• Secretary's Column: My, how you have grown!
• Innovative program makes master’s degrees more accessible
• Regents Diploma will be offered in 2005-06
• School Safety: Preparing for a crisis
• Watch your mail for nutrition program agreements
• Review changes to National School Lunch Program
• Success Story: Learn how one math teacher adjusts to new content standards.
• Upcoming Events

Secretary's Column

My, how you have grown!

During the summer, we often take time to attend family reunions. In today’s society, family members tend to live farther apart and consequently don’t see each other that often. The comment, “My, how you have grown!” often can be heard when one family sees another family. (We always prefer if those comments are made to young people and not to one of the adults in our family!)

It is true that we sometimes don’t realize how much things change (like our kids’ vertical growth) when we live under the same roof with them. However, when we see family members for infrequent gatherings or look at an old photo, the changes become fairly obvious.

I was reminded of a similar change in June when I attended a Governor’s Town Hall meeting in Wilmot, S.D. After the meeting, we were visiting with some of the people who had attended the meeting. Superintendent Tim Graf introduced me to Betty Ward. Betty is a lady who has lived in Wilmot during her adult years and has had the energy and compassion to take in well over 300 foster children. Yes, I have the number right – 300- plus children in need. Many of the children were minority or special-education eligible, and she loved them like she would her own children. In addition to taking them in as foster children, she also adopted several children as her own. At the age of 74, Betty is still taking kids into her home and caring for their needs.

During our meeting, we talked about No Child Left Behind and the need for all students – including minority and special education students – to have a good education. After hearing that discussion, Betty took the time to meet me and say how pleased she was that we had expectations for ALL students, not just the regular education students.

She also reminded me that when she began to take in foster children more than 40 years ago, many of the handicapped students were not even welcome in the schools. They were expected to get an education at home or in an “institution.” Betty was so thankful that these young people could join their classmates in a school building and get a first-class education.

It is true that we not only educate all students in our schools, but we also have expectations for them to achieve. We hold ourselves accountable to provide an appropriate education for all students that enter our doors – no matter how they enter our doors.

So the next time you think we haven’t made the kind of progress you would like, remember where we were just a few short years ago. “My, how we have grown!”

Innovative program makes master’s degrees more accessible

Research clearly shows that highly qualified teachers are one of the greatest indicators of increased student achievement. Only 20 percent of the teachers in South Dakota currently have a master’s degree. Through the EveryTeacher grant, the Department of Education is initiating a program designed to increase the number of South Dakota teachers with a master’s degree.

Starting in the fall of 2005, universities will be matched with a small group of school districts to form a cohort of teachers that will complete a master’s degree. The Master’s Degree Cohort Program is innovative because it creates a partnership between the teacher, the school district and the state.

Each partner pays a portion of the cost of the master’s degree, and each benefits from the arrangement. The teacher receives higher-level training and increased compensation. The district and state get a teacher with advanced training and, in the long run, increased student achievement.

The Chamberlain School District and University of South Dakota piloted the program in 2004-05. “We need our teachers to be successful, and the Master’s Degree Cohort Program does this,” said Tim Mitchell, superintendent at Chamberlain. Currently, 15 of Chamberlain’s 86 teachers have a master’s degree. In two years, that number will more than double.

For teachers, the program reduces the cost barrier that keeps many from pursuing a master’s degree. “It also fits into a teacher’s already busy lifestyle,” Mitchell said.

At the local level, the program enables districts to maximize professional development dollars by having teachers participate in a long-term program focused on improved student achievement.

At the state level, the Master’s Degree Cohort Program helps to enhance the teaching profession by raising salaries through advanced training.

The results of the pilot program in Chamberlain were so positive that the Department of Education would like to expand the program statewide in 2005-06. To gauge districts’ interest, we have created a survey for school superintendents. We ask each district superintendent take a moment to fill it out.

• Master's Degree Cohort Program Survey

For more information, contact Melody Schopp at (605) 773-5232.

Regents Diploma will be offered in 2005-06

Regents Scholar Diplomas will be offered again in 2005-06. The program, run by the Department of Education and Board of Regents, recognizes graduating high school seniors who have demonstrated academic excellence.

Students must meet minimum academic requirements to be eligible for the Regents Scholar Diploma. High school administrators are responsible for requesting the special certificates for those students who qualify. The certificates often are presented during graduation ceremonies.

