While students are not currently in the classroom in the traditional sense, learning certainly does not stop during the summer months. Whether it’s a school-based summer learning opportunity, an out-of-school program for students, or a professional development experience for educators, summer is a great time to continue learning and getting better for ourselves and the students we teach.
This week, many of our team members have been hard at work as we prepare to launch a collaborative and sustainable model of preparing, educating, and supporting Indiana educators in both early literacy and STEM education…content areas that we know provide foundational knowledge and skills that students need in order to maximize lifelong success.
As a first step, we are partnering with the University of Indianapolis’ Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) to offer training (beginning next week!) that will provide educators with additional support, ensuring the very best research-based instruction for our students. Year one, there are 70 schools that have opted-in to this training, and there will be additional opportunities for schools in year two. Stay tuned!
And speaking of high-quality instruction, this week, I would like to shine a spotlight on some of the great work I witnessed firsthand this spring that is helping students to learn these foundational STEM skills.
In May, I had the opportunity to visit Wes-Del Middle/High School in Gaston. As part of their STEM Day, high school students hosted their local elementary school students for hands-on science, technology, engineering, and math activities. The gym was packed with more than 400 students at over 30 stations where groups could rotate in and out to learn and experience all things STEM! Students spent the entire morning working with circuits, using virtual reality headsets, experimenting with pulleys, robotics, catapults, and drones…the list goes on and on!
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Mr. Austin Williams, the high school science teacher, who was decked out in his very own personalized lab coat (check out the picture!), embodied the joy and excitement of STEM Day as he described projects where students were given the opportunity to take their ideas, go through the design process, and actually create them! One project even resulted in a working prototype of a volleyball net camera mount, which will be put to use by the high school volleyball team this fall.
Educators at Wes-Del Community Schools have worked to provide intentional STEM instruction at all ages throughout the school year. Beginning in elementary school, students are engaged with project-based learning with a full-time STEM teacher (shout out to Mr. David Lamb!) who works with all students from kindergarten through grade five. Students even have access to a STEM lab, made possible through a partnership with Purdue University IN-MaC.
By providing students with access to high-quality STEM opportunities at an early age, Wes-Del Community Schools are ensuring their students are gaining skills that will benefit them throughout their life. As we look ahead to the 2022-2023 school year, I am looking forward to being back on the road and seeing many additional examples of the positive, impactful work happening in our schools across Indiana.
Thank you, as always, for your commitment to continuous learning and improvement for our students!
NEW: Apply for the ILEARN Passage Content and Fairness Committee
The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) invites general education educators, educators of English learners and students with disabilities, and administrators to apply for the ILEARN English/Language Arts (ELA) Passage Content and Fairness Committee. Committee members will review ELA passages to ensure that they are ready for field testing. Two virtual committee meetings will be held from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, August 17, and Thursday, August 18. Committee members will receive a stipend for their participation. Contact IDOE’s Office of Student Assessment with any questions.
NEW: 2022-2023 Formative Assessment Grant Application Opens Monday, July 11
Eligible corporations may apply for formative assessment grant funds beginning Monday, July 11. Corporations must review the guidance document prior to submitting an application. All applications are due Monday, August 1. As a reminder, formative assessment funds may be used to fulfill dyslexia screener requirements. Contact IDOE’s Office of Student Assessment with any questions.
NEW: Dyslexia Screener Assessment Requirements
Corporations and charter schools must report dyslexia information on their website by Friday, July 15. Required criteria can be found on page seven of the 2022-2023 Dyslexia Programming Guidance for Schools. Contact IDOE’s Office of Student Assessment with any questions.
REMINDER: Attract, Prepare, Retain (APR) Grant - Expanding and Diversifying Indiana's Educator Pipeline
IDOE is now accepting applications for the new Attract, Prepare, and Retain Grant. The grant is available for Indiana’s schools and local partners as they work to expand and diversify Indiana’s educator pipeline and retain high-quality educators. A total of $5 million is available through this grant to support local plans. This funding is allocated as part of the state’s Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund. Interested applicants can submit their online application here. Applications are due by Friday, August 5. Please contact eel@doe.in.gov with any questions.
REMINDER: Staff Performance Evaluation Plan Submission
Legal Standard 12 requires each public school corporation to provide a copy of its staff performance evaluation plan to IDOE. School corporations must also submit their staff performance evaluation plan to IDOE for approval in order to qualify for any grant funding related to IC 20-28-11.5-8(d). This includes the Teacher Appreciation Grant (TAG). Staff performance evaluation plans must be submitted via JotForm by Friday, September 16. For more information, click here. Contact Rebecca Estes with questions.
