A Message from Dr. McCormick 04/20/2018

 

Indiana Department of Education
Friday, April 20, 2018

 

 

 

 

Dr McCormick Updated headshot

Dear Educators,

Next week is Administrative Professionals Week. Schools and agencies look forward to recognizing the critical role these important members of the team play. We appreciate their tireless support providing a quality educational experience for the children of Indiana. Find out more here

Sincerely,

Dr. Jennifer McCormick

 

Office of Assessment

ILEARN Assessment Literacy Professional Development Opportunities Beginning May 15

The Office of Student Assessment is excited to offer several opportunities for administrators, CTCs, and educators to learn about Indiana’s new ILEARN assessments! Please use this chart to review the available opportunities and register.

WIDA Printed and Online Reports Available Monday, April 23!

The WIDA ACCESS and Alternate Printed and Online Reports district reports will be available Monday, April 23. As per IC 20-32-5-9, school corporations/charter schools/accredited nonpublic schools must promptly provide parents with information to access their child’s test results. 

Spring 2018 ECA Onsite Monitoring

The Office of Student Assessment will be conducting unannounced onsite monitoring visits during the Spring 2018 ECA testing window beginning April 23. Please ensure that school administrators and staff are aware that these onsite visits will be conducted. Click here for more details.

IREAD-3 Corporation and Student Reports Available

IREAD-3 results are available here for corporations to retrieve their student data file. Additionally, Individual Student Reports (ISRs) are also posted to communicate results to parents. The IREAD-3 Retest window occurs from May 29 through July 20. Please contact our office with any questions. 

ILEARN and I AM Assessment Accessibility and Accommodation Update

Attached is a memo outlining the accessibility features and accommodations that will be available for the ILEARN and I AM assessments for Spring 2019. 


Legislative Updates and Guidance

Changes Made to Kindergarten Admission and ADM

The attached memo describes changes included in HEA 1001 related to kindergarten admission and ADM. 


Deadline for Student STEM Award Applications is April 22

Dr. McCormick, Gov. Holcomb, and State Treasurer encourage students to apply for STEM Team Awards 


Office of School Safety

2018-2019 School Safe Haven Grant Applications Now Available

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute is now accepting applications for the 2018-2019 School Safe Haven Program which provides matching grants to improve and/or increase school safety resources and programming. Applicants must be registered in the Egrants system and all applications must be submitted by Friday, May 11, 2018. Additional information is available at this  2018-2019 Safe Haven Grant page, or by contacting Meg McCullough, or calling her at (317) 234-6121.


Office of School Improvement

Teachers Needed to Develop Standards for Indiana Studies Course

The Indiana Department of Education is developing a pool of teachers from which to select a committee to develop standards for the new Indiana Studies course. The committee will work virtually through a combination of webinars and the members own pace. The standards will be developed to meet the needs of the course. Interested participants can sign up here by April 27. Questions can be directed to Nick Flowers.


Office of Title Grants and Support

2017-2018 Non-English Speaking Program Reallocations

The Office of Title Grants and Support has released reallocations of 2017-2018 Non-English Speaking Program (NESP) funds to participating LEAs with an English Learner (EL) population of five percent or greater and additional reallocated funds for LEAs with an EL population of 18 percent or greater. All participating LEAS must submit a budget amendment form by April 27 to request their reallocated funds. 


Office of Educator Effectiveness

NEW! IDOE Teacher Survey: Your Voice Matters

The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) is eager to hear from teachers across the state. We know how hard our teachers are working, and ensuring that we can support development and retention is vitally important to us. The Office of Educator Effectiveness has been working to develop a survey that we will be inviting all current K-12 classroom teachers across the State of Indiana to participate in soon. This will be a short online survey. This survey will give the IDOE, districts, and schools comprehensive feedback about how teachers perceive their profession. Please look for more information about our survey project, “IDOE Teacher Survey: Your Voice Matters,” coming soon.


Office of Information Technology

IDOE LINK Initiative Update: The Indiana Department of Education to Replace STN Application Center and Learning Connection with Modern Data Management Standards and Platform

As part of the recently announced LINK initiative, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) is announcing the launch of the Data Exchange and INView projects which will kick off May 1. These projects will include a complete overhaul of how data is transferred from schools to the IDOE and how schools access record level data in IDOE systems. As a consequence of these projects, the STN Application Center and the Learning Connection will be retired. Using a widely accepted data standard compatible with most student information systems, schools will be able to automatically transfer data to the IDOE rather than submitting collections of data. Indiana will join other states in a modern approach to managing education data. Details regarding the data standard and the IDOE's implementation partner are shared below.

