Let us know what you think about the new design. Email [email protected] with your feedback.

 

Enrollment Audit

Reminder: Register Today for the LEA Enrollment Audit Training Sessions  

OSSE invites LEAs to participate in the Enrollment Audit Training. Participants will receive guidance on the 2014-2015 Enrollment Audit process, a handbook and other necessary documents that contain vital information for enrollment; residency verification; Special Education Child Count; Limited English Proficient; and student head count day. Participants must choose one training date and be aware that registration will close after 60 participants have registered. Please limit your LEA participation to three (3) participants. Use the link below to register for a training session. For questions or concerns, please email [email protected].

Please choose one training date and be aware registration closes after 60 participants have registered.

Existing LEA Training Dates

• August 22 9am–12pm in 3rd Floor, Grand Hall

• August 25 9am–12pm in 3rd Floor, Grand Hall

• August 25 1pm–4pm in 3rd Floor, Grand Hall

Reminder: Enrollment Audit Residency Verification Documentation and Guidance

OSSE has provided residency verification training to all Local Education Agencies (LEAs) for School Year 2014-2015. Please access the OSSE website for training presentations, translated forms and resource materials.

For questions and concerns, please contact Sean Flora.

Division of Early Learning

Reminder: SY 2013-2014 Pre-K Statewide Classroom Assessments Scoring System (CLASS) Evaluation

Pursuant to the Pre-K Enhancement and Expansion Act of 2008 (DC Code 38-271.03; DC Law 17-202), OSSE in partnership with School Readiness Consulting conducted its annual evaluation of pre-kindergarten programs in community-based organizations and public charter schools during SY 2013-2014 using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). The purpose of the study was to assess classroom quality and evaluate early childhood programs through collecting and reporting quantitative and qualitative data to provide useful input for strengthening the early childhood education system. OSSE will disseminate program/school level reports this week. A final comprehensive report including the District of Columbia Public Schools will be available by September 2014.

To learn more about the CLASS tool and evaluation process, access and watch the District of Columbia Early Childhood Program Quality Evaluation SY 2013-2014 webinar now.

For questions and concerns, contact Mahlet Getachew.

Reminder: Child Care Licensing Orientation for Centers and Homes Available Online

Are you interested in opening or setting up a licensed child development center or home facility?

Access and participate in the following online licensing webinars to learn how:

Child Development Center Webinar

Home Based Child Care Facility Webinar

For inquiries and questions regarding the webinar, contact Brandee Reed or call (202)741-5937.

Reminder: Professional Development Course Catalog

The Spring FY 2014 Course Catalog was developed to provide the early childhood education (ECE) and Out-of-School Time (OST) workforces with multiple opportunities for professional growth and development; opportunities for meeting the yearly continuing education requirements; and opportunities to participate in a District-wide professional learning community. Please see the Spring FY 2014 Professional Development Course Catalog to check out various learning opportunities.

For questions, please contact Dana Caffee-Glenn, professional development coordinator in the Early Learning Professional Development Unit.

Reminder: Child Care Emergency Preparedness Online Workshop

Improve your skills and take your practice to the next level by ensuring that all the children in your care will be protected during emergencies. Please access the online workshop through the U.S. Center for Child Development and Resiliency to complete the Save the Children’s Child Care Emergency Preparedness Training.

Division of Elementary & Secondary Education

Reminder: Educator Leader Cadre Recruitment

OSSE is currently seeking new members to join the DC Common Core Educator Leader Cadre. Are you an Administrator (Principal/Assistant Principal), Instructional Leader/Coach, Test Coordinator, Lead Teacher or Post-Secondary educator who desires to shape standards implementation and support the District’s transition to Next Generation Assessments, please join us!

Registration

For questions and inquiries please contact Heidi Beeman.

Reminder: Join Summer Reading at the DC Public Library

Win prizes for reading! Everyone can get in on the fun with Summer Reading at DC Public Library.

This year, DC Public Library is teaming up with The Washington Nationals. All kids and teens who reach their summer reading goal will win two tickets to a Nationals baseball game. Kids, teens and adults also can win a coupon for free Chipotle.