REMINDER: TAG Policy Submission Required
Information regarding the TAG Policy Submission can be found here. Local educational agencies (including charter and virtual charter schools) must submit the TAG policy for approval via JotForm by Friday, September 16, to be eligible to receive TAG funding. Contact Rebecca Estes with questions.
NEW: Data Exchange End-of-Year Reporting Information
Schools need to be sure all end-of-year reporting is complete and ready for certification that began on Thursday, July 7, and ends on Wednesday, July 13. Data provided through Tuesday, July 6, will be included for certification. There are 12 "collections" for July 2022 certification. All twelve must be checked by the administration responsible for certification (or sign-off) even if the school had no data required or reported.
- Calendar
- Attendance
- Course Completion
- Certified Employee
- Additional Student Information
- Certified Position
- Homebound
- Special Education Termination
- Title I
- Alternative Education
- Special Education Evaluation
- Graduation
NEW: SIS Vendor Status Update
RDS has been badged for the March badging requirements. Please note MySchoolWorx has notified IDOE they will no longer be seeking Indiana Ed-Fi certification. A complete list of vendors working to become Indiana Ed-Fi certified can be found on the Data Exchange webpage.
REMINDER: Final Sign-off for Course Completion
IDOE is aware that schools may have experienced significant issues regarding the July course completion sign off, with many schools ending this collection period with unresolvable errors. Schools are encouraged to submit course completion data as best as possible as IDOE is not expecting all errors to be resolved prior to sign-off. Moving forward, as a best practice, IDOE recommends allowing sign-off on individual data collections. While certifying the entirety of data for the July certification due to the unresolved errors may not be ideal, IDOE is looking at the course completion collection as a “best effort.”
Note 1: IDOE will utilize all valid individual course transcript records even if the student status is 'excluded' due to some individual records with an error or missing completion data. If the school chooses to ignore the error messages triggered by these records rather than making corrections or excluding the course(s) from sending to Data Exchange, the student will have an excluded status on the course completion certification count. However, the valid course data will be available for IDOE use.
Note 2: IDOE is expecting July sign-off/certification even if all data concerns have not been resolved on course completion because the July certification includes the funding datasets (AD, Alt-Ed, Graduate, Homebound, Title) which require certification. Again, IDOE realizes that signing off with errors on course completion is not ideal, but this is something that will need to be addressed over the next few years–this data will not be pristine this year.
REMINDER: SIS Vendor Changes
IDOE-issued Data Exchange credentials (key and secret) are tied to the supporting SIS vendor. If your corporation will be changing or adding an SIS vendor for the 2022-2023 school year, please email link@doe.in.gov with these changes. Your organization will receive a new set of credentials for your new vendor.
NEW: Full-time Teacher Benefit Survey
Please read this memo regarding the full-time teacher benefit survey, which will be emailed to school treasurers on Friday, July 8. Upon completion of the survey, please email the excel template to IDOE's Office of School Finance.
REMINDER: Annual Office of School Finance Budget Workshop Materials
Materials from the annual Budget Workshop held on Thursday, June 30, are now available here. Contact IDOE's Office of School Finance with any questions.
REMINDER: Teacher Salary Data Reporting
Please read this memo and teacher salary frequently asked questions (FAQ) document for updates regarding a teacher benefits survey, reporting cooperative expenditures, and January 2023 changes to the Chart of Accounts. An overview of the changes was presented at the Thursday, June 30, School Finance Budget Workshop. Contact IDOE's Office of School Finance with any questions.
REMINDER: School Technology Advancement Account Applications
School corporations may file an application for a School Technology Advancement Account (STAA) now through Friday, July 15. The STAA application can be completed online and must be completed in one sitting. A sample application and certification page can be found in Moodle. Contact commonschoolfund@doe.in.gov with any questions.
REMINDER: School Improvement Plans
IDOE is accepting Comprehensive Needs Assessment/School Improvement Plans (CNA/SIP) through Friday, October 7. Use of the template fulfills all school improvement plan requirements under state law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), as well as requirements for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI), Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI), Additional Targeted Support schools (ASTI), and CNA requirements for Title I Schoolwide Programs. This memo provides additional information. The SIP template can be downloaded here. Please contact IDOE’s Office of School Support and Transformation with any questions.