The Ed-Fi Data Standards and Technology Suite is the foundation of the Data Exchange and INView projects. By adopting the Ed-Fi standard, schools can connect their Student Information Systems to an IDOE database and seamlessly transfer data to the IDOE through automated processes. The Ed-Fi technology allows the IDOE to implement data management methods currently used by other state education agencies to allow for interoperability between local student information systems and IDOE databases.

The IDOE has partnered with systems integrator Double Line, Inc. from Austin, Texas to provide technical assistance, solution development, and implementation services for the Ed-Fi technology. This partnership, as well as collaboration with the Ed-Fi Alliance, positions Indiana to implement a strong, statewide solution.

With Ed-Fi Data Standards and Technology Suite, schools will experience at least three important benefits:

Streamlined Management of Master Data and Roles

Schools of all types and configurations will be able to easily update their information, manage school personnel and student identifiers, and easily assign data access roles for school personnel.

New Data Transfer Capabilities

Data required from schools will be transferred to the IDOE through automated processes with a new data review and verification protocol in place for data certification. These new capabilities will replace the STN Application Center.

Enhanced Access to Student-Level Data

New dashboards will be available to schools for accessing student-level data and reports previously available in the Learning Connection. 

The transition from the current technologies of the STN Application Center and the Learning Connection to these new enterprise systems will take months and likely more than a year to bring online. Since these projects will impact each school in Indiana over the coming years, the IDOE will be working with stakeholders including those primarily responsible for data management in each school to ensure questions are answered and concerns addressed. This stakeholder support is being planned now and will be publicized on the LINK News and Events page.

The Ed-Fi technology was developed by the Ed-Fi Alliance. Aligning to the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Data Standards (CEDS) initiative, the Ed-Fi technology provides methodology to achieve streamlined data exchange and enhanced access to timely information. Licensing is available to states, districts, vendors, or service providers at no cost. More information about the Ed-Fi Data Standards and Technology Suite is available here.

For questions about the IDOE Link initiative or about the new projects announced today including Data Exchange and INView, please complete the web form available here.


Office of Workforce and STEM Alliances

Amendments to Course Titles and Descriptions 2018-2019

The Indiana Department of Education has amended the 2018-2019 Course Titles and Descriptions document with several additions. Please read this information for details.

Pathfinders Summer Institute Application Deadline Extended

The application deadline for the Pathfinders Summer Institute has been extended until April 27. Held at Indiana University Bloomington, the institute will take place July 15 to 20. This intensive week in Computer Science and Making will include high-quality hands-on training. The Pathfinders Institute pays half of the course cost, with the registrant responsible for the remaining balance. Please take time to learn more here. 


Office of Finance

ESSA Form 9 Guidance

Below you will find guidance related to the Department and Indiana local education agencies federal reporting requirements under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as well as Indiana state law. This resource is meant to provide Indiana local education agencies with an overview of state and federal reporting requirements for school building level data beginning July 1. The January 1, 2019 submission of July through December 2018 Form 9 financial data must reflect expenditures at the school building level. Please direct any questions you might have concerning this document to Form9@doe.in.gov.

ESSA Form 9 Guidance for LEAs 

Indirect Cost Rate FY 2019

The Office of School Finance is now accepting FY 2019 Indirect Cost Rate Applications through June 30. Please read the attached memo for details. If applicable, please email a request for the Excel version of the schedules to icr@doe.in.gov. If you have questions, please email Sarah Henry or Amy Pattison.

ICR Application Materials
ICR Checklist

Common School Advancements

The Office of School Finance will accept applications for construction and technology loans from public school corporations and school corporation career and technical education schools only from April 11 through May 4. Petitions must be received by the Office of School Finance by Friday, May 4 to be considered. Petitions for advancements may be obtained under the Files and Bookmarks tab, in the Common School Loan folder, or by requesting them from LaTrice Akers or Melissa Ambre.  

Petitions will be accepted by email only. Please scan and email completed applications to CommonSchoolFund@doe.in.gov no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, May 4. If you have questions concerning the process, please contact LaTrice Akers or Melissa Ambre. 


Office of eLearning

Registration Now Open for Summer of eLearning Conferences

There will be 19 conferences held across the state throughout the summer. Learn more about the Summer of eLearning here.


Weekly Updates

View previous weekly updates from Dr. McCormick here

Stay Informed

Did you miss a message? View previous weekly emails here. Want daily updates? Be sure to follow the Department on Twitter and Facebook.

 

 

 

 
 

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