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CCSSO Concludes Successful National Conference on Student Assessment
CCSSO has recently concluded the 39th annual National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) in Los Angeles. The NCSA attendees collaborated around new directions, new ideas, new technologies, and the very latest research in the assessment field. Participants discussed current challenges and issues with colleagues and spoke with national assessment leaders on hot topic assessment issues.
“Our goal was to breathe new life into the conference this year,” said NCSA Director Anne Howard. “Due to the influx of stimulus funds, the realities of the 21st century global economy, and the Common Core State Standards Initiative, the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been for those in the field of assessment. We wanted participants to be excited and energized, while staying engaged with the very important work at hand.”
Kathy Cox, state superintendent of schools (GA), kicked off the opening ceremony, sponsored by ETS, with a parody of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” and put Wes Bruce, Chief Assessment Officer, for the Department of Indiana, to the test. Bruce put his reputation on the line and went up against Los Angeles county 5th graders, winning a grand prize of registration for himself and a colleague to next year’s conference in Detroit, Michigan.
A plenary session, with keynote speaker Andreas Schleicher, head of the Indicators and Analysis Division of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Directorate for Education, focused on international comparisons and the realities of preparing students in America to compete with their peers in the classroom as well as students across the globe for the jobs of tomorrow. Another plenary session provided an update on the Common Core State Standards Initiative, where presenters provided an in-depth description of the common core and conference attendees were able to submit questions about the initiative. Both of these sessions will be available electronically in July. Between these plenary sessions and the many conference sessions, participants found time to dress their best and walk Pearson’s red carpet gala. Please click here to see pictures.
Next year’s conference will be held at the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center. The conference theme will be “40 years of the National Conference: Past lessons, promising direction.” The conference will give the education community an opportunity to come together and be reflective over the last 40 years and look at where we are, where we need to be, and what needs to be done to get us there.
For more information about the National Conference on Student Assessment, please contact Anne Howard at anneh@ccsso.org or 202-336-7029.
Headlines
Association & Related News
CCSSO Releases Meta Analysis Study Findings Showing Significant Positive Teacher Professional Development Effects on Student Achievement
Last Chance for Chiefs to Register to Attend CCSSO’s 2009 Summer Institute
Advocacy in Action
CCSSO Convenes ESEA Reauthorization Task Force
New OMB Recovery Act Guidance on Reporting of Section 1512
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Education to Hold a Mark-up FY2010 Budget
Education Newsbriefs
"Twice as Many Advance Out of Language Class" (AZ)
"Defense Schools' Director Pleased With Year's Accomplishments" (DoDEA)
"Evansville Schools Partnering With Brown University" (IN)
"Grasmick: All School Systems Must Address Dropout Rate" (MD)
"Defining a Vision of the Best" (NH)
"In Second Year, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Continues Its Success, Benefiting 11,800 Children" (PA)
"Court Rules on Funding Special Ed"
Association & Related News
CCSSO Releases Meta Analysis Study Findings Showing Significant Positive Teacher Professional Development Effects on Student Achievement
By Nina de las Alas and Rolf Blank
With a grant from the National Science Foundation, CCSSO conducted a meta analysis study with the goal of providing state and local education leaders with scientifically-based evidence regarding the effects of teacher professional development on improving student learning. After extensive collection, review and coding, the meta analysis of studies of teacher professional development programs in mathematics and science found that 16 empirical studies reported significant effects of teacher development on improving student achievement. The large majority (12 of 16) of studies were focused on analyzing mathematics teacher professional development and effects on student achievement in mathematics with the mean effect size of .21 for mathematics studies using a pre-post design. In addition, the meta analysis identified four studies of professional development in science that had significant effects on student achievement.
CCSSO also reviewed the professional development program designs and learning goals documented in the 16 studies and found several common patterns, particularly in the programs’ strong emphasis in teacher subject content and pedagogical content knowledge, use of multiple professional development activities, and the duration of the programs. The report concludes with recommendations for how the results and processes from the meta analysis can be useful to researchers, evaluators, and state education leaders.
To view the complete report and related resources click here. For more information, please contact Rolf Blank at rolfb@ccsso.org or 202-336-7044.
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Last Chance for Chiefs to Register to Attend CCSSO’s 2009 Summer Institute
By Bevin Kennedy
CCSSO’s 2009 Summer Institute will be held July 18-21, at the Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield, Colorado. The meeting begins at 6:00 p.m., Saturday, July 18, with a reception and dinner, and concludes with a dinner and celebration, Tuesday, July 21.
