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John White
State Superintendent of Education
877.453.2721
(toll-free)
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LDOE Weekly Newsletter 11/07/2012
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Dear Colleagues,
The successes of the past year show that our schools and educators have risen to meet the challenges laid out for them. Louisiana set out on a mission to make great progress; our educators accomplished the mission.
Still too many of our students do not finish their experience in high school ready to compete in a global economy. Nineteen out of 100 achieve a college degree in a world where some education after high school is necessary for more than half of all jobs. Our kids are competing not with kids in neighboring parishes but with kids in states and nations across the globe.
This is why Louisiana led in the creation and adoption of the Common Core State Standards putting our students on an equal playing field with those across the country. The rigor of these standards represents the next challenge. Another state, Kentucky, received results last week of the first statewide implementation of fully Common Core aligned assessments; as reported in this article, students struggled with the new expectations.
We can expect challenges as well (today's Baton Rouge Advocate describes them very well). The new accountability system is designed to hold schools' letter grades steady if they maintain their current level of performance on tests. But the rigor of Louisiana's tests is increasing. This year, as you know, ELA assessments will include more rigorous writing prompts to reflect Common Core standards. In future years, assessments will change in other subjects also. More guidance on this is forthcoming.
To get a head start on the Common Core 's expectations, the state is also requiring high school students to take the ACT this year. See this Frequently Asked Questions document for detailed information that you can distribute to your educators and parents: FAQ. The ACT's texts align well with the complexity the Common Core will expect our students to be able to read and analyze. A score of 18 or higher also will represent a beacon to all educators, pre-k through 12, of the minimum basic level at which we should expect all students to be educated. And for the first time, because of the ACT series, high school educators will be able to see real growth in college and career readiness data for every student.
To help educators understand better the facts and background on the ACT, please see this FAQ and myths/facts document. It provides key information on the rationale, policies, and impact of the state's ACT initiative. If you have further questions about the ACT in Louisiana, you may also contact Jessica Baghian at Jessica.Baghian@la.gov.
As always, thank you for all you do for our children,
John
John White
Louisiana Department of Education
Twitter @LouisianaSupe
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Superintendents' Confernce Call
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As a follow up to our call Monday, attached is the presentation used during the call.
Attachment: Superintendents' Conference Call Presentation
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Compass Updates
Spotlight on Component 3c: Questioning and Discussion Techniques
As Compass observations are beginning to take place across the state, the Ed-Connect newsletter will include a regular feature on individual components within the Compass Teacher Rubric, along with videos of exemplar performance, to help educators and evaluators become more familiar with the content of the rubric. This week, we'll take a closer look at Component 3c: Questioning and Discussion Techniques. Please see below for the first Compass Spotlight, featured in last week's Ed-Connect:
Effective questioning is instrumental to student success. Oral or written, questions help teachers know the extent to which students are reaching the level of rigor required by the lesson's objective. When questions reveal student misunderstanding, the teacher must adjust instruction such that more students are achieving the objective.
Click here to view a video of Highly Effective teacher performance relative to this component. Click here to view an explanation of the evidence and rationale for the Highly Effective rating.
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HCIS Updates
95% of teacher evaluators are updated in the system
The LDOE has updated HCIS to reflect the 95% of educators that attended Compass training to evaluate teachers. HCIS LEA administrators will receive an email later this week with clear steps on how to add any remaining certified teacher evaluators not currently in HCIS and on how to verify that certified leader evaluators are recognized in the system.
A number of enhancements will be made to HCIS on Friday, November 9, at 4:30 p.m. At this time, HCIS will be temporarily taken down. A message will be posted on the HCIS front page to inform users in advance. These enhancements include:
- Decreasing the number of de-activated accounts, log-in ID characters will be visible and a warning will pop-up if a user enters incorrect log-in information too many times.
- Formatting to print observations, SLTs, and PGPs has been enhanced to reduce paper usage and enhance user friendliness.
- Updating the leader observation rubric to allow for Site Visits.
- Modifying the SLT template in HCIS so that leaders, counselors, librarians, and teachers may all use the same form. This includes specialized subjects for counselors under the Subject drop down menu.
HCIS Help Desk
The HCIS Help Desk is live. Teachers, leaders, and LEA administrators may visit http://tinyurl.com/8tp5ccq for additional support with HCIS.
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Graduation Support Profiles
Please forward to High School Principals and High School Counselors
Within the next few days, the last batch of 2012-13 Graduation Support Profile (GSP) reports, which include empirically-based risk levels for first-time 9th graders at the student level, will be created using the October SIS data. They will only be sent out by request, and if you would like to receive them or have them sent to any high school principal in your LEA, please send a brief email making the request to Josh Posey. If you would like any of the reports sent to a designee (secondary supervisor, data supervisor, etc.), please indicate the designee's name and email address in your request.
