A Message from Dr. McCormick 5/5/17

Indiana Department of Education
Friday, May 5, 2017

 

Dear Educators:

Over the past few weeks, the General Assembly has passed several pieces of legislation which impact K-12 education. These pieces include CTE, assessment, teacher licensure, and more. Please read the document linked here to see a breakdown of laws affecting schools and districts. Please watch for additional guidance from the DOE regarding the new laws. 

We know what a busy time of year it is, and we appreciate all you do for our students. 

Sincerely,
Dr. Jennifer McCormick
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Indiana Department of Education

Dr. Jennifer McCormick

Assessment
The ISTEP+ Part 2 window closes today! Over 1.6 million test sections were completed online successfully. Schools must complete testing by 5:00 P.M. EDT today, Friday, May 5. 

Summer Assessment Committees
Committees will soon be created for assessment-related tasks. High school educators are especially needed for committees forming soon. The duration of most committees is 2-3 days in length, and committees will tentatively meet this summer. If interested, please fill out the survey here

PSAT Administration and Funding 
The state will cover the cost of the Fall 2017 PSAT/NMSQT exam which will be administered on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 (alternate date of Wednesday, October 25, 2017) for all 10th and 11th grade students enrolled in Indiana accredited public and nonpublic high schools. For more information, please see this memo.

13 Reasons Why
"13 Reasons Why," a new popular series on Netflix, revolves around a girl who takes her life and leaves behind audio recordings for the 13 people she says were in some way a part of why she committed suicide. This series is raising many questions and concerns about mental health, suicide, and bullying. It is important schools are equipped with resources and tools to be able to appropriately respond to and support struggling students and those students with questions regarding these topics. Tools and resources can be found in the memo here

Corporation Amendments
The Corporation Amendment process for the 2017-2018 school year is now open until September 1, 2017. Forms are available in the Corporation and School Amendments folder or online

End of Year Data Collection

  • GRADUATE (GR) opens today. Don't forget to submit all the early graduates. Reminder: Cohort runs daily so you should be able to see your changes the next business day in the Cohort report.
  • Calendar opens on May 15, 2017. A school's calendar will need to be certified prior to submission of Attendance data. 
  • ATTENDANCE (AT) opens on May 12, 2017. Reminder the calendar must be certified prior to submission. 

Special Education
In this tenth Short Share video, the focus is on assessment. Formative and summative assessment systems are essential to improving student learning and school capacity. Assessment provides important data to monitor academic, behavioral, social/emotional learning and inform meaningful action. Please click here to view Short Share #10 (Assessment). 

eLearning Day Program
Is your school corporation interested in exploring innovative ways to engage students and teachers outside of the traditional day through virtual options for learning? The new IDOE eLearning Day Program, combining the Flex and Virtual Option Programs, can be used on a day of inclement weather, on a make-up day for inclement weather, or on a planned day so learning can happen utilizing the tools and experiences of today's learners. Visit eLearning Day Program page for more information and contact Meri Carnahan with questions.

Social Media
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Weekly Updates
Miss an update? View previous weekly updates here.

 
 

A message from Dr. McCormick will be sent every Friday.