Dear Colleagues:

First I want to thank those of you who participated in last week's BESE meetings. As you know, it was a lengthy meeting. The Board took hours of input on a number of issues and made some important adjustments to the state's approach to adopting new expectations for students. At its December meeting, BESE will address issues of elementary and middle school promotion, evaluation, and letter grades. Later in the winter, the Board will consider high school policy. These policies will be aimed at ensuring that as the state makes this transition to competitive standards, we do not humiliate schools, denigrate educators, or punish students in the process.

In keeping with that spirit, the letter grade formula new in 2012-2013 also sought to raise standards while ensuring fairness for schools, students, and educators. The formula focused on important priorities for the state and its schools:

• Raising the academic bar to align with new standards, by awarding points only for performance at basic and above
• Honoring progress among students who have not yet achieved proficiency
• Two-year and four-year access through the Explore, Plan, and ACT series
• College success through advanced coursework and through assessments of college readiness, such as AP and IB

This Thursday the Department will release final school and district letter grades, along with corresponding data. Just as important, the state will release report cards for every school and district, formatted to show clearly how the formula works and what it rewards. The release validates what we set out to do nearly two years ago: raise the bar, see great outcomes for kids in the process, and respect schools in the process. That's a commitment the Department will keep throughout this multi-year transition.

You will receive detail on the scores in your district in advance of the public release. In the meantime, please accept my congratulations for a great year, and my gratitude for your efforts to expand opportunities for Louisiana's kids.

As always, thank you for all you do for our children,

John  

John White

Louisiana Department of Education

Twitter: @LouisianaSupe

BESE Meeting Recap

Last week the Department provided BESE with a detailed presentation about our state's transition to higher standards. After hearing this presentation and comments from over 70 speakers, BESE chose to adopt policies as emergency rules in order to immediately address selection and use of instructional materials, parental review of materials used in the classroom, and the privacy of student information. These policies uphold the ability of local school systems to select instructional materials and resist any curriculum imposed by federal or state government. The policy supports parental notification of texts used in high school English, and it require the use of identification numbers that do not allow for students to be personally identified when state tests are administered beginning in the next school year.

Update on Implementation of Act 151 and Act 291

Acts 151 and 291 of the 2013 Legislative Session addressed the testing of high school students who are not pursuing a high school diploma. The law mandates that a student with a disability who is not pursing a high school diploma shall not be administered any state standardized test unless the Individual Education Plan (IEP) indicates that the assessment is appropriate for the student. As required by IDEA, a student's IEP team determines the most appropriate assessment for a student with a disability and should continue to do so. The Department is consulting with district and special education leaders on the accountability implications of this new legislation. Guidance will be provided in the near future.

Task Force Meeting Schedule

Please see below for a list of dates and times for upcoming task force meetings.