The Summer Institute will be an opportunity for chiefs to:
- Discuss the imperative to transform state educational systems
- Be exposed to sensible approaches to transforming education systems in relation to the Council’s four strategic initiatives
- Experience both networking and collaboration opportunities
The deadline for registration is Monday, July 6. If you have questions about registration or the program, please contact Bevin Kennedy at bevink@ccsso.org or 202-336-7014.
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Advocacy in Action
CCSSO Convenes ESEA Reauthorization Task Force
In response to the anticipated discussion involving the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), CCSSO will convene an ESEA Reauthorization Task Force. Convening of the task force comes in the wake of renewed efforts by U.S. House and Senate Committee leadership to reauthorize ESEA during this congressional session. Members of the task force include a mix of chiefs, deputies, federal liaisons, and state education agency staff from diverse regions of the country.
To begin, the task force will review and update CCSSO’s previous ESEA reauthorization recommendations and, where appropriate, craft new or amended proposals for the Congress's consideration. The work of the task force will result in an updated ESEA reauthorization proposal, factoring in new Obama Administration priorities and showcasing CCSSO’s leadership at the national and federal levels. CCSSO’s Advocacy team will continue to provide updates related to the task force work as well as the ESEA reauthorization in general.
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New OMB Recovery Act Guidance on Reporting of Section 1512
Last week, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued guidance regarding the reporting requirements of Section 1512 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). This general ARRA reporting requirement is in addition to any program specific reports that must be filed with the U.S. Department of Education (ED). OMB's government-wide guidance applies to all recipients of ARRA investments, including states, and includes important information regarding: (1) The mechanics of the Section 1512 reporting process and associated timeline; (2) Data quality (i.e. accurateness, completeness) and mandatory data elements (including sub-recipient reporting); (3) The centralized federal reporting system established to collect Section 1512 information; and (4) Job creation and retention reporting.
It is critical to note that this guidance does not address the potential state reporting responsibilities under ARRA, but instead addresses the reporting obligations created specifically by Section 1512 of the law, which generally requires recipients to submit detailed information about the: total amount of funds received (including the amount spent on projects and activities); a list of those projects and activities funded by name to include, a project description, completion status and estimates on jobs created or retained; and details on sub-awards and other payments.
Section 1512 Reports must be filed through OMB's central ARRA reporting system at www.FederalReporting.gov, no later than the 10th day after the end of each calendar quarter. The first report must be filed on or before October 10, 2009 (there is no requirement for Section 1512 reporting on July 10, 2009, as previously indicated by OMB on April 3, 2009). Please remember, states must also comply with any program specific reporting requirements outlined by ARRA and related award agreements, which may call for states and other ARRA funding recipients to file similar or additional data with ED. In such circumstances, states should rely on program-specific guidance and instructions issued by ED.
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House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Education to Hold a Mark-up FY2010 Budget
On July 8, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Education will hold a mark-up of president Obama’s proposed FY2010 budget request. As a reminder this budget request totaled $47.6 billion. Notably, the budget includes a $420 million increase in the Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) and a $52 million increase in Charter School Grants; it indicates the intention to use 40 percent of the $1.5 billion Title I School Improvement funds toward secondary schooling; and specifically for early childhood education includes $500 million for Title I Early Childhood Grants and the $300 million Early Learning Challenge Fund. CCSSO staff will continue to monitor the Subcommittee action and provide updates on funding levels as more information becomes available.
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Education Newsbriefs
Twice as Many Advance Out of Language Class
Arizona Republic (06/23/09) Kossan, Pat
The Arizona Department of Education reports that close to 40,000 students across the state will transition from English-language learner programs to regular classes in the 2009-10 school year, marking a more than twofold increase over the past two years. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne attributes the gain to a mandatory four-hour-per-day course for English-language learners that concentrates on English grammar, reading, and writing. Research shows that just 12 percent of English-language learners passed a state exam assessing their English speaking, reading, and writing skills after completing 30 minutes to an hour of language instruction per day, but passing scores were achieved by 29 percent of these students during the 2008-09 year. "It went from half an hour to an hour to four hours (of instruction). That's a radical difference," says Horne. "It's predictable it would affect results. This enables them to compete with other students on an equal basis." It remains to be seen whether these students, most of whom are in grades K-6, will be able to keep up with their peers in math, science, and history courses.
