Dear Colleagues:

As we raise expectations to a time when schools must have a college-ready average to achieve an "A" rating, it is critical that we not denigrate educators, humiliate schools, or punish students. Instead, we will provide educators, students, and parents time to learn the new expectations over the next two years. 

The policies that allow us to do this, passed at BESE last week, are varied and detailed. Below you will find both a one-page document describing each policy, as well as times and dates for webinars during which Department staff will explain the policies in depth. I hope teachers, administrators, and central office staff will be able to join, so that all can be informed and can make plans accordingly. 

• Student promotion
• 4th grade document 
• Transitional 9th grade document
• Webinar information below: 
• When: Wednesday, December 18th from 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
• Click here to join by computer
• To connect by phone dial 877-336-1829 and enter access code 9725937# when prompted.  

• Educator evaluation
• Compass transition document
• Webinar information below: 
• When: Wednesday, December 18th from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
• Click here to join by computer
• To connect by phone dial 877-336-1829 and enter access code 9725937# when prompted. 

• School and district accountability
• Accountability during transition document
• Webinar information below:
• When: Wednesday, December 18th from 9:00 am - 10:00 am
• Click here to join by computer
• To connect by phone dial 877-336-1829 and enter access code 9725937# when prompted.  

In the weeks to come, our team will turn its attention toward finalizing high school transition policy. While there will be no change in high school statewide tests - BESE confirmed this last week -- for some time the Department and BESE have been examining the Career Diploma, accountability points for career outcomes, and funding the career education system. I look forward to proposing changes that seek to end the stigma that for too long has worked against career education in our state and country, and to offering greater economic opportunity to graduates seeking a different path to the middle class.

John  

John White

Louisiana Department of Education

Twitter: @LouisianaSupe

On Monday, December 9, the Department released a Request for Applications (RFA) to identify Cohort 2 Community Network Pilots. The RFA is posted here. The state is seeking communities of early childhood providers who are ready and willing to accept the challenge to lead the expansion of the Act 3 Early Care and Education Network. The new Community Network Pilots (Cohort 2) will be announced in March 2014 and will: 

• Train teachers and leaders to use Louisiana's new Birth to Five Early Learning and Development Standards, CLASS, and Teaching Strategies GOLD;
• Use CLASS and Teaching Strategies GOLD to drive ongoing system improvement; receive and make public a quality rating;
• Identify all at-risk infant-to-age-five children in the community attending or in need of publicly-funded care and education services; identify and plan to address service gaps;
• Plan to serve all eligible four-year-olds by July 1, 2015; and
• Use a common enrollment process for all programs starting with four-year-olds for fall 2015.

LDC and MDC Orientation Meetings

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Math Design Collaborative (MDC) are frameworks for preparing students for college and career. Both frameworks support middle and high school teachers through the behaviors outlined in the Teacher Support Toolbox.

Currently, 32 districts participate in the LDC and 15 in the MDC. The Department plans to provide an opportunity for new districts to participate in these initiatives for the 2014-2015 school year. In preparation for this expansion, the Department will host three regional Orientation Sessions on January 14-16 to provide an overview of each framework. These sessions are meant to help participants understand what LDC and MDC are and if they want to participate. Newly interested districts are encouraged to send a team comprised of a central office leader, principal(s), and teacher leader(s). You can register here on Coursewhere. 

Please contact jill.slack@la.gov with questions.

The application process for the Louisiana Teacher and Principal of the Year is now open. Districts may nominate up to three candidates, one per division, for both Teacher and Principal of the Year. For more information on this year's selection process, click here. Application materials are available here and should be submitted to excellenteducators@la.gov by 5:00 pm on January 17, 2014.

CSPR Part II Data Collection for Title I, Part A and Part D

The Louisiana Department of Education must report in the Consolidated State Performance Report (CSPR) its progress and compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.Additionally, LEAs must submit student and staff data for Title I, Part A and Title I, Part D. Title I directors/security coordinators can enter the data for the 2012-2013 school year at this link. The deadline for entering data is January 27, 2013.

If any additional information is required, please contact your NCLB point of contact (POC) for further assistance.

Graduation Support Profiles

To identify and intervene with first-time 9th graders at-risk of dropping out, 2013-2014 Graduation Support Profiles have been generated based on data entered into SIS.  The last group of reports have been placed on the Department's FTP site.  SIS coordinators please provide to superintendents to distribute.  As in prior years, these reports apply statistical analyses of recent statewide cohorts to each student's 8th-grade achievement and demographic data.  

If you have any questions, please email Sherry.Randall@la.gov.

Data Coordinator's Webinar

To stay informed of the latest changes, due dates, and relevant information on the core data systems, please join us for the next data coordinator's webinar on December 11th at 2:00pm. Please see the INSIGHT Coordinator Portal for participation instructions and agenda. 

Please e-mail Rebecca.Lamury@la.gov if you have questions.

Official Transcripts System (OTS)

Please forward to Official Transcript System (OTS) users, Student Transcripts System (STS) users, and IT security coordinators. To install the latest version (V13) of OnBase software to support OTS more efficiently, we will shut down the OTS starting at 7:30 am on December 21st. During this OTS downtime period, no high school graduate transcript will be generated from the STS. However STS should be functioning as usual and will be available for use.

After the OnBase software is upgraded all OTS users must login the LEADS Application Portal to download the Hyland ActiveX Control software and install it on their computers to be able to access OTS and retrieve transcripts. Please click here to open the OnBase Web Client Setup and Access OTS Instructions for reference.