USED Designates Teacher Shortage Areas

In response to Kentucky’s submission, the U.S. Department of Education (USED) has designated a number of teacher shortage areas during the 2018-2019 school year. The following list details the critical shortage areas in each local workforce area:

• Bluegrass – early childhood education, English as a second language, foreign language, health and physical education, social studies, speech/language pathology
• Cumberlands – early childhood education, exceptional children
• Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program – career and technical education, early childhood education, English and communications, exceptional children, foreign language, math, science
• Green River – exceptional children, science
• Kentuckiana Works-Greater Louisville – career and technical education, early childhood education, English as a second language, exceptional children, foreign language, mathematics, science
• Lincoln Trail – early childhood education
• Northern Kentucky – exceptional children, health and physical education
• Southeast/South Central – English as a second language, exceptional children
• Tenco – career and technical education, English and communications, exceptional children, science, social studies
• West Kentucky – career and technical education, early childhood education, English and communications, exceptional children, health and physical education, mathematics, science, social studies                         

Approval by USED of these shortage areas in Kentucky may benefit student grant and loan recipients who are qualified to teach in the aforementioned academic disciplines.

Benefits to student financial aid recipients, such as loan cancellations, are indicated in the following regulatory provisions:

• 34 CFR 682.210(b)(5)(ii), (q), and (s) enable a borrower who had no outstanding Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan on July 1, 1987, but who had an outstanding FFEL Program loan on July 1, 1993, to qualify for deferment of loan repayment under the Stafford Loan Program anytime within the life of the borrower’s loan(s) for up to three years of service as full-time teacher in a private elementary or secondary school in a teacher shortage area designated by USED, and as certified by the chief administrative officer of the particular school in which the borrower is teaching;
• 34 CFR 674.53(c) enables federal Perkins Loan borrowers who are full-time teachers of mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education, or any other field of expertise where the state educational agency determined there is a shortage of qualified teachers to qualify for cancellation of up to 100% of the outstanding balance on the borrower’s federal Perkins loans; and
• 34 CFR 686.12(d) enables grant recipients to fulfill their teaching obligation under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program (regarding the requirement to serve at least four academic years, within eight years of graduation) by teaching in a “high-need field,” which includes academic disciplines/subject areas identified as teacher shortage areas at the time the grant recipient begins teaching in that field.

Stafford Loan and Supplemental Loans for Students recipients who have questions concerning their loans, including the teacher shortage area deferment, should contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at (800) 4FED-AID. Federal Perkins Loan borrowers should contact the college/university where they received the loan.

School Profile Report Collector Tool Open, Due by Oct. 1

On July 15, information was shared with districts about the release of the School Report Card Collection Tool. To help support the completion of the tasks and provide clarity for meeting the timelines, please see information below. Please share this information with principals in your district.

As a reminder, the collection tool can be accessed through the SRC approval site. Additional information on the School Profile Report is available in the SRC Resource Page with the guidance documentation.

Statutory Requirement

KRS 158.6453 (Senate Bill 1, 2017) requires all principals to complete the School Profile Report by Oct. 1 each year for visual and performing arts, health and physical education (practical living), career studies and world languages.

The School Report Card is used to meet the requirement of, “The department shall include a link to each school’s profile report on its website.” The link to the school profile is at the bottom of the organizational landing page of the School Report Card.

The School Profile Report responses should reflect information from the 2018-2019 school year.

School Profile Report Timeline

• July 15 – Collection Tool opened
• Principals can begin completing the items for the School Profile Report based on information from the 2018-2019 school year.
• School Profile Report items are numbers 26-54 in the "School Report Card – Collector Items" document shared with the July 15 release notification and available with the other guidance document’s referenced above.
• Aug. 7 – The course and teacher data will be populated by KDE and then the School Profile Report can be generated from the secure School Report Card website.
• Review additional data points that will be loaded and available (courses offered, staffing) to ensure quality of data.
• Refine data entered to complete School Profile Report.
• Approve data as displayed within the Education Opportunity/General Coursework.

• After ensuring accuracy, print the School Profile Report for signatures.
• Senate Bill 1 (2017) requires the School Profile Report be approved by the school-based decision making (SBDM) council and include signatures of all SBDM members, the principal and the superintendent. If the school does not have an SBDM, it should be signed by the principal and superintendent.
• Once complete, schools should post the document to its school website.
• A hard copy must remain on file at central office and be available upon request.

All collection items are due no later than Aug. 30.

Email questions related to Education Opportunities/General Education Coursework (School Profile Report) to the KDE Standards mailbox.

Career and Technical Education and Student Transition Updates

The Kentucky Department of Education published a Pathway Phase-out Guidance in March 2017 that detailed all of the career pathways that are being phased out. It is important to note that pathways marked for phase-out at the end of 2018-2019 school year will no longer be visible in Technical Education Database System (TEDS) once the rollover occurs to open the 2019-2020 school year.

