Say Hello to our New Student Representatives & Student Advisory Committee!
 Student Advisory Committee Meeting May 2018
Earlier this month, we were proud to announce the selection of Tatiana Robinson, a rising senior at Ballou High School, and Marjoury Alicea, a rising senior at Capital City Public Charter School, as our two Student Representatives for the 2018-19 school year! Both Tatiana and Marjoury will serve as Student Representatives from September 2018 - June 2019.
For the length of their term, the Student Representatives will join the nine elected State Board members in their policy discussion and community engagement. They will bring the voice of students directly to decision makers. The Student Representatives will participate in all SBOE activities, with votes being recorded but not affecting the outcome of any policy measure. They will also serve as co-chairs of the Student Advisory Committee, a volunteer group of more than thirty District students from 16 District high schools in both DC Public Schools and the public charter sector. If you know a student interested in joining the Student Advisory Committee, they can contact Tatiana or Marjoury via email at sboe@dc.gov.
Ms. Robinson is returning for her second term as Student Representative. She plays four sports, is dual-enrolled at Howard University, sits on the DCPS Student Cabinet, and takes part in Ballou’s robotics team and girls’ mentoring program. Ms. Alicea is a member of the debate team, serves as a reading mentor, and volunteers as a food justice ambassador. She is the founder and president of her school’s ACLU club.
For the second year in a row, State Board members were excited to receive over 20 applications from students at 16 different public and public charter high schools who were interested in serving as Student Representative and as members of the Student Advisory Committee. State Board members reviewed the applications, which included essays, letters of recommendation, and information about extracurricular activities and awards.
The Student Advisory Committee serves as the voice of students in the State Board’s work, consulting on issues of policy before the Board. The Student Advisory Committee meets at least once per month. Each year, the Committee sends the SBOE a report on a matter of importance to District students, providing recommended next steps.
The roster of the 2018-19 Student Advisory Committee can be found on our website.
Our Vote on Credit Recovery
With this month’s vote on credit recovery, the State Board recommended that OSSE continue to work with the SBOE and other stakeholders to develop new regulations. DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) will have new guidelines and policies in place for the upcoming school year. The proposed regulations would have added a layer of statewide requirements. In rejecting the proposal, the State Board requested that OSSE promulgate credit recovery regulations through regular order and that the statewide credit recovery regulations be in place for the 2019-2020 school year. You may review the approved resolution on our information-sharing site.
Credit Recovery Overview
Earlier this year, the Alvarez & Marsal report found that DC lacked state-level regulations that govern the use of credit recovery courses in DC traditional public schools and public charter schools. OSSE’s draft regulations on credit recovery included both emergency and proposed rule changes. If they were approved by the SBOE, the emergency measure would have been in place for 120 days after publication in the DC Municipal Register. The proposed regulations would be published in the DC Register for a 30-day public comment period, followed by revisions by OSSE. The State Board’s approval on final regulations would also be required.
The emergency and proposed regulations were designed to define the framework in which schools may use credit recovery programs for students that take and fail a course. Schools would be required to create and document credit recovery policies on their websites and OSSE will compile this information for analysis. The State Board recommended changes to the emergency and proposed regulations after their June working session and public meetings to further encourage schools to utilize credit recovery on a very limited basis and only when it is the best possible avenue for the student.
Representatives from OSSE presented revised emergency and proposed statewide credit recovery regulations at our June working session and a second version at our July working session. During our public meeting on June 20, District residents and representatives from both DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) spoke on the record with the State Board about the proposed regulations as it deliberated. DCPS indicated that they will be issuing their own policy on credit recovery in the coming months and were hopeful that their policy could be aligned to the regulations adopted by the State Board. PCSB noted they have already adopted a new credit recovery policy for schools under their charter authority which went into effect on July 1, 2018.
High School Graduation Requirements Task Force Update
 Members of #DCGradReqs Task Force testifying at July public meeting
SBOE members heard from two panels this month related to the work of its High School Graduation Requirements Task Force, which made recommendations to modify the District’s requirements, which were adopted by the SBOE in May 2018. The first panel featured Dwan Jordon, Head of Schools, KIPP DC; Karla Reid-Witt, High School Parent, Banneker High School; Cara Fuller, Principal, Ballou Stay High School; and Cosby Hunt, Senior Officer of Teaching & Learning, Center for Inspired Teaching. The second panel featured Sally Schwartz, Executive Director, Globalize DC; Jennifer Zinth, Director of High School and STEM, Education Commission of the States; and Dr. Linda Eno, Assistant Commissioner, Division of Teaching and Learning, New Jersey Department of Education.
