Secretary's Column:
Goodbye salary schedules?
In my position as secretary of education, I
have the opportunity to travel across the country and listen to
speakers at various national workshops. As I attend these
workshops, I am able to pick up certain themes or trends that
seem to be consistent nationwide. In this article, I will
address one particular trend: the movement regarding
compensation for classroom teachers.
It appears clear that the traditional
teacher salary schedule is slowly moving out of many education
organizations across this country. Districts and states are
moving away from the standard salary schedule, which compensates
teachers based on years of service and educational attainment,
and have moved into ranges of salaries that provide more
flexibility for administrators to compensate teachers as needed.
It is true that many districts across South
Dakota already have abandoned their salary schedule in favor of
hiring ranges and more flexibility in terms of paying
entry-level teachers upon hiring. The national trend certainly
embraces this philosophy but takes it a step further. The
national trend is clearly in the direction of differential pay
for teachers. This involves the ability to pay teachers based on
their perceived contribution to the district. The assessment is
made by building administrators, a committee of peers or state
officials.
Why is this movement taking place? It is
taking place for a variety of reasons, including:
1.
Recruitment is becoming increasingly difficult in certain
geographical areas. It is also difficult to recruit teachers
in certain subject or content areas, especially at the secondary
level.
2.
Districts are finding it more difficult to keep talented
people due to opportunities that may exist in the private
sector.
3.
Education can’t count on hiring females any longer.
Fortunately, young women have an opportunity to do anything that
they choose to do. In the past, their choices were limited, and
education was one of these limited options.
4.
Contagious behavior. Clearly, in education, if a
particular trend is working in one location, it is often times
replicated in other locations. More differential pay systems are
popping up all over the country, and we will likely see some of
those systems land in South Dakota.
During the 2006 legislative session, the
Department of Education promoted the Teacher Compensation
Assistance Program. This program was a matching program that
provided school districts with an opportunity to compensate
teachers at higher levels based on three different options. We
still believe that the Teacher Compensation Assistance Program,
or TCAP, has merit, and we hope that differential pay for
teachers can continue to be a discussion point in future
legislative sessions.
Pilot schools selected for
laptop project
Twenty school
districts, serving 5,046 students, have been selected as pilot
sites for South Dakota’s Classroom Connections project. (See list below at right.) The project provides incentive money
to school districts to initiate one-to-one laptop programs for
their high school students. It is part of Governor Rounds’ 2010
Education Initiative and uses technology funds provided by
Citibank.
“We are
excited to begin working with this pioneering group of
educators,” said Gov. Mike Rounds. “Using the technology funds
made available by Citibank, we can offer high tech tools to
teachers and students in this pilot project. Dedicated teachers
and bright, young students deserve the opportunity to succeed,
using these modern tools in the high school classroom.”
Use of laptop
technology is expected to enhance students’ 21st
century skills, according to Secretary of Education Rick Melmer.
These skills include critical thinking and problem solving;
research, writing and communication skills; and technology
literacy.
Thirty school
districts applied to be pilot schools. The 20 selected were
chosen based on their ability to demonstrate a funding source;
providing a plan for ongoing training of teachers; and
demonstrating the commitment of their staff, school board and
community to the project. In addition, the selection committee
sought a cross-section of schools. The selection committee
consisted of representatives from the Department of Education
and Bureau of Information and Telecommunications.
Through South
Dakota’s Classroom Connections project, the state will provide
$1 for every $2 invested by the local school district toward the
purchase of the laptops. The state’s funding is made possible by
a $4 million Citibank donation designated for technology-based
initiatives. Districts will purchase their laptops directly from
the vendor, and the state will reimburse them for one-third of
the cost. Districts will pay $1,207 per laptop, which includes
the hardware, warranty and standard software package, as well as
training for teachers.
“The training component is absolutely critical to the success of
this program,” Melmer said. The Department of Education has
partnered with Dakota State University, a recognized leader in
technology, to provide training at all levels. The Department of
Education also has partnered with the state’s Bureau of
Information and Telecommunications to provide technical
expertise and support for the pilot schools.
