 New: Upcoming Virtual Epinephrine Administration Training
The OSSE Allergy Management Team within the Division of Health and Wellness will hold a live virtual Epinephrine Administration Training on Thursday, March 13 from 10–11:30 a.m. Certification is valid for one calendar year. Share this training sign-up form with staff members at your school who need to get certified this school year. School staff may also choose to receive certification at their convenience via a recorded Online Certification Course. Contact OSSE.Epi@dc.gov to coordinate a live virtual training session if you want to have more than the required certified staff at your school.
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New: Input on the Upcoming 2025 OSSE Spring Literacy Convening (Virtual)
We are looking for your involvement in this spring’s OSSE Literacy Convening! Similarly to last year, the 2025 city-wide literacy convening will be held virtually. Please let us know your input on session topics and refer a local leader in literacy. The input form can be found here and will close on Monday, March 17. Please reach out to osse.clsd@dc.gov if you have questions.
New: 2024-25 Educator Retention Brief
Each year, OSSE collects comprehensive staffing data from all public and public charter schools in DC to provide the community with actionable insights. We're excited to release the 2024-25 Educator Retention Brief, highlighting key trends in teacher retention. This year’s data shows that 76 percent of teachers stayed at their schools between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, and 84 percent continued teaching in DC. These findings reflect a steady rise in teacher retention citywide. Learn more by reading the full brief here.
New: Call for Student Artists: Celebrate Earth Day by Submitting Artwork to Metro Art in Transit
In honor of Earth Day (Tuesday, April 22), Metro's Art in Transit Program is inviting K-6 students from Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia to submit two-dimensional artwork that highlights the vital role Metro plays in promoting clean air while fostering creativity and community engagement.
The selected artworks will be displayed in Metro offices to showcase youth talent, inspire environmental consciousness, and highlight Metro's commitment to protecting the planet.
Submissions are due by Wednesday, March 26. You can learn more about the Metro Art in Transit Program here.
New: Judges Needed for the DC STEM Fair
OSSE is seeking judges to support with reviewing and judging secondary STEM projects at the DC STEM Fair, the longest-running student competition in the District of Columbia! Both the DC Secondary STEM Fair and Elementary STEM Exhibition will take place on Saturday, April 5 at Dunbar High School.
Required Duties:
- Review student projects using provided scoring rubric, score and offer feedback.
- Collaborate with other judges to select finalists.
- Present Category Award
Tentative Time Commitment:
- 10 a.m. | Check in
- 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. | Judging
- 12:30- 1:30 p.m. | Lunch (on your own)
- 1:30-3 p.m. | Judges deliberation time
- 3:30-4:15 p.m. | Awards
If you are interested and willing to volunteer, please contact Jhatia McKnight at Jhatia.Mcknight@dc.gov.
A STEM background is preferred but not required; judges must be able to pass background check.
New: District of Columbia Latino Art Beat: Youth Art & Film Competition
Latino Art Beat is a national visual arts organization offering scholarship support to select DC winners of their themed art competition. This year’s theme is “What Hispanic Heritage & Culture Means to Me.”
High school juniors and seniors are invited to participate by submitting an art piece or film of 15 minutes or less by Friday, May 23. Learn more about the competition here.
Share Your Discipline Data Collection Feedback (reminder)
OSSE appreciates the time and effort LEAs put into the annual discipline collection and is looking for ways to improve our processes while maintaining compliance with local and federal legislation. To assist with this effort, OSSE has created an LEA survey to learn more about how LEAs -- prior to submitting data to OSSE for validation -- collect and store discipline data.
Multiple people from each LEA are invited to participate, as OSSE is interested in gaining insights from multiple perspectives. To participate, follow this link: Discipline Data Collection Feedback SY 24-25. The survey will remain open until April 4.
Additionally, OSSE will offer the opportunity to share feedback 1-on-1 or in a focus group. Please use the survey link above to indicate your interest in participation.
The DC Survey About Your School (DC SAYS) is Live! (reminder)
The first District-wide survey of students, staff and families – DC SAYS – is live! The window will run now-March 28. If you have not yet signed up a survey liaison for each campus, it's not too late - you can do so on this form.
School-based staff received an email from Panorama with a confidential link to the survey on the morning of Feb. 24; an anonymous version of the survey (with the same questions) is available here.
Sign up for the OSSE Data Discovery Newsletter (reminder)
Did you know that OSSE's Data, Assessment and Research (DAR) team has a blog about data? We are starting a newsletter to share new blog posts. Sign up here to receive the monthly newsletter. Our goal is for data to be accessible to everyone, so the team has written concise and inviting posts about important topics. Here are a few recent posts:
There's more to come! If you have any feedback or suggestions for topics, please reach out to Ben Peisch at Ben.Peisch@dc.gov.
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New: Evidence Informed Mathematics Course
There is a clear and growing need for strong mathematics instruction at all grade levels. To address this need, OSSE is partnering with TNTP to offer an online, self-paced course that helps educators apply scientifically based, evidence-informed instructional methods to teach math.
This course opens with a brief overview of how the brain learns math, grounding future learning in a shared understanding of the ways that knowledge, memory, and skill are developed, stored, and retrieved in the brain. Subsequent modules are rooted in the Standards for Mathematical Practice, creating a clear basis for mathematical expertise that teachers should expect and develop in all students. Throughout this course, educators will get the opportunity to dig into the research, its relevance for all K-12 learners, and strategies to support implementation of evidence-informed math practices in their schools and classrooms.
This course takes approximately 14 hours to complete and is open to all math educators and those who support students in math, including instructional coaches and leaders. Register here now!
