Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter View our videos on YouTube                                                                 January 22, 2014

Superintendent's Message

Dear Colleagues:

 

Louisiana is rich with natural resources. From gulf shores to piney woods, and along every mile of the Mis�sissippi River, our state teems with opportunity for our people to enjoy prosperous lives.

 

While most Louisiana jobs do not require a four-year college degree, the majority of them require education beyond high school. For years, however, an unfortunate stigma has often discouraged parents and students from pursuing career and technical education. What's more, for those students choosing career courses, too few have the option to study Louisiana's high-growth, high-wage careers. If we are to offer more Louisiana graduates a path to the middle class, we must overcome both this discouraging stigma and all barriers to career coursework and credentials.

 

Tonight I am launching the final of four statewide tours focused on career education. In these final meetings, we will discuss a policy draft for Jump Start, the state's new program for school districts, colleges, and businesses to collaborate in providing career courses and workplace experiences to high school students, certifying them for the career fields most likely to lead to high- wage jobs. 

 

Jump Start will be an elective path for students pursuing a university-preparatory diploma, while it will be a required path, after a transition period, for students pursuing a Career Diploma. While in high school, participating students will be provided more time in the school day and school year to achieve industry certificates or college credentials in addition to their high school diplomas. These credentials will qualify graduates to continue their studies after high school or to launch a career upon graduating. 

 

At the meetings this week and next week, we will discuss an overview of the program, called the Blueprint, as well as a set of detailed appendices on the specific policies entailed in the program. You can find the Blueprint and appendices that cover school accountability, graduation policy, and Jump Start program requirements on this page. I hope you'll take time to review them and to share your thoughts as part of this final public comment process. 

 

You can of course just call or email me your ideas. Alternately, you and your staff can email [email protected] with any comments, questions, or suggestions.

 

Opportunity is growing in Louisiana. Among our responsibilities as educators is to make every opportunity in our state one our sons and daughters understand and can attain. I look forward to seeing you on the road 

 

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

 

 

John  

 

John White

Louisiana Department of Education

Twitter: @LouisianaSupe 

In This Issue:

District Planning 2014-2015

District Planning Calls

 

The Department is hosting a set of District Planning calls that will address topics related to curriculum, assessment, technology readiness, and fiscal planning. 

 

Computer-Based Field Test Class Selection Instructions

 

Please forward to district test coordinators / PARCC contact and district SIS coordinators. In order to pre-populate the field test forms with your students' names, please select the classrooms that will be participating.

  • Click here for instructions.
  • Download the two Excel spreadsheets needed here and here.

We will match this file with your spring teacher and student roster data (Spring Roster File), which is due February 10, to populate the field test online testing system with your class and student data. More information is available for the Spring Roster File upload below.

 

For questions on accessing these documents, please email [email protected].
Assessment

 

Webinars on Test Security & Accommodations and LEAP, iLEAP, & LAA2 Test Administration

 

District Test Coordinators are invited to attend the Spring Test Security and Accommodations webinar on January 28, 2014 from 10:00-11:00 and the Spring LEAP, iLEAP, and LAA2 Test Administration webinar on January 29, 2014 from 10:00-11:00. Topics include student participation, assessment content, design, accommodations, scoring, and reporting. For optimal results, click here to install the AT&T Connect application prior to the scheduled event.

 

Webinar information below:

  • When: Tuesday, January 28 from 10:00 am - 11:00 am and Wednesday, January 29 from 10:00 am - 11:00 am
  • Click here to log in / Meeting Key (if prompted): 4762356#
  • To connect by phone, dial 877-336-1831 

ACT Test Administrator Q&A

 

ACT Test Supervisors, Test Accommodations Coordinators, and Test Administrators are invited to attend live a question and answer session on January 30, 2014 or February 4, 2014 from 10:00-11:00. Registration information is available via email from ACT.

 

Hands-on Training for End-of-Course Exams

 

School Test Coordinators and EOC Test Administrators are invited to attend one half-day hands-on training session for new users of the EOC test system on at one of the following locations.  

