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Superintendent's Message
Dear Colleagues:
Yesterday BESE President Chas Roemer and I had the privilege of briefing the House of Representatives Education Committee on the Common Core State Standards and on the state's transition to the new expectations. It was a valuable discussion for us, as it reflected viewpoints from across the state.
In the discussion, I committed that the Department will provide BESE, as we have committed for several months, final transition policy at its December meeting on issues such as elementary and middle school testing and letter grade accountability. I also committed that at the December meeting the Department will propose transition policy on teacher and administrator evaluation, student promotion, and classroom technology. In each case, the policies proposed will have come after months of engagement with parents, teachers, administrators, and students alike. And if there is one thing I have taken from those discussions, it is that we must be careful not to denigrate educators, humiliate schools, or punish students as we raise expectations.
At yesterday's meeting, we also discussed the PARCC assessment to be administered starting in 2015 in grades 3-8, and its implications for particular student populations. It is critical that in adopting a new test we be sure to protect our most vulnerable learners. To help you understand plans for ensuring we do that, PARCC has produced a number of short guides, including a guide to special education accommodations and a guide to English Language Learner considerations. I hope the guides prove helpful to your understanding of what we can expect for our children on the new assessments.
So many of you continue to provide our team and me with ideas as to how we can make this transition one that works for our kids. Louisiana's students are just as smart and capable as any in America, and I thank you for seeing the value of letting them show it, just as I thank you for working with us to tackle the daily and difficult issues that arise from change.
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' Conference Call
You are invited to participate in the Superintendents' Conference Call hosted by State Superintendent John White on Wednesday, November 13, at 1:00 pm. You may begin dialing into the call 15 minutes in advance. Please follow the instructions below to join the Superintendents' November 13, 2013 Meeting:
- Click here to log in
- Select: Participant Application
- When prompted, enter the Meeting Access Code: 9725937#
- Dial into the Phone Bridge: (866) 814-1914 (Use this phone bridge only; do not use the AT&T phone bridge listed on the link above.)
- When prompted, please give the Meeting ID #: 1626616
- You will need to identify yourself in order to be placed into the meeting.
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Classroom Toolbox Update
This week, the Department is sharing additional updates to the classroom support toolbox. These resources include additional planning and assessment tools in addition to tools to help teachers and districts use the latest letter grade information.
- Middle School Accelerated Math Plans:The Department is sharing threedifferent scope and sequence models of middle school accelerated math instruction. Find these yearlong scope and sequence models in our library here.
- Eagle Items: More than 700 new items will be uploaded into Eagle by this Friday.
- EOC Sample items: Sample test items are now available for algebra I, biology, US history and geometry.
- State Letter Grade Release: Educators can analyze their letter grade results, including all the specific components that go into the letter grade calculation, using the released spreadsheets and school report cards. Additional information is also available in this FAQ and fact sheet regarding bonus points.
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District Support
2015 Teacher and Principal of the Year Applications Released
The application for Louisiana's next teacher and principal of the year are now available. Annually, the Department, in partnership with Dream Teachers and the Louisiana Association of Principals, honors the state's most exceptional educators through the Teacher and Principal of the Year program. The program honors teachers and leaders who ensure that students meet rigorous, Common Core State Standards-aligned goals and use the Compass process to continuously improve instructional and leadership practice.
Districts may nominate up to three candidates, one per division, for both Teacher and Principal of the Year. Application materials are now available here and should be submitted to excellenteducators@la.gov by 5:00 pm on January 17, 2013.
District Teacher/Principal of the Year coordinators are invited to join a webinar on Thursday, November 7 from 3:30 pm-4:30 pm to review this year's process. Click here to access the webinar.
Please send any questions to excellenteducators@la.gov.
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Assessment
December 2013 EOC Administration Please forward to district test coordinators and district technology coordinators. - Registration: November 11−22, 2013
- Testing Window: December 2−18, 2013
Algebra I, English II, geometry, biology, English III, and U.S. history EOC tests will be administered in the December 2013 test window. Please see the resources below to help prepare for the online administration.
Test Security Webinar Cancelled
Please forward to district test coordinators and school test coordinators. The test security webinar scheduled for Wednesday, November 6, 2013 has been cancelled. This webinar will be rescheduled for a future date. Key date documents for district test coordinators have been updated to reflect this change.
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Student Programs
Global Positioning System Tracking Devices in Public Schools
Please be aware that the deadline to complete the survey has changed to November 12, 2013. House Concurrent Resolution 128 of the 2013 Legislative Session asked the Department to study issues related to the possession by students of Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking devices at school and on school buses. As part of the study, the Louisiana Department of Education is surveying local education agencies to determine if they have policies that allow or prohibit the possession of GPS devices by students. Please complete the survey found at this link by November 12, 2013. We appreciate your participation as we study this important issue. If you have any questions or comments, please email lillie.burns@la.gov.
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Data
Data Coordinator Webinar
Please forward to all data coordinators. The monthly Data Coordinator's Webinar will take place on Wednesday, November 6, at 2:00. Participation instructions are now posted on Data Coordinator Portal in Insight. There will be items of particular importance to all Coordinators (SIS, STS, PEP, and SER).
If there are any questions, please e-mail kim.nesmith@la.gov
LEADS, INSIGHT Portals and eGMS Scheduled Maintenance
All applications available from the LEADS Portal and INSIGHT Portal as well as eGMS will be down on Wednesday, November 6th, from 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm, for normal monthly production server maintenance.
Additionally, beginning at 5:00 pm on Friday, November 8th, the following systems will be unavailable while the servers housing their data are being updated. By the afternoon of Saturday, November 9th, we hope to have everything up and running. We will post notices on the LEADS portal and the Insight portal indicating the status of the systems.
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Main Systems
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Federal Programs Systems
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Curriculum
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CUR
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Title I, Part A
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TIA
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LEADS
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LIQ, LRS
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Title I, Part D
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TID
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Louisiana Educational Data Repository
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LEDRS
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Title I, School Improvement
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TIS
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Non-Public Schools
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NPS
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Transportation Ridership Survey
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TRS
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Official Transcript System
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OTS
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Profile Of Educational Personnel
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PEP
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School Calendar System
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SPC
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Special Education Records
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SER
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Sponsor-Site
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SPS
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Survey Administration System
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SRA
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Survey System
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SRV
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Student Information System
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SIS
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Student Transcript System
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STS
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Financial Systems
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Teacher Systems
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Annual Financial Report
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AFR
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Curriculum Verification and Results Reporting Portal
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CVR
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Grants Award Program
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GAP
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Compass Information System
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CIS
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Teacher Assessment Program
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TAP
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Teacher Certification Management
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TCM
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Teach Louisiana
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TEACH
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Louisiana Textbook System
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LTS
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Prekindergarten Student Performance Checklist
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PKP
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Technology Proficiency Assessment
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TPA
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November 5, 2013