NEW: Webinar for Special Education Excess Cost (SEEC) Updates
New criteria have gone into effect for the review and approval of SEEC funding. IDOE will hold a webinar at 1 p.m. ET on Monday, July 18, to review these changes and answer any questions. It is strongly recommended that all staff involved with excess cost funding (e.g., special education administrators, business officials, and superintendents) attend. This memo outlines new policies for SEEC funds. Please contact IDOE’s senior fiscal specialist Sarah Fields with any questions.
NEW: Register for Get Your Teach On In-School Professional Development and Summer Conferences
IDOE’s Office of Student Support and Accessibility is excited to announce a partnership with Get Your Teach On to provide additional professional development opportunities to eight selected Indiana schools. These opportunities are designed to ignite educators' passion for teaching and education, expand on current IDOE initiatives to support and elevate the educator profession, and make students want to come to school and learn while developing relationships. These opportunities promote positive educational outcomes to develop the whole learner. This partnership is offering both summer conference opportunities and in-school professional development to the eight selected schools. To learn more information and apply, please click here. Contact IDOE’s Office of Student Support and Accessibility with any questions.
REMINDER: Professional Development (PD) Opportunities with the Indiana IEP Resource Center
IDOE’s Office of Student Support and Accessibility is continuing its partnership with Indiana IEP Resource Center to provide PD for corporation leadership teams. These opportunities are designed to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. These sessions will provide support on policies, programs, and practices directly affecting students eligible to receive special education services. Additional information on upcoming opportunities and registration can be found here. Contact IDOE’s Office of Student Support and Accessibility with any questions.
REMINDER: Alternative Special Education License
The Alternative Special Education License is now available for initial special education licensure or for a special education addition to an existing license. Applicants must hold a bachelor’s degree and must be enrolled in a post-baccalaureate approved alternative preparation program. Review this guidance for additional information and requirements. Please submit any additional questions via this JotForm.
REMINDER: Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Part B Grant Proportionate Share Waiver Request Form Available
The FY 2021 Part B 611 and 619 grant proportionate share waiver request form is now available. Completed requests with supporting documentation must be submitted to partbgrants@doe.in.gov by Tuesday, August 16. Following waiver approval, a Part B grant budget modification request is required to transfer funds among budget scopes and must be submitted by Thursday, September 15. Download the waiver request form and instructions from the Office of Special Education Community in Moodle. Please direct questions to partbgrants@doe.in.gov.
REMINDER: Register for the ASSET Transition to Teaching Program
ASSET is a new transition to teaching program led by the Indiana Council of Administrators of Special Education (ICASE) as a solution to the current special educator shortage. ASSET is approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE) for anyone with an active Indiana teaching license in any content area who is interested in adding mild interventions, intense interventions, or both to their existing teaching credentials.
The no-cost, 11-month program is aligned with the standards from the Council for Exceptional Children and leverages field expertise to ensure candidates are well-prepared to meet the needs of students with disabilities and to pass the state licensure exam after completion of the program. Participants are required to maintain a small caseload of students with disabilities to meet ASSET program requirements. Summer training will be held Tuesday, July 19, through Thursday, July 21, at Franklin High School in Franklin. Online sessions will occur the first Tuesday of each month from August through May of the 2022-2023 school year. Contact Dr. Jay Arthur, director of the Indiana ASSET program, via email or phone (317-759-2895) with any questions.
REMINDER: Indiana Learning Lab STEM Week - Monday, July 11, Through Friday, July 15
IDOE’s STEM team will be hosting a week of live sessions in the Indiana Learning Lab from Monday, July 11, through Friday, July 15. Presentations from leaders in education and IDOE content specialists will address 2022 science and computer science standards, their frameworks, and new STEM Certification. Additional information and the full list of STEM Week opportunities can be found here. Contact IDOE’s Office of Teaching and Learning with any questions.
REMINDER: July Professional Development (PD) with IDOE
Summer PD with IDOE in the Indiana Learning Lab continues in July. This one-day event will include 25-minute presentations from 10:30 to 1:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 14. Each session will be hosted by an IDOE team member. Wednesday evening PD with IDOE will return in August. To register for workshops, create a free Learning Lab account by visiting the LINK Portal or the Indiana Learning Lab website directly, and use your school email to log in. Contact IDOE’s Office of Digital Learning with any questions.