Because they contain student-level data, the GSP reports will be sent securely through the LDE's Cisco server, which many have used before. Those who have not yet used this delivery method will receive instructions on creating an account when the reports are emailed to them. Once your account is set up, any secure emails sent to users from the LDE in the future can be opened using this same secure account.
If you have any questions, please contact Josh Posey at Josh.Posey@la.gov
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Course Choice Seeking Professional School Counselors
Please forward to Principals, Counselors, Teachers.
The Louisiana Department of Education Course Choice Program is seeking five contractors with Louisiana professional school counselor credentials to serve as part of the Louisiana Course Choice Counseling Assistance Center. Course Choice is an innovative new program designed to offer Louisiana students an unprecedented collection of high-quality course offerings provided by universities, technical and community colleges, online course providers, business and industry, and educational entrepreneurs. The Program will enable students to enroll in academic, career and technical training courses that will help them obtain post-secondary degrees and secure high-paying 21st Century jobs.
Contractors will be responsible for helping professional school counselors and students successfully participate in the Course Choice Program. A contractor will serve as Course Choice program expert which includes a) developing in-depth knowledge of all course offerings and course providers; b), providing teacher and counselor training and support for implementation of the Course Choice Registration System; c) individual student planning and support; and d) Course Choice program reporting. A description of services is attached.
For more information contact Dr. Ernise S. Singleton at Ernise.Singleton@la.gov or 225.219.0451.
Attachment 1: Course Choice Contractor.pdf
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Louisiana Connect: Individual Graduation Plan (IGP)
Please forward to all Secondary Supervisors, Career and Technical Education Supervisors, Principals, and Counselors
Act 704 requires that "each school guidance counselor employed in a public high school shall complete an academic profile for each student ...using LA ePortal, or any other appropriate web-based student guidance system." The electronic system being used by Counselors is Louisiana Connect. The Counselors have been working diligently to complete Individual Graduation Plans by the January 15, 2013, deadline. However, there have been technical difficulties encountered that have slowed progress toward completion. We are working to resolve all technical issues as quickly as possible. Due to these unforeseen roadblocks, the deadline for completing IGPs in Louisiana Connect has been extended to Thursday, February 28, 2013, for students in grades 9 - 12.
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Assessments and Accountability
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ACT
There are two types of accommodations for ACT. ACT-Approved Accommodations are reviewed and approved by ACT which makes those ACT test scores college reportable. College reportable ACT scores are used for college admissions, college scholarships, and college athletics. The second type of accommodations is State-Allowed Accommodations. Parents must be clearly informed that State-Allowed Accommodations are not college reportable which means the ACT score may not be used for college admissions, college scholarships, and college athletics. For more information about ACT-Approved Accommodations and State-Allowed Accommodations, refer to the ACT Website http://act.org/aap/louisiana/act.html, click on ACT, and then Accommodations.
All documentation for ACT-Approved Accommodations MUST be received by ACT by Friday, December 14. School counselors at the high schools have conducted this process for years and know the process. The person completing the documentation should begin with grade 11. When the district has been supplied the names of seniors who have never taken ACT, the approval process should move to that group of seniors. If the district has opted to test some or all of the seniors who have taken the ACT, that list of names should also be reviewed for accommodations.
Students whose exit documents are certificates of achievement or other nondiploma pathways will probably elect to use State-Allowed Accommodations since they most likely do not plan to attend college. Students who are limited English proficient (LEP) are not eligible for ACT-Approved Accommodations and may only receive State-Allowed Accommodations. In addition, students whose ACT-Approved Accommodations are not approved may elect to test with State-Allowed Accommodations.
Two additional documents are attached. The first one is an ACT LA Accommodations Summary Table which describes the types of accommodations and deadlines. The second form is a Request for State-Allowed Accommodations for the ACT Testing which must be completed, signed by the parent, and filed in the student's cumulative record for all students taking the ACT with State-Allowed Accommodations. All questions about ACT accommodations should be sent directly to ACT at 1-800-553-6244, extension 1788, or via web: http://act.org/aap/state/contact.html.
Attachment 1: ACT LA Accommodations Summary Table
Attachment 2: Request for State-Allowed Accommodations for the ACT Testing
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Bullying Prevention in Louisiana Schools
Please forward to LEA School Superintendents and Charter Schools Governing Authorities.