Sign-up began June 1. Kids can sign up at any library. Teens and adults can sign up online. The Library has tons of great Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (S.T.E.A.M) related events and activities planned for all ages. Encourage your students to sign up!

For questions, please contact Carmen Boston.

Reminder: School of Rock 2014: Dive Deep Application Deadline Extended

Free Summer Experience for DC High School Teachers: Travel to University of Delaware in Lewes for this amazing interdisciplinary experience.

Work in high tech labs with microbiologists who are investigating the ecosystems and microbial diversity below the seafloor and geologists who search for clues to Earth’s evolutionary history through the study of microfossils. Develop NGSS-aligned lessons and materials for your classroom in SY 2014-2015. Participating teachers will receive PLU’s towards recertification.

Access more information at Dive Deep Immersive NGSS Summer Experience for HS Science Teachers.

For more information, please email Maya Garcia.

Reminder: Moving Toward NGSS: Connecting Science to Common Core With Picture-Perfect Science Lessons (ES Teachers)

This short course will provide practical insights into connecting science and literacy standards in elementary classrooms.

NSTA is providing a series of online short courses to help educators prepare for the implementation of the standards. Each of these courses involves a series of three web seminars along with asynchronous activities on topics that are essential for successful teaching and learning.

Learn more at National Science Teachers Association, NGSS Online Short Course.

For more information, please email Maya Garcia.

Division of Post-Secondary & Career Education

New: Become a College Application Week Host Site

OSSE is excited to announce that DC College Application Week (CAW) 2014 will take place November 3–7, 2014.

CAW is part of a national effort to increase the number of first-generation and low-income students who pursue a postsecondary education.

The goal of CAW is to assist all graduating seniors, especially those who may not otherwise apply to  college, in  navigating the complex college admissions process and ensure that each participating student completes and submits at least one application.

We encourage your school to host a CAW event to show your support as a college-going culture and allow your high school the opportunity to ensure all seniors strongly consider pursuing a postsecondary education. Additionally, if you would like to host a CAW at your school, please apply before Friday, August 22, 2014. Official sites will be notified by Wednesday, September 3, 2014.

OSSE will provide training, volunteer recruitment assistance and a resource manual to assist with the planning and organization of your CAW activities.

New: Adult Degree Completion Survey

The Adult College and Completion Initiative (ACC), led by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) and community and postsecondary partners, is conducting a comprehensive needs assessment of adult learners who have attended college and left without obtaining a degree to earn their postsecondary credential. We would greatly appreciate your circulating the Adult Degree Completion Survey to any DC resident you know who has dropped out of postsecondary education.

Our District Adult Learners’ input is critically important to improving postsecondary completion and graduation rates for District of Columbia residents. The information gathered from this survey will inform decisions on flexible and innovative post-secondary programming for adult learners in the District of Columbia.

For more information on the survey and the Adult College and Completion Initiative, contact Tiffany DeJesus or call (202)741-6415.

Division of Post-Secondary and Career Education (Continued)

Reminder: Request for Applications for the Career and Technology Education (CTE) Certification Fund

OSSE’s Adult and Career Education Division invites the submission of applications for the CTE Certification Fund. The purpose of this grant is to support eligible LEAs and the University of the District of Columbia Community College (UDC-CC) with full or subsidized payments of certification exams within priority career sectors in DC as identified in the CTE Strategic Plan.

Reminder: FSA Tool Publishes FAFSA Completion Numbers for the High School Graduating Class of 2014

The U.S. Department of Education is now providing high schools with current data about their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) submissions and completions so that high schools can track their progress and help ensure that their students complete the FAFSA.

 

Division of Specialized Education

New: Release of FFY 2012 Annual LEA Determinations

OSSE will release FFY 2012 Annual Determinations on August 21, 2014.

Pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA) Section 616(a)(1)(C)(i) and 34 CFR §300.600(a), each state must make “determinations” annually under Section 616(d) on the performance of LEAs’ programs for students with disabilities. In making such determinations, OSSE assigns each LEA one of the following determination levels:

• Meets requirements

• Needs assistance

• Needs intervention

• Needs substantial intervention

OSSE has finalized its special education determinations for LEAs based on a rubric that considers programmatic and fiscal data across a number of measures.  LEAs that were in operation during FFY 2012 (July 1, 2012- June 30, 2013) will be receiving their determinations for that time period on August 21, 2014.  Determinations will be sent to each Head of School by letter and email.  OSSE will hold a determinations webinar during the week of September 8, 2014, to review the determinations process.  Please note that LEAs may have required actions or activities to complete as a result of the determination.

