2012
- Secretary's Column:
New year brings good time to reflect, recharge and rediscover passion for education
- Hot Topics:
No requirement to report tech literacy in 2011-12
2012 Legislative Session begins this week
- South Dakota a lead state in development of alternate assessment
- Cycle begins again for on-site accreditation reviews
- Time to start planning for District Teacher of the Year awards
- South Dakota program featured on National Institute of Health webpage
- Lake Area Technical Institute recognized for excellence
- Davis-Bahcall deadline extended
- Upcoming Events
- South Dakota Board of Education meeting
Jan. 27, Pierre
- CTE 101
Feb. 4, Pierre
- Framework for Teaching book studies
Feb. 5 – March 31, 2012, Online
- C26th Annual Tie Conference
April 15-17, Sioux Falls
Secretary's Column:
By Dr. Melody Schopp
Department of Education
New year brings good time to reflect, recharge and rediscover passion for education
As leaders, we are faced with choices and challenges every day – some big, some small.
Perhaps our biggest challenge is deciding what type of leader we want to be: Will we have the courage to do what’s right, even if it’s not the easiest or most acceptable route? Will we have the strength to ask the tough questions and to listen to answers that we may not want to hear? Will we have the passion and drive necessary to bring our vision to reality? And will we be confident enough in ourselves to be flexible and to learn from our mistakes?
The arrival of a new year offers an opportunity to reflect on our own leadership skills. It is an ideal time to recommit to those students who walk through your doors every day. After all, they are what it is all about! It is an ideal time to recommit yourself to being that strong, positive role model for the people who work for you. It is an ideal time to reignite your own passion for the education process and the tremendous benefits it generates for those who engage in lifelong learning. Personally, I know that my time with family and friends over the last few weeks has given me renewed energy. I hope the same holds true for you.
Too often, as leaders, we get bogged down in the day-to-day realities that can drain our energy. I encourage all of, in 2012, to avoid getting bogged down, and rather, to stay focused on pursuing those big dreams that have the potential to change lives.
Go out on a limb. It’s the only way to grow. If the limb breaks, you may discover that you can fly!
Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2012.
Tech Corner
By Jamie Fry
SD Broadband Initiative Technology Planning Manager
SD Bureau of Information and Telecommunications
Concerned About Funding for Technology?
The New Year brings about many things for South Dakota school districts. It’s a celebrated midpoint to our school year and the halls are bustling with students and teachers getting busy with the second semester, hopefully rested and ready to go from the holiday break.
Another sure sign of the New Year is the arrival of legislators and lobbyists in South Dakota’s Capitol. This year, on Jan. 10, the South Dakota State Legislature will convene for 35 days. One important topic, that I’m sure you’re all familiar with is the state budget.
The last couple years, the state legislature has been forced to make some tough decisions regarding budget cuts. As a result of these decisions, we have witnessed a few technology-based services, provided to South Dakota schools by the South Dakota Department of Education, get cut. Some examples are the state funding for the Classroom Connections Laptop Initiative, service and warranty contracts for distance learning video units, bandwidth upgrades and more.
A couple years ago, a group of technology coordinators formed the K12 Technology Advocacy Group. The purpose of this group is to answer questions that legislators or elected officials may have regarding technology in the K12 schools and to be proactive in sharing how proposals may affect technology/and or services in schools. Oftentimes, legislators are unaware of the impact of budget cuts, or don’t fully understand the technologies that those funds provide for South Dakota’s schools. This group’s goal is to open lines of communication so that legislators can make more informed decisions based on local school needs.
Some of the services that the state is able to provide with this funding include broadband Internet connectivity, email services, video distance learning, onsite and remote technical support by the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications, K12 Data Center help desk, antivirus and network security, content filtering, DDN Campus Student Information System and much more. All of these are presently offered at no cost to the school districts, but if DDN budget cuts were to continue, that could change.
If you are interested in joining the K-12 Technology Advocacy Group, contact Aileen Brunner at aileen.brunner@k12.sd.us.
Hot Topics:
No requirement to report tech literacy in 2011-12
The South Dakota Department of Education recently learned that the U.S. Department of Education will not require states to report 8th grade technology literacy for the 2011-12 school year. What this means is that your district does not need to administer to your 8th graders some type of technology assessment and report these results to the South Dakota Department of Education.
Questions can be directed to Gay Pickner, SD Department of Education Assessment Director, at (605) 773-3247.
