as when and how to use them.
To register for the webinar, and receive instructions on how to access the webinar, please send an email to Susan.Kaufman@la.gov with the word SERSwebinar in the subject line. You will receive an email with instructions on how to access the webinar. If you do not receive an email, please check your spam or junk E-mail folder before contacting Susan Kaufman or Cindy Delaughter (cindy.delaughter@la.gov) for assistance.
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