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Dear Colleagues,
Tomorrow will be a busy day in the Sower Building, as we welcome our Commissioner’s Student Advisory Council for an in-person meeting. This will be my last meeting with the group, as Robin Kinney will take over as interim commissioner on Sept. 30.
Kentucky is known to be one of the national leaders when it comes to student voice. For years now, we have had a student advisory that provides real input that the staff here at KDE uses to inform our decision making. We also have a non-voting student member on the Kentucky Board of Education.
If you do not have a way to collect student voice in your district – whether that’s through an advisory panel, regular informal lunches with students or non-voting student members on your local board of education – I encourage you to do so.
Our high school students are just a few short years from either going to college or starting their career in the workplace. I have found those who serve on the Commissioner’s Student Advisory Council to be serious, thoughtful and insightful. This is a position they have taken seriously, and their input has had an impact on our work at KDE.
You can watch the student advisory council meeting tomorrow beginning at 9 a.m. ET on the KDE Media Portal.
And speaking of students, please consider encouraging students in your district to apply for the 2024 United States Senate Youth Program, a merit-based program that takes the most outstanding high school students from around the country to Washington, D.C., for a weeklong study of the federal government and the people who lead it.
Two Kentucky high school students will be selected this fall as delegates and will each receive a $10,000 college scholarship in the name of the U.S. Senate, with encouragement to continue coursework in history, government and public affairs. So far, we have not had any applications and the deadline is Oct. 2.
If you know of students who are interested in pursuing careers in public service and have proven records of leadership, scholarship and volunteer service, please encourage them to apply soon. The experience of seeing first-hand how the federal government works and getting to meet influential people – not to mention the $10,000 scholarship – could change their lives.
And finally, in case you missed it, KDE’s Office of Special Education and Early Learning (OSEEL) is receiving nearly $10 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Rehabilitation Services Administration for postsecondary transition opportunities for students with disabilities.
The goal of Kentucky Transition 360, a project that will be overseen by OSEEL, is to create a model demonstration project focused on collaborative partnership among state agencies to enhance and improve postsecondary opportunities and outcomes for students with disabilities.
The “360” in the name signifies a holistic approach that encompasses all angles of the transition process, ensuring students have access to robust experiences in underserved areas. OSEEL will partner in the project with the Kentucky Centers for Independent Living, the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Kentucky Special Parent Involvement Network (KY-SPIN) and the KY-SPIN Parent Training and Information Center to provide training for mentors and assist in developing resources and curriculum for transition activities.
I am excited for this opportunity to discover new ways to provide services to our special education students.
Kind regards,
Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.
Commissioner and Chief Learner
Important Notice about Phase One Reports in Cognia's Continuous Improvement Platform
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) was recently made aware of an issue within Cognia’s Continuous Improvement Platform (CIP). As a reminder, CIP is the electronic platform where all improvement planning diagnostics are completed and archived in accordance with 703 KAR 5:225. As a result of the functionality issue within Cognia’s platform, the Phase One: School Safety Report was significantly impacted.
Those schools that completed the Phase One: School Safety Report prior to Sept. 23 must redo the diagnostic. Previous versions of the 2023-2024 Phase One: School Safety Report have been removed from the libraries of those schools that completed the diagnostic and you must take action to redo the diagnostic.
For those schools that have not completed the diagnostic, please launch and complete the diagnostic from your school’s library within CIP. As a reminder, this diagnostic is due by Oct. 1.
No other 2023-2024 diagnostics were impacted; therefore, no additional steps are required to be taken. If you have questions, please feel free to contact Associate Commissioner Kelly Foster. You also may visit the Comprehensive Improvement Planning webpage for additional information on the planning phases for 2023-2024.
School Report Card – Final Week for Data Collection
Schools and districts should navigate to the Kentucky School Report Card (SRC) Data Approval Tool to complete any remaining tasks. Time is running out.
Based on current details, only 50% of districts have completed this work. It is important to ensure your school and district data is correct for public release.
Please encourage completion of the following by the due dates:
- Data entry of SRC and School Profile Report collection detail, including community, safety, technology, school profile items and superintendent message, should be complete by the end of this week, Sept. 29.
- School Profile Reports should be signed by the school-based decision making (SBDM) members, principals and superintendents and be available in the local board office by the Oct. 1 due date. This is a requirement of KRS 158.6453.
- Districts have an additional week to approve Overview, Education Opportunity and Transition to Adult Life data. The due date for these domains is Oct. 6. New data available this week in these domains includes:
- New data is available for review in the Overview/Faculty, Staff and Community/Equity > Inexperienced Staff (district-level disproportionality). This is new in the SRC this year.