 

  • February 4 - Ouachita Parish
  • February 5 - Rapides Parish
  • February 6 - Ascension Parish 

 

Topics include student participation, assessment content, design, accommodations, scoring, and reporting. Registration is available on Coursewhere.

Finance

 

Education Excellence Funds

 

The Joint (House and Senate) Education Committee approved the FY 2013-2014 Education Excellence Funds Expenditure Plans on Wednesday, January 15, 2014.  Funding requested from the "regular accounts" will be released on Thursday, January 23, 2014. The Treasurer's Office has been notified of the requests from the "investment accounts" and will communicate the procedures for this funding release with the respective districts individually. Approved plans can be found on the Department's website, here.

 

If you have questions, please reach out to your NCLB Point-of-Contact.

 

The Cecil J. Picard LA4 Early Childhood Program

 

Please forward to district coordinators for the LA4 Program, business managers and financial officials of public school districts and charter schools.

 

Below are the revised allocations to the FY 2013-14 Cecil J. Picard LA4 Early Childhood Program:

Please complete and submit the attached budget revision documents to reflect your revised allocations no later than Friday, February 7, 2014 to [email protected]. Revised grant award notifications are available in the Grant Award Program (GAP) system. Should you have questions regarding this information, please contact [email protected]. 

District Support

 

Outstanding School Support Employee Awards Nominations

 

The Outstanding School Support Employee Awards Program provides an opportunity to honor an outstanding employee at the elementary, middle/junior high and high school levels who supports and provides leadership in the operation of non-instructional activities within the school year. The 2014 Outstanding School Support Employee Awards Program application is now available. Please find the application here. The deadline to submit nominations is April 9, 2014. Please send any questions about the program to [email protected].
 

Louisiana School Health Profiles

 

Please forward to principals and lead health education teachers. The Department in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is conducting the 2014 School Health Profiles survey at Louisiana's middle school and high schools to provide information on current school health polices and program activities. The Department is requesting that school principals and lead health education teachers in public and charter schools with any grades 6 through 12, including schools that contain only grade 6, participate in the survey. The survey is not applicable for elementary schools and for combination schools that educates only students in grades K-6. 

 

Please click the links below to access the applicable survey:

If you have questions or need additional information, please contact [email protected] or call the the Department's toll free number 1-877-453-2721. 

 

Guidance on the Implementation of Act 151 and 291 for Students with Disabilities

 

The Louisiana Department of Education hosted a webinar on Monday, January 13 to provide an overview of Act 151 and 291, its impact on students with disabilities, the potential changes to their IEPs and resulting SER changes.  Additionally, LDOE provided specific timelines for IEP teams to make the necessary changes to students' IEPs.  Changes to SER are scheduled to be available early February.  To view the PowerPoint click here. Upcoming resources will be released over the next few weeks and will include the Act 151 FAQ and Non-diploma checklist.

 

If you have questions or need additional information, contact your IDEA point of contact.

Policy

 

Upcoming Task Force and Commission Meetings 

 

 

Meeting:

When/Where:

 

Agriculture Task Force

January 23, 2014

10:00 am - 12:00 noon

Senate Committee Room A, Ground Floor, State Capitol

 

Accountability Commission

January 27, 2014

1:00pm

North Dakota Room (1-155)

Claiborne Building  

 

Special Education Advisory Panel

February 11, 2014

9:00am

North Dakota Room (1-155)

Claiborne Building

 

Accountability Commission

February 18, 2014

1:00pm

North Dakota Room (1-155)

Claiborne Building  


 

Data

 

Spring Roster File

 

Please submit student-level rosters for grades three through twelve, all tested grades and subjects, to the Data Management FTP site by February 10th.  This file will be used to pregrid the PARCC Computer-Based field test (CBT) and EOC tests.  Please click here for the file layout or visit the Insight portal.  Contact [email protected] with any file layout questions, and [email protected] or [email protected] for FTP assistance.  

Education In the News

 

Louisiana gets top rank in education review

 

Politics versus education


School aid changes clear BESE

  

Louisiana school voucher enrollment opens for fall 2014 

LDOE Contacts
John White
State Superintendent of Education
(toll-free) 877.453.2721 
Twitter @LouisianaSupe

LDOE Links

LDOE Website

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