2012 Legislative Session begins this week
The South Dakota State Legislature will convene for the 2012 session beginning this week. The opening session will begin Tuesday, Jan. 10, at 1 p.m., when Governor Dennis Daugaard will give his State of the State address before both houses. CLICK HERE to listen in to his address.
South Dakota a lead state in development of alternate assessment
South Dakota is part of a consortium of states that will be working to develop a new alternate assessment aligned to the Common Core Standards in English language arts and mathematics.
Called the National Center and State Collaborative, or NCSC, it is a project led by five centers and 19 states to build an alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The effort is being made possible through a general supervision enhancement grant from the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs.
The alternate assessment will eventually replace the Dakota STEP-A, which is the vehicle currently used to assess students with significant cognitive disabilities for accountability purposes.
As part of the consortium, South Dakota will have the opportunity to shape the design of the alternate assessment system. South Dakota school districts will have access to all of the curricular materials, instructional support, and professional development developed for teachers of students with significant cognitive disabilities through the National Center and State Collaborative.
NCSC also will design systems to ease the burden of administering the alternate assessment. Using a practice-oriented approach, the method will aim to support administrators, teachers, and families.
Through the grant, the South Dakota Department of Education has established a Committee of Practice, or CoP. They met in August and have had one webinar so far, with the next scheduled for later this month. The CoP will be an essential part of providing input and then helping disseminate information through the state.
The CoP is comprised of approximately 30 classroom teachers and technical assistance consultants and is representative of all content areas, grade levels, disciplines and geographical areas of the state. This composition of the CoP ensures that the strengths, needs and concerns all students with significant cognitive disabilities and their teachers are represented.
Members of the South Dakota CoP are required to attend training sessions, implement model curricula, and help to refine and clarify materials and resources for all members of the NCSC. National partner organizations for the NCSC include the National Center on Educational Outcomes, National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, the University of Kentucky, the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and edCount, LLC.
For more information, visit http://www.cehd.umn.edu/nceo/projects/NCSC/NCSC.html or contact Linda Turner.
Cycle begins again for on-site accreditation reviews
Sixteen school districts are scheduled to host onsite accreditation reviews during spring semester of the 2011-12 school year. Selection of districts that are up for review is determined by the date of their last review based on a five-year cycle.
A list of all school districts and the year their accreditation status is valid through is posted at http://www.doe.sd.gov/oatq/documents/K12acrdit.pdf.
The Department of Education will contact each district ahead of time to determine a date for their review. If a district is accredited by an approved accrediting agency (other than the state) or has an approved school improvement option that conducts onsite visits, the district may request the state visit coordinate with its current school improvement cycle.
Along with reviewing the district’s improvement plan, state representatives will review the following regulatory items:
• Student (certified) birth certificates
• Student immunization records
• School calendar
• Course guidelines for language arts, mathematics, science and social studies – demonstrating alignment to state content standards
• Evidence of parental notification of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Criminal background checks of all current employees and student teachers
• Written plan for safety of students and documentation of safety drills
• Permanent and cumulative academic and attendance records for students
• Accurate up-to-date staff assignment information entered on the Personnel Record Form (PRF) system. PLEASE NOTE: It is no longer a requirement to have a paper copy of a teacher or administrator certificate on file in the administrative office of the school system. The validity of a certificate can be verified through the Department of Education's Teacher 411 website.
Information regarding K-12 Accreditation is available on the DOE website.
Contact Carol Uecker with any questions at (605) 773-4771.
Time to start planning for District Teacher of the Year awards
It’s a new year, and that means it will soon be time to select your district’s next Teacher of the Year. If you haven’t already begun, now is the time to start seeking nominations for this prestigious honor.
A school district can determine its own method for selecting an award winner, but nomination forms should be made available to teachers, parents, students, school support professionals and the general public through multiple avenues and formats.
All district-level Teachers of the Year will be considered at the regional level, and ultimately, one of the six regional finalists will become South Dakota’s 2013 Teacher of the Year. In order to be considered for the regional Teacher of the Year award, your district’s honoree must have his or her application on file with your respective Education Service Agency by its designated deadline.
For more information, including frequently asked questions, a nomination form and sample guidelines, visit the teacher of the year webpage. For further assistance, contact Lanette Johnston at the Department of Education.
South Dakota program featured on National Institute of Health webpage
The statewide We Can! training effort provided through the department’s Child and Adult Nutrition Services last year has earned South Dakota some positive recognition.
An article about South Dakota’s We Can! program was recently featured on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s website. The program received funding assistance from the USDA’s Team Nutrition program, and teams from 17 schools attended the training to learn how they could use the We Can! curriculum to improve existing programs.
Click here to read the article from a We Can! event in McIntosh. For more information about Team Nutrition or We Can!, contact Mary Kirk, Team Nutrition Coordinator with the SD Department of Education.
Lake Area Technical Institute recognized for excellence
Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown has been recognized by the Aspen Institute as one of the top two-year colleges in the country. The announcement was made last month during an educators’ conference at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., and follows a rigorous, yearlong effort to assemble and review an unprecedented collection of data on community colleges and the critical elements of student success.
Lake Area received high marks for its degree completion rate, high employment and earnings for graduates, partnerships with area businesses and industry, philanthropy efforts, and student services.
“The results achieved at LATI are incredibly impressive,” said Aspen’s Josh Wyner. “With more than half of LATI’s students receiving Pell grants, the college still makes sure that more than three-quarters of its students get the skills they need to make a good living in twenty-first century job. In the process, LATI is strengthening its community and the regional economy. Colleges across the country have a lot to learn from LATI structure and work with employers.”
This is the first year the award has been given, and Lake Area Tech was selected as a finalist from an original list of more than 1,000 institutions nationwide.
For more information, visit Lake Area Technical Institute's website at http://www.lakeareatech.edu/.
Davis-Bahcall deadline extended
The deadline for the prestigious Davis Bahcall summer study program for students interested in science has been extended. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays, and with many students busy getting college application packages put together before the break, we wanted to make sure all interested students had an adequate opportunity to submit their applications. The new application deadline is Jan. 20.
Please pass this information along to your high school science and math teachers, particularly those teaching advanced courses, school counselors and any interested students you are aware of. To find more information about the Davis Bahcall Scholarship go to: http://www.doe.sd.gov/secretary/scholarships.asp#DavisBahcall.
Upcoming Events
- South Dakota Board of Education meeting
Jan. 27, Pierre
- CTE 101
Feb. 4, Pierre
- Framework for Teaching book studies
Feb. 5 – March 31, 2012, Online
- 26th Annual TIE Conference
April 15-17, Sioux Falls
South Dakota Board of Education meeting
Jan. 27, Pierre
The South Dakota Board of Education will hold a regularly-scheduled meeting on Friday, Jan. 27, beginning at 10 a.m. in the MacKay (State Library) Building. As the meeting date draws closer, a complete agenda will be posted online at http://doe.sd.gov/board/index.asp.
CTE 101
Feb. 4, Pierre
CTE 101 is a workshop that fulfills requirements to become a qualified CTE teacher in South Dakota, within individual career and technical education content areas. The workshop will explore Career and Technical Education initiatives as well as approved program requirements. Attendees will receive a certificate of completion, and seven CEUs are available. The workshop will run from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Central time. Everyone that plans on attending should bring a laptop computer.
Framework for Teaching book studies
Feb. 5 – March 31, 2012, Online
Two online book studies, slated to begin next spring, will focus on two of Charlotte Danielson’s books. Last year, the state adopted Danielson’s Framework for Teaching as the state standards for teaching.
The Danielson book studies allow teachers and administrators to begin interacting with the Framework for Teaching. The first book study, Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching, introduces educators to the framework. Participants will read and dialogue online about the framework’s four domains defining what teachers should know and be able to do in the exercise of their profession.
The second book study, Enhancing Professional Practice: Using the Framework for Teaching in Your School, provides sound advice, step-by-step procedures, and practical tools for using the framework. It is recommended specifically for administrators, while the first book study is geared toward teachers and anyone who wants to gain more of a basic understanding of the framework.
The book studies are sponsored by the Department of Education, in conjunction with TIE and East Dakota Educational Cooperative, however participants will be responsible for purchasing the book prior to the study. The spring book studies will run Feb. 5 – March 31, 2012.
Find more information online at doe.sd.gov/secretary/sdteacherstandards.asp.
26th Annual TIE Conference
April 15-17, Sioux Falls
The annual TIE Conference has gained a reputation for having the best classroom teachers, network administrators and education administrators share their strategies, methods and best practices. This year’s event will feature dozens of four-hour, in-depth workshops, nearly 100 breakout sessions, three world-class keynote speakers, an expanded exhibit hall, prizes and much more.
Watch tie.net/ for more information as the conference date approaches.
