SBOE Un-Pauses A-F Review
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08/27/18 Vol. 22, No. 17 Pokagon Band sees K-12 SBOE un-pauses A-F review Tribe eyes charter model, compact schools Consultant issues accountability calculation recommendations After 17 years of operating a Head Start The Indiana State Board of Education held a lengthy August 23 working center, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi session to hear recommendations from ExcelinEd CEO Patricia Levesque on Indians establishes its own early childhood how to improve the school accountability model to provide greater learning and development academy, which transparency into school effectiveness. will open the day after Labor Day. Recall that in July 2017, SBOE initiated the rulemaking process on the state Located in Dowagiac, Michigan, the program accountability regulation, and in January 2018, proposed revisions were emphasizes a curriculum of indigenous published for public comment. Six public hearings were held. But in March culture and heritage, STEM careers in the 2018 the Board decided to abandon the effort and start all over. environment, and contemporary and traditional agriculture, including the Three Sisters. Exciting changes are coming to your favorite newsletter ! Because the Pokagon Band will fully fund the new program, they will no longer be subject One change you may not notice but should be aware of involves the to Head Start’s restrictions on integrating delivery mechanism. Starting in September, Hannah’s three Indiana cultural components into the classroom. Insight newsletters will be delivered via the Constant Contact email The Pokagons are also constructing a green platform. house where students will be able to raise plants and are looking to build a wigwam Most subscribers will not need to take any action. However, if your that will function as a teaching lodge for spam filters are sensitive – or you just want to be safe, you can add cultural activities. “[email protected]” to your contacts and/or safe list in your email program. Gmail users are encouraged to check their Promotions The population of the Pokagon Band is folder for the newsletters as well. projected to roughly double over the next 20 years. About 535 school-age Native We appreciate your help as we streamline and professionalize our Americans reside in the tribe’s 10 county newsletter delivery. Indiana-Michigan service area: LaPorte, St. Joseph, Elkhart, Starke, Marshall, and Other changes coming in September . advertising! A small number Kosciusko counties, plus four counties in of ads will appear in the newsletters moving forward. Michigan. Children in the PBPI village in South Bend You can learn more about reaching our robust audience of policy and are eligible to enroll, although transportation government leaders here: time will likely be a limiting factor. http://www.hannah-in.com/ShowDocument.aspx?PressReleaseID=456 “My dream is for the tribe to operate a program from pre-K all the way through vocational and college partnerships,” says Key takeaways from CEO Levesque’s presentation: Sam Morseau, director of education for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians. “I’m Growth Fairness not foreseeing it happen anytime soon. We Normative growth, which compare the progress of a given student with the wanted to start with the youngest generations progress of similar students across the state, relies on factors outside a and get feedback before we start building an school’s control, namely the performance of other schools. educational institution,” Morseau tells your favorite education newsletter in a phone Normative growth results can’t tell you about a school’s ability to make sure interview. In the most optimistic scenario, a student is on track to be ready for college or reach grade-level standards, they’d expand to K-3 within 10 years. and normative growth models are a zero-sum game because there are “always Morseau acknowledges that the charter winners and losers,” said Levesque. school model could be an option. Another possibility is a tribal compact school, he says. “I highly discourage using normative growth models,” she said. The program is funded mostly through Levesque recommended that Indiana adopt criterion-based growth to measure money collected from the tribe’s Four Winds student progress toward proficiency. With criterion growth, student casinos in New Buffalo, Hartford, Dowagiac, expectations are consistent from year-to-year, and if met each year, will result and South Bend. “We’re relying heavily on in students attaining proficiency. gaming revenues to support the new program while our other economic diversification For more, please see the following page . ventures take effect,” says Morseau. Hannah NEWS SERVICE indianainsight.com August 27, 2018/2 She did not address how growth and proficiency should be One thing the state can do to mitigate the confusion is to weighted, but in other forums, the Foundation for Excellence release both sets of grades at the same time, advises Levesque, in Education (ExcelinEd) has recommended that growth and