OSSE’s specialized education compliance monitors will directly reach out to each LEA with an invitation to the webinar.  If you have questions about the determinations process, please contact Dr. Jennifer Masoodi, director of Monitoring and Compliance, or call (202 741-0479.

New: LEA Meeting on Special Education Monitoring and Compliance

OSSE Division of Specialized Education’s LEA Compliance and Monitoring Team is hosting its first LEA meeting for SY 2014-2015.

Each LEA is encouraged to send its Special Education Coordinator (SEC) or an administrative representative responsible for making decisions regarding special education.  The focus of the meeting will be to review the LEA monitoring processes and procedures for SY 2014-2015.  No registration or RSVP is required to attend. For additional information please contact your OSSE LEA SPED compliance monitor.

Presenters: OSSE Division of Specialized Education, LEA Compliance and Monitoring Team

Date: Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Time: 9:30am to 12pm

Location: OSSE 810 First St. NE, 8th Floor Room 806A

Reminder: Revised Early Childhood Transition Guidelines

DC Strong Start Early Intervention Program and OSSE’s Preschool Special Education (619) Program are pleased to release revised Early Childhood Transition Guidelines.

Early Childhood Transition Guidelines provide non-regulatory guidance to Early Intervention Programs and Local Education Agencies to support the smooth and effective transition of children from early intervention into preschool special education.

For more information, please contact Kerda DeHaan at (202)741-0791 or Krista Scott at (202)741-5098.

Reminder: Special Education Data System (SEDS) Train-the-Trainer

The Special Education Data System (SEDS), also referred to as “EasyIEP,” is the online database where school administrators, educators, and related service providers access special education records and document services provided to students with disabilities.

Each LEA is required to have a staff member who serves as the LEA Special Education Point of Contact (LEA SE POC). Additionally, each nonpublic school or program that serves students with disabilities enrolled in any DC LEA is required to have a SEDS Nonpublic Point of Contact (NP POC). The LEA SE POC and the NP POC are responsible for training all relevant staff on SEDS and for overseeing the use of SEDS by all staff.

The SEDS Train-the-Trainer course is a full-day, in-person training course designed to equip LEA SE POCs and NP POCs with information and resources to support them in their role as SEDS trainer. This course also provides participants an opportunity to shape their own internal SEDS-use policy. There are currently three training dates to choose from this fall.

Presenter(s):                   OSSE Division of Specialized Education

Dates:                                 September 12, October 3, or November 14

Time:                                   9am–4pm

Registration:                      SEDS Train-the-Trainer

PLEASE NOTE: This course is NOT a basic user training course for SEDS. Participants should already be experienced with SEDS, or have already taken the SEDS Basic User video training course (accessed on the SEDS Resource Site).

Reminder: LEA Special Education Point of Contact (LEA SE POC) Monthly Support Webinar Series

During the school year, the OSSE Division of Specialized Education hosts a monthly webinar support series for all LEA Special Education (SE) Point of Contacts (POC), formerly LEA Data Administrators.

This webinar series takes place on the third Wednesday of every month from 10am–11am. Each month various topics will be discussed, including:

• SEDS updates and alerts

• The release of new OSSE special education policies

• OSSE Support Tool updates

• Data quality, including enrollment, records transfers, compliance reports, etc.

• Training tips

• Resources and announcements

All LEA SE POCs should plan to register and participate in all 10 monthly webinars, from August 2014 through May 2015. All webinars are recorded and archived. Please register for the webinar series using the link below. This registration link will automatically register participants for all 10 webinar dates, on the 3rd Wednesday of each month, August 2014 through May 2015.

