Policy & Advocacy What’s Happening in Washington?

1. Policy & Advocacy What’s Happening in Washington? 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: What did we learn? The times they are a changing…

4. 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. Education legislation

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

8. Elementary & Secondary Education Act (AKA NCLB)

9. 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

10. 2007…2008…2009…2010…2011…2012 ESEA Reauthorization

11. American Association of Administrators, Policy Insider Oct 2011

12. White House Announces Waivers September, 2011

13. 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

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

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

16. 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

17. 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”

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

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

20. Teacher evaluation Waiver concerns and beyond…

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

22. 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.

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

24. 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

25. 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

26. Value Added Measurement (VAM)

27. 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

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

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

30. 1% Dynamic Learning Maps • 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.

31. 1% 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

32. 99% Assessment Consortia: PARCC Computer Based

33. 99% Assessment Consortia: Smarter Balanced Computer Adaptive

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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?

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

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

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

40. New opportunities in gifted education policy

41. Federal initiatives Sen. Grassley (R-IA) Sen. Mikulski (D-MD) Sen. Casey (D-PA)

44. idea 2020????

45. Total # Served by IDEA Part B is Decreasing - 4.8%

46. Total # with Autism Spectrum Disorder isIncreasing + 10 % - 17% Annually

47. New Part B Consent (Medicaid) Rules! • New Regulations – Clearer, Easier Process • NEW PROCESS = Before beginning services: • Provide parents written notification that • Explains the protections available to parents • Fully informs them of their IDEA rights • Obtain 1 time parent consent to access benefits • DONE!! March 18, 2013

48. IDEA/ESEA Equitable Services • March 14, 2013 Guidance Letter from USDOE • To establish better public/private relationships USDOE will : • Host conf calls 2x/yr with state directors • Facilitation public/private communication • Encourage states to create state level private school working groups • Identify examples of promising practices • Host Webinars to improve stakeholder understanding

49. Including SwdSchool Sponsored Sports

50. GAO: Good news! • Students with Disabilities are well represented in PE classes both general PE classes and specialized opportunities when needed! Based on its findings, and projections from its findings, the GAO determined that almost 100% of students with disabilities are taking advantage of adaptive and general PE through the country!