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Headlines
Association & Related News
EIMAC Members Provide Chiefs with Recommendations on Data Issues
Advocacy in Action
CCSSO, NGA, and NASBE Host Common Core Adoption Summit
Education Newsbriefs
"Cut Libraries? Not So Fast, Says O'Connell" (CA)
"Rating System Slated to put Miss. Schools on National Level" (MS)
"New Green Technologies Course Readies Students for Careers in Alternative Energy" (SC)
"TDOE Announced Fundamental Changes to '09 Report Card" (TN)
"ED Lifts Administrative Cap for Title I, IDEA Stimulus Funds"
Association & Related News
EIMAC Members Provide Chiefs with Recommendations on Data Issues
By Maureen Matthews
Last month, over 170 participants from 48 member states, partner organizations, the U.S Department of Education, and business partners attended the biannual Education Information Management Advisory Consortium (EIMAC) meeting in Arlington, VA. During the meeting, participants deliberated a number of issues from system design and sustainability to federal collections and assessments. Chief Gerald Zahorchak, Pennsylvania Secretary of Education and CCSSO board liaison to EIMAC, shared key recommendations with chiefs:
- In recognition of the emerging potential of longitudinal data systems, chiefs should provide leadership in redefining the state education agency's role in providing data analysis and information to districts and other education stakeholders. This includes building capacity within the state education agency to better utilize the longitudinal data system; and advocating for and actively participating in sustainability efforts to maintain and continuously improve the system.
- EIMAC urges chiefs to notify local education agencies (LEAs) about the proposed changes to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) data collection and encourages both chiefs and LEAs to submit comments regarding the collection notice prior to the November 10, 2009, deadline. To see specific comment recommendations please click here.
- The reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is fast approaching. In advocating for reauthorization, EIMAC would like chiefs to encourage the alignment of data collection, reporting, and usage requirements. This alignment is essential to promoting data credibility, clarity, and efficiency. For more detailed recommendations please click here.
- EIMAC encourages CCSSO and NGA to supplement the initial review of the K-12 grade-by-grade common core content standards with a longer, more in-depth review period to allow the public and states to provide more feedback and clarifications. This type of meaningful feedback is needed due to the fact that these standards will drive instruction and will be used for accountability. There will need to be adjustments to professional development, curriculum, and materials in order to effectively implement the standards.
To view a full list of recommendations from the meeting, please click here. For more information contact your state education agency EIMAC representative or Maureen Matthews at 202-336-7023 or maureenm@ccsso.org.
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Advocacy in Action
CCSSO, NGA, and NASBE Host Common Core Adoption Summit
Last Friday, CCSSO, along with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the National Association of State Boards of Education, hosted the Common Core Adoption Summit in Chicago, IL. In attendance were over 140 state stakeholders representing 42 states and territories. The purpose of the Adoption Summit was to engage these three national associations and key education stakeholders in a dialogue involving the current development of the Common Core Standards as well as the processes and timelines for standards adoption in each state.
CCSSO will continue to work closely with states to identify appropriate adoption and implementation strategies in each state. For more information about the Common Core Adoption summit, contact advocacy@ccsso.org.
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Education Newsbriefs
Cut Libraries? Not So Fast, Says O'Connell
Santa Rosa Press Democrat (CA) (10/29/09)
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell released a draft of the Model School Library Standards for California Public Schools that he penned with authorization from the State Board of Education. O'Connell's office cites research studies indicating that students whose schools have good libraries achieve higher test scores and get better grades than those whose schools lack libraries. According to O'Connell, "Students need to know how to access, evaluate, and use information effectively so they can become information literate. I encourage everyone to review the new, rigorous School Library Standards which are designed to help students prepare for success in the hypercompetitive global economy that is powered by information and knowledge. We want to ensure that these standards help students to learn and work with 21st century skills, so they may apply responsible research practices, act with respect for others when using digital devices, and continue to grow as life-long learners." The model standards, as well as information about the public comment period, can be viewed here.
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Rating System Slated to put Miss. Schools on National Level
Meridian Star (11/02/09) Brown, Ida
The Mississippi Board of Education approved a new statewide accountability rating system, and Mississippi Interim State Superintendent of Education Dr. John W. Jordan took time to discuss the ins and outs of the system with The Meridian Star. The three main elements of the new system are absolute achievement, academic growth, and graduation and dropout factors, according to Jordan, who says the system will be phased in over the next four years. The Quality of Distribution Index (QDI) will measure distribution of student achievement on state assessments based on percentages of students in basic, proficient, and advanced categories; the highest performing schools will have a QDI between 240 and 300 in the system's fourth year. Jordan says, "The growth model of the new system would factor in whether students have made inadequate academic gain, appropriate academic gain or outstanding academic gain. The new accountability system will also shine the light on our schools and districts that are underperforming and identify schools with the greatest needs, allowing early intervention to help them become higher performing schools. The Department has put a strategic plan in place to help assist these schools and districts so they have all available tools to help them begin to perform at the level that we all know they can. However, even with assistance from the state, these schools and districts will not be able to turn the corner alone."
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New Green Technologies Course Readies Students for Careers in Alternative Energy
South Carolina News (10/28/2009)
The South Carolina Department of Education has rolled out the GreenSTEM initiative in five school districts across the state, providing high school students with courses concentrating on green technologies. The course merges science, technology, engineering, and mathematics teaching with hands-on projects focused on wind energy, solar power, power grids, fuel cells, hydropower, nuclear energy, and biofuels, among other topics. The idea behind the initiative is to prepare students for green jobs dealing with alternative energy, which make up about 8 percent of jobs nationwide. "This puts us among the national leaders in beginning a green technologies curriculum. We're giving students the knowledge and skills to qualify for good jobs that are good for the environment," says State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. "South Carolina has the land, water, highway infrastructure, and business-friendly environment to attract entrepreneurs and companies interested in further developing the green economic sector. GreenSTEM is a way to grow our workforce and help broaden the state's economic base. GreenSTEM helps students learn and apply 21st century skills, but it also reinforces the soft skills that employers value in prospective employees, such as teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving."
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TDOE Announced Fundamental Changes to '09 Report Card
Clarksdale Press Register (Miss.) (10/27/09)
The Tennessee Department of Education unveiled two changes to the calculations of Value Added and Achievement scores in the 2009 Report Card to incorporate the new standards and assessments required under the Tennessee Diploma Project. The first change ensures student achievement will be reset to use 2009 test scores, rather than 1998 test scores for the baseline year. The second change requires students to master subject matter concepts in order to be assessed as proficient, and this will require a new grade scale to be used to determine grades A through F. State Education Commissioner Timothy Webb says, "Our students have made great progress over the last five years. Our teachers have truly made the difference. These changes to our calculations reflect no loss of learning but rather the pursuit of higher standards as we demand the highest level of success for our students." For more information about the Tennessee Diploma Project, click here. Go here, for the latest Report Card information.
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ED Lifts Administrative Cap for Title I, IDEA Stimulus Funds
Thompson.com (10/29/09) Brownstein, Andrew
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) statutory caps on formula grants deductions for states under Title I, Part A and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will be lifted on Nov. 27, according to a new regulation published by the U.S. Department of Education in the Federal Register. The regulation enables states to deduct an additional $41 million to cover the costs associated with ARRA administration. However, increases in those deductions will be paid by the funds that would otherwise be distributed to school districts. States can now use the lesser of 0.3 percent of their Title I, Part A ARRA funds or $600,000 if they received an ARRA-related waiver from the federal education department. For information about the state-by-state breakdown of proposed funding levels from the federal education department, published in the Federal Register, go here.
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