New: K-5 Leader Literacy Series - Registration Deadline March 10
OSSE, in partnership with TNTP, is offering a series specifically designed for elementary leaders to better understand the science of reading and more effectively lead literacy improvement efforts in their schools. By the end of this series, leaders will walk away with a draft literacy action plan that sets them up to change literacy outcomes for their students and makes them a strong candidate for the upcoming literacy opportunities provided by OSSE.
- Series Option 1: Four sessions (mix of in-person and virtual)
- Wednesday, March 19, 9-12 p.m. (in person at OSSE, Eleanor Homes Norton meeting room)
- Wednesday, April 9, 1-2:30 p.m.(virtual)
- Wednesday, May 14, 1-2:30 p.m. (virtual)
- Wednesday, June 25, 1-4 p.m. (in person at OSSE, Eleanor Homes Norton meeting room)
- Series Option 2: Two-day in-person summer intensive
- Wednesday, July 16 and Thursday, July 17, held at OSSE, Eleanor Homes Norton, from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
This series is open to elementary principals, assistant principals, and LEA leaders supporting literacy improvement with a particular focus on K-grade 2. The series has two options to allow you to choose which offering best fits with your availability. Both offerings will cover the same topics and content.
For more details and to register, click now here! Registration deadline is March 10.
New: OSSE/TNTP Adolescent Literacy Leader Cohort
OSSE, in partnership with TNTP, is offering a leader cohort experience focused on adolescent literacy in order to support grade 6-12 students in DC to be proficient readers. Participants will engage in three monthly virtual meetings, complete the Adolescent Science of Reading course asynchronously, and take part in a two-day in-person summer workshop. Leaders will leave with the knowledge, resources, and materials to lead their teacher teams in learning about the science of teaching reading as they plan for the upcoming school year.
- Cohort Schedule
- Virtual Monthly Leader Meetings: March 26, April 23, and May 28; 4-5 p.m.
- Online Self-Paced Course: 15-hour Adolescent Science of Reading Course April-June
- In-Person Workshop: Thursday, June 26 and Friday, June 27 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; held at OSSE, Eleanor Homes Norton meeting room.
This series is open to literacy coaches, teacher leaders, and school leaders. Register here by March 25.
New: OSSE/American University Evidence-Based Practices for Adolescent Literacy Course
OSSE, in partnership with American University, is offering a self-paced, eight-module course that provides evidence-based literacy strategies for students in grades 5-12, with a focus on culturally and linguistically inclusive practices. In addition to exploring the key components of adolescent literacy, the course includes modules on disciplinary literacy, literacy assessments, and literacy interventions. This course takes approximately 6 hours to complete and is open to all core content teachers, multilingual learners and special education educators, instructional coaches, and leaders. This is highly recommended for social studies, science, and math educators. Register now here!
New: Early Childhood Special Education Community of Practice
The Early Childhood Special Education Community of Practice is designed to create authentic opportunities for LEA pre-K special education points of contact and those who support this population to collaborate with others and improve learning outcomes for children ages 3-5 with disabilities who are enrolled in early childhood special education programs. Upcoming community of practice sessions will focus on the topics below. All sessions will take place from 10-11 a.m.
Please register for a community practice session(s) using the links above. For questions, contact Dawn Hilton, Supervisory Coordinator for Special Education (Part B-619), at Dawn.Hilton1@dc.gov.
Dual Language Research, Policy, and Practice Series (Session 2, March 12) (reminder)
Dual language leaders, please join us Wednesday, March 12 for a virtual learning series focused on building connections across schools and sectors in the Washington, DC dual language community. This series will feature presentations from local research, policy, and practice leaders focused on fostering equitable and high-quality dual language education.
The second session's guest will be Mayra Canizales Cruz, a dual language and English language learner expert, a national award-winning instructional leader, a founding partner of the Canizales Group, and former Principal of Oyster-Adams Bilingual School. Sra. Cruz will share takeaways from her experiences as an equity-driven Latina school leader of a National Blue Ribbon bilingual school within a monolingual system. Participants will be invited to reflect on takeaways related to their own work as well as action steps for the broader DC dual language community.
A variety of dual language leaders are welcome to attend, including LEA leaders, principals, assistant principals, instructional leaders, and operations leaders. The session will take place virtually on Wednesday, March 12 from 12-1 p.m. Register here.
For more information, contact Francesca Smith, Multilingual Specialist, at Francesca.Smith@dc.gov.
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New: FY25 Stronger Connections Grant Continuation Application Due March 31
LEAs awarded FY24 Stronger Connections grants must complete continuation applications in order to access these carryover funds in FY25. The application will be available in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS) starting on March 5, 2025, and LEAs must submit applications no later than 3 p.m. EST on Monday, March 31.
After OSSE approves your LEA’s application, your LEA can submit reimbursements for Stronger Connections grant expenditures from Oct. 1, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2025.
If you have any questions, please contact Rudy.Arellano@dc.gov.
New: IDEA Financial Compliance Reporting Webinar March 18 - MOE, Excess Cost and CEIS Due May 2
Each year, LEAs receiving Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grants must report financial data to demonstrate LEAs' compliance with Maintenance of Effort (MOE), excess cost, and Coordinated Early Intervening Services (CEIS) requirements. The FY24 IDEA Financial Compliance Reporting Workbook submission deadline is 5 p.m. on Friday, May 2; detailed instructions on how to submit will be shared via email in the upcoming weeks.
Additionally, OSSE will host a webinar at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18 to review the reporting requirements and demonstrate how to complete and submit the workbook. LEA grants managers are strongly encouraged to participate. Please register to attend here.
For questions or assistance, please contact Kristen Thompson at Kristen.Thompson@dc.gov.
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