NCLB

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• NCLB
• Public School Choice

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Consequences of Failure to Make AYP Schools
serving students with Title I, Part A Funds

• Two years designated as a school in need of
  improvement parents offered public school
  choice
• Three years school in need of improvement
  status continues parents options include
  supplemental services (SES) or public school
  choice

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School Designations

• In accordance with Title I Federal
  regulations, a school is identified for school
  improvement when it fails to make AYP for two
  consecutive years.
• It remains in improvement, continues into
  corrective action, and then restructuring
  status, until it makes AYP for two consecutive
  years.

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Two or more consecutive years in need of
improvementChoice - vs. - SES

• Eligible students may receive Choice
• OR
• Supplemental Educational Services
• But Not Both

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What can LEAs do prior to assessment results?

• Review your current Choice options for students
  and determine if additional options are necessary
  to fulfill NCLB requirements
• Begin work on a student prioritization plan
• Begin work on a communications plan
• Begin work on a transportation plan
• Define Options

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Choice Options Review you
current choice plan
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Current Choice Plan Modification

• An LEA may choose to introduce or expand
  programs that allow open enrollment, which may
  then be modified to accommodate students who will
  be eligible to transfer if their school is
  identified for improvement.
• USDOE Non-Regulatory Guidance Draft February 6,
  2004

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Current Choice in Florida

• In education, Florida has a history of
  breaking the mold and doing whats right for our
  students and their families. Districts in
  Florida, through controlled choice, voluntary
  choice and targeted student choice programs
  lead the nation in providing families quality
  choice options.

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Review Current Choice Plan

• Carefully review your LEAs choice plan, and, in
  particular, its provision for meeting the needs
  of the lowest achieving children from low-income
  families and that these families have been
  informed of and given priority to take advantage
  of genuine school choice options.

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Review Current Choice Plan

• Federal Desegregation
• If an LEA is subject to a desegregation plan,
  whether that plan is voluntary, court-ordered, or
  required by a Federal agency, the school district
  is not exempt from offering students the option
  to transfer.
• The school district may take into account the
  requirements of the plan in determining how to
  implement the choice option.

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Review Current Choice Options Offered to Priority
Students

• Controlled Open Enrollment
• Voluntary Choice Programs
• Magnet schools, alternative schools, special
  programs, advanced placement, dual enrollment
• Charter Schools

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Review Current Choice Options Offered to Priority
Students

• Charter Technical Career Centers
• Florida Virtual School
• Opportunity Scholarship Program
• John M. McKay Scholarships
• Corporate Scholarships
• Private Tutoring

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Choice Best Practices

• Lee Zoned Choice where each zone offers the same
  choice programs
• Okaloosa A franchise arrangement with Virtual
  School, thereby providing this option to all
  students in all schools but priority given to
  disadvantaged students
• Flagler Comprehensive shuttle system, students
  are transported to home schools and then transfer
  to a shuttle bus to school of choice
• Seminole Expanded transportation services to
  enable Choice students to participate in before-
  and after-school programs

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Mentor Voluntary Choice LEAs Looking for a Mentee
LEA

• Brevard
• Duval
• Flagler
• Hillsborough
• Working with one of these districts to
  implement a Voluntary Choice Program includes
  funding of 50,000

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Key Principles for Quality Choice

• Choice is an important opportunity for parents
  and children.
• Choice is an important component of the overall
  LEA educational improvement plan.
• An overriding goal is to provide students with
  access to quality instruction.
• Communication with parents is timely and
  thorough.
• Information on choices is provided to parents and
  students in a format that is easy to understand,
  and in a language the parent understands.
• Real choice means giving parents more than one
  option from which to choose.

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NCLB Choice

• Choice for all students attending schools that
  have been identified as in need of improvement
• Schools in first year in need of improvement
  status must provide meaningful Choice options
• Amount equal to 20 of the LEAs Title I
  allocation must be set aside to fulfill this
• This includes ALL students
• Note targeted assistance and school wide

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NCLB Choice

• For schools in second year in need of
  improvement status
• Choice with transportation or SES
• An amount equal to 20 of LEAs Title I
  allocation set aside to fulfill this
• 5 SES
• 5 Transportation
• 10 one or combination of both
• Priority to lowest performing students

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What is meaningful choice?

• No less