Requirements for the Regents Scholar Diploma can be found online at doe.sd.gov/secretary/regents.asp. The Regents Scholar Diploma should not be confused with the South Dakota Opportunity Scholarship, which awards scholarship dollars to qualifying high school graduates.

School Safety: Preparing for a crisis

South Dakota schools are not immune from school shootings or other disasters. The recent shootings in Red Lake, Minn., less than 300 miles from South Dakota, remind all of us that disaster can happen anywhere. The question is: Is your school prepared to respond?

In an effort to ensure preparedness, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Dakota will present the School Safety Conference, Sept. 8-9, at the Sioux Falls Convention Center.

Featured speakers include Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, one of the world’s leading experts on the causes of violent crime. An Army Ranger and West Point psychology professor, Grossman is the author of “Stop Teaching Our Kids to Kill.” John Egelhoff also will address the group. Egelhoff, who is with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was the senior agent in charge of the Red Lake, Minn., school shootings.

During the conference, participants will learn to develop a crisis response plan and deal with the aftermath of disaster.

Admission to the event is free. A tentative agenda is available online at www.usdoj.gov/usao/sd/. For more information, contact Jeff Clapper with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sioux Falls at (605) 330-4400.

Watch your mail for nutrition program agreements

Agreements for all child and adult nutrition programs for 2005-06 will be mailed in early July. Programs covered include National School Lunch, National School Breakfast, Food Distribution and Child Care. Agreements are effective Oct. 1-Sept. 30 each year. (For those who plan to implement the summer feeding program, the agreement you submit for school lunch will need to be updated in the spring.)

Please watch your mail for the agreement packets, and be sure to return the appropriate form by the deadline.

For more information, contact the department’s Child and Adult Nutrition Services at (605) 773-3413.

Review changes to National School Lunch Program

New rules and deadlines related to the National School Lunch Program go into effect during the 2005-06 school year. A few of these changes are highlighted below:

• Food safety process – Local education agencies will be required to implement a food safety process called Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP).  While the law calls for July 1 implementation, it will actually occur during the 2005-06 school year.
• Health inspections – There will be two health inspections per year at each site that participates in the National School Lunch Program. These visits will be unannounced.
• Applications for free and reduced-price meals – Local agencies must use household applications (one per household). 

Several changes will occur in the verification process as well. These include:

• Verification is to be based on the number of applications on file as of Oct. 1 and is to be completed by Nov. 15. 
• Households selected for verification must be provided with a toll-free number, or other acceptable method at no cost to the selected household, to be able to contact the school.
• Local agency personnel are strongly encouraged to select applications based on a “focused sample.”
• Local agency personnel are allowed to “deselect” certain applications and replace them with other applications in certain instances.
• Local agency personnel are required to follow-up on applications when there is no response.

Changes that already have occurred include the following:

• Severe Need Breakfast no longer requires a separate operating statement.
• Children who are migrant, runaway or homeless are categorically eligible for free meals.
• Meal benefit levels are good for the whole year, once the determination is made at the beginning of the school year. If a family’s benefits would increase (such as going from paid to free or reduced), the family may reapply.
• All local agencies report results of verification.

Modular classroom still available

One modular classroom unit is still available for the 2005-06 school year. The unit consists of two classrooms and a bathroom. It measures approximately 24 x 64 feet. The unit is available free of charge; however, districts are responsible for transportation and set-up costs. For information, contact Stacy Krusemark at (605) 773-3248.

Success Story

The climate was not the only change Evelyn McQuillen encountered when she moved from Texas to South Dakota . The Aberdeen high school mathematics teacher also noticed a difference between the two state’s content standards. “When the new South Dakota math standards became available online, I was somewhat shocked at how broad they were,” McQuillen said. “ Texas ’ state standards read like an instruction manual.”

After the start of a professional development course, offered by the Department of Education, Evelyn quickly learned she was worrying about nothing. The standards appeared comprehensive and well-structured. The course was designed to encompass one of the five strands of the mathematics standards, in each of five, one-day workshops.

According to McQuillen, there was a time when she would design her curriculum around the textbook’s table of contents. She described her instruction as, “at best, addressing the standards in a hit-or-miss manner.”

