With many schools across Indiana now in full gear, we are also gearing up for a number of celebrations leading up to the kick-off of the 2022 College Football Playoff’s National Championship Game in January, which will be hosted right here in our state’s capital.
In full disclosure, especially for those of you who know me personally, I love a good football game -- for the tailgate, the chili and cornbread, the brisk fall temperatures, and the sounds and action of the marching band and players on the field. This game in particular will be especially exciting...partly because Indiana is hosting...and most importantly, because of the philanthropy the College Football Playoff Foundation celebrates...it’s educators!
In fact, each year, the National Teacher of the Year Program partners with the Council of Chief State School Officers to bring all state teachers of the year to the big game, but the celebrations and dedication to educators does not begin or end with the big game, which is scheduled for January 10, 2022.
In addition to the College Football Playoff Foundation’s engagement of the larger fan base, there is also a Host Committee that works specifically to engage and spotlight educators by leading Legacy Impact Initiatives. The Indianapolis Host Committee is already hard at work planning these Legacy Initiatives. Through these initiatives, the Host Committee seeks to leave behind a legacy of support for our educator profession long after the game moves on to the next city. IDOE is thrilled to partner on this work to recognize and reward the difference-making impact of Indiana’s educators.
While previous host committees have focused primarily on recognition of educators within the host city, the Indianapolis Host Committee has agreed to partner with IDOE to spotlight ALL Indiana teachers across the entire state.
The Foundation, a national non-profit organization, also utilizes their Extra Yard for Teachers platform to support the Host Committee in creating local ways to enhance recognition, resources, professional development, and recruitment and retention of educators.
Here’s just a preview of some of the events being planned by the Host Committee with the support of the Foundation:
-
Teachers’ Welcome Event: An opportunity for local and national teachers to socialize and be recognized prior to Championship weekend events.
-
Extra Yard for Teachers Summit: An annual event designed to empower and inspire educators with speakers, giveaways, professional development, and networking experiences.
-
Taste of the Championship: A premium dining experience and fundraising event on the eve of the National Championship Game, whose funds benefit the work of the College Football Playoff Foundation.
-
Extra Yard 5K: A family-friendly 3.1 mile race dedicated to raising funds and awareness for the Extra Yard for Teachers platform.
To learn more about this work, and more to come, check out the CFP Host Committee’s website and follow @2022Indy on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Also, stay tuned for an upcoming announcement about a collaboration between the Indianapolis Host Committee and multiple state agencies that will celebrate all teachers in Indiana!
As always, thank you to our educators statewide for all that you do! And, thank you to the College Football Playoff Foundation and Indianapolis Host Committee for taking the time to help us celebrate and elevate our purposeful, difference-making educator profession.
|
NEW: Identifying the School Test Coordinator for Spring 2022 SAT
Each Indiana school with grade 11 students will need to identify the School Test Coordinator (STC) to administer the SAT in spring 2022. Corporation Test Coordinators (CTCs) and Non-Public School Test Coordinators (NPSTCs) will receive a link on Monday, August 16, to respond to a survey and identify these STCs for their eligible schools. Responses to this survey are due by Monday, August 23. Contact the Office of Student Assessment with questions.
NEW: Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) Milestones Document Available
The milestone dates for schools seeking to administer the PSAT/NMSQT to grade 10 and 11 students this fall is now available. The testing date for PSAT/NMSQT is Wednesday, October 13, with a registration deadline of Wednesday, September 15. Contact the Office of Student Assessment with questions.
REMINDER: 2021-2022 Corporation Amendment Window
The corporation amendment window for the 2021-2022 school year closes on Tuesday, August 31. Corporations and schools with school profile changes should submit a corporation amendment request with supporting documentation by clicking here. Please note: corporations and schools without any school profile changes do not need to submit a request. Contact the Office of Accountability with any questions.
REMINDER: 2021 Graduate Submittal
The 2021 Graduate collection is open through Tuesday, October 5. Schools are encouraged to submit this information as soon as possible to allow adequate time to correct any issues that may arise and to carefully review the cohort report, which can be found in Learning Connection. Contact the Office of Accountability with any questions.
NEW: Data Exchange Trainings and Refreshers for Schools
IDOE will be providing schools an opportunity to attend training and refresher informational webinars on Data Exchange reporting requirements for the 2022 school year. The training will include functionality of Data Exchange, certification timelines, reporting specifications in Data Exchange, and 2022 updates to data reporting requirements. Below are the links to register for the webinars. Additional information can be found on the IDOE Data Exchange webpage.