- Overview/Faculty, Staff and Community/Equity > Students Taught by Ineffective Teachers will be available by the end of this week for schools that have completed the Kentucky Equitable Access to Effective Teachers (Ineffective Teacher) survey.
- Transition to Adult Life/Career Readiness Indicators data is being refreshed this week to resolve an issue with the No Indicator values.
The Office of Assessment and Accountability team will work directly with district assessment coordinators to review Academic Performance and Accountability data in October before public release of the SRC.
Refer to the SRC Reminder Communication from Sept. 5 for more detail on outstanding tasks that must be completed. The School Report Card Resources webpage includes SRC timeline, prior communications and other resources that can help with the review process.
CONTACTS:
Applications Sought for Health Education and Physical Education Standards Committees
Applications are being accepted for the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) Health Education and Physical Education Review Committee and Advisory Panels.
KRS 158.6453 calls for KDE to implement a process for reviewing academic standards and aligned assessments. The Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) for Health Education and the KAS for Physical Education will begin this review process during the 2023-2024 school year.
KDE is seeking current K-12 classroom teachers and postsecondary educators to participate in this work. Applicants will be required to meet virtually and/or in Frankfort for five to 10 days beginning in the winter of 2023-2024, continuing through summer with further meetings possibly taking place in the 2024-2025 school year.
When applicable, selected team members will receive reimbursement for travel expenses and the teacher’s school district will be reimbursed for substitute teacher expenses. Potential applicants are asked to verify the willingness of their school or district to release them for work dates throughout the school year.
The online application for the review committee and advisory panel will be posted for 30 days. Applications will be accepted through Sept. 29. Selected team members will be notified by Oct. 13.
Questions on this process can be directed to the Standards Team.
Kentucky’s ESSA Waiver Request Approved
The U.S. Department of Education has approved the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE’s) request to waive the following program requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA):
- Carryover limitation in section 1127(b) of the ESEA for school year 2022-2023 (Project J) Title I, Part A funds that will become carryover funds on Oct. 1, 2023. This waives the requirement that limits KDE’s ability to grant to its local education agencies (LEAs) a waiver of the 15% Title I, Part A carryover limitation in section 1127(a) to once every three years.
- Period of availability of funds in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions Act (GEPA). This will allow KDE to extend the period of availability of school year 2021-2022 (Project I) funds for the programs listed below in which Kentucky participates under its approved consolidated ESEA state plan. The period of availability will be extended until June 30, 2024. School and district staff who work with these programs must continue to provide assistance to the same populations served by the respective programs. The programs are:
- Title I, Part A of the ESEA (Improving Basic Programs Operated by LEAs), including the portions of the state’s Title I, Part A award used to carry out section 1003 school improvement, and Title I, Part D, Subpart 2;
- Title II, Part A of the ESEA (Supporting Effective Instruction);
- Title III, Part A of the ESEA (English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement);
- Title IV, Part A of the ESEA (Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants); and
- Title V, Part B, Subpart 2 of the ESEA (Rural and Low-Income School Program).
- An extension of Kentucky’s previously approved waiver also was granted for two programs. This will allow KDE to extend the period of availability of school year 2020-2021 (Project G) funds for the programs listed below in which Kentucky participates under its approved consolidated ESEA state plan. The period of availability for these funds will be extended until June 30, 2024. The programs are:
- Title III, Part A of the ESEA (English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement); and
- Title IV, Part A of the ESEA (Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants)
Contact the following KDE staff with program-specific questions:
Sign Up Now for School Improvement Planning for Performance Excellence Training
A two-day School Improvement Planning for Performance Excellence training session will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET on Nov. 28-29 at the Central Bank Center in Lexington.
This training will assist leadership teams in an increased understanding of how to apply the performance excellence systems approach to continuous improvement. This training will focus on an increased understanding of the role of the school improvement plan by developing school improvement goals, creating strategies, and developing and implementing action plans toward increasing achievement for all students and organizational effectiveness.
Tools used during the sessions will include the appropriate Jim Shipley workbooks, Teams System Check, linkage diagram and the plan-do-study-act process. Additionally, the work session content will include activities around leadership team building, using needs assessment practices, building school mission statements, assessment of the school as a system and use of the performance excellence criteria in a systematic way. The content will be from Jim Shipley and Associates led by certified Kentucky Department of Education facilitators.
Each attendee interested in participating must fill out the School Improvement Planning for Performance Excellence registration form no later than Nov. 17. Questions regarding the training should be directed to Charlotte Jones.
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