The professional development course opened her eyes to what she was missing. Evelyn and her colleagues began to understand how and where the standards are covered. “It became apparent that a better understanding of where each standard is covered would be necessary in order to produce a successful vertical alignment of all grade levels,” McQuillen said. “The course evoked a greater understanding of what we all need to focus on.”

Knowing where the standards are to be covered has allowed McQuillen to improve the construction of her curriculum. She also has derived ways to better deliver the curriculum. “It became apparent that statistics and probability are often taught on a ‘if there is time’ basis,” she said. McQuillen found that there are actually many places in the curriculum that statistics and probability can be integrated with other topics.

By taking this course, McQuillen found that she did not have to spend long hours rewriting her curriculum, as she had originally feared. Instead, she concluded: “Knowing the standards and knowing where they will be covered at all grade levels seems essential for a successful mathematics program in any school or district.”

Two other Mathematics Standards courses are slated for later this summer. One is July 11-15 in Sioux Falls and the other is Aug. 1-4 in Brookings. For information, contact Anne Thompson at (695) 773-3247.

Upcoming Events

Workshops address struggling readers, writers
Special Education Programs and Sopris West Educational Services will host three workshops for teachers this summer. (The first was held in June) There is no registration fee for these trainings, and one set of materials will be purchased for each registered school district.

For Elementary Special Education Staff
Closing the Achievement Gap for Struggling Elementary Readers
Dates: July 14-15
Location: Cedar Shore Resort, Chamberlain
Limit: 200 participants
Presenters: Frank Smith and Gail Adams

For Middle School and High School Special Education Staff
Closing the Achievement Gap for Struggling Secondary Readers
Dates: Aug. 8-10
Location: Ramkota RiverCentre, Pierre
Limit: 200 participants
Presenters: Joanne Allain and Frank Smith

To register for any of the sessions, call the department’s Special Education Programs at (605) 773-3678. Travel, meal and lodging stipends are the responsibility of the individual. View Website >>

Summer Institute to focus on new 3-Rs
Rigor, relevance and relationships – the new 3-Rs – will be the focus of a workshop July 18-20 at the Ramkota RiverCentre in Pierre. The professional development opportunity is sponsored by the department’s Office of Career and Technical Education.

Participants will receive free curriculum materials, including “The Rigor and Relevance Handbook” and “Instructional Strategies: How to Teach for Rigor and Relevance.” They also will be allowed access to electronic versions of the following:

• Academic Excellence Through Career and Technical Education Resource Kit with Gold Seal Lessons (CD distribution, additional duplication allowed);
• Reading Strategies for Career-Technical Education and Career Academies Resource Kit (CD distribution, additional duplication allowed);
• Instructional Strategies Resource Kit; and
• Planning Rigorous and Relevant Instruction Resource Kit (CD distribution, additional duplication allowed, includes 25 copies, one for each school/district at in-service) .

Trainers from Dr. Willard Daggett’s International Center for Leadership in Education will conduct the training. It will focus on the Rigor/Relevance Framework and how to use it to plan instruction, design assessment and develop curriculum. Participants will learn and practice techniques to ensure that teaching and learning are driven to higher levels of cognitive skill development and to more in-depth real-world skill applications. Participants also will learn how the third R – relationships – contributes to students’ academic success.

Cost of the workshop is $75. Expenses for registration, travel, lodging and meals are allowable Perkins costs for approved career and technical education programs.

A block of hotel rooms is reserved at the following hotels:

• Kelly Inn, Pierre, $49/single occupancy, $55/double occupancy, (605) 224-4140
• Days Inn, Pierre, $50/single occupancy, $55/double occupancy, (605) 224-0411
• Governor’s Inn, Pierre, $50/single occupancy, $55/double occupancy, (605) 224-4200
• Comfort Inn, Pierre, $60/single occupancy, $75/double occupancy, (605) 224-0377
• Holiday Inn Express, Ft. Pierre, $64.50/single occupancy, $64.50 double occupancy, (605) 223-9045

Rooms are blocked under OCTE Summer Institute Workshop and will be held until June 24 at 6 p.m. CDT. Rooms are for July 18 and 19 only. If additional dates are needed, participants must check on availability when making reservations. Participants must make their own room reservations.

