NCLB Updates

1
NCLB Updates

• January, 2003
• Telecast

2
Topics

• District Improvement Plans 2003-04
• English Language Learners (ELL)
• Transferred Funds and REAP
• Private Schools
• Title I Parent Requirements
• Title I Paraprofessionals
• NCLB Reporting Requirements

3
District Improvement Plans

• Review of 2002-03 plans almost completed
• NCLB grants being awarded when approved
• No payments until program responses approved
• Exploring options for submitting final plans for
  2003-04

4
Improvement Plans 2003-04

• Consolidated plans but no repeated information
  (ex Section 427 of GEPA)
• Purpose remains focus activities, coordinate and
  integrate activities
• More focused around State Plan goals and
  objectives
• Online submission

5
English Language Learners

• Title I and Title III Requirements
• Annual Assessment of Language Proficiency
• Every English Language Learner (ELL) in the State
• LAS, IPT, LPTS or local assessment
• Baseline data this year

6
Annual Assessments

• State standards and assessments for developing
  language proficiency
• Linked to L.E.A.R.N.S. but not the STARS
  assessments
• Measure language proficiency in speaking,
  listening, reading and writing,
• Title III programs also must report comprehension
• State sets goals for increasing proficiency

7
Title III Documentation

• Needed for annual and biannual reports
• Programs and services provided
• Types of language instruction programs
• Grade levels and numbers of ELL served
• Parent involvement and participation
• Professional development
• ELL teachers certification and qualifications
• How Title III funds have been spent

8
ELL Student Data

• ELL performance on STARS
• ELL performance for two years after exiting
  program
• STARS 3 or more consecutive years in U. S.
  must assess in English unless results not valid
  or reliable
• Accommodations allowed (document)

9
ELL in Private Schools

• Title III covered in Section 9501
• Professional development for teachers of ELL
  students
• Waiting on guidance related to equitable services
  for ELL eligible students in private schools

10
Title IIIParental Notification

• Timelines 30 days after beginning of school
  year
• Reasons for LEP identification
• Childs English language development level
• Method of instruction

11
Title IIIParental Notification

• How the program meets the needs of the child in
• Learning English
• Meeting academic standards

12
Title IIIParental Notification

• Exit criteria, expected rate of transition,
  expected rate of graduation
• For a child with a disability, how the program
  meets the IEP objectives

13
Title IIIParental Notification

• Right to withdraw child from program
• Decline to enroll child in a program or choose
  another program/method of instruction

14
Title IIIParental Notification

• Notify parents if schools fail to make progress.
• In a language parents can understand. (TransACT
  Translation Library has sample forms).

15
Title III Parent Notifications

• Why child is being served
• Level of language proficiency
• Method of instruction
• Programs exit requirements
• How program will help child learn English and
  meet academic standards

16
Parent Notifications.

• How program will meet special education needs, if
  appropriate
• Written guidance regarding rights of parents to
  determine if child will participate
• Programs progress toward meeting goals
• Opportunities for parent meetings
• Involvement in schoolwide, if appropriate

17
REAP

• REAP grants from U. S. D. E.
• Should have received packet with contact numbers,
  if problems
• MUST include REAP grants in district budgets -
  code 4990
• There were 55 districts with questionable census
  locale codes able to notify Census Bureau that
  50 were rural
• No REAP funds in House or White House budgets

18
Transferred Funds

• To transfer means to use the funds for the
  purposes of another program (doesnt merge the
  grants)
• Budget forms were sent to all districts that
  submitted a transfer application
• District budgets original grant and a transfer
  grant (ex 4985 for original II-D grant, 4986 for
  funds transferred from II-D to be used for Title
  V purposes) Documentation for payment needed.

19
Payments for Transferred Funds

• Request for Reimbursement revised form
• Documentation
• Must identify the original grant (budget)
• Must match the approved budgets
• Sufficient detail to identify expenditures
• Prefer computer printout or Record and Report
• No payments until all budgets approved
• Advance requests same as before

20
Private Schools

• Section 9501 of NCLB includes
• Title I, Part A Educationally Disadvantaged
• Title I, Part B Reading First
• Title I, Part B, Subpart 3 Even Start
• Title II, Part A Teacher and Principal Training
  and Recruiting Fund (only professional
  development and activities)

21
Private Schools, Cont.

• Title II, Part B Math and Science Partnerships
• Title II, Part D Enhancing Education Through
  Technology
• Title III - Language Acquisition and Immigrant
  Aid
• Title IV Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
  Communities
• Title V Innovative Programs (by-pass in NE)

22
Private School Participation Form

• Revised to include a section for noting date(s)
  of consultation
• Public school
• Maintains control over all federal funds (no
  direct funds to private schools) and materials
• even stipends go to teachers, not the private
  school
• Employs any staff providing direct services in
  private schools

23
Form, Cont.

• All approved private schools within the
  districts boundaries (no home schools)
• Title I, Part A must also consider students
  living in participating attendance areas
• If private schools have a head administrator,
  that person may be the official for more than one
  private school

24
Private School Participation

• Services to eligible private school staff and
  students
• Equitable in terms of service
• Equal in terms of expenditures
• Jointly determined through required consultation
  between public and private schools