Training will
be offered in three phases. In June, an initial training for all
of the districts’ technology coordinators will be held at Dakota
State University. This training will focus on technology and
applications. During July, intensive training for teaching staff
will take place on location at each pilot site. These trainings
will focus on content development and classroom management
appropriate to the use of laptops. In August, the third phase of
training, all participants will return to Dakota State
University for a final session.
“This project
is a perfect example of the education and business communities
working together for the good of our children,” Gov. Rounds
said. “We have state agencies, school districts, universities,
and local and national businesses bringing their expertise to
the table, in order to make this project a success.”
Citibank is
leading the way with its monetary donation. Gateway is providing
its convertible notebook at a discounted price. The PC gives
students the option of using a full-sized keyboard or a digital
pen for handwriting notes directly on the display, resulting in
more dynamic and interactive learning sessions. Microsoft is the
software supplier, while Cisco Systems is offering a discount on
the wireless equipment schools will need. SDN Communications,
based in Sioux Falls, will provide wireless site surveys at a
discounted rate. Technology & Innovation in Education, based in
Rapid City, will lead the evaluation component of the program. School districts
not participating in the pilot program may still take advantage
of the special pricing.
“The classroom
of the future will – and should – require that technology be
immersed within lessons. That day is coming, whether it’s two
years from now or 10 years from now,” Melmer said. “By providing
laptops to students, South Dakota is providing its young people
with a competitive edge as they prepare to enter today’s
fast-paced, technologically advanced world.”
South Dakota’s Classroom Connections Pilot Schools
2006-07 School Year
-
Bonesteel-Fairfax
(43 students)
-
Castlewood
(91 students)
-
Chamberlain (303 students)
-
Chester
(115 students)
-
Corsica
(60 students)
-
Deuel (175
students)
-
Dupree (75
students)
-
Faith (80
students)
-
Flandreau
(210 students)
-
Frederick
(70 students)
-
Hamlin
(192 students)
-
Hill
City
(200 students)
-
Kadoka
(105 students)
-
Lemmon
(105 students)
-
Mitchell
(820 students)
-
Newell
(125 students)
-
Spearfish
(700 students)
-
Wagner
(199 students)
-
Watertown
(1,275 students)
-
Wessington Springs (103 students)
Highly qualified teachers
Feds require states to step up efforts
A recent review by the U.S. Department of
Education found that South Dakota is one of 29 states showing
good-faith efforts to meet the highly qualified teacher
requirements under No Child Left Behind. Eleven states face
possible sanctions because they have not made sufficient
progress. Another 12 states have yet to be reviewed.
NCLB requires that all teachers be highly
qualified by the end of the 2005-06 school year. With that
deadline here, USDOE reports that none of the states is likely
to meet the goal. Therefore, the agency has asked states to
submit a revised plan for meeting the 100 percent goal by the
end of the 2006-07 school year.
In developing their revised plans, states
are required to describe how they will phase out the use of
HOUSSE rules. “The phasing out of HOUSSE rules will pose
challenges for some teachers,” said Melody Schopp, South
Dakota’s director of accreditation and teacher quality. In
particular, the change is expected to affect elementary teachers
who did not gain three years of teaching experience prior to
2005-06.
Currently, South Dakota’s HOUSSE rules
allow veteran teachers several ways to demonstrate highly
qualified status. Once the HOUSSE rules are removed, the only
methods for veteran teachers to achieve highly qualified status
will be to 1) to pass a state exam; 2) to earn a major in the
content area; 3) to earn a graduate degree in the content area;
or 4) to earn National Board Certification in the content area.
For elementary teachers, the only option is to pass the
state test.
Teachers who already have been deemed
highly qualified under HOUSSE rules will retain that status
following the elimination of HOUSSE, unless they switch
assignments.
Early this summer, the South Dakota
Department of Education will pull together a group of educators
to begin work on the revised plan. Once the plan has been
approved at the federal level, the department will share the
information with educators across the state.
Department issues
clarification on administrative waivers
Earlier this spring, the South Dakota
Department of Education learned that some school districts have
been allowing 8th-grade students to take waivered
high school courses, but 1) have not been granting the students
high school graduation credit or 2) have not been figuring the
grades the students earn in these courses into the students’
GPAs.
While both of these procedures go against the intent of the
waivers issued by the Department of Education, current district
policy regarding how credit was granted and how the GPA was
figured for waivered courses will be honored for students who
graduate in the years 2006-2010.
