March Alternative Learning Update

Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction sent this bulletin at 03/22/2018 12:46 PM PDT

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WALA Spring Conference
Full-day Kindergarten Update
Legislative Update
Online Learning Update
Resource Corner - School Climate Survey
Upcoming Events

WALA Spring Conference

Thank you to everyone who attended the WALA spring conference and the OSPI Support for Alternative Learning session. Our team was delighted to meet many of you in person and we greatly appreciate the conversation around challenges you are experiencing.

We heard a number of challenges, particularly those around data and compliance monitoring, funding, unique populations, and certification. Our next steps with data and compliance monitoring including the following:

Pull together a small group of program staff members who are interested in providing more detail and clarity around this challenge. If you are interested in participating in this group, please contact the Alternative Learning Department.
Present an overview and potential solutions to the CEDARS Governance committee that includes vendors from most of the Student Information Systems used by districts across the state. Ideally, this will lead to next steps with these vendors in how their systems may be improved or be accommodating to data management/use in an alternative setting.

While the session at WALA was a forum to provide feedback and discuss challenges in person, you can always do so by clicking on the 'provide feedback' quick link on our website.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at the 2019 Spring WALA Conference back at Skamania Lodge!

Full-day Kindergarten Update

The proposed revisions to WAC 392-121-182, which intend to align Full-day Kindergarten (FDK) requirements to an Alternative Learning Experience (ALE) setting, have been filed and posted to the OSPI rules calendar. A hearing is set for April 12th, 2018 at 10:00 AM in the OSPI Brouillet Conference Room. For more information, please review the following links:

If you are interested in learning more about implementing FDK in your school or program please join the Early Learning and the Alternative Learning Departments for a webinar on Monday April 23, 2018 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM. An overview of the rule changes will be provided in addition to guidance on implementing a FDK option in your ALE setting. Register now for this webinar opportunity.

Legislative Update

The legislative session has ended and you can find the outcome of all bills introduced on the website for the Washington State Legislature.

Senate Bill 6134, modifying alternative learning experience course type definitions, passed and OSPI will now be initiating the subsequent WAC changes to align the definitions. The revised definitions are expected to be in place beginning with the 2018-19 school year. For information on the changes, please review the rule update section of our website.

Senate Bill 6389, regarding career and technical education in alternative learning experience, did not pass in this legislative session. However, a proviso has been included in the budget requesting that OSPI write a report on the application of CTE in ALE. The goal of this report will be to gather more information and provide an analysis of CTE in ALE settings in preparation for the next legislative session.

Online Learning Update

New resources are now online! Visit our website to review the following:

An informative document about online learning which can be distributed to students and/or posted in counselors’ offices. It explains what options are available, the enrollment process, where to find more information, and has an area for schools to include their own information.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions we have received from school and district personnel. Please refer to it and provide us with feedback.

Resource Corner - School Climate Survey

Are you interested in learning more about student perceptions of your school climate? If so, check out this free survey from PBIS Apps. The survey is short and intended for students in grades 3-12. Click here for a PDF version of the School Climate Survey Manual.

Upcoming Events

GATE Equity Webinar Series
April 11, 2018 - Supports for Graduation with Attendance, 9th Graders on Track, and Dual Credit
May 9, 2018 - Building Community with Art
June 13, 2018 - Planning for Equity with Data
Registration available through the GATE website.

AWSP/WASA Summer Conference - Spokane, Washington
June 24 - 26, 2018
Registration available through AWSP website.

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