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October 12, 2021
Register Now for Beginning Third Party Billing Fall Training
In November, the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) and Department of Human Services (DHS) will conduct Beginning Individualized Education Program (IEP) Third Party Billing Training sessions by regions. These sessions are designed for beginning third party billing coordinators, special education directors and administrators. The focus will be on introducing third party billing for special education IEP or Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) services.
Registration
Each session has its own unique registration link. Please use the links below to register for your preferred training session.
Register for Monday, November 1, 2021: Regions 1 and 2 (Northwest)
Register for Tuesday, November 2, 2021: Region 3 (Northeast)
Register for Tuesday, November 9, 2021: Region 4 (West Central)
Register for Wednesday, November 10, 2021: Regions 5 and 7 (Central)
Register for Tuesday, November 16, 2021: Region 11 (Metro)
Register for Thursday, November 18, 2021: Regions 9 and 10 (Southern)
Register for Tuesday, November 30, 2021: Regions 6 and 8 (Southwest/West Central)
To cancel or change your registration, or to request ADA accommodations to participate, please contact Emily Jahr. Please note, accommodation requests must be made seven days in advance of any meeting.
If you have questions, contact Jesusa Williams (DHS), Jenny Roth (DHS) or Julie Neururer (MDE).
Behavior Specific Praise: Implementing, Coaching, and Measuring the Impact of this Simple yet Specific Strategy
Researchers have studied the effects of praise on students with disabilities for decades, repeatedly demonstrating positive effects of praise on a range of academic and behavioral outcomes, including increased student time on-task, decreased inappropriate behaviors and reduced student tardiness.
To bridge the research to practice gap, the presenters have developed the Behavior Specific Praise Observation Tool (BSP-OT) to assist teachers, coaches and administrators in increasing their use of behavior-specific praise (BSP). During this presentation, Andrew M. Markelz, PhD, assistant professor at Ball State University and Benjamin S. Riden, PhD, BCBA-D, LBA, assistant professor at James Madison University:
- Briefly discuss the benefits of using BSP with students and the importance of delivering contingent and varied BSP.
- Provide opportunities to practice with the BSP-OT.
View the captioned presentation on the Special Education Division Mediasite website.
This school year, all districts and charter schools will submit MARSS data to MDE using Ed-Fi and will work toward Ed-Fi only reporting. October 1, 2021, was the goal date for all districts to move to the Ed-Fi production environment. If your district has not yet completed this process, contact the MDE Ed-Fi team for additional support.
District staff may need additional support to complete the Ed-Fi transition. Every school leader should be aware of how their staff are doing with the Ed-Fi on-boarding process, how dual submission and data clean-up are going, and when the district will be ready to certify MARSS data for Ed-Fi only reporting. Every superintendent and charter school leader will eventually sign off on certification for Ed-Fi only data submission.
Additional Resources
Minnesota school districts, charter schools, tribal schools and nonpublic schools are invited to attend the initial webinar on COMPASS, the new statewide system to support student learning recovery as we navigate another school year impacted by COVID-19. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 from 9:30 – 11 a.m. and will provide an overview of the goals for the system, and the offerings that will be available throughout this school year. Registration is required for the webinar. Use this interest form to let us know if you'd like to receive additional information about COMPASS, and register for the webinar on October 20.
The first supports for schools available through COMPASS will be available in November, beginning with a two-part Minnesota Multi-tiered System of Supports (MnMTSS) Frame Work Overview webinar. Learn more and register for those webinars at the links below.
MnMTSS Overview Part I
MnMTSS Overview Part II
School leaders are encouraged to share information about the upcoming trainings with their staff. Any school staff who would like to learn more about COMPASS and its upcoming learning opportunities can sign up using this form.
Help Promote the U.S. Youth Senate Program
The Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) administers the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP), an annual scholarship competition funded by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and sponsored by the U.S. Senate. Each year, Minnesota selects two high school juniors or seniors to participate in the USSYP. The delegates receive a $10,000 undergraduate college scholarship and will be part of Washington Week Online. The packet must be postmarked or emailed by midnight on Friday, October 29, 2021.
Please help us promote this exciting program by sharing the link below with high school principals, counselors and other educators and staff who can help spread the word. The webpage below includes the student application, the program brochure and additional information.
Visit the U.S. Senate Youth Program webpage.
Reminder: Temporary Shifts to Online Learning
Districts and charters that are not fully-approved or provisionally-approved online providers and experience COVID-19 cases or close contacts who cannot attend in-person instruction can choose to:
- Use homebound instruction for individual students, small groups of students or classes. This survey is not needed in order to provide homebound instruction.
- Use up to 30 total instructional days throughout the course of the entire school year for temporary shifts to online learning at the grade, school, or LEA-wide level.
Who MUST fill out this survey:
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This survey is ONLY required for districts or charter schools who exceed the 30 instructional day maximum that are NOT fully-approved or provisionally-approved online providers.
- Districts and charters who may only be fully-approved or provisionally-approved online providers for certain grades must also fill out this survey if their non-fully-approved or provisionally-approved grades exceed the 30 instructional day maximum.
Who MUST NOT fill out this survey:
- Districts and charters who are fully-approved or provisionally-approved online providers for all grades should NOT fill out this survey.
- Districts and charters who are temporarily shifting individual students, small groups of students or classes to homebound instruction should NOT fill out this survey.
It is also important to note that districts must continue to use the existing Student Reporting for Online and Blended Learning Options for the 2021-22 School year and other guidance found on the COVID-19 Operations webpage. In addition to other important information, this guidance outlines attendance and membership day considerations that are necessary as districts plan for temporary shifts to online learning and continuity of instruction for students.
Reminder: Apply for the Mathematics Standards Review Committee
The application for serving on the 2021-22 Minnesota Academic Standards Mathematics Review Committee is posted on MDE’s Mathematics webpage. The deadline for application is October 15, 2021.
Serving on the committee means a commitment of at least 10 full-day committee meetings from November 18, 2021 through August 2022, as well as work between these meetings. Please encourage teaching staff to participate. While it requires seven days out of the classroom, it is fantastic professional development for teachers.
The Minnesota Department of Education seeks to establish a highly qualified, diverse committee with a broad representation of stakeholders including teachers, administrators, school board members, higher education, business/industry, and citizens; content specialists with expertise across all developmental levels; people from diverse educational settings and from urban, suburban, and rural communities.
The applications for the Mathematics Review Committee are due October 15, 2021. Committee members will be announced October 25, 2021 on MDE’s Mathematics webpage.
If you have any questions, please contact Doug Paulson.
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