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Assessment
ISTEP+ Part 1 Sessions begin Monday, February 27. Online sessions open officially at 7:00 a.m. Eastern. We provided a checklist to CTCs to highlight critical tasks needed in preparation for the assessment, ISTEP+ assessments include several field test items that are found throughout the test forms to continue development of the item pool for future assessment windows. This may result in students in the same class and test session having different numbers of test items and/or unique sets of test questions depending on the test form they receive. Test times are based on the largest possible number of test questions for each section of the test. The Office of Student Assessment will host an open phone line between 3:00-4:00 p.m. Eastern to further support needs during the test administration window. The link to join this line is available here.
Onsite Monitoring: As described in the Fall 2016 Test Security Training and Chapter 10 of the Assessment Program Manual (Section 2), the Office of Student Assessment will be conducting unannounced onsite monitoring visits during the Spring 2017 ISTEP+ Part 1 Testing Window. Please ensure that school administrators and staff are aware that these onsite visits will be conducted. This memo notes additional details about the upcoming monitoring visits.
Seclusion and Restraint
The reporting of seclusion and restraint incidents has received media attention recently. We want to encourage all district to be diligent in their reporting. Please take a moment to review and share the definitions on page 13 of this document in order to ensure the integrity of reported numbers.
Grants
The Indiana Literacy Early Intervention Grant applications are due Wednesday, March 1. Please submit the completed application to ileig@doe.in.gov. The application and allocation amounts can be found here.
The Indiana Department of Education invites Title I Focus and Priority schools to apply for the Excellence in Performance Grant on behalf of their teachers rated Highly Effective for the 2015-2016 school year. The grant encourages the development of career pathways as well as provides retention incentives for eligible teachers. Visit here to view the memo, FAQ, and application. Applications must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday, March 15. Please direct questions to excellenceinperformance@doe.in.gov.
Kindergarten Entry
As school corporations throughout Indiana prepare for the upcoming school year, educators and families often have questions regarding the kindergarten entrance laws in our state. IDOE recently updated the kindergarten entrance guidance. The new guidance can be located here.
2017 Diploma Seals for Indiana Accredited Schools
Ordering information is available here. The last day to submit your orders for the seals is Friday, March 24. Late orders will not be accepted. Please be sure to base your order on the greatest possible number of eligible recipients as reshipments cannot be made after the order is placed. Congratulatory letters for honors diploma graduates will be available by early April. Please forward to appropriate staff. Questions may be directed to Audra Hacker at ahacker@doe.in.gov. Click here to view the memo.
New PK-16 Director Named
We are pleased to announce that in April, Amanda McCammon will join IDOE as the PK-16 Director. Her responsibilities will include college and career readiness, CTE, STEM, reading/literacy, and early learning. Amanda has spent the last 12 years serving Indiana youth as a teacher, building level administrator, and central office administrator. McCammon began her teaching career in an alternative education setting before transitioning into a middle school pre-engineering teaching position. After serving as a Project Lead the Way teacher, McCammon moved into an administrative position as a Career & Technical Education (CTE) Director where she facilitated a variety of programming including CTE, alternative education, preschool, and adult education. Most recently, McCammon has served in Anderson Community School Corporation as the Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools, CTE, and Community Engagement.
Special Education
The Office of Special Education publishes a biweekly newsletter filled with updates and information about special education. Click here for the latest news from OSE.
Transition to WIDA Screener
Indiana has approved the administration of the WIDA Screener Online for the placement of English learners in Grades 1-12 for the 2017-2018 school year. The WIDA Screener will be used in place of the W-APT for Grades 1-12. In order to assist with online setup for this assessment, district staff that oversee WIDA ACCESS testing have been provided with a WIDA AMS account that will allow them to prepare for the online test and train the appropriate personnel. for additional information regarding the WIDA screener, please visit the WIDA Screener webpage. Please reach out to Cole Dietrich at adietrich@doe.in.gov with questions.
Weekly Updates
Miss an update? View previous weekly updates here.
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