New regulations for the implementation of Act 861 of the 2012 Legislative Session on Bullying Prevention were approved by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) as a Notice of Intent at the October Board meeting. BESE also approved a Bullying Report Form and a Bullying Investigation Form that districts are to use to document their efforts. The new forms are attached and will be available for download on the Department of Education's website.
In addition, the Louisiana Department of Education developed A Bullying Prevention Toolkit containing other resources that districts may use to address bullying. A link to these resources will be provided in a future newsletter. For further information or questions regarding the new bullying regulations, contact Robert Schaff at Robert.Schaff@la.gov or Lillie Burns at Lillie.Burns@la.gov at 225-342-3338.
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Act 1 - Compensation
If you were unable to attend one of the Act 1 Compensation workshops, the LDOE materials - including two, customizable, Act 1-compliant compensation models - can be found here. If your district needs ongoing support or individual consultation, please contact act1@la.gov. If you have any questions, please contact Gary Jones at gary.jones@la.gov.
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Professional Improvement Program (PIP) Invoice Processing
Please forward to Human Resource Directors and Payroll Analysts of Local Public and Charter School Systems.
In an effort to ensure accurancy of Professional Improvement Program (PIP) payments, school systems are required to provide yearly verification of their active enrollment and payments for eligible PIP participants. Notification of FY 2012-2013 PIP Rosters and Invoices were sent to all LEAs on October 15, 2012.
The deadline for submittal of the Invoice and Transaction Update Form, along with any applicable activity reporting forms, is Wednesday, November 14, 2012.
For assistance with this reporting, please contact Vondrica Alexander at (225) 342-1871 or via email at vondrica.alexander@la.gov.
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Nonpublic Textbook and Textbook Administration Program
Please forward to City/Parish School System Business Manager.
Please see the attached memo regarding the FY 2012-2013 Nonpublic Textbook and Textbook Administration Program Funding. The Nonpublic Textbook and Textbook Administration Program provides financial assistance for nondiscriminatory, state approved nonpublic schools to provide school children with textbooks, library books and other materials of instruction and to assist in the administrative costs associated with the program.
At this time, LEAs should contact awarded nonpublic schools to provide guidance on the process for submitting their orders against these funds. Orders for textbooks must be delivered to/and received by the eligible nonpublic school during the period of July 1, 2012 to June 30, 2013, in order to be eligible for reimbursement. The deadline for submitting nonpublic textbook reimbursement requests is July 15, 2013.
Approved Grant Award Notifications for this program are posted in The Grant Award System (GAP) http://www.louisianaschools.net/divisions/edfn/gap.html.
Should you have questions regarding this funding, please contact Vondrica Alexander at (225) 342-1871 or via email at vondrica.alexander@la.gov.
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SIS Closing
Please forward to all SIS Coordinators
The SIS Oct 1 MFP data collection is closed. Please complete the Statement of Affirmation form and return to Audit as soon as possible. The form is posted on Blackboard. Run and save electronic copies of all of your MFP reports and files for later reference.
Please forward to all SPS, CUR, SIS and PEP coordinators.
After you submit your Calendar to OCT 1 LEADS as well as your CUR (Curriculum) data, you may then begin submitting your SIS and PEP data. It is very important to make sure your OCT 1 LEADS data is correct. This collection creates the link between the Teacher data, Student data and Class data. The bulk of your Student, Teacher and Class data needs to be submitted by Nov. 16. As you know, the reports are very involved for this collection and you must have adequate time to make corrections.
For SPC, CUR and SIS questions contact Annette.Chelette@la.gov
For PEP, CUR, and Blackboard questions contact Dwayne.Fontenot@la.gov
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Additional State Provided Trainings
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SRCL and LDC Districts and SRCL Network Coaches
Please forward to Middle and High School ELA, Science, and Social Studies Teachers; Instructional Coaches; District and School Administrators, and Network Coaches participating in the Literacy Design Collaborative and SRCL.
These follow-up LDC trainings are designed for middle and high school ELA, science, and social studies teachers; instructional coaches; district and school administrators, and network coaches participating in the Literacy Design Collaborative and SRCL who attended the initial LDC training. Participants will learn to embed Common Core Literacy Standards into content area instruction using tools created by Literacy Design Collaborative. Participants should register on Coursewhere at LDC Follow-up Training Sessions.
November 29-30, 2012
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.
November 27-28, 2012
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.
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SRCL Subgrantees and SRCL Network Coaches 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, spring 2012 data for LEAP, iLEAP, and EOC, and Instructional Visit Checklist (IVC) data, if available. 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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