Presenter(s): OSSE Division of Specialized Education

Dates: 3rd Wednesday of Each Month (next broadcast is August 20th*)

Time: 10am to 11am

Registration: LEA SE POC Monthly Webinar

*Please note: the first webinar in this series, on August 20, 2014, will be 90 minutes long, from 10am–11:30am, as it will discuss items for the 2014 SEDS Fall Release. All other webinars will be one hour in length.

Reminder: DC Municipal Regulations Title 5-E, Chapter 30: Special Education Review Schedule

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) is initiating a review of key components of Title 5-E, Chapter 30 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR), the local regulation that governs special education practice in the District of Columbia, with the intention of revising identified key components.  In addition, input from the process will be used to inform the development of a new five-year strategic State Systemic Improvement Plan (SSIP) for Special Education.

As part of the regulatory review process, the Division of Specialized Education (DSE) will be releasing surveys and holding topic-specific focus groups on key content area “clusters” to inform the work:

• Transfer of Educational Rights  

• Child Find, Evaluation, & Eligibility Determination

• Specialized Instruction & Caseload/Class Size

• Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) & Discipline Procedural Safeguards

• Graduation Pathways, Secondary Transition, & IEP Certificate of Completion

A high-level overview of the initiative’s calendar of events and the OSSE content area review process can be found at:  DC Municipal Regulations (DCMR) Title 5-E, Chapter 30: Special Education Review Schedule.

The next content area to be reviewed is Specialized Instruction & Caseload/Class Size.  DSE has developed a topic-specific survey that is open to all stakeholders.  The deadline for submission of this topic survey is Wednesday, August 27, 2014.

In addition, an LEA focus group is scheduled to take place on the topic of Specialized Instruction and Caseload/Class Size.  Those who wish to participate should RSVP no later than August 15, 2014.

Facilitator: OSSE Specialized Education

Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Time: 3pm to 4:30pm

Location: 810 First Street NE, 8th Floor, Room 806B, Washington DC

Registration: RSVP Here

OSSE is collaborating with the State Advisory Panel (SAP) to coordinate parent/community focus groups for each content area.  Parents and community members who wish to participate in the focus group for Specialized Instruction and Caseload/Class Size should RSVP no later than September 2, 2014.

Facilitator: OSSE Specialized Education & The State Advisory Panel (SAP)

Date: Thursday, September 4, 2014

Time: 6pm to 7:30pm

Location: Tenley-Friendship Neighborhood Library, Large Meeting Room, 4450 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Registration: RSVP Here

Focus group reminders will be posted on the OSSE website and in upcoming editions of the LEA Look Forward. For more information, please contact Jamille Peters, Policy Analyst, Division of Specialized Education.

Update: New LEA Special Education Point of Contact Orientation

LEAs are required to have an LEA Special Education Point of Contact who serves as OSSE’s main point of contact for all things related to SEDS, special education data and records, SEDS training of staff, etc. All new LEA POCs are required to attend a full-day in-person training. The content of the training/ course will include:

• LEA POC responsibilities at the LEA level, including management of all SEDS records;

• The role of the LEA POC in overseeing students served by nonpublic programs;

• Resources available to LEA POCs when troubleshooting SEDS issues;

• Protocol for communicating with and receiving assistance from OSSE; and

• All relevant content shared with LEA POCs in the previous two school years.

New LEA POCs who have not completed a point of contact orientation are required to register and attend the training session on Thursday, September 11, 2014. Please access the link below to register.

• Thursday, September 11, 2014

Reminder: Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training

The Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training program, developed by Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI), is embraced worldwide as a highly effective behavior management system for organizations committed to providing quality care and services in a respectful, safe environment. The strategies taught in the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention training program provide participants with a proven framework for decision making and problem solving to prevent, de-escalate, and safely respond to disruptive or assaultive behavior.

This event will not go over physical restraint techniques. Please wear comfortable clothing, closed-toed shoes, and bring a water bottle.

Date(s): Monday, August 19, 2014

Time: 8:30am–3:30pm

Location: 810 First Street, NE, 3rd Floor Grand Hall

Register

Date(s): Monday, September 24, 2014

Time: 8:30am–3:30pm

Location: 810 First Street, NE, 3rd Floor Grand Hall

Register

Division of Wellness & Nutrition

New: Growing Healthy Schools Week 2014 - Save the Date!

