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IN THIS EDITION |
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PRESS RELEASE |
Minnesota's migrant students and families will receive a welcome delivery of school supplies and shelf-stable food, courtesy of a collaboration between the Minnesota Department of Education, The Sheridan Story and The Kids in Need Foundation. Read the June 2 press release.
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ACTION ITEMS |
This fall, a research study has been planned to compare student performance on full-size tablets (those with a screen size of about 10 inches) with student performance on “mini” tablets (those with a screen size of about 7-8 inches) to evaluate the impact of tablet size on student test scores.
By Friday, June 10, a commitment of at least 800 students (400 students at each grade level) is needed or the Minnesota Department of Education will be unable to conduct the study. At this time, the department has not received sufficient commitment to conduct the study, and unfortunately, it appears likely the study will be cancelled. This study is necessary to determine whether Minnesota will support testing on “mini” tablets in the future. If no study is conducted, testing on “mini” tablets will NOT be an option for the foreseeable future.
What is involved in the study:
- Students in grade 6 and grade 11 will respond to a set of questions in reading, math, and science.
- The study will be conducted in a three-week window from September 26 through October 19, 2016.
- Student participation time for each student will be approximately 90 minutes.
Please refer to the May 11 Assessment Update for additional details; contact Kathy Shannon (kathy.shannon@pearson.com) with any questions or to sign up.
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Each year, information regarding schools and districts is updated in the Minnesota Department of Education master database for organizations which validates sites for all major department reporting systems such as MARSS, STAR, UFARS, MMR, assessments, etc. It is important that a single point person is identified as the Site Verification Coordinator for your district. This person has access to request and certify school configuration changes and update other essential contact information for all sites within the district through a secure website.
We ask that you review your district and school sites, as well as the district contacts which you can update for the FY17 school year. To ensure data collections, payments, and reports are correct, district and school site information and contacts for the FY17 school year must be reviewed and certified by August 31, 2016.
Please read the June 2 memorandum from Matthew Porett regarding the timeline and critical steps to maintaining accurate district and school site directory information which is critical in correctly processing records for your district including students, staff, payments, and federal programs.
If you have any questions, please contact Mary Pat Olsen at 651-582-8624 or email questions to mde.school-verify@state.mn.us.
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As a reminder, there have been recent changes in how American Indian education programs are funded by the state. Any school district, charter school, or BIE-funded tribal contract school enrolling at least 20 American Indian students on October 1 of the previous year, is eligible to receive American Indian Education formula aid. To find out if your district or charter school is eligible for funding, please review the FY17 estimated maximum formula aid spreadsheet located on the Indian Education page of the MDE website. (http://education.state.mn.us/MDE/StuSuc/IndianEd/index.html) Please refer to the “Total Including Hold Harmless” column of the spreadsheet to calculate your maximum aid allocation.
If your district or charter school qualifies for aid, you are required to develop and submit an annual plan to the Office of Indian Education for approval of the funds (now due October 1, 2016). The Office of Indian Education has developed a one-page plan template that is aligned to the five goal areas of the World’s Best Workforce to fulfill this requirement of the law. All of the necessary resources are available on the Indian Education page of the MDE website including the plan form, a sample plan, and an updated guidance document.
Letter of Intent Due June 30, 2016 – The annual plan requires districts to report baseline data from the 2015-2016 school-year, and utilize that data to develop goals for the 2016-2017 school-year. Because this data is not yet available, districts need to first submit a letter of intent to allow us to immediately authorize FY17 funding while the local plan is in development. The letter of intent template can also be found on the Indian Education page of the MDE website.
To initiate your district’s funding, please submit your signed letter of intent to mde.indian-education@state.mn.us by Thursday, June 30. If you have any questions about the letter of intent, or about your plan, please feel free to send these via e-mail to the same e-mail address, or call 651-582-8300.
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1. Federal Title
Programs 2016-2017 Applications
Preliminary allocations were loaded into SERVS Financial for FIN 401 (Title IA), FIN 406 (Title ID) and FIN 414 (Title IIA). Preliminary allocations for FIN 417 (Title IIIA – for districts who individually generate over $10,000 and consortia hosts) will be loaded soon. Districts are now able to begin work with the 2016-2017 application cycle by accepting or declining the funds. A reminder that 2017 applications will appear in SERVS once the 2017 awards have been accepted or a balance forward of prior year funds is completed. All 2017 applications need to be fully activated (go into the application and save something new) by June 30 and are due on or before September 1.
