Department Update

1. Department Update Ruth Ryder OSEP Deputy Director Project Directors’ Conference July 25, 2012

2. ESEA Flexibility • In September 2011 the Department of Education Announced “Flexibility” of provisions within ESEA. Core policies of ESEA Flexibility are: • Protect children, especially those most at risk, and maintain transparency and accountability for closing achievement gaps • Raise the bar for student achievement by rewarding states that adopt college- and career-ready standards • Provide flexibility from NCLB’s mandates and one-size-fits-all accountability so States have the opportunity to innovate and create interventions

3. Waiver Conditions • States must: • Be on track in adopting college and career-ready standards • Create a plan to strengthen, elevate and support their teachers • Create accountability systems that identify and focus resources on the lowest-performing schools and the schools with the biggest achievement gaps

4. States Approved for Waivers • As of July 19, 2012, 32 States and Washington DC have received flexibility waivers • Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

5. Other States • 5 states have requested waivers and are still under review (California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, and Nevada) • 13 states and PR have not applied (Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont (request withdrawn), West Virginia and Wyoming)

6. ESEA Flexibility ME VT WA MA NH MN ND MT NY MI WI OR CT RI SD ID PA WY OH IA DE IL NE IN NV MD WV UT CO VA KS MO KY NC TN CA DC SC OK AR AZ GA NM AL MS LA TX FL AK ESEA flexibility waiver pending ESEA flexibility waiver approved AMO waiver approved HI

7. Accountability for Students with Disabilities • Colorado will require schools that miss their performance targets for students with disabilities to provide targeted interventions for these students as part of their Unified Improvement Plan. • In Indiana, every school will be required to implement improvement actions if any subgroup, regardless of its size, misses any of its targets. Indiana has specified certain tailored actions that schools will be required to take if the subgroup that misses its targets is students with disabilities. • Several States lowered their “n-size” in order to hold more schools accountable for individual subgroups like students with disabilities.

8. Race to the Top (RTT) • Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy; • Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction; • Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and • Turning around our lowest-achieving schools.

9. RTT • Over the past three years the Department has awarded RTT grants to 21 states and DC (Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, D.C., Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Washington) • These states serve 65% of the nation’s children and 59% of low-income students in the country

10. RTT-ELC • Nine states received grants under Phase 1 of RTT-ELC (California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington) • Phase 2 will consider eligible the five highest-scoring applicants that did not receive funding in the FY 2011 RTT-ELC competition, each of which received approximately 75 percent or more of the available points under the competition (Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Oregon, and Wisconsin) (FR 6/20/12) • http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-earlylearningchallenge/index.html

11. RTT ME VT WA MA NH MN ND MT NY MI WI OR CT RI SD ID PA WY OH IA DE IL NE IN NV MD WV UT CO VA KS MO KY NC TN CA DC SC OK AR AZ GA NM AL MS LA TX FL AK ESEA flexibility waiver pending ESEA flexibility waiver approved AMO waiver approved RTT ELC RTT1 T RTT2 RTT3 3 HI

12. RTT-D • Congress passed an omnibus spending bill for fiscal year 2012 that included an additional $550 million for Race to the Top. The bill includes language that will allow the Department to create a district-level RTT competition, making grants by December 2012 • RTT-D will support bold, locally directed improvements in teaching and learning that will directly improve student achievement and teacher effectiveness • http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-district/index.html

13. RTT-D • LEAs can apply • individually or in consortia • for all or a portion of their schools • for specific grades or subject area bands • Applicants must serve a minimum of 2,500 participating students • 40% of participating students in participating schools must be low income

14. Assessment • Next generation of assessments will be more inclusive, valid and more instructionally relevant for all students, including students with disabilities • Next generation of assessments should be able to be used with 99% of students • OSERS is working with the Department’s Implementation and Support Unit (ISU) and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) in guiding the development of assessments

15. Assessment Consortia • RTTA (45 states and DC) (99%) • Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortia • Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC) • GSEG (31 states and DC) (1%) • National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC) • Dynamic Learning Maps

16. Behavior • Prevention! • Collaboration with • Office of Safe and Healthy Students • Office for Civil Rights • Office of Vocational Education • Department of Justice • Supportive School Discipline – DoJ and ED • National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention

17. Disconnected Youth • The 2013 budget included a request for authority to implement Performance Partnership Pilots to improve outcomes for disconnected youth, those young people ages 14-24 who are homeless, in foster care, involved in the juvenile justice system, or are neither employed nor enrolled in an educational institution. • Of the funds for the Workforce Innovation Fund, $10 million will be used for innovative and evidence-based approaches to serving disconnected youth. • http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget13/justifications/n-ctae.pdf

18. PROMISE:Promoting Readiness of Minors in SSI • PROMISE is a joint pilot demonstration program with Departments of Education, Labor and Health and Human Services and Social Security Administration (SSA) • Goal is to improve outcomes of children who receive SSI including their health status, both physical and emotional and education and post-school outcomes, including completion of postsecondary education and employment ant to improve family or household outcomes through improved services and supports, such as education and job training for parents • http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget13/justifications/i-specialed.pdf

19. PROMISE • In 2012 are doing a literature review, conducting numerous input sessions and developing a priority • The 2013 budget includes $30 million for competitive grants for a small number of states for a period of 5 years • Governors will submit applications and designate a lead agency to carry out the program

20. Potpourri • Restraint and Seclusion Resource Document http://www2.ed.gov/policy/seclusion/index.html • Sequestration http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/secletter/120720.html • OSEP Memos, Dear Colleague Letters and Policy Letters http://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/idea/memosdcltrs/index.html

21. Potpourri • Results-Driven Accountability – • Blog (new question every 2 weeks • Email box • Information http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/osep/rda/index.html

22. Thanks for all you do!