Growing Healthy Schools Week is here again: Saturday September 27, 2014–Friday, October 3, 2014.

More information coming soon to www.osse.dc.gov.

Reminder: Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Administration

Charter School Middle/High School Leaders:

On behalf of OSSE, we hope that you will agree again to participate this fall in the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) administration. If you did not agree to allow your students to be anonymously surveyed in 2012, we invite you to join us now for the fall 2014. All students in grades 6-12 are eligible.

You can sign-up by emailing Julie Ost, the DC YRBS Coordinator, and confirm your participation.

Reminder: Health and Physical Education Needs Assessment

Online Survey for School Administration and Staff Only

OSSE and Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education are currently conducting a needs assessment to identify specific challenges in regards to implementing effective health and physical education in schools in DC. Each participant that completes and submits their needs assessment questionnaire will be eligible to enter into a drawing for a $100 gift card. Details regarding drawing entry are provided at the end of the questionnaire.

OSSE and Johns Hopkins University will use the data to identify potential solutions and resources to address these challenges. The needs assessment questionnaire takes approximately 25 minutes to complete. The questionnaire is completely confidential and will not be associated with your name or school.

If you have any questions please email Ms. Kafui Doe, health education manager, or call (202)741-6484.

Reminder: DC Free Summer Meals Program, June 23–August 22

As an educational provider, you are at the heart of making meals available to the children and teens in your community. When school is out, hunger is in. How many needy children are you willing to feed this summer?

Did you know that school districts around the country are serving meals to children and teens outside their school building, such as on their playgrounds or on a cool grassy area?

Providing free meals to hungry children 18 years of age and under during the summer months helps them be physically and mentally ready when school begins.

Teens especially face the same risks of food insecurity in the summer and as younger children and need your support, so make sure your teens are taking advantage of the free summer meals too! While offering good food in an appealing manner will attract children and teens, offering an activity or program that is fun will provide an opportunity to keep them engaged. Although activities are fun, you are not required to offer activities in order to feed the children. Generally, children and teens from the community simply go to an open site to get their meals.

This means the summer meal program sites are “open” to the community, so parents or children are not required to give any personal information about their family status to site operators in order for children to receive a free meal.

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor or a site, or even to learn more about the DC Free Summer Meals Program, it isn’t too late. Please contact Elisabeth Sweeting at (202)724-7628, 8:30am–5pm, Monday–Friday.

Reminder: Serve on the DC CAS Health and Physical Education Advisory Board

OSSE is recruiting health and physical education teachers at all grade levels to advise on the future content, structure, and delivery of the DC CAS Health and Physical Education.

This advisory board will meet approximately four times a year and will be expected to participate in the content and bias review sessions for new test items.

Please email Grace Friedberger to indicate your interest in joining the board.

Reminder: DC Anti-Bullying Safe Schools Initiative for School-based Staff

OSSE invites you and your school staff to participate in a professional development opportunity on the creation and/or affirmation of safe school environments.

Co-sponsored by OSSE and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), the goal of the 1.5 day PD session is to provide participants with the knowledge, skills and resources to create safe and affirming school environments for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.

Sessions will be led by certified facilitators from OSSE, DC Public Schools (DCPS) and local government and community based organizations at no cost to participants.

The training course runs over two days, and both days are required to complete sessions. Day one is 8 hours and day two is 4.5 hours. Indicate your interest to participate in the training.

For questions and inquiries please email Julie Ost and mention the DC Anti-Bullying Safe Schools Initiative.

Office of Data Management & Assessment

New: PARCC Accommodations and Accessibility Features Updates

LEAs are invited to visit the OSSE Testing Accommodations webpage to view updated information on PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations. Under Additional PARCC Resources, are three DC CAS accommodations crosswalks entitled:

• PARCC Accessibility Features versus DC CAS Accommodations

• PARCC Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

• PARCC Accommodations for English Language Learner

For questions and inquiries please contact Michelle Blakey-Tuggle.