For detailed information, refer to the Pathway Phase-out Guidance as well as the information posted in the TEDS Monthly Notes. Remember:

• Do not enroll students in new pathways until the start of 2019-2020 school year.
• Make sure you have the pathway you plan to enroll them in for 2019-2020 in your TEDS (review Request to ADD or REMOVE a Pathway).
• The deadline for adding new pathways for 2019-2020 is Sept. 1.
• The pathway enrollment start date for these new pathways must be during the 2019-2020 school year.

2019-2020 Valid Industry Certifications

The list of industry certifications that will be valid for the 2019-2020 school year has been posted to the career and technical education (CTE) website. An industry certificate must be valid for a pathway in the year it is taken. It also must be documented in TEDS during the same year.

The list of valid certifications can be found on the CTE, Accountability and Transition Readiness webpage.

Exceptional Work Experience

There have been updates to the data entry process of Exceptional Work Experience. The Exceptional Work Experience Guidance, along with the instructions for How to Complete an Exceptional Work Experience Form, can be found on the CTE, Accountability and Transition Readiness webpage.

KDE Seeks Applicants for Assessment Item Review

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) Office of Standards, Assessment and Accountability is seeking classroom teachers in grades 3-12 and content specialists working in support of teachers to review items for future Kentucky assessments in reading and writing, mathematics and social studies. 

Senate Bill 1 (2017) requires KDE to implement a process to review the Kentucky Academic Standards and the alignment of corresponding assessments for possible revision or replacement. A pool of candidates is being gathered for this critical work, and participants will be notified if accepted. 

Applications are being accepted through Aug. 15. Applicants who are selected will be required to meet in Frankfort or Lexington for multiple days. Substitute teacher expenses and travel will be reimbursed. The timeline of activities will be shared with individuals once they are selected, with work taking place in early fall. Email dacinfo@education.ky.gov for more information.

English Learner/Title III Beginning of the Year Training

Regional trainings for English Learner (EL) and Title III coordinators have been scheduled. The sessions will focus on providing guidance to district coordinators of all levels. Topics covered during training will include changes under the Every Student Succeeds Act for ELs, the civil rights requirements that must be met by all districts regardless of its EL population or funding received, and requirements under federal programs such as Title I, Part A and Title III.

English Learner, Title III and Title I coordinators are strongly encouraged to attend. However, at least one person from each district should attend one of the six training locations regardless of whether the district receives a Title III subgrant or the number of ELs currently enrolled in the district.

Each training will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. local time. Sessions may be canceled if registration is low. If your training location is canceled due to low registration, you will be contacted in order to select another training location. Register early to help ensure you get the location of your choice.

The dates and locations of each training are listed below along with the registration links.

• July 26 – Shelbyville, Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative, 100 Alpine Drive
• July 30 – Bowling Green, Green River Regional Educational Cooperative, 230 Technology Way
• July 31 – Lexington, Kentucky Educational Development Corporation, 118 James Court, Suite 60
• Aug. 1 – Ashland, Kentucky Educational Development Corporation, 904 Rose Road
• Aug. 2 – Richmond, Eastern Kentucky University, Perkins Building, 4436 Kit Carson Drive
• Aug. 5 – Eddyville, West Kentucky Educational Cooperative, 435 Outlet Ave.

For questions, email Jessica Sanderson or call her at (502) 564-3791, ext. 4004.

Registration Is Open for Continuous Improvement Summit

Join AdvancED|Measured Progress and the Kentucky Department of Education at the Continuous Improvement Summit Sept. 16-17 for practical information and inspiring stories to drive improvement.

Learn how Kentucky educators and administrators apply research-driven insights to their unique educational environment. Connect school quality to better outcomes for learners. The featured keynote speaker will be education author Anthony Muhammed.

The conference will be 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sept. 16, and 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 17 at the Lexington Convention Center. Visit the AdvancEd website to register. For additional information, see this flyer.

KDE Offering Evaluation Training for Administrators

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is the official provider for the 2019-2020 Initial Certified Evaluation Training for administrators newly assigned to the role of evaluator of certified personnel. The two-day training, including the assessment, is required per KRS 156.557 and 704 KAR 3:370.

All new evaluators of certified personnel are required to attend. Visit the Principal Partnership Project website for information about dates and locations, and to register.

KDE also will provide a separate, one-day, six-hour update training for experienced administrators. Districts may choose to fulfill the requirement by applying for their own EILA certificates and providing the training in their district, but KDE is providing regional options for districts that choose not to do their own in-house training. Six hours of update training is required annually for all experienced administrators per KRS 156.557 and 704 KAR 3:370.

Any experienced evaluator of certified personnel who has completed the two-day Initial Certified Evaluation Training is qualified to attend. Visit the Update Evaluation Training webpage for more information about dates, locations and to register.

There is no fee to participate in either training and the appropriate number of EILA credit hours – six for the update or 12 for the initial – will be awarded. Multiple training sites are located across the state. Advance registration is required.

All trainings are 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. local time.

Those receiving this at KSB and KSD, please make sure all employees receive it. Also, ATC principals are asked to forward it to their staffs.

Please send your questions, comments and suggestions on Monday Message to Jennifer Ginn by 10 a.m. Friday to be published in the upcoming week.