However, beginning with students who are
in the 8th grade during the 2006-07 school year (the
high school graduates of 2011), the following requirements will
apply to administrative rule waivers that allow school
districts to teach high school-level courses to 8th-
grade students:
1. The
course must maintain its original high school-level rigor.
2. The
teacher of the course must be certified to teach high school.
3. Students
taking the course must receive:
· A
letter grade, which must be figured into their cumulative high
school GPA and recorded on their high school graduation
transcript; and
· Credit
toward their required 22 units of credit for graduation, which
must be recorded on their high school graduation transcript.
4. The
school district must record the following on the transcripts of
students who take the course:
· The
letter grade the students earned for the course, which must be
figured into the students’ cumulative high school GPAs; and
· The
unit of credit for the course, which must be figured into the 22
units of credit required for high school graduation.
Questions regarding this issue can be
directed to Nicole Kranzler-Gacke or Jennifer Neuhauser at the
South Dakota Department of Education, (605) 773-3553.
Impact on
Opportunity Scholarship eligibility
The South Dakota Board of Regents also
offered the following clarification regarding waivered courses:
For any student who graduates from high
school prior to 2011 and who took high school-level
Algebra I in the 8th grade and wants that course to
count toward the Opportunity Scholarship, the 8th
grade course must have a letter grade assigned to it. The
grade will be used by the Board of Regents to calculate
eligibility for the Opportunity Scholarship. (At the local
level, school districts may use the grade toward
the cumulative GPA calculation prior to 2011.)
Beginning with the graduating class of
2011, for those students who want the 8th-grade
course to count toward the Opportunity Scholarship, the letter
grade for the course must be assigned and figured into the
students’ cumulative high school GPAs, and the course must be
recorded on the high school transcript with the unit of
crediting counting toward the 22 units of credit required for
high school graduation.
For
information regarding requirements for the Opportunity
Scholarship, please contact Janelle Toman, South Dakota Board of
Regents, at (605) 773-3455.
WANTED: Input on
health/PE requirement
Beginning with the class of 2010
(freshmen in 2006-07), South Dakota’s graduation requirements
include .5 unit in either health or physical education. State
standards have been drafted for each of these content areas, and
the drafts are now available for public comment.
Click here to review the
draft standards.
Comments will be accepted online through June 23.
South Dakota fares well
on national science test
South Dakota’s fourth- and eighth-grade students scored above
the national average on the recently released National
Assessment of Educational Progress science results. This was the
first time that South Dakota took the science portion of the
NAEP, which is commonly referred to as the “Nation’s Report
Card.”
Students nationwide took the NAEP in early
2005. Administered to a random sample of approximately 3,000
students per grade in South Dakota, the test consists of both
multiple-choice questions and constructed response exercises. It
covers three major areas: Physical Science, Earth Science and
Life Science. The scaled score range is 1 to 300.
South Dakota’s fourth-grade students
earned a composite score of 158 on the NAEP science test,
compared to the national average of 149. South Dakota’s 158 was
the third-highest score in the nation, a score shared with three
other states.
Eighth-grade students in South Dakota
earned a composite score of 161, compared to the national
average of 147. Again, South Dakota’s score of 161 was the
third-highest score in the nation, an honor shared with one
other state.
Male students at both grade levels scored
slightly higher than female students. At the fourth-grade level,
males scored 161 and females scored 155. At the eighth-grade
level, males scored 164 and females scored 158.
South Dakota’s Native American students
scored the same as their counterparts nationally. However, their
average at both grade levels was lower than the state average.
At fourth-grade, the composite score for Native American
students was 135. At the eighth-grade level, it was 133.
"While
we are pleased to know that our students stack up well against
their peers around the nations, we do have some work to do,"
said Dr. Rick Melmer, secretary of the South Dakota Department
of Education. "Efforts such as the 2010 Education Initiative,
which calls for more rigorous graduation requirements, senior
projects, mandatory attendance to age 18 and a stronger emphasis
on Native American education, should help us do that."
To view the complete NAEP science results,
visit
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/.
New grant program
promotes rigor in high school
A new federal grant program makes $790 million available in the
2006-07 academic year and $4.5 billion over the next five years.