who added that the state should strive toward a single system proficiency be weighted evenly. in the future. Avoid the Kitchen Sink Build in Automatic Increases in the System Trigger ExcelinEd believes that attendance, parental satisfaction, and The grading scale should get tougher as more schools school climate surveys should not be part of a school’s letter experience success, Levesque said. grade because they do not ensure that students are learning and dilute the emphasis on student outcomes. She recommends the trigger be set between 65% and 75%. For example, the threshold to earn each letter grade would The indicators that make up the accountability system should increase in the year after 65% or more of schools earn an A communicate three priority messages to educators, according or B. to Leveque: *** (1) help every child get to grade level proficiency or higher (2) help every child make annual progress What did Board members think? (3) help the most struggling students make great progress Dr. Byron Ernest observed that the recommendations leaned Whatever indicators you measure, “principals will hold very heavy on state standardized testing results. During the teachers accountable for, which can be a distraction from development of the Graduation Pathways requirements, ensuring that all kids perform at grade level and make recalled Dr. Ernest, universities and employers said loud and progress,” Levesque said. clear that they didn’t care about test scores. Scoring schools on student attendance can result in districts Attorney Tony Walker commented that it would be nice if enacting harsh policies that offend parents, Leveque contends. test scores could be reduced to only 10% of the letter grade For example, a district may decide that the only excused calculation. absences will be for medical reasons, and as a result, a child attending Nana’s 90th birthday party would receive a zero for Prior to the Levesque presentation, SBOE members were told that day. by a facilitator “don’t worry about being right, have fun” and “don’t interrupt yourself, stream your thoughts.” Participation rates for certain courses have no relationship to quality or outcomes, said Levesque. “Measuring actual student outcomes makes actual student outcomes matter,” she The Board has not established a new timeline for finalizing explains. Forcing participation can negatively impact course A-F revisions. rigor and student motivation. For climate surveys, the state would need to transparently report outcomes for a year or two to give educators time to IN Elementary & Secondary Ed get used to the data before putting it into the accountability system, she advised. IN General . ! Mooresville Schools has been listed as a school district “I’m not saying fewer indicators is better,” Levesque with one of the 10 best online school “brands” in the country remarked, but “Too many indicators can become very by eSchoolNews. distracting.” ! Among states without the Common Core academic “Your accountability system doesn’t have to solve every standards, Indiana has the best English Language Arts problem in the state,” Levesque added. “Remember the standards and the second-best math standards, according to accountability system is just one tool. Don’t forget there are The State of State Standards Post-Common Core , a new other policy levers.” report from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. ! Create a Unified Federal - State System Warsaw Community Schools launches the Gaggle Releasing two different sets of school grades is a SpeakUp Safety Tipline, which integrates directly with G communications nightmare, especially for schools that receive Suite for Education from Google. Trained Gaggle Safety two different grades. representatives evaluate SpeakUp tips 24 hours a day, seven days a week and send an email to designated school/district Letter grades awarded under the Every Student Succeeds staff whenever they receive non-life-threatening items. (ESSA) plan will likely be slightly lower, due to the more restrictive federal graduation rate definition and the English Q The Gaggle team members call school/district officials or language proficiency indicator. even law enforcement in emergency situations. Hannah NEWS SERVICE Copying, FAXing, or e-mailing without written www.hannah-in.com publisher’s permission violates federal law! August 27, 2018/3 ! The Princeton Common Council votes down a proposal Q The district believes that the dog will help reinforce the to appropriate $35,000 to support a school resource officer thought that random drug searches can occur at any time, for the North Gibson School Corporation . and informs and will assist in what are expected to be daily searches the school district that beginning in 2019 it will no longer throughout the district’s facilities. fund the existing SRO position. The police chief tells the Princeton Daily Clarion “he views the council’s action as ! Westfield Washington Schools offered a pair of half-day taking a step back ten years. ‘I don’t understand it. I’m blown “Parent University” sessions at the beginning of the month, away’ ..