Policy & Advocacy Preconvention Workshop

1. Policy & Advocacy PreconventionWorkshop CEC Convention April 2013

2. Today’s Agenda • 9-10:20am • Election, ESEA, Waivers, Teacher Evaluation, CCSS Tests • 10:20 – 10:30am BREAK • 10:30-12pm • School Safety and Mental Health, Teacher Preparation Accountability, Early Learning, Research, Gifted, IDEA, WIA, Budget

3. Election 2012 Who did we elect?

4. Election 2012: What did we learn? The times they are a changing…

5. Overview of 2012 Election Demography Race and Gender Obama’s share of the white vote shrank, but the overall number of white voters also shrank. Women: Obama 55% LGBT: Obama 76% African American: Obama 93% Hispanic: Obama 71% Asian: Obama 73% White: Romney 59%

6. Young people voted • 18-29 Obama 60% • 30-44 Obama 52% • 45-64 Romney 51% • 65+ Romney 56% Voters under age 30 were 19% of the electorate. 1% > 2008 Pew Research Center, Nov. 26, 2012

7. Education legislation

8. ESEA • IDEA • Workforce Investment Act (WIA) • CCDBG (17 years overdue!!) • Education Sciences Reform Act • Higher Education Act

9. Elementary & Secondary Education Act (AKA NCLB)

10. CEC’s ESEA Guiding Principles • Supporting a Well Prepared Successful • Educational Workforce • Meaningful Systems that Encourage • Collaborative and Supportive Measurement, Evaluation, • and Reward of Professional Performance • Strengthening Assessment and Accountability for ALL • Developing Improved Strategies that Create Positive • School Reform • Providing Full Funding to Execute the Goals and • Provisions of ESEA • Meeting the Unique Needs of Gifted Learners • Improving Outcomes for All Children Through the Collaboration of All Educators

11. Senate Passes a Bill House Passes a Bill Conference Committee Agrees to a single Bill President Signs!! Senate Votes on New Version House Votes on New Version

12. 2007…2008…2009…2010…2011…2012 ESEA Reauthorization

13. Lots of Talking… Senator Lamar Alexander Tennessee Senator Tom Harkin Iowa

14. American Association of Administrators, Policy Insider Oct 2011

15. White House Announces Waivers September, 2011

16. Congress Acts! Jan 2012 Oct 2011 House Ed Committee Senate Help Committee • Eliminated AYP • Required new teacher eval systems • Cut funding for 43 programs • Changed funding to block grant • Turnaround? • Eliminated AYP • Encouraged new teacher eval systems • Eliminated 2% Modified Tests • Codified 1% Alternate Tests • 7 Turnaround Models Javits Grants

17. ESEA Reauthorization… Has the process stalled???

18. ESEA waivers So, waivers are our ESEA reauthorization (At least for now …)

19. ESEA Waivers • Remove 2014 AYP deadline • Funding Flexibility • Changes to Accountability • Flexibility for HQT Plans

20. ESEA Waivers • 4 Conditions: • Adopt College & Career Ready Standards • Develop Assessments that Measure Student Growth • Develop Differentiated Accountability System • Develop Guidelines for Local Teacher and Principal Evaluations Based on Effectiveness

21. ESEA Waivers To receive an ESEA waiver, states had to develop new guidelines for teacher/principal evaluation that: • “take(s) into account data on student growth in significant part” in determining teacher/principal performance” levels.” Measures of Student Growth in untested grades and subjects include: “pre-tests, end-of-course tests, and objective performance-based assessments, student learning objectives and other measures of student achievement that are rigorous and comparable across schools within an LEA”

22. ESEA Waivers • Blue States Have Waivers • Green States are Under Review • Plus, TX, WY, PN, + 9 CA Districts

23. Waiver Concerns No 2 State applications are the same. . . • MONITORING: • Every 3 Months? • New TA? • Amount of revisions? • New staffing needed?

24. Discussion • Does your state have a waiver? • How is your experience with the waiver? • How was special education involved in the process? • What about monitoring from USDOE? Impressions and guidance for others?

25. Teacher evaluation Waiver concerns and beyond…

26. Policymakers: A Shift in Focus Highly Qualified Highly Effective Outputs Inputs

27. Policy Movers … 41 State Applications Proposed Changes to Teacher Evaluation systems Race to the Top Private Investment of $45 Million in Several Pilot Districts Gates Foundation: MET Study Now States are working it out.

