A Message from Dr. McCormick 12/1/2017

 

Indiana Department of Education
Friday, December 1, 2017

 

Dear Educators:

This week I released my 2018 Strategic Policy Priorities. A wealth of information was gained from meetings across the state during the last 11 months. My priorities reflect what you have shared with me. Student Learning, School Improvement, and Operational Effectiveness form the foundation for our work during this legislative session. Additional information is available here.

Thank you for another successful school week and your continued dedication to students.

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

Dr. Jennifer McCormick

Assessment

PSAT/NMSQT Data Clean Up 
Beginning December 4, all Indiana schools can generate their PSAT/NMSQT invoice and make grade level corrections. Please refer to this memo for a step by step process.

Grade 10 Winter Retest Opens Monday 
The ISTEP+ Grade 10 Winter Retest test window opens Monday, December 4 and continues through Friday, December 15. Corporation Test Coordinators may download electronic copies of the practice test manual and operational test manuals from the Test Coordinator Corner in Learning Connection and in the Indiana Resource Center in Pearson Access Next. Please refer to this chart to facilitate timely responses to questions you may have during the test window.

Spring 2018 IDOE Pretest Workshop Now Scheduled 
The Office of Student Assessment scheduled the Spring 2018 IDOE Pretest Workshop in preparation for the upcoming spring ISTEP+ 3-8 and 10, IREAD-3, and ISTEP+ End-of-Course Assessments. In-person and WebEx sessions replace previously recorded versions. This training will present important information (e.g., program updates, scheduling guidance) relating to all three assessments and is required for all Corporation Test Coordinators. IDOE communicated the details of this workshop via the CTC listserv in mid-November. WebEx sessions are filling up fast. Please review this memo for specific details.

 

Career and Technical Education

Reserve Grant Award Recipients
The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) received 36 proposals for competitive grants supporting special projects focused on development, improvement, and/or expansion of CTE programs in Area CTE Districts. These districts are considered rural or have a high percentage of CTE enrollments. The review team has finalized recommendations for the 20 districts (10 rural and 10 high percentage CTE enrollment) that will receive grants for 2017-2018. Please see this memo for details. 

MOS/MTA Certification Assessments 
See this memo regarding the Microsoft Imagine Academy Curriculum & Certiport (MOS/MTA) Certification Assessments.

 

Office of Special Education

Special Education Excess Cost Funding
Attention Special Education Administrators, SEEC Application Submitters, Superintendents, and School Business Officials! Please read the urgent update memo titled “Revisions to SEEC Allowable Costs” regarding updates on Special Education Excess Cost funding for the remainder of the 2017-2018 school year.

Office of Special Education Biweekly Newsletter

The Office of Special Education publishes a biweekly newsletter filled with updates and information about special education. The November 20, 2017 issue of the OSE newsletter can be found here.

  

Educator Effectiveness

Teacher Recruitment Platform Training Available 
To support districts and charter schools with educator recruitment efforts, the Office of Educator Effectiveness is providing free access to https://indiana.teachers-teachers.comThis Indiana-focused platform enables districts and charter schools to proactively and strategically recruit and review candidates for open positions. Please join us for a webinar on Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 1:30 PM EST for an overview of best practices with the recruitment platform. If you are unable to join live, a recording will be available at doe.in.gov/teachers-teachers. Please contact Maggie Rowlands, mrowlands@doe.in.gov with any questions.

 

RESERVE YOUR SPOT! 

An Important IDOE Roadshow: Assessment-Accountability-Statute Flexibility
If you are a superintendent, principal, district administrator, corporation test coordinator, and/or school counselor, you will not want to miss December’s roadshow presentation, entitled “Assessment - Accountability - Statute Flexibility,” presented by Dr. Jennifer McCormick, Dr. Charity Flores, and Maggie Paino. Please click here for the final 2017 dates and times.

 


Stay Up-to-Date
Miss a message? View previous weekly emails here. Want daily updates? Be sure to follow the Department on
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A message from Dr. McCormick will be sent every Friday.