Registration deadline is July 1. The workshop is limited to 100 educators. Participants may receive one unit of graduate credit through Northern State University or one CEU. Cost for graduate credit will be approximately $60. There is no charge for CEUs.

Online registration is available at www.southdakotapd.com. Participants may register on-site as well.

For more information, contact Gloria Smith-Rockhold at the Department of Education, (605) 773-4747 gloria.smith-rockhold@state.sd.us

Youth internships subject of July workshop
Educators interested in providing meaningful internships for high-school students should plan to attend a workshop July 21-22 at the Ramkota RiverCentre in Pierre. Colleen Keffeler, school-to-careers coordinator at Brown High School in Sturgis, will lead this informative session.

Hosted by the department’s Office of Career and Technical Education, the two-day workshop will provide school site facilitators with the knowledge and tools to:

• develop work-site experiences with local businesses;
• develop coursework necessary to prepare students for an internship;
• successfully place students and coordinate evaluation;
• develop internship opportunities for special-needs students; and
• assist with providing for legal safeguards and school liability protection.

The workshop is fully paid for by the Office of Career and Technical Education. Only 50 spots are available (one representative per school), so sign up now! Lodging, meals and mileage are the responsibility of the participating school. College credit is available through Northern State University.

To register, contact Faith Ellis at the Department of Education, (605) 773-7030. faith.ellis@state.sd.us


Crosswalk workshop to align CTE with new content standards
A workshop scheduled for Aug. 8 will crosswalk career and technical education (CTE) program standards with the most recent state content standards in reading, communication arts, mathematics and science.

The workshop will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings (room 344 of the SNF Building). It will be conducted by Charlotte Mohling, a family and consumer sciences teacher from Wessington Springs, and staff from the Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education.

By April 2006, course syllabi for all CTE programs must be revised to reflect the new academic standards in reading, communication arts, mathematics and science.   

Teachers new to career and technical education should plan to attend. Other teachers are welcome to begin work on revising the present crosswalks. Participants should bring a laptop computer, curriculum, program standards, course syllabi, and other references. 

The workshop is free. Graduate credit and renewal credit from the Department of Education will be available as part of the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education Conference to be held Aug. 9-11 in Brookings.

For more information on the crosswalk workshop, contact Gloria Smith-Rockhold at the Department of Education, (605) 773-4747. gloria.smith-rockhold@state.sd.us


Daggett to address SDACTE conference
Dr. Willard Daggett, president of the International Center for Leadership in Education, will present the keynote address at the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education (SDACTE) conference in August. Daggett’s presentation takes place Aug. 9, 1 p.m., in the Performing Arts Center at South Dakota State University.

Daggett is recognized worldwide for his ability to move education systems towards more rigorous and relevant skills and knowledge for all students. He has assisted a number of states and hundreds of school districts with their school improvement initiatives. A former classroom teacher and school administrator in New York state, Daggett spearheaded restructuring initiatives to focus the state’s education system on the skills and knowledge students need in a technological, information-based society.

Daggett is the creator of the Application Model, a practical planning and instructional tool for determining the relevance of curriculum and assessment to real-world situations. The Application Model is part of the Rigor/Relevance Framework, which has become a cornerstone of many school reform efforts throughout the United States.

His keynote address and subsequent workshop topics will include “ Rigor and Relevance,” “Successful Schools – What Makes Them Work” and “Preparing Students for Our Changing World.”

Daggett’s presentations are sponsored by the Department of Education’s Office of Career and Technical Education and the South Dakota Association for Career and Technical Education.

The general public may attend by purchasing tickets for $10 the day of the event.

For additional information, contact Robert Bell, executive director, South Dakota Association of Career and Technical Education, (605) 692-6056. bellr@brookings.net

Fall conference for school food-service workers set
South Dakota school food-service workers are invited to attend the 34th annual Conference & Industry Seminar, Aug. 2-5, in Aberdeen. The event will be held at the Ramkota. It is hosted by the South Dakota School Food Service Association and the Department of Education’s Child and Adult Nutrition Services (CANS).

Conference highlights include pre-conference training classes on topics such as Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP) and ServSafe; a vendor showcase featuring the latest foods and equipment for schools; and educational sessions on 20+ topics.

To access the registration form, go to the CANS website and click on the “Fall Conference at Aberdeen” link under “Training & Technical Assistance.”