Reminder: Updated Entry and Exit Code Documentation Posted

Updated entry and exit code documentation for the 2014-2015 school year is now available on the OSSE website. Updates include:

• Extended Entry and Exit Code Guidance

• Excel version of entry and exit codes

• Webinar Slides

Please visit the Entry Codes Exit Codes and Enrollment webpage to download the documentation. If you were unable to attend a training webinar during the month of July, please review the documentation as there have been significant updates to OSSE entry and exit codes for the coming school year.

For questions and inquiries, please contact Sarah Sherman.

Reminder: 2013 Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate Reverification Period Opens August 1

To ensure accurate reporting of the state’s graduation rates, it will be necessary for LEAs to verify additional students who were not included in the 2013 ACGR cohort. OSSE will open a reverification period that allows LEAs to provide any necessary documentation to remove these additional students from the 2013 cohort. This period will open August 1 and end on August 31. This documentation can be uploaded to the Quickbase application. Quickbase credentials and more information about this re-verification effort will be sent out to LEAs this week.

If you have questions about the ACGR Re-verification process, please contact Imani Stutely.

Reminder: Career and Technical Education (CTE) Data Collection

The 2013-2014 CTE data collection will open on August 1, 2014 and will close on August 31, 2014. Similar to last year, OSSE will collect CTE data for all LEAs that offer CTE programs of study as required by the Department of Education and the District Career and Technical Education Task Force. OSSE will ask LEAs to identify all students who enrolled in CTE courses during the 2013-2014 school year. For those students, the LEA will identify all CTE courses they have taken in the past.

The CTE data collection for 2013-2014 will apply to UDC and the following secondary or adult LEAs:

• Carlos Rosario International PCS

• Cesar Chavez PCS

• District of Columbia Public Schools

• Friendship PCS

• Hospitality PCS

• IDEA PCS

• LAYC Career Academy

• Maya Angelou PCS

• Options PCS

• Richard Wright PCS for Journalism and Media

• Thurgood Marshall PCS

• Washington Mathematics Science Technology PCS

• Youthbuild PCS

If your LEA offers a CTE program of study and you are not listed but would like to opt-in to the collection, please contact Emily Persons. If your LEA does not receive Perkins funding, you will have the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out of the collection.

LEAs will have 30 days (August 1–31) to gather and submit data to OSSE. Additional details about the data collection and template will be provided shortly.

If you have any questions about the CTE data collection, please contact Emily Persons.

Reminder: Data Boot Camp Additional Session Added

Please mark your calendars and join us for a Data Boot Camp to discuss Faculty and Staff Data on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 and Thursday, September 25, 2014 from 1pm–5pm .

The Boot Camp will be held in OSSE’s Grand Hall, 810 First Street NE, on the 3rd floor.

Participants will learn:

• How do you evaluate teachers and principals?

• How do you calculate and split FTE percentages?

• When is a teacher Highly Qualified? Who’s eligible to use the HOUSSE process?

All these questions and more will be discussed as we bring the K-12 LEAs and Early Childhood CBOs together for multiple roundtable sessions. HR Managers and Data Managers will receive an invitation and agenda shortly, and everyone from LEAs and CBOs are welcome to attend.

For more information, please contact Doreen Christian or call (202)727-8320 or Hannah Page or call (202)727-8114.

Reminder: 2015 ACCESS for ELL Testing Window: April 27, 2015–May 30, 2015

A testing window is available for English Language Learners to participate in the annual English Language Proficiency test (ACCESS for ELL students) between the following dates: April 27, 2015–May 30, 2015.

For question and inquiries please contact Michelle Blakey-Tuggle.

Reminder: Save the Date–SY 2014-2015 LEA Data Meeting Schedule

OSSE’s Office of Data Management will host LEA Data Discussion Meetings at OSSE on the 3rd Floor Grand Hall on the following days and times:  

• Wednesday, October 1, 2014; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, November 20, 2014; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, December 11, 2014; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, January 22, 2015; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, February 26, 2015; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, March 26, 2015; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, April 30, 2015; 11am–12:30p

• Thursday, May 28, 2015; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, June 25, 2015; 11am–12:30pm

• Thursday, July 30, 2015; 11am–12:30pm

Meeting invites and agendas will be sent before each meeting to LEA Heads of School and Data Managers. Please contact Imani Stutely if you have any questions.

