SDE: Leadership Post newsletter for all OK school administrators

OK State Dept of Ed sent this bulletin at 01/24/2013 01:15 PM CST

TLE Must-Reads

In case you missed the letter we sent to superintendents last week, attached at the bottom of this page are several important items regarding the implementation of Other Academic Measures as part of the TLE system. It is imperative for school administrators to read each attachment carefully. Please open the Jan. 15 letter first.

PARCC Asks for Public Comment

The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) is accepting public comment recommendations on two key draft accommodations policies:

The PARCC policy for providing reading access accommodations, specifically for reading aloud the passages, items, and response options on the English Language Arts/Literacy summative assessments, for a small number of students with disabilities who meet the accommodation eligibility criteria; and
The PARCC policy for providing calculator accommodations on the non-calculator test sessions of the Mathematics summative assessments for a small number of students with disabilities who meet the accommodation eligibility criteria.

Feedback will be taken through 5:00 pm ET on February 4, 2013.

Click here for more information on the policies.

Click here for the link to the feedback survey.

Sign up for Oklahoma C3 Training

The Oklahoma State Department of Education is offering Oklahoma C3 Training, including Common Core, and we are coming to you! The sessions offered will focus on secondary and elementary sections dealing with English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and Leadership.

The sessions scheduled for February and March will be in Hugo and Weatherford. We are working to include an additional date in February and will notify you of the details in future communications. Click on the link below to get more details plus register for specific trainings. For questions regarding the trainings, please contact the Office of Instruction at (405) 521-3361.

http://OSDE-RegionalMeetings.eventbrite.com

Hugo Public Schools, February 22, 2013
Elementary Teachers (K-5) 12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Secondary Teachers (6-12) 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Weatherford Public Schools, March 29, 2013
Elementary Teachers (K-5) 12:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Secondary Teachers (6-12) 8:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

AlcoholEDU Offered Free to Schools

AlcoholEDU for High Schools, an alcohol prevention resource, is available for free to all Oklahoma high schools. It is a 90-minute online, evidence-based alcohol education course offered through funding provided by the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

A videoconference will be held from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Friday, January 25. This presentation will demonstrate the simple steps for activating and implementing this course in your school. Superintendents, principals, and other educators dealing with health education and alcohol prevention for grades 7 through 12 should plan to take part in this conference. Sign up by going to http://ok.gov/sde/node/2983.

Oklahoma School Speed Test Month

February is Oklahoma School Speed Test Month. Learn how participation by your school will help your district. We will have a webinar for superintendents, principals, and other school administrators to discuss the school speed test in more depth at 1 p.m. Monday, January 28. Please register here. You can also read more about Oklahoma School Speed Test month here.

Alternative Education Awards

The Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence, a nonprofit, that recognizes and encourages academic excellence in Oklahoma's public schools, is seeking nominations for its Oklahoma Award for Outstanding Achievement in Alternative Education.

The $5,000 award will be presented to a public school alternative education program in recognition of its effectiveness and impact on student learning. Nomination forms are available online at www.ofe.org and must be postmarked on or before March 18.

Nominees must be public school programs in Oklahoma and must have been in operation for at least three full years. Nominations may be made by any individual familiar with the program. Award winners will be eligible to re-apply for the award after five full award cycles. The recipient will be chosen by an independent selection committee.

For more information, visit the foundation’s website at www.ofe.org or call (405) 236-0006.

School Crisis Planning Workshop

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is hosting a workshop, Responding to Schools in Crisis: Considerations Following the Sandy Hook Tragedy, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the memorial's Center for Education & Outreach.

Speakers are Dr. Robin Gurwitch, an internationally recognized expert on the impact of trauma and disaster on children and ways to increase resilience; and Gregory Thomas, one of the nation's top school experts.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb, chairman of the Oklahoma Commission on School Security, will provide opening comments at the workshop.

Attendees will receive CEU and CLEET hours.

Bullying, Violence, Substance Abuse Prevention Help From the SDE

The State Department has had several calls regarding the former Safe Call program. The contract for this program ended in June 2011 and was not renewed as there was a cut to the federal funding being used to provide this program. The program cost the department more than $256,000 for fiscal year 2011 alone, while we tracked only about 7,400 calls in the 12 years of the program’s implementation. The department has had a prevention specialist in place for a number of years to help with bullying, violence and substance abuse prevention. This position is now paid for through partnership with the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. ODMHSAS pays 60 percent of the $39,000 salary for this position; SDE pays 40 percent.

Anyone with concerns about bullying, violent incidents or substance abuse can contact Joy A. Hermansen, Coordinator/Prevention Specialist, (405) 521-2106, Fax: (405) 522-0496, Joy.Hermansen@sde.ok.gov. Calls coming into our customer service desk also are routed to our prevention specialist when appropriate.

In addition, the SDE offers prevention resources on our website, as well as trainings, parents trainings at Vision 2020, email messages to school prevention specialists, and conferences with partner agencies.

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