28. System Components Complex Role Measure Evidence-Based Practice Recognize Professionalism Incorporate Research Components of Special Education Teacher Evaluations

29. Teacher Evaluation Systems Shall: • All educators must be included in one evaluation system. • Evaluation systems must identify appropriate professional development opportunities for teachers based on the results of their evaluations. • Evaluations must support continuous improvement. • Evaluation processes and all measures of teacher effectiveness must be open and transparent to the teacher being evaluated. Include Fundamental System-Wide Components 37

30. Teacher Evaluation Systems Shall: • Evaluations must clearly identify and be based on a special education teacher’s specific role and responsibilities during a given school year. • Evaluations must take into account the population of children and youth and their range of exceptionalities that special education teachers instruct. • Evaluations must be conducted by evaluators with expertise related to evidence-based service delivery models and individualized teaching practices and interventions in special education. Identify the Complex Role of the Special Education Teacher 38

31. Teacher Evaluation Systems Shall: • Evaluations must be based on multiple reliable measures and indicators that support valid measurement of special education teacher effectiveness. • Evaluations should never be based solely on student growth. • Statistical models that estimate a teacher’s contribution to student growth, such as value-added models, should not be applied to any teacher until there is a general consensus among researchers that the model provides a valid estimate of a teacher’s contribution to student growth. Measure the Use of Evidence-Based Practices 39

32. Value Added Measurement (VAM)

33. Use of IEP Multiple indicators of special education teacher effectiveness may include … IEP development and implementation. Evaluations should not use a student’s progress on their goals, objectives, and benchmarks in the IEP as a measure of a special education teacher’s contribution to student growth. 41

34. Discussion • Does your school/district have a new evaluation system? • How does it address special education teachers? • Does it include measures of student achievement? • What measures of student achievement does it include for special education teachers? • What measures do you think a system should include? • Has your professional development system changed alongside your evaluation? 42

35. CCSS & The Future of Testing New assessments, adaptive assessments, & racing to the top

36. Race to the Top Assessment Contest • $330 Million • Aligns with Common Core Standards • Two Consortia for 99% of students • Two Consortia for remaining 1% of students

37. 1% Students with the Most Significant Cognitive Disabilities

38. Two Consortia: 1% • Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment Program (DLM) – Kansas University $22 million • 13 States - Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. • Accessibility - keyboard, drag-and-drop, touch-screen, and compatible with a variety of assistive technologies commonly used by students.

39. National Center & State Collaborative 19 States: Alaska, Arizona Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wyoming

40. 99% All other students PARCC SBAC (Smarter Balanced)

41. Assessment Consortia: PARCC Computer Based

42. Assessment Consortia: Smarter Balanced Computer Adaptive

43. TIMELINE • 2012-13 School Year: First year pilot/field testing and related research and data collection • Fall 2012 – Small Scale Trials – 500 schools in 23 states • February • April • 2013-14 School Year: Second year pilot/field testing and related research and data collection • 2014-15 School Year: Full operational administration of PARCC assessments • Summer 2015: Set achievement levels, including college-ready performance levels

44. How long will it take students to take the test? • 7.5 -8 Hours • Over 5-9 Student Days • Schools will deliver 2 x a year and have a 20 day window to complete each session

45. Computer Adaptive Tests • Definition: A test that uses the information it receives during the test to determine which question to present the test-taker with next. • Several states use them (HI, OR, DE, UT) • Only Oregon is approved for NCLB Purposes • Concerns: • Is every student tested on the full range of grade level content? • Is every student seeing a similar mix of questions that measure cognitively complex skills?

46. Get online and check them out!! • http://sampleitems.smarterbalanced.org/itempreview/sbac/index.htm • http://www.parcconline.org/sample-assessment-tasks

47. Accommodation Policies • PARCC Announced – Jan. 2013 • CEC and other organizations opposed several provisions • Failed to include students eligible for Section 504 protections • Limited the IEP team’s authority to choose appropriate individualized accommodations • Failed to fully account for cultural differences

48. Accommodation Possibilities … • Oregon – Braille Adaptive as of this school year • Refreshable displays

49. Accommodation Possibilities … • Signing Avatars • Not used as an accommodation in any state; Concerns about use for high stakes testing.

50. Do schools have the needed technology? Ummm…. Maybe …