Panelists provided the State Board with additional information about systems for awarding competency-based credit in the District and in other states across the country. The SBOE’s High School Graduation Requirements Task Force final report, among other recommendations, asked OSSE to consider implementing “[opportunities] for students to demonstrate they have mastered course content for world language and mathematics in lieu of taking the course.”
The task force’s intent on making this recommendation is that students who have mastered course material in world language and mathematics would have a consistent path to receiving credit for these courses that counts toward their requirements. A statewide standardized test and/or Universal Design for Learning assessment that is available to all students will mean that every student at every school has an opportunity to demonstrate ability in world language and mathematics. This would allow all students (non school-dependent) to pursue coursework in areas of interest to them in math and world language and receive credit for demonstrating related mastery.
The SBOE will continue to work with OSSE to turn the recommendations into regulatory language that will be published for public comment in the coming months.
ESSA Task Force to Reconvene in September
 Members of the ESSA Task Force at June 2018 meeting
The ESSA Task Force will reconvene on Tuesday, September 11. In the coming months, the State Board and OSSE will continue their work on the development of a statewide school report card that will contain information designed for students and parents to know more about schools in the District of Columbia. The report cards will not only provide information about test scores, but will also give a broader scope of metrics. The school report card is a dynamic tool that will be updated and modified as new information becomes available. For instance, during the State Board’s work on the Statewide Accountability Plan, it was noted that the District currently lacks a way to confirm the academic growth of students in high school and a universal way to determine a school’s “climate." School climate or environment, according to the US Department of Education, means how a school fosters safety; promotes a supportive academic, disciplinary, and physical environment; and encourages and maintains respectful, trusting, and caring relationships throughout the school community no matter the setting.
Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education Update
At our June working session, Joyanna Smith reflected on her 5-year term as the Ombudsman for Public Education. Armed with just a phone and a laptop in the beginning of the first year of her term, Joyanna’s office has since expanded to four FTE's and two fellows in the spring, summer, and fall. Fellows are typically graduate students or former teachers. The first iteration of the Ombudsman’s office was short-lived, lasting less than a year under the DME. Now, under the SBOE, the Ombudsman has amplified the voices of parents and families through casework, reporting, and policy advocacy. Major milestones of the Ombudsman Office include the following:
Enhancement of services to families
- Shift from responding within two business days to live-calling, serving thousands of families over five years and fielding over 900 calls in SY2017-18 alone.
- Enhanced case management system from Google Docs to Quickbase, enabling enhanced customer service, staff oversight, and quality assurance.
- Implemented prioritization procedure resulting in more meetings attended, more families helped, increased efficiency in handling cases, and decreased time to resolve top complaint categories from 37 days to 17 days.
Enhancement of policy advocacy and intervention
- Deepened policy analysis in Ombudsman annual report to influence District policy in the areas of discipline, special education, response to intervention, and school climate.
- Emerging collaboration with SBOE: for example, currently working with Joe Weedon on a Response to Intervention (RTI) policy plan to improve services to academically at-risk students.
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Developed a nationally recognized education Ombudsman office. Provide support to emerging education ombudsman offices across the country, including Charlotte, NC, Pasadena, CA, and Fairfax, VA.
SBOE in the Community: July 2018
Jack Jacobson (Ward 2 / Vice President) honored by DC Language Immersion
In July, SBOE members visited DCPS and charter schools and participated in important community gatherings across the District.
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Jack (Ward 2 / Vice President) was honored with a Multilingual Education Visionary award by DC Language Immersion.
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Ruth (Ward 3) testified in front of the DC Council on her support for the creation of an independent education research collaborative in DC.
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Joe (Ward 6) hosted a community conversation with Councilmember Charles Allen on the search for a new DCPS chancellor.
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Markus (Ward 8) presented at the Young Elected Officials (YEO) National Convening 2018 event.
The State Board looks forward to continuing our engagement with the community during “Back to School” events throughout the District!
Upcoming Meetings
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