25
Consultation

• Must occur before joining a consortia or
  transferring funds
• Consultation must be on-going
• Design
• Development
• Implementation

26
Required Consultation

• How needs of children will be identified
• What services will be offered
• How, where, and by whom the services will be
  provided
• How services will be assessed and how the results
  of the assessment will be used to improve those
  services

27
Required Consultation, Cont.

• The size and scope of equitable services
• The amount of funds available for those services
• How and when the public school will make the
  decisions about the delivery of services

28
NEW Low-Income Students

• USDE and USDA have new information on using
  information about the eligibility status of
  low-income children for federal programs (i.e.,
  Title I) and State assessment purposes
  (disaggregation of data)
• Information shared on a need to know basis
• http//www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SASA/letter121702.h
  tml

29
Title I NEW Private School

• New options in NCLB select ONE
• Free and reduced lunch eligibility (same)
• Survey of private school parents (sample)
• Apply public schools percentage of poverty to
  the number of private school children who reside
  in that attendance area
• Use an equated measure of low income correlated
  to low income data, or
• Comparable income data (scholarships)

30
Title I and Private Schools

• Determination of the option is one of the
  required consultation topics.
• Public school has the final authority in
  determining the option used.
• NCLB allows a district to collect low-income
  private school data once every two years (another
  consultation topic)

31
Parents Right to Know

• Title I, Part A Requirement
• Districts must notify parents that they have the
  right to request information on teacher
  qualifications.
• Also, notify parents if child has been taught for
  4 or more weeks by a teacher who is not highly
  qualified NOT yet as Nebraska has not defined
  highly qualified

32
Title I Parent Requirements

• Parent Policies, including annual meeting, parent
  compacts, etc., remain basically the same as
  under IASA.
• Title I parent policies do not have to be
  approved by the school board. Nebraska law
  requires boards to have a parent policy.
• Parent policies are being reviewed as part of
  Integrated Site Reviews.

33
Education of Homeless Children

• Homeless liaisons in all districts
  Superintendent unless notified otherwise
• Duties of the homeless liaison on the homepage
• NEW all homeless children are eligible for free
  lunch. No application needed (only signature of
  homeless liaison or shelter director)

34
McKinney-Vento Grants

• Required reporting numbers of homeless children
• Identified and served
• Included in STARS assessments
• Mastery level on STARS (Proficient and Advanced)
• Identified for Special Education or as English
  Language Learners

35
Title I Paraprofessionals

• NCLB requirements apply to instructional
  paraprofessionals in Title I schools
• Targeted Assistance Schools only
  paraprofessionals funded by Title I
• Schoolwide projects all paraprofessionals
• Does not include non-instructional media,
  lunchroom, translators, computer technicians,
  parent coordinators, personal care assistants

36
Paraprofessional Requirements

• Two years of postsecondary education, or
• Pass a competency test in assisting with reading,
  writing, or math or pre-reading, pre-writing and
  pre-math
• Applies to new hires NOW currently employed have
  until 2006

37
Postsecondary Education

• 48 semester hours of college or any associate
  degree from an institution of higher education
• Defined in new non-regulatory guidance
• Accredited, awards either bachelors or associate
  degrees, admits only those with a diploma or GED,
  legally authorized within the state

38
Paraprofessional Assessments

• Exploring options
• Parapro by ETS
• Paraeducator by Master Teacher
• Workkeys
• Project Para from UN-L
• Assessment is expected to be equivalent to the
  second year of college.

39
Volunteers Needed

• Each assessment must have a standards setting
  panel to establish the cut-off score for the
  State.
• Parapro Panel -- April 10th in Denver, CO
• All expenses paid
• Need paras and teachers who supervise paras from
  both Title I and Special Education
• Submit names of volunteers to Title I office

40
Parapro

• Will be available on-line by late January
• 40.00 (can be funded by Title I and II)
• Scores will be banked until standard setting
  panel has completed their task.
• Paraprofessionals volunteering for the panel will
  need to wait six months and retake the test.

41
Documentation Needed

• For the present, Title I will collect the
  information needed to ensure that
  paraprofessionals are highly qualified.
• Working within the Department to ensure that
  format can be expanded for Special Education and
  Rule 11 as needed.

42
Title I Updates

• Peer review of schoolwide plans for NEW schools
  will be in April, 2003
• Existing schoolwide projects will not go through
  a peer review this year.
• Revising the rubric to new NCLB requirement for
  scientific research based requirements.
• Integrated Site Reviews 3rd year of the
  schedule for visits

43
NCLB End-of-Year Reporting

• Hopefully, consolidated reporting
• Preliminary information
• Title I, Part A same participation, Reading and
  Math STARS, paraprofessional data
• Title II, Part A and Part D professional
  development participants (public and private)
• Title IV New building reporting of gun-related
  suspensions and expulsions
• Title V description of use of funds

44
Persistently Dangerous Schools

• NCLB requirement to identify schools that are
  persistently dangerous and allow students to
  transfer to another school
• Online conference from Jan. 15 31st
• Go to www.nde.state.ne.us/SAFETY to review
  proposed criteria and submit comments

45
NCLB Information

• www.ed.gov for latest guidance and information
• www.nde.state.ne.us
• Links to Federal Programs
• NCLB
• Regulations
• Non-regulatory guidance