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Defense Schools' Director Pleased With Year's Accomplishments
DefenseLINK (06/18/2009) Quigley, Samantha
U.S. Department of Defense Education Activity Director Dr. Shirley Miles says the department spent the 2008-09 school year focused on educational improvements for military children. During the school year, the department conducted the usual customer satisfaction survey, implemented a new employee satisfaction survey, evaluated all school buildings in its 15 districts and assigned them a quality rating, and made the budget a top priority. "If we have to make cuts, we can say, 'Here's the cut line, and if you cut us by 10 percent, 15 percent, we can't do all of these things," Miles says. She adds that the department is working on a virtual school that would serve students who miss classes when a deployed parent visits or who reside in remote locations. These 24/7 online schools would be taught through hubs, with one already in place in Europe and two on the way in the Pacific and the United States. The courses would be accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement and would allow students to retake failed classes or complete advanced placement classes and others not offered at their schools. Miles says the department also reorganized administrative personnel, ensuring coordinators in each curriculum area are stationed at district levels.
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Evansville Schools Partnering With Brown University
Inside Indiana Business (06/23/09)
Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC) and Brown University are collaborating on the two-year Learning Leadership Cadre (LLC) for teachers and administrators of Indiana schools to help increase classroom and district leadership, which will lead to improvements in student achievement. Participants in the program will attend sessions at Brown University and seminars at EVSC. The goal of the LLC is to identify and support best practices in teaching and to develop effective leaders for school districts. So far, 38 participants have been selected for the program. Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Dr. Charles A. (Tony) Bennett says, "That's something I really appreciate about the EVSC," when referring to its "forward thinking and no excuses mentality." The State Department of Education has provided the EVSC and Brown University partnership with $100,000 in funding.
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Grasmick: All School Systems Must Address Dropout Rate
Maryland Gazette (06/24/09) Moore, Marcus
Maryland Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick told attendees of a recent statewide dropout prevention summit that all of the state's school systems need to create plans to lower dropout rates and assess their progress on a yearly basis. The Maryland State Department of Education shows that only 3.4 percent of high school students dropped out during the 2007-08 school year, but 4,990 of the students were black versus 3,575 whites. "We want it to be zero," Grasmick said. "Those jobs [associated with Base Realignment and Closure] won't be available to students who don't have a high school diploma." Grasmick insisted that the High School Assessments graduation requirement is not a factor in the dropout rate, as fewer than 100 students failed to graduate because of the rule.
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Defining a Vision of the Best
Concord Monitor (NH) (06/26/09) Langley, Karen
In times of uncertain education funding, Virginia Barry, who recently succeeded Lyonel Tracy as New Hampshire education commissioner, says educators must remember to concentrate on the needs of students. She says school districts will compete for stimulus funds based on whether they have innovations, such as the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School, that aim for sustainable improvements in education. Meanwhile, Barry hopes to improve communications between parents and teachers, school districts and taxpayers, and teachers and mentors. Additionally, she aims to ease resentment about special education costs by prompting administrators to let taxpayers know what is being done with their money and prevent students from being put in special education programs by mistake. "It really takes leadership," she says. "When people have information they have a better way of dealing with their feelings about things. Every parent wants the best for their children, and every citizen wants the best for their community." Barry also plans to focus on improving the system for identifying homeless children and children in foster care so teachers can better meet their needs and concentrate on teacher education and mentor programs as a retention device.
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In Second Year, Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Continues Its Success, Benefiting 11,800 Children
PRNewswire (06/23/09)
Pennsylvania Education Secretary Gerald Zahorchak says results from the second year of the Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts program shows it is working, as 99 percent of children enrolled during the 2008-09 school year demonstrated age-appropriate or emerging skills and behaviors by the end of the year. Children proficient in personal and social development rose to 8,763 at the end of the year from 2,984 at the start of the year. Over the same period, the number of children proficient in language and literacy rose to 8,135 from 2,164, and the number proficient in mathematical thinking climbed from 1,792 to 7,910. The number proficient in scientific thinking, meanwhile, rose to 7,686 from 1,429. Fewer than 2 percent of Spanish-speaking children and children with developmental delays or disabilities did not have age-expected language skills by the end of the year. According to Zahorchak, "There is no question that Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts is working. We have combined research-based, high-quality standards with high accountability to create these remarkable results for our children. School districts report that children from Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts classrooms are entering kindergarten with the necessary skills and requiring fewer special education services. These impressive results benefit the child, the school and the community." For more information about Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, click here.
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Court Rules on Funding Special Ed
Wall Street Journal (06/23/09) P. A2; Hechinger, John
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled 6-to-3 in favor of an Oregon family seeking public funding for a private education for their high-school student under the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) without first receiving special-education services from public schools. IDEA requires public school systems to provide "free appropriate" education for disabled students, and about one-fifth of public school budgets are allocated for special education. However, nearly 90,000 of the more than 6 million disabled students in the United States attend private schools or private residential facilities with the help of public funding. The dissenting opinion to the ruling, written by Justice David Souter, notes that it "makes good sense" for parents to work with public school administrators to find an alternative within the public school system before turning to costly private-school placement.
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