February 14, 2017
In This Issue
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District Support
Assessment and Accountability
High School Opportunities
Talent
Special Education
Data
Finance
Federal Programs
Grants Management
Important Dates for School Systems
Upcoming events:
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Educational Technology Call: February 16 at 1:00 p.m.
CLEP Webinar: February 16 at 3:30 p.m.
Accountability Commission Meeting: February 17 at 12:00 p.m.
Assessment and Accountability Office Hours: February 21 at 1:00 p.m.
LEAP Practice Test Webinar for District Personnel: February 22 at 11:00 a.m.
LEAP Practice Test Webinar for Teachers: February 27 at 12:00 p.m.
Important deadlines:
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By February 17: Submit ACT-approved accommodations in the TAA system
By Feb 20: Submit School Redesign Planning Grant Application for Round 1
By February 24: Complete Health, Physical Education and Vending Survey (extended)
District Support
Reminder: Apply for a School Redesign Planning Grant
Last week, the Department launched the School Redesign Planning Grant to provide school systems with funding
to support their investigations into what potential partners can offer to them as they develop plans to improve
persistently struggling schools. School systems should submit applications for Round 1 by February 20,
2017; applications for Round 2 are due on March 15, 2017.
February 14, 2017
Please visit the School Redesign web page for a list of eligible schools, the grant application form, and additional
information. Please contact your network leader or email [email protected] with questions.
Reminder: Updated ESSA Framework Released
The Department released an updated ESSA framework for public comment on February 6, 2017. Please see the
Department’s ESSA web page for more information about Louisiana’s ESSA plan and a presentation on how the
framework has evolved since it was first released last September.
Please email [email protected] with questions or to submit your feedback.
Assessment and Accountability
New: Accountability Commission Meeting: Friday, February 17, 2017 at 12:00 p.m.
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Meeting: Accountability Commission.
When: Friday, February 17, 2017 at 12:00 p.m.
Where: Thomas Jefferson Room 1-136, Claiborne Building, Baton Rouge or watch the meeting live:
https://livestream.com/LouisianaBelieves/accountability.
New: Attend a Practice Test Webinar
Please encourage teachers in your district to participate in one of the teacher-specific webinars on
February 27 or March 1, 2017.
The Department is hosting three webinars to share information about the 2016-2017 LEAP 2025 Practice Tests
for ELA, math, and social studies. Facilitators will share information about the scoring process and as well as
information about accessing the tests and developing best practices for using them.
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Webinar Dates and Times (all webinars are one hour long):
o Practice Test Webinar for District Personnel: Wednesday, February 22 at 11:00 a.m.
o Practice Test Webinar for Teachers: Monday, February 27 at 12:00 p.m.
o Practice Test Webinar for Teachers: Wednesday, March 1 at 3:30 p.m.
Webinar Link: https://louisianaschools.adobeconnect.com/ac/
Phone: 1-855-240-2575
For more information, please email [email protected].
New: District Test Coordinator and Accountability Contact Reminders
Assessment and Accountability Office Hours: Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 1:00 p.m.
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To join the webinar go to https://louisianaschools.adobeconnect.com/dtc/.
Enter meeting room #951155484 as a guest and provide your name.
Call in number: 646-307-1380; PIN 17428453
Upcoming Events and Deadlines:
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February 17: deadline to submit ACT-approved accommodations in the TAA system
February 22: ACT WorkKeys Webinar, Test Administration Training for Online Testing
February 14, 2017
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February 23: deadline for all students* to be entered in PearsonAccessnext™ in order for pre-coded
barcode labels to be generated for ACT testing
February 23: deadline for proctor caching and the other site readiness tasks for ACT Online Pilot
Participating Schools
*Note on additional ACT testers: Student information must be loaded into PearsonAccessnext™ for any
additional 12th grade students being tested. The initial Student Data Upload (SDU) file, which contains all 11th and
12th grade students without a prior ACT score has already been uploaded in to PearsonAccessnext™.
Please see the Assessment Month-by-Month Checklist for more information, or email [email protected] for
assistance.
Reminder: Educational Technology Call
Monthly Educational Technology Call: Thursday, February 16, 2017 at 1:00 p.m.
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To join the call go to: https://louisianaschools.adobeconnect.com/edconnect/.
Enter the meeting room as a guest and provide your name.
Call in information: 646-307-1380; meeting room # 951155484
High School Opportunities
New: AP Services for Schools Impacted by Recent Flooding
Please share this entry with district and school site administrators and testing coordinators.
Schools impacted by the recent flooding in southeast Louisiana should contact AP Services beginning March 1,
2017 to request alternate/late testing dates at no additional costs. For the full late testing policy, please visit the
AP Central Late-Testing Policy web page.
Contact AP Services for Educators between March 1 and 31, 2017 if your school has lost a significant
number of net instructional days due to extreme weather. Schools can contact AP Services for Educators by
calling 877-274-6474 or by emailing [email protected].
New: Spring 2017 AP Exam Fee Program Update
Please share this entry with district and school site administrators and testing coordinators.