The Academic Competitiveness Grant Program is designed to
encourage students to take more rigorous courses at the
high-school level and to place a greater emphasis on math and
science education in this country. It targets low-income college
students.
The program includes two types of grants: Academic
Competitiveness grants and National Science and Mathematics
Access to Retain Talent grants. The grants will be available for
the first time during the 2006-07 school year. Students must
meet certain income guidelines. They also must have completed
rigorous coursework in high school or be pursuing college
degrees in math, science or critical foreign languages.
“The big question with this new legislation has to do with the
definition of rigorous,” explained Rick Melmer, secretary of the
South Dakota Department of Education. “Right now, the U.S.
Department of Education is allowing states to determine what
constitutes a rigorous secondary program.”
For the immediate future, South Dakota will use its Regents
Scholars Diploma guidelines to define rigorous. Any student who
meets those requirements, as well as income requirements, could
be eligible for the grants. (Click
here to view Regents Scholars Diploma requirements.)
The federal government also will recognize three additional
options as meeting the requirement for rigor:
-
Students completing the courses required under a State
Scholars Initiative, which South Dakota currently does not
have.
-
Students completing a set of courses similar to those
required under a State Scholars Initiative.
-
Students who can demonstrate that they have taken two
Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courses
and received passing scores on the AP or IB tests.
The options outlined above will define rigorous secondary
programs for 2006-07 and 2007-08, while long-term coursework
guidelines are established.
“We worked quickly to establish these options so that deserving
students could benefit from the grants this year, while states
had the flexibility to recognize their unique rigorous
programs,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings
in a news release. “As time goes on, standards will be tightened
and toughened. But these initial options will give states and
students the time to adjust if they start planning now.”
For more information on Academic Competitiveness and National
SMART Grants, visit
www.ed.gov.
Upcoming Events
For a more
complete list of professional development opportunities,
visit
www.southdakotapd.com.
Bus driver training schedule set
A schedule
of bus driver training sessions is available at
www.doe.sd.gov/oatq/transportation/trainings.asp.
Click on “2006 Schedule.” These trainings meet the state’s
annual requirements for bus driver training.
Training addresses health education standards and assessment
The Coordinated
School Health Program will host a series of South Dakota
Health Education Standards and Assessment Trainings this
summer.
The training is
designed to provide participants with information and
skill-building opportunities related to South Dakota’s
health education standards and assessment.
Participants will explore the state’s health education
standards, including the core concepts and skill categories.
They will learn to align standards, assessment and
instructional activities, as well as obtain practice in
scoring student’s work. Participants will learn to
differentiate between assessment for the purpose of
accountability and assessment for the purpose of
instructional improvement.
This training is appropriate for elementary teachers,
curriculum directors, health education teachers,
administrators, school counselors, school nurses, parents,
and other interested individuals.
Approval has been granted for one hour of graduate or
undergraduate credit or for one Department of Education
certificate renewal credit. The course also may be taken for
no credit.
For more
information about the course objectives or to access a
registration form, go to
www.doe.sd.gov/oess/schoolhealth/training/.
Questions regarding the training design and content can be
directed to Karen Keyser, Coordinated School Health Program,
at (605) 773-6808 or
karen.keyser@state.sd.us.
Conference to target after-school programs
The After-School
Programs Conference will be held Aug. 15-16 at the Ramkota
Convention Center in Pierre. The event is hosted by the
South Dakota Department of Education and made possible
through the 21st Century Community Learning
Centers Program.
Keynote speakers include Bertie Kingore, a national
consultant who has worked with educators, students and
parents for over 30 years, and Duane Hodgin. Hodgin
coordinates his school district’s character education
program, which received the National School District of
Character Award in 2002. Keith Moore, Indian education
coordinator for the South Dakota Department of Education,
also will address the group.
Cost is $50. The deadline to register is June 30.
For more information, contact Sue Burgard with the
Department of Education at (605) 773-5238.
School wellness videos available online
Visit the
Department of Education’s Web site to watch a video made
specifically with South Dakota schools in mind. Dayle Hayes,
a nationally known presenter on wellness issues, presents
the basics of developing a wellness policy in three
25-minute sessions. Also included is a 45-minute session on
available resources. This session is led by Kari Senger and
Amy Richards of the South Dakota Department of Education.
Click here to view the videos.
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