Reminder: Moodle is also a great resource, full of documents and training videos for schools to learn about reporting in Data Exchange. Contact dataexchange@doe.in.gov with questions.
NEW: Data Exchange Vendor Certification Status Update
Focus School Software, ParentLocker, and School Office/SDS have been removed from the Data Exchange Vendor Certification Status List as they are no longer pursuing Indiana Ed-Fi certification. An updated list of certifying vendors is available on the IDOE Data Exchange webpage. Contact dataexchange@doe.in.gov with questions.
NEW: School Safety Specialist Academy Basic Training
Registration is now open for Basic Training Group 23 of the Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy and will close Friday, September 24. Basic Training will take place in an entirely virtual format. To be certified as a school safety specialist, participants will be required to complete an online training curriculum (asynchronous) and participate in live webinars (synchronous). To register, please visit our website and complete the registration forms. All forms must be completed and returned by Friday, September 10 in order to be successfully registered. Additional information can also be found here. Contact Stephen Balko with any questions.
REMINDER: Financial Transparency Portal
Please remember to upload your school corporation’s financial transparency data for January to June 2021 into the portal by Sunday, October 31. See the School Finance Moodle Community for a presentation explaining the upload process. Contact form9@doe.in.gov with any questions.
REMINDER: Annual Financial Report
I.C. 5-3-1-3 requires the secretary of each public school corporation to publish an Annual Financial Report (AFR). The report must be published once annually, not earlier than August 1 or later than August 15. Guidelines are available here and can also be found in Moodle Finance. Please email us a PDF of the report and proof of publication by Tuesday, August 31. Contact afr@doe.in.gov with any questions.
REMINDER: Summer School Final Cost Report
The Summer School Final Cost Report submission window is now open. Information regarding the summer school program can be found in Moodle. Contact Teresa Hemmerle with questions.
REMINDER: Required Moodle Training on Indiana IEP Accommodations
A new Indiana IEP Accommodations Course is now available in Moodle. This course is required for all current Indiana IEP users, including those who completed the course last year, as content has changed. The course must be completed by Thursday, September 30. New hires must complete the course within 30 days of their hire date. Please contact Colleen Pawlicki with questions.
REMINDER: LINK Set Up for New School Employees
Security coordinators must add newly hired employees who will need access to Indiana IEP to the LINK portal. Security coordinators can follow the same steps as they have previously taken, outlined here. The EdPlan account is created when the educator clicks on the EdPlan tile and successfully enters Indiana IEP, after which the Indiana IEP administrator can assign IEP permissions, schools, and students. Security Coordinators may email link@doe.in.gov if there are questions.
NEW: Save the Date - Upcoming Youth Seminar
IDOE, in collaboration with the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Indiana Department of Health, and the STOP School Violence Planning Committee, invite you to Save the Date for our upcoming youth summit. This free summit will be held virtually on Thursday, October 28 from 9 a.m. to noon ET. The purpose of this summit is to build mental health awareness, create tangible solutions to help support a healthy school climate, and build relationships between youth and teachers/other adults in schools and communities. Topics of discussion will include conflict resolution, cyberbullying, youth perceptions of mental health, self-care strategies, and youth experience with community violence and its impact on education. Students, school personnel, and community organizations that have a school-based relationship with students are encouraged to attend. Participants are able to join as a group (such as a class setting), or individually. Registration for the summit will be available soon. Please send questions to Amber Becker.
NEW: Educator Recruitment for Middle School Civics Standards
House Enrolled Act 1384 requires a middle school civics education course to be ready for implementation in Indiana middle schools for the 2023-2024 school year. The first step in that process is standards review and development. If you are an educator with a background in social studies education and/or middle school pedagogy, a postsecondary social studies educator, or a parent, and are interested in taking part in the standards-setting process, please complete this form by Wednesday, August 25. Contact Jacob Koressel with any questions.
NEW: Indiana Academic Standards/SAT Math and English/Language Arts Priority Standards
IDOE created two documents that highlight specific Indiana Academic Standards (IAS) that are most strongly represented on the SAT’s test blueprint. The math and English/language arts documents provide educators with information about how the IAS are assessed through the SAT to help with curriculum planning and pacing. Please contact MacKenzie Cox with any questions.