REMINDER: Earn Professional Growth Points (PGPs) with On-Demand Leadership Series
IDOE’s Office of Teaching and Learning is hosting a leadership series throughout the summer in the Indiana Learning Lab! Educators can earn PGPs by attending live or recorded events from engaging presenters in the STEM and literacy fields. View the Leadership Series Collection to access previous events and register for upcoming sessions here. Contact IDOE’s Office of Teaching and Learning with any questions.
NEW: Save the Date - Quarterly Program Administrator Meeting
The first Title Grants and Support quarterly program administrator meeting will be held virtually on Wednesday, August 3, from 10 a.m. to noon ET. This informational and collaborative meeting will be open to any Indiana administrator or staff member who works with federal grants. Click here to join. Contact Nicole Leach with any questions.
REMINDER: Resources for Schools
IDOE is now offering two resources to schools free of charge. These include:
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TransAct Parent Notices: provides several resources including communication templates that meet Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) standards, available in multiple languages. If you do not know your school's TransACT Administrator, email support@transact.com for assistance.
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Title I Admin: includes a wealth of information, including best practices, tools, and resources provided by the National Association of Federal Education Program Administrators and LRP Publications, publishers of "The Answer Book on Title I." Schools should have recently received an email from Title I Admin with an updated license agreement and staff access spreadsheet. Please submit these items as requested in the email to ensure the school has full access to these helpful resources.
Contact your assigned federal grants specialist with any questions.
NEW FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (IDHS): School Resource Officer Survey
By law, school corporations and charter schools are required to annually report the number of school resource officers employed by a school corporation or charter school. IDHS has opened the portal to report the data for the 2021-2022 school year. Data must be submitted by Thursday, September 1. For safety, IDHS is required to keep the data confidential and not release it for public disclosure. Report data here. Contact pio@dhs.in.gov with any questions.
NEW FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH (IDOH): Indiana Lowers Threshold for Blood Lead Levels in Children
IDOH has adopted an emergency rule that lowers the level at which it determines a child has elevated blood lead levels. Effective Friday, July 1, Indiana’s blood lead reference value stands at 3.5 micrograms per deciliter, in alignment with values set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This level is used to identify children with blood lead levels that are higher than those of most children under age six. Click here to read the full release.
NEW FROM NEXT GEN PERSONAL FINANCE: Professional Development Resources Available to Support Educators
Next Gen Personal Finance is providing Indiana educators access to financial education professional development resources. Click here for more information. Contact Tim Ranzetta with any questions.
NEW FROM THE INDIANA HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (IHCDA): Homeless Youth Regional Program Navigator Positions Available
IDOE, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA), and the Coalition for Homeless Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) have partnered with the Indiana Balance of State Continuum of Care (BoS CoC) to implement statewide strategies to prevent and end homelessness. These organizations have come together to create a regional program to improve resources by hiring navigators to support local McKinney-Vento liaisons in providing wrap-around services for children and youth experiencing homelessness. These navigators will be employed by the IHCDA and positions are available statewide.
To view the full job postings throughout the state of Indiana and submit an application, please click here.
UPDATE FROM THE INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Indiana Black and Minority Health Fair
For 36 years, the Indiana Black and Minority Health Fair has provided more than $2,500 in free healthcare, resources, and education to communities and populations that are at higher risk for poor health and barriers to care. The health fair is more important this year than ever as many people have fallen behind on routine checkups and immunizations or have delayed seeking treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s health fair will take place from Thursday, July 14 through Sunday, July 17 at the Indiana Convention Center. Learn more here or contact inomh@isdh.in.gov with any questions.
REMINDER FROM CODEHS: Coding in Math
Join CodeHS as they host Coding in Math from 10:30 a.m. to noon ET on Monday, July 11, in the Indiana Learning Lab. In this workshop, teachers learn how to promote computational thinking and collaboration so students learn the skills and processes needed to develop basic computational artifacts in mathematics. Teachers will experience a mathematics coding lesson from the student perspective, learn how to plan and pace these lessons, and discover teacher tools and resources available from CodeHS to support teaching. Register for the session here. Contact CodeHS with any questions.
REMINDER FROM NEXTECH: Counselors for Computing (C4C) Workshop
The National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) C4C, in partnership with Nextech, will offer a full-day virtual workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, July 19. Participants will receive a C4C Resource Kit, a copy of Stuck in the Shallow End, a $100 stipend, and other hands-on, engaging activities. Register for this workshop here. Contact Nextech’s Stephanie Zircher with any questions.
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