SIA Update

We hope you appreciate this new biweekly format. Your feedback is welcomed. 

Hopefully spring break rhythms offered a chance for some rest and rejuvenation. The SIA Update will now come your way every other week and we are organizing the information it conveys in new ways. The quick snapshot will give the bite-sized summaries of the whole update. That will be followed by richer detail on each item in the snapshot and all the key links. 

We want to continue to acknowledge the challenges and complexity of the year we are in and the work ahead. We hope this helps you see the bigger picture of the next few months related to the SIA. 

If you have questions or would like additional information please feel free to email us at SIAInfo@state.or.us.  

The Quick Snapshot of This Update

• Sharing New Community Engagement Framework - Linked below with additional detail you’ll find a new framework that will guide the SIA team’s coaching and approach to community engagement over the next five years. You don’t need to digest it all in one sitting. We share in deep recognition of the significant work that has been completed to date by districts and eligible charter schools to engage with their communities. 
• Second Progress Reports - Thank you again for your submissions and follow-up to the first SIA progress report! We are now preparing for the second progress report, which spans the reporting period January 1, 2021 - March 31, 2021. The second progress report is due by April 30, 2021. More details below.
• SIA Plan Updates for the 2021-23 Biennium - In response to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 and as a way to lessen administrative burdens for the 2021-23 biennium, we shifted from a full application cycle to a simpler SIA plan update process. Grantees are able to either adjust (minor changes) or amend (major changes) the existing three-year SIA plan and submit the update during the window of May 1 - June 30, 2021.

Community Engagement Toolkit

The SIA team is excited to release the new Community Engagement Toolkit. In this update, we are introducing a key framework to see and move deeper across six different levels of community engagement. 

We recognize the significant work that has been completed to date by districts and eligible charter schools to engage with their communities. We also want to illuminate important work to center students, families, and communities in the education system over the long haul.  

This new framework provides practical and proven approaches to community engagement that will guide the SIA team's coaching for SIA grantees over the next five years. 

We know there is a great deal of information flowing to schools and districts at this time. We want to emphasize that this isn’t meant to be digested in one bite -- it marks goals, visions, tools, and perspectives we will draw on to support districts and eligible charter schools over time. We hope you find it useful both theoretically and practically. We’ve aimed to include real SIA examples to learn more about where the work done in the first year of implementation fits in the framework. We offer this toolkit at a critical time as districts and schools engage with students, families and communities in new ways to support ongoing engagement.

We look forward to exploring this new framework and toolkit with you. We also want to thank Facilitating Power and Movement Strategy Center for their support in adapting their framework to the Student Investment Account.

Second Progress Report

Thank you again for your submissions and follow-up to the first SIA progress report! We are now preparing for the second progress report, which spans the reporting period January 1, 2021 - March 31, 2021. The second progress report is due by April 30, 2021. Earlier this week you should have received an automated email from Smartsheet notifying you that the columns for the second progress report on your customized reporting dashboard has been unlocked. 

As you’re working on your second progress report, please read the guidance and/or watch the video tutorial as they provide helpful tips for navigating Smartsheets and report submission. We know many of you work closely with your SSA ESD Liaisons through the different SIA processes, including submitting the progress reports. Our team will walk through the reporting dashboard template with Liaisons early next week, clarifying what is needed in each section as well as answering questions. 

Additionally, ODE will be hosting progress report office hour sessions during the month of April to provide technical assistance on the reporting dashboard. Please click the links below to sign up for one of the time slots and come prepared with any questions!

• 1:00-3:00pm Tuesday, April 6th,2021 - register here!
• 9:00-11:00am Thursday, April 8th, 2021- register here!
• 1:00-3:00pm Tuesday, April 13th,2021 - register here!
• 9:00-11:00am Thursday, April 15th, 202 (Charter Focus)- register here!
• 1:00-3:00pm Tuesday, April 19th,2021 (Charter Focus) - register here!
• 9:00-11:00am Thursday, April 22nd, 2021- register here!
• 1:00-3:00pm Tuesday, April 27th,2021 - register here!
• 9:00-11:00am Thursday, April 29th, 2021- register here!

SIA Plan Updates for the 2021-23 Biennium

In response to the ongoing impacts of COVID and as a way to lessen administrative burdens, for the 2021-23 biennium, you may remember that we’ve shifted from a full application cycle to SIA plan updates. Grantees will be able to either adjust (minor changes) or amend (major changes) the existing three-year SIA plan and submit the update during the window of May 1 - June 30, 2021. Section 4 of the Supporting Quality Implementation outlines the SIA plan process, while Appendix B includes a preview of the information that will need to be submitted. 

As you’re developing your SIA plan updates, you may find the following resources helpful: 

• Charter School Guidance - A resource to support districts and participating charter schools establish SIA district-charter agreements, develop SIA plan updates, and submit required reporting. 
• Plan Narrative Template - This template aims to help districts organize the updates to their application content prior to submitting their complete and Final Adjustment Template in the Google Form.
• Integrated Planning Tool - This tool is designed to help align strategies and desired outcomes to concrete activities and their associated expenditures.  
• 2021-23 Budget Template - The required budget template for applicants with the update with the preliminary allocations.  
• Allocations: 
• District - 2021-22 and 2022-23 - Preliminary allocations for school districts. 
• Charter schools eligible to apply independently - Preliminary allocations for charter schools that are eligible to apply for SIA funds on their own. 
• Charter schools eligible to apply with a district - Preliminary allocations for charter schools that are able to receive funds as part of their sponsoring districts SIA application.
• State-sponsored charter schools - Preliminary allocations for state sponsored charter schools. 

ODE will be offering weekly SIA plan update office hour sessions leading up to the final submission deadline of June 30, 2021. We’ll have staff at the last two April sessions to answer plan update questions and will release another wave of office hour offerings as we get closer to May. 

If you have questions about the second progress report and/or the plan update process, but aren’t able to attend office hour sessions, please reach out to SIAinfo@state.or.us. 

Additional Resources

• Office of Indian Education Tribal Engagement Toolkit and SB13 Tribal History/Shared History Professional Development Courses.
• Education Advancement Council 2020 Oregon Educator Equity Report 
• Oregon State School Board resolution on Black Lives Matter.
• Community Engagement Through Oregon’s Student Investment Account (FBO Research Brief)

Please send any questions or comments to SIAInfo@state.or.us.  You’ve been automatically added to this listserv based on your role, but you can manage your subscription as needed. We encourage you to share this message with new staff in your school/district who may be interested in receiving these weekly updates.