NEW: IDOE Staff Available for On-Demand Chats
The Indiana Learning Lab, formerly eLearning Lab, is a free, personalized microlearning platform filled with resources, lesson ideas, workshops, and more. Beginning on Monday, August 16, IDOE staff will be available through the chat feature on the Learning Lab platform Monday through Friday from 1 to 3 p.m. ET to provide just-in-time support and coaching. Access the Learning Lab through the LINK portal or by clicking here. Log in using your school email address. Learn more about the Learning Lab here, or contact Diana Gill with questions.
NEW: Indiana Course Design Academy - Looking for Participants!
IDOE, in collaboration with Indiana University, invite Indiana teachers to participate in Phase II of the Course Design Academy. Participants will design courses using freely-available Open Educational Resources. Courses designed through this process will be made available to Hoosier educators. Participating teachers must hold a valid Indiana teaching license and must be currently teaching or have taught the course they will design. This Course Design Academy will take place Monday, September 20 through Friday, November 12. To participate, please complete this online application. Applications will close Friday, August 20. Contact Diana Gill with questions.
REMINDER: Key Considerations for High Quality Digital Resources
In an effort to assist teachers in selecting high quality digital resources, IDOE has created the High Quality Digital Resource Checklist. This document is a valuable tool as schools work to develop a process for searching and curating digital resources. Use this as both a resource and a checklist to define your process of reviewing and adopting resources. Contact Meri Carnahan with any questions.
NEW: Updated Fiscal and Object Code Guidance
Please see updated guidance regarding the micro-purchase threshold, object code updates, and reminders regarding local educational agency (LEA) policies and procedures for federal funding purposes. Please contact Cole Dietrich with questions.
REMINDER: FY 2020-2021 Fiscal Waiver Posted for Public Comment
IDOE intends to apply for a waiver for FY 2020-2021 federal funds. This waiver would allow IDOE to waive Title I carryover limitations as well as extend the period of availability for FY 2019 federal funds to September 30, 2022. The waiver application can be found here. Comments will be accepted through Friday, August 20 and can be submitted by clicking here. Contact Cole Dietrich with any questions.
REMINDER: Posting of Approved ESSER III Local Educational Agency Applications/Plans
As ESSER III application reviews come to a close, please see the updated ESSER III FAQ regarding the requirement to publicly post the local educational agency’s (LEA’s) plan for use of ESSER III funds on the LEA’s public website. The updated FAQ can be found on the ESSER II and III webpage. Contact your federal grant specialist with any questions.
NEW FROM THE NATIONAL ALLIANCE ON MENTAL ILLNESS INDIANA: Free Youth Mental Health First Aid Training For School Personnel
The Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA) has partnered with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Indiana to coordinate free Youth Mental Health First Aid trainings for school personnel around the state. NAMI Indiana will coordinate these no-cost trainings at 25 schools or school districts across Indiana now through June 30, 2022. Additional information about the program is available on the NAMI Indiana website. To request training, click here or contact youthMHFA@namiindiana.org.
NEW FROM BUTLER UNIVERSITY’S EXPERIENTIAL PROGRAM FOR PREPARING SCHOOL PRINCIPALS: Future Focused Blog
Butler University’s Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals (EPPSP) is inviting educators to engage in a conversation about how to reimagine and redesign schools and education through their newly-launched Future Focused Blog. Inspired by the future-focused work of Dr. Jamie Merisotis’ Human Work in the Age of Smart Machines, Diane Tavenner and Michael Horn’s Class DisruptED, and AASA’s Learning 2025, Butler’s EPPSP aspiring leaders share their research, discussion, special events, and lesson guides for educators. Click here to learn more. For more information, contact Dr. Deb Lecklider.
NEW FROM INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY: Online Teaching and Learning Scholarships
Through GEER funding, Indiana Wesleyan University (IWU) is developing a pathway that allows educators to be equipped with the skills most needed to teach online, while also providing a series of credentials to help interested teachers continue their education. All Indiana teachers qualify for scholarships to earn Foundations of Effective Online Teaching badges for free. Badge completion counts towards Indiana’s required Professional Growth Plan points. To learn more, visit the IWU website.
REMINDER FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT: Indiana Career Explorer
As a reminder, Indiana Career Explorer (INCE) is transitioning to a new vendor, Futures, Inc. The new INCE will launch in the next few weeks and provide users with an enhanced tool to explore career and educational opportunities. As part of the transition, the Department of Workforce Development is working with the new vendor to input all student data stored with the previous vendor. DWD is also working with IDOE to develop training materials for use with the new INCE. Following the transition, INCE will remain a free tool for all Hoosiers, including all K-12 students. Please contact Pam Warner with questions.
All Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) newsletters are located in one convenient location. Please find past issues here.
|