Reminder: Next Generation Assessment Meeting: Follow-up Survey

Our thanks goes out to all those who attended the inaugural OSSE Next Generation Assessment stakeholders meeting. Whether or not you were able to participate at the meeting, on Thursday June 26, OSSE invites you to participate in working groups moving forward, or maybe suggest times and topics for meetings in the future.

We ask that you please fill out this brief survey.

The Next Generation Assessments includes computer-based and paper-based assessments in reading, composition, math, science, health, English language proficiency and our alternative assessment.

For questions and inquiries please email Bonnie O’Keefe .

Reminder: Planning for Automated Data Transfer (ADT) Maintenance

There are three types of maintenance of the ADT System:

• System Maintenance

• Major Release Maintenance

• Patch/Emergency Release Maintenance

Information regarding ADT’s maintenance window is provided for planning purposes on OSSE’s website.

Access Planning Automated Data Transfer ADT Maintenance.

Update: QuickBase Application to Replace McKinney-Vento Student Referral Forms

OSSE will replace the manual collection of Student Referral Forms for McKinney-Vento programs with an online data collection tool in QuickBase.

Training will be offered via webinars, onsite at OSSE, and by telephone as requested.

Webinar dates: August 19, 2014 and September 9, 2014

Webinar times: 10am–11am

Registration:

Register here for the August 19, 2014 training.

Register here for the September 9 training.

On-site training will be offered at OSSE on September 10 from 10am–12pm. An Eventbrite invitation will be sent separately.

For more information, questions and inquiries, LEA Homeless Liaisons or Data Managers can please email Doreen Christian or call (202)727-8320.

Reminder: OSSE Collecting Certified Graduates List from PCSB

OSSE will begin collecting lists of June and August graduates from charter high schools through the PCSB. We ask that all charter LEAs begin to prepare these graduate lists for collection and quality review by PCSB.

If you have any questions, please contact Imani Stutely.

OSSE in the News

New: DC Charter School Educates Parents Alongside Children

Head Start has encouraged family engagement and skills-building since its inception in the 1960s.

Read more on how a DC charter school is educating parents alongside children.

New: Don’t Put Too Much Weight on DC’s Standardized Test Scores

Every year D.C. announces the results of standardized testing for D.C. public school students. This year’s scores barely budged and there was much discussion on whether education reform has been working in D.C. and the reliability of the test scores.

New: DCPS Promotes Eight Internal Leaders to Principal Roles

Eight new leaders, trained through a leadership fellowship started by the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), have secured principal positions within the school system for the 2014-2015 school year. These rising principals have spent the last 18 months in training and leadership roles at schools in DCPS, preparing for a full-time principal job as part of the Mary Jane Patterson Fellowship (MJP Fellowship).

Read more on the leadership transitions at DCPS.

General Announcements

New: OSSE PARCC Technology Readiness Site Visit Survey

LEA leaders are invited to view the memorandum from the District of Columbia State Superintendent of Education, Jesus Aguirre, on the PARCC Technology Readiness Site Visit Survey, and the advisory factsheet from the US Department of Education on Educational Services for Immigrant Children and Those Recently Arrived to the United States

Reminder: OSSE Student Hearing Office is now the Office of Dispute Resolution (ODR)

OSSE has announced a change to the name of its Student Hearing Office (SHO): the office is now referred to as the Office of Dispute Resolution (ODR).

The goal of the name change is to emphasize a neutral and collaborative environment for parents and schools to resolve conflicts and work together towards better educational outcomes for students with special needs.

Additionally, ODR aims to further align its legal and regulatory requirements according to federal regulations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq.

For questions and inquiries please contact the Office of Dispute Resolution or call (202)698-3819.

Reminder: Mayor Gray Announces Further Expansion of District’s Saturday Free Summer Meals Program

Mayor Vincent C. Gray announced the expansion of the District’s Free Summer Meals Program for the second year in a row. Starting on Saturday, July 19, 2014, free summer meals will be offered on Saturdays across the District at select Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and DC Public Library (DCPL) locations for children and youth 18 years of age and under. The distribution sites include seven additional locations.

Read more on the Mayor Gray Announcement on Further Expansion of District’s Saturday Free Summer Meals Program.

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