An Update From the Indiana Department of Education for October 26, 2018

indiana department of education - doctor jennifer mccormick - superintendent of public instruction

IN the Know 

In preparing for the 2019 session of the Indiana General Assembly, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) is releasing weekly Legislative Priority Pitches. For more information, please visit this site.

Dr. Mac

Schools Using Federal Funds for Internet Connectivity

All schools and libraries receiving E-Rate funds are required to be compliant with the U.S. Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA). The attached guidance provides an overview of the three requirements of CIPA:

  • Internet Safety Policy

  • Technology Protection Measures

  • Public Notice and Hearing or Meetings

Compliance with CIPA, as with all local Internet safety policy guidelines, can be both complex and sensitive in nature. School officials should consult with their local counsel regarding concerns or questions.

 

Office of Student Assessment

Upcoming Retest Test Window Administrations

The ISTEP+ Grade 10 and ECA winter retest window is November 12 – December 11. Student registration data for these winter retest administrations is now available in PearsonAccessnext (PAN). The 2018-2019 Indiana assessment windows are available on the Office of Student Assessment website.

ISTEP+ Winter Retest Practice Test Window Open through December 11

This window will be open for all schools testing online. Practice test directions for both modes are outlined in the Practice Test Manual, which is posted in the Test Coordinator Corner in Learning Connection and in the Indiana Resource Center (PAN). All students who will take the operational test must first participate in the corresponding practice tests at least once per school year. Schools may use the practice tests instructionally and/or administer them to students more than once, as appropriate.

New! Share with Educators! ILEARN ELA Performance Task Rubrics Now Available

The five ELA Performance Task rubrics for grades 3-8 are now posted on the ILEARN Sample Items and Scoring page of our website. These rubrics are accompanied by an instructional video intended to help educators understand each rubric. Please contact our office with any questions.

New! Share with Educators! Assessment User Roles (ILEARN, I AM, and IREAD-3)

Our office compiled lists of user roles and responsibilities for all educators involved in preparing for and administering ILEARN, I AM, and IREAD-3 assessments. The lists are not exhaustive, but offer insight for school staff to become more familiar with some changes based on the AIR platform.

REQUIRED! Test Administrator Device

Two devices are necessary to administer I AM to a student: the student device and the Test Administrator (TA) device. The student device will run the secure browser with the student’s online assessment. The TA device will access the TA Interface, where the test session will be managed. The TA device can be any school-owned tablet, Chromebook, laptop, or desktop computer (smart phones are not permitted) with Internet access. Detailed system requirements for the student and TA device can be found in the Technology Setup for Online Testing Quick Guide.

 

Office of Accountability

LEA Annual Report Cards

Beginning with 2017-2018 data, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires each local educational agency (LEA) that receives Title I assistance to prepare and disseminate an annual LEA report card. An LEA report card must be concise and presented in an understandable and uniform format for parents. ESSA requires each LEA to share its report card on its website, or if the LEA does not have a website, in another public manner determined by the LEA.

In order to comply with this requirement, the LEA may develop its own report card in compliance with all reporting requirements, or provide on its website a link to IDOE's accountability data link for the LEA. All required data points for LEAs and schools will be included on IDOE's Compass site. Beginning in the 2019-2020 school year, LEAs will be required to provide IDOE the URL location where the LEA has provided its report card for the district and school levels to the public. The submission of this information will be provided through the LEA’s Title I application.

Information on the required data points may be found here. Please email all questions here.

2018 Graduation Rate Audits

IDOE will be conducting an audit of the 2018 Graduation Rate this fall. Schools that have students with an incorrect cohort status may request an audit of the data between October 10 and November 7. Schools should utilize the attached guidance when submitting their graduation rate audit. Schools selected for a mandatory graduation rate audit of the 2018 cohort were notified in late August. Please submit all questions here.

 

Office of School Improvement

$250 Native American Field Trip Grants Now Available

The Indiana Native American Indian Affairs Commission is offering $250 teacher grants to support field trips for students to learn more about Indiana's rich Native American history. More information can be found under the education link to teacher grants located here.

 

Office of Workforce and STEM Alliances

New STEM Partnership Announced

IDOE and the ISTEM Resource Network are partnering as the Indiana state leads for STEMx, a multistate STEM network. STEMx provides an accessible platform to share, analyze, and disseminate quality STEM education tools to transform education, expand the number of STEM teachers, increase student achievement in STEM, and grow tomorrow’s innovators. The network is composed of 19 state STEM partners. The ISTEM Resource Network has been the lead partner with STEMx for the past six years in Indiana. Partnering with IDOE will give schools even greater access to high quality models of classroom implementation of STEM for the upcoming six-year Indiana STEM strategic plan. The State will be announcing the plan during their launch event November 9 at the Indiana Statehouse.

 

Office of Title Grants and Support

Multilingual Proficiency

IDOE is excited to announce that in its second year of implementation, 577 graduating seniors from the class of 2018 earned the Certificate of Multilingual Proficiency. For schools interested in beginning implementation for the 2018-2019 school year, please complete this form. Contact Nichole Leach with any questions. 

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Office of eLearning

Mini-Grants Now Open to Support Cybersecurity Course Offerings Beginning with 2019-2020 School Year

IDOE has announced the availability of mini-grants to support cybersecurity course offerings for the 2019-2020 school year. Details about the curriculum offered through Project Lead the Way are available here. The application will be managed by Project Lead the Way—schools may apply here. The grants will support a two year implementation of the cybersecurity curriculum including teacher professional development. Schools are responsible for any travel expenses not covered by the grant. Awards will be in the amount of $8,000. Approximately 15-20 grants may be awarded depending on the strength of the applications and available funding. If more qualified applications than available funding occurs, IDOE will devise a method of selecting winners and establish a waitlist of schools for this course.

 

Office of Finance

ESSA Test Report

Between October 24 – November 16, IDOE will afford all local education agencies (LEAs) the opportunity to submit actual Form 9 financial data for the period of July 1 through November 16, or the most recent data available, for purposes of having a “preview” of the new detailed ESSA School Building Level Report for local education agencies (LEAs). LEA participation is optional. Attached is a memo regarding the test report. Additional information about Form 9 changes related to ESSA can be found in the Finance Community of the Learning Connection under Files and Bookmarks > ESSA.  Please email questions regarding this memorandum here.

Curricular Material Reimbursement

School corporations, charter schools, and accredited nonpublic schools seeking curricular material reimbursement must submit both student-level data and curricular material costs in the STN Application Center on or before October 31. IDOE will calculate the reimbursement amount for each school corporation, charter school, and nonpublic school based on the total number of eligible students reported during the collection window. Please send questions regarding the submission process here

ESSA School Building Level Guidance

The Department recently posted an updated version of its guidance for the submission of school building level expenditure data. The guidance was developed in response to IDOE and Indiana LEAs federal reporting requirement under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as well as Indiana state law to report expenditures at the school- building-level. The Guidance and other applicable information may also be found in the ESSA folder of the School Finance Community of the Learning Connection. If you have any questions, please email.

 

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Weekly Updates

View previous weekly updates from Dr. McCormick here.  

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An Update from the Indiana Department of Education is created by the Office of Communications, and  will be sent every Friday.