Integration of State Planning and Reporting Functions Using Indistar®

Indistar® SummitMarch 24-25, 2014

Office of School ImprovementVirginia Department of Education

Kathleen M. Smith, Ed.D.Yvonne A. Holloman, Ph.D.

The Office of School Improvement (OSI) has collaborated with the Office of Program Administration and Accountability (PAA) to use the Indistar® Web-based planning tool to assist with the planning and monitoring of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) flexibility waiver requirements for identified Focus and Priority Schools.

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/federal_programs/esea/flexibility/index.shtml

1. Where are the state educational agency’s focus/priority schools in their preparations to implement interventions in the first semester?

2. What processes, such as needs analyses, are local educational agencies and schools using to determine what interventions will be implemented?

3. How is the state educational agency ensuring that its local educational agencies implement interventions aligned with the reason for the school’s identification as a focus/priority school?

4. What resources and supports are the state educational agency providing to those local educational agencies as they develop their plans for interventions?

5. What process does the state educational agency have in place to ensure that all focus/priority schools will begin implementing interventions in the first semester? For example, do local educational agencies have a plan or report that they must submit?

6. How is the state educational agency planning to hold local educational agencies accountable for improving school and student performance?

7. How and when does the state educational agency plan to monitor local educational agency implementation of interventions in priority and focus schools?

U.S. Department of Education’s ESEA Flexibility Waiver Monitoring Key Questions

The division- and school-level plans are the key to monitoring each local educational agency’s compliance with the ESEA flexibility waiver provisions. Both plans are submitted via the Indistar® dashboard several times throughout the school year.

OSI contractors and division-level coaches enter monthly coaching comments regarding the implementation of the improvement plans.

The Indistar® Dashboard enables schools that are being served by the OSI and PAA offices within the Virginia Department of Education to complete required forms, and develop, implement, and monitor improvement plans.

Priority Schools

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/school_improvement/priority_schools/index.shtml

Priority schools use the Indistar® Dashboard to complete and submit forms required by Virginia’s approved ESEA flexibility waiver. State educational agency (SEA) staff members review the forms and provide written feedback to the local educational agency (LEA). In addition, supplemental documents may be uploaded by the LEA using the Document Upload feature.

Leading Indicators Form Lagging Indicators Form

Annual Interventions Form

Adaptive Reading Assessment Approval Form

Quarterly Data Analysis Report

Focus Schools

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/school_improvement/focus_schools/index.shtml

Focus schools also use the Indistar® Dashboard to complete and submit forms required by Virginia’s approved ESEA flexibility waiver. State educational agency (SEA) staff members review the forms and provide written feedback to the local educational agency (LEA). In addition, supplemental documents may be uploaded by the LEA using the Document Upload feature. Both Priority and Focus Schools submit their improvement plans several times throughout the school year via the Indistar® Dashboard – the tool captures a copy of the plan in portable document format (pdf).

OSI contractors assigned to divisions with focus schools complete a ESEA Progress Monitoring Report for Focus Schools. The purpose of the report is to monitor the division and school’s implementation of the ESEA flexibility requirements regarding interventions for students at risk of failure.

04/18/23 13

Documents related to the parental notification requirements of Virginia’s approved ESEA flexibility waiver may be housed in the Document Upload feature of the Indistar® Dashboard.

A-16.    What is the role of parents and the broader community in developing a request for, and then implementing, ESEA flexibility? An SEA developing a request for ESEA flexibility must meaningfully engage and solicit input from teachers and their representatives, as well as diverse stakeholders, such as students, parents, community-based organizations, civil rights organizations, organizations representing students with disabilities and English Learners, business organizations, and Indian tribes (see D-2).  An SEA must also consult with its Committee of Practitioners, which includes parents, regarding the information set forth in its request (see D-3).  If the SEA’s request for flexibility is granted, an LEA with one or more priority schools must seek input from families and the community in selecting the meaningful interventions aligned with the turnaround principles that will be implemented in these schools.  Additionally, an LEA’s interventions in priority schools must include ongoing mechanisms for family and community engagement (see C-37).   Under ESEA flexibility, parents will continue to receive information on their children’s progress in meeting State academic achievement standards as well as their school’s success in helping all students meet those standards.  Parents will know whether their children’s schools are succeeding, by being identified as reward schools, or falling short, by being identified as priority or focus schools.  When schools fall short, parents can be assured that school leaders will adopt strategies focused on school needs and targeted towards the students most at risk. 

Parental notification letters for Priority and

Focus Schools are uploaded by individual school improvement

teams

The Virginia Department of Education’s State Team for Systems of Recognition, Accountability, and Support (SRAS) have begun planning to integrate certain reporting requirements associated with:

• Title III division improvement plans• Planning for school-wide Title I programs (in progress)• Data related to services provided by the Training and Technical Assistance Centers (TTAC)• Corrective action plans required for local education agencies as a result of federal program monitoring

SRAS Team Members include representatives from the:• Office of Special Education Program Improvement (SEPI)• Office of Program Administration and Accountability (PAA)• Office of School Improvement (OSI)• Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC)

Next Steps

Thank you. You have been a great audience.

Dr. Kathleen M. Smith at 804-786-5819 or kathleen.smith@doe.virginia.gov

Dr. Yvonne A. Holloman at 804-225-2064 or yvonne.holloman@doe.virginia.gov