To ensure that all students have access to early college coursework, the Department will provide an exam fee
reimbursement for each 2017 Advanced Placement exam taken by a public school student who qualifies for the
AP exam fee reduction. To be eligible for a low-income test fee reimbursement, school test coordinators
must code “option 1” on each qualifying student’s AP answer document. The Department will reconcile all
eligible exams as validated by the College Board and reimburse school systems in the fall of 2017 via an
allocation and grant award notification.
Please email [email protected] with questions.
Reminder: Order 2017 High School Diplomas by March 10
Please email completed Diploma Order Forms to [email protected] by March 10, 2017. School
systems will be billed directly by State Printing for orders made after March 10, 2017. Please direct questions
related to diplomas to [email protected].
February 14, 2017
Talent
New: Believe and Prepare Winter Community Meeting Materials
The Believe and Prepare community met yesterday. To access all meeting materials click here, including the updated
transition guide and partnership tools.
New: Believe and Prepare Residency Expansion Opportunity
The Department released the Believe and Prepare Residency Expansion Request for Applications today. For
details on this funding opportunity, click here.
Email [email protected] with questions.
New: National Certification in Unified English Braille
Louisiana Tech University is hosting a webinar to prepare individuals to take the National Certification in Unified
English Braille exam. They have also arranged for discount testing fees to take the NCUEB exam in March.
Further information is available here.
Reminder: Read the Believe and Prepare Educator Blog
Tomorrow’s Teacher: A Believe and Prepare Educator Blog was created to share how residencies are honoring
and professionalizing teaching and educator leadership. Please visit the blog to hear from and collaborate with
educators across the state. New blog posts will be made on the first and third Tuesday of the month.
For more information please contact [email protected].
Special Education
New: Special Education Advisory Panel Vacancy
The Department is seeking applications for an administrator of a program for children with disabilities to serve a
one year term on the Special Education Advisory Panel. Applications will be accepted between February 9 and
March 9, 2017 and can be found in the attached vacancy announcement. Interviews will take place between
March 13 and 17, 2017. The first meeting will be held on March 29, 2017 from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Please email [email protected] for more information.
Data
Reminder: Quarterly Home Study Reports
Please supply this information to child welfare/attendance personnel, home study personnel, and data
management FTP coordinators.
The Quarterly Home Study Report, “LEACode_LEA_Jan2017QuarterlyHomeStudy,” were dropped on the FTP
February 6, 2017 (with user names ending in @datamgmt) and will remain available through March 6, 2017.
Please email [email protected] for assistance.
February 14, 2017
Reminder: Title III AMAO Status and Student Rosters
Please provide this information to Title III directors/coordinators
Title III AMAO calculations,“LEA Code_LEA Name_2015-16_Student Roster AMAO Status”, are currently
available on the FTP. An explanation of how measures were calculated can be found on a worksheet within the
file under the Calculations tab.
Please see the Federal Programs entry in this newsletter for more information or email [email protected]
for assistance.
Finance
New: Requirements for Retaining State and Federal Funding Records
Documentation regarding federal grant funding is required to be maintained for at least five years after the final
expenditure report for the grant, and records related to state funding must be retained for three years after the
end of the grant. If a grant is funded with both state and federal funds, the federal retention period applies to that
portion of the budget and reimbursements tied to federal funds.
Please see the attached memorandum for specifics about these requirements. For further information on records
retention requirements, contact [email protected].
Reminder: FY2016-17 General Fund Budgets Approved
Please forward to business managers.
The LDOE budgets library has been updated with a listing of charter schools and city parish school districts with
approved budgets. If your school system is not included in the lists, you should have received an email regarding
the status of your budget. For more information about this process, please see the attached Approval of FY201617 General Fund Budgets memorandum.
Please contact [email protected] with questions.
Federal Programs
Reminder: See 2015-2016 AMAO Status and Student Rosters
Please forward to Title III Directors/Coordinators.
2015-2016 calculations for Title III Annual Measurable Achievement Objectives (AMAO) 1 and 2 have been
loaded to the data management FTP site. These calculations will assist school systems in evaluating the
effectiveness of programs to increase the language proficiency of its English language learners (ELs).
No parental notification of 2015-2016 AMAO 1 and 2 results or Title Ill improvement plans based on 2015-2016
determinations are required. However, if your LEA has a current improvement plan, you are encouraged to look
at current determinations as a strong measure of the effectiveness of this plan and to make any applicable
changes needed. Please reach out to either your POC or email [email protected] if you have any
questions or need further guidance.
February 14, 2017
Grants Management
New: eGMS 2016-2017 Final Allocations
eGMS will be updated by close of business on Tuesday, February 14, 2017 to include the 2016-2017 final
allocations listed below:
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NCLB Consolidated Application
o Title I 2016-2017 Supplement
o Title I Excess Funds Reallocation
IDEA Consolidated Application
o IDEA FY16/17 Supplement
o Preschool FY16/17 Supplement
o High Cost Services 16/17 Reallocation
Any expired funds will be removed from the current allocation at the same time of uploading the supplemental
2016-2017 awards to facilitate all changes through one amendment. The remaining allocations are in process and
will be announced in the newsletter as they become available.
For further assistance, contact Randy Littleton at [email protected].