| LDOE Contacts | |
John White
State Superintendent of Education
877.453.2721
(toll-free)
|
|
|
|
LDOE Weekly Newsletter 10/23/2012
|
|
Dear Colleagues:
Congratulations on your success announced in yesterday's press release. Three-quarters of Louisiana Public schools demonstrated growth last year, which is a testimony to the extraordinary efforts of our educators and students. To read more about our state's accomplishments click on the presentation outline here. These successes demonstrate the power of strong teaching. Studies show high performing teachers can add tremendous academic value to our children. This is why our legislators passed ACT 1 during the 2012 legislative session, which allows principals and superintendents to decide who best to educate our kids-and to allow these decisions to be based on teacher performance.
The first such opportunity for principals and superintendents comes as a result of reductions in force. We were pleased last week to announce nearly all school systems in the state have changed their policy to use classroom performance rather than seniority for layoffs. Another such decision is the compensation of our educators. Through compensation we can help to solve our school systems' most pressing human capital challenges, beginning with filling teacher vacancies to retaining our highest performing teachers. These are challenges all schools face and changes in the way we pay teachers can help to solve these issues. No two districts are alike. No compensation system should therefore be the same as the next. But if we use our compensation scales to solve our most persisting human resource problems, we will take a large step in helping students.
This week the LDOE started a series of workshops to assist and support district leaders as they adjust to their compensation systems. You can find a schedule of workshops here. At the workshop, staff will provide you with tools and templates that you can use to start this process. Salaries and compensation scales are to be adjusted by January 1, 2013. As always we wish to support you throughout the process and you should never hesitate to contact Gary Jones at gary.jones@la.gov .
As always, thank you for all you do for our children.
John
John White
Louisiana Department of Education
Twitter @LouisianaSupe |
|
Assessments and Accountability
|
|
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 must now 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. |
|
Appeal Waiver Request
Please forward to Superintendents and Accountability Contacts.
Districts or charter operators who want to file an appeal of the SPS scores released on Monday, October 22, have until 5 p.m. November 15 to complete the Appeal/Waiver Request Form and return it to Jennifer Baird. Please see the form for information and directions related to appeals/waivers and return procedures. Data corrections that should have been submitted during the data certification process cannot be used for appeals. If you have any questions, contact Thelma Bibbs at 225.219.7512 or John Bishop at 225.342.3512.
Attachment: Appeal Waiver Request Form
|
|
Policies Approved by BESE as Notices of Intent
Summaries of policies that the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) approved as Notices of Intent at its meeting on October 17, 2012 are provided here.
|
|
|
HCIS Updates:
- The HCIS Help Desk is now live! The help desk will provide immediate solutions to most commonly experienced problems and will alert HCIS staff at the Louisiana Department of Education of any issues you have been unable to resolve. The HCIS staff will then respond to you with a solution or to discuss the details of your problem within one business day.
- Recently, some users were experiencing problems with logging in due to an error that occurs if they used special characters in their log-in ID, such as #, ^, or %. If a user has created a log-in ID with special characters, they should reset their log-in information via the I forgot my code button on the log-in screen.
- If as user deactivates their account due to repeated attempts to log-in with incorrect information, a message will now appear informing the user to contact their LEA Administrator. The message will also provide a link to all LEA Administrators/Super Users organized by LEA.
- A link been placed on the front page of the HCIS for the HCIS webpage! This feature will direct users to the resources they need more quickly.
- The Reports object tab is now functional! Employees are able to generate reports on their evaluation data, and observers, evaluators, supervisors, and LEA admins are now able to generate reports on the data for those employees for whom they are responsible. For LEA administrators, this includes a report to aggregately track the progress their employees have made through the Compass process on a system-wide level.
|
|
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:
* This week, the LDOE released materials - including two, customizable, Act 1-compliant compensation models - to guide and support districts' work. These materials can be found at the following link: http://www.louisianaschools.net/topics/act1_talent_statute.html.
* The LDOE has also been facilitating six Act 1 Compensation workshops across the state this week. If your district was unable to attend one of these workshops but needs ongoing support or individual consultation, that is available by contacting act1@la.gov.
If you have any questions, please contact Gary Jones at gary.jones@la.gov.
|
|
Updates on Act 3 - Louisiana Early Childhood Education Act of 2012
Please forward to Early Childhood Supervisors of LA 4, Title I, 8(g), Early Childhood Special Education and NSECD Programs.
In 2012, the Louisiana Legislature enacted the Early Childhood Education Act (Act 3) which directs the Department of Education in collaboration with the Departments of Children and Family Services and Health and Hospitals to create an Early Care and Education Network. The goal for this Network is to improve the quality of publicly funded early childhood programs in an effort to ensure that children participating in these programs are ready to enter Kindergarten academically and socially prepared.
The attached document provides an overview of Act 3 as well as information on what the Early Care and Education Network will be designed to do. It will be important for those administering publicly funded early childhood programs to keep abreast of the progress toward implementing this significant piece of legislation.
The Act 3 legislation requires that the plan for implementing the Early Care and Education Network be reviewed by major stakeholder groups which will have opportunities to provide feedback prior to BESE approval. Your input in this process is invaluable, and we would like to invite you to attend the BrightStart Advisory Council meeting to be held on October 30, 2012, at 3:30 p.m. in the Claiborne Building (1-136 A and B). Superintendent White will present the plan for Act 3. A survey link will be provided at the meeting to provide additional feedback.
If you have any questions or need additional information on Act 3, please contact the Early Childhood Section at 225-342-3647.
Attachment: Education Act Update
|
|
FY2012-13 MFP Budget Letter (October 2012)
Please forward to Superintendents, Business Managers and Financial Officials of City/Parish Public School Districts.
The October Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) Budget Letter contains revised payment amounts for the city/parish school districts. The first quarter Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence (SSEEP) payments were applied to the September 2012 MFP payment amounts. Since the Scholarship payments are on a quarterly basis, the October and November payments have been revised so that the quarterly SSEEP payments are not included. The second quarter SSEEP payments will be included in the December 2012 payments.
The following MFP Budget Letter documents are attached:
Circular 1148-B: October 2012 MFP Payment Amounts
Table 2: MFP Allocation and Adjustments
Table 2A-1: MFP Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Payments (Annual)
Table 2A-2: MFP Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Payments (Monthly)
|
|
Data Validation of Students Participating in Choice Programs
Over the last week, the Department has received questions about payment amounts and data verification related to both the new statewide Louisiana Scholarship Program and to other choice programs that require each student to be counted in the LEA MFP student membership as seen in the MFP Budget Letter. We would like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the most frequent questions we have received on these issues. Please see the attached memo to help with some of your questions.
|
|
IDEA Child Count
The IDEA Child Count will be taken on Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at noon. Students must have a current evaluation, a current IEP (initial or review only-interim IEPs do not count) and be receiving services as of the count date (October 1st) in order to be counted. Preliminary Child Counts are generated nightly. Reports can be run each morning in order to verify data.
Be sure to run and verify the following reports:
- IDEA Summary and Listing to verify that the students are assigned to the correct teacher
- FAPE Summary, Listing and Not Counted - this report should be blank. Remember, FAPE and IDEA counts should be equal.Remember, this is used in the APR Determination process.
- FED Eval Summary and Listing. In reviewing the summary page, there should be no public school students with services plans. Remember, this is used in the APR Determination process.
- General Reports:
- Duplicate Students
- LAA1/LAA2 Report (to verify test)
- Open Jurisdiction
- SER/SIS Child Count Crosscheck (this report must be blank)
- Personnel Table 2 (detail and summary)
Attached is a document that gives information about the Counted and Not Counted Reports and Personnel Table 2. The documents are also posted on Blackboard in the "training demonstrations/documents" section of SER.
There are NO Extensions allowed for IDEA count or Personnel Table 2 data from SER. Make sure you are reviewing your reports and contacting Susan or Cindy if you have questions. Do not wait until the last days to ask for technical assistance.
Attachment: Working Not Counted
|
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. 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) Attachments: IDEA Child Count Data Status Form and Personnel Table Status |
|
SIS Free Lunch Direct Certification
Continue to run the SISR43 NOT Flagged as Free Lunch Roster report daily. Currently there are 10,000 students statewide who need to be flagged as Free Lunch eligible based on Direct Certification in SIS. This must be completed before the close of the OCT 1 MFP Collection on October 31, 2012.
The September 30, 2012, SNAP file has been loaded in SIS. Please run your FNS and Direct Certification reports in SIS. 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 06/30/12 and the 09/30/2012 SNAP data.
|
|
SIS MFP Submissions
Districts should have completed submission of their SIS OCT 1 MFP data. 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.
|
|
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 at Annette.Chelette@la.gov
|
|
Additional State Provided Trainings
|
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. |
|
End-of-Course (EOC) Tests Webinar: Preparing for the December 2012 EOC Administration
Please forward to District Test Coordinators and District Technology Coordinators.
In preparation for the upcoming December 2012 EOC Administration, district coordinators are invited to attend a webinar on the EOC Tests program, October 29, 2012, from 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Topics include:
* Assessment Administration
* December 2012 Registration
* Technology Updates and Help Desk Support
To join the meeting, please see the attached webinar instructions. If additional information is needed, contact Dana Maxie at 225-219-4533 (Dana.Maxie@la.gov).
Attachment 1: Instructions_for_Joining_EOCTests_Webinar.10.29.2012.pdf
|
|
SER Webinar
On Wednesday October 24, 2012, at 1:30 p.m. a webinar will be conducted for Personnel Table Report Training.
To register for the webinar, send an email to Susan Kaufman at susan.kaufman@la.gov with "SERSwebinar" in the subject line. You will receive instructions on entering the webinar. If you do not receive and email, please contact Susan Kaufman or Cindy Delaughter (cindy.delaughter@la.gov) for webinar information.
Attached is the Working Personnel Reports help document. Please review this document prior to the webinar.
Attachment:Working Personnel Reports
|
2012-2013 LASARD "Free" online Workgroups Please forwad to Special Education Supervisors, Principals, Counselors, Teachers, Para-Educators, and Related Service Providers. The Louisiana Autism Spectrum and Related Disabilities (LASARD) project will provide its next online workgroup titled, "Supporting Social Interactions" on Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 1:00 p.m. By definition of the diagnosis, students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have difficulty with social interactions. Participants in this workgroup will learn how to assess social interaction skills. The workgroup will discuss specific evidence-based practices to support the social interaction of students with ASD across the grade span. This workgroup is for teachers (both in general education and special education), administrators, and other educational team members. Registration information is located online at LASARD Workgroup Schedule. For more information, contact Robyn Hargrave at Robyn.Hargrave@la.gov. |
|
|