2. Federal Title Programs
Important 2015-2016 application dates and information:
- May 2016 – EDRS Title Program Data Entry completed
- June 30, 2016 – Title I 15 percent Limitation Waiver (if applicable)
- June 30, 2016 – Amendment Window Two, spending ends, grant closeout – (within 90 days)
- June/July/August 2016 – Revise to Actuals and Balance Forward unspent funds
- November 30, 2016 – UFARS reporting
Important 2016-2017 application dates and information:
- June 3, 2016 – 2016-2017 Title Program applications released
- June 13, 2016 – SERVS (New Staff) Technical Training
- June 30, 2016 – Accept/Decline funds
- June 30, 2016 – Title I 15 percent Limitation Waiver (if applicable)
- June 30, 2016 – Fully initiate applications (Go into application and save some new information.)
- August 12, 2016 – SERVS (New Staff) Technical Training
- September 1, 2016 – Due date for 2016-2017 Title I, II and III Applications
- November 1, 2016 – Intent to Become (New) Schoolwide
- November 30, 2016 – Due date for Comparability Report
- March/April 2017 – Amendment Window One
- May 2017 – EDRS Title Program Data Entry completed
- June 30, 2017 – Amendment Window Two, spending ends, grant closeout – (within 90 days)
- June/July/August 2017 – Revise to Actuals and Balance Forward unspent funds
- November 30, 2017 – UFARS reporting
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Governor Dayton and the Minnesota Legislature have allocated funding for districts, charter schools with recognized early learning programs, or a combination thereof, to incorporate a voluntary pre-kindergarten program into their E-12 system. The new funding is sufficient to provide high-quality early learning programming to approximately 3,700 4-year-olds in the first year. The application is now available on the Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten page of the MDE website, along with helpful resources like Q & A documents and webinar information. All applications must be submitted online by 4 p.m. on Friday, July 1, 2016.
All public school districts, as well as charter schools with recognized early learning programs, are eligible to apply for this funding. School sites with the highest concentration of kindergarten students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches that do not have a Three- or Four-Star Parent Aware Rated child care or Head Start program within the district or in close proximity of the district shall receive the highest priority, and school sites with the lowest concentration of kindergarten students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches that have a Three- or Four-Star Parent Aware Rated child care or Head Start program within the district or in close proximity of the district shall receive the lowest priority.
If you have any questions, please contact mde.vpk@state.mn.us.
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ITEMS OF INTEREST |
The Doing Social Studies video series and accompanying video guides are now available on the Minnesota Department of Education website. These videos offer explanations and strategies for teaching the social studies content, concepts and skills in the standards and benchmarks. Watch these to inform curriculum writing this summer and instruction during the 2016-17 school year.
For more information about the Doing Social Studies videos, please contact Jessica Winkelaar (jessica.winkelaar@state.mn.us).
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Teachers working in designated teacher shortage areas in Minnesota may now qualify for help with their student loan payments. The Minnesota Teacher Shortage Student Loan Repayment Program, created in 2015 by the State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Dayton, is intended to encourage teachers to teach in Minnesota in designated shortage areas by providing assistance with their student loan repayments.
Qualifying teachers may apply through the Office of Higher Education (OHE). Applications are due by June 30, 2016. Qualifying teachers may be eligible for repayment assistance of $1,000 per year, up to a total of $5,000. OHE estimates that 194 awards will be made for the 2015-2016 award year, with as many as 1,940 annual awards made through 2019.
More information about the program can be found on the Minnesota Teacher Shortage Student Loan Repayment Program website. Access the online application.
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The Minnesota Board of Teaching has taken the following licensure actions:
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Flynn, Helen C. (FF# 097579) Ms. Flynn’s license was suspended on May 31, 2016, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 214.101, subdivision 1(b), until she meets requirements of the Board of Teaching.
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Stary, Ronald (FF# 330411) Mr. Stary’s license was reinstated on May 31, 2016.
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Matusovic, Sarah (FF# 443249) Ms. Matusovic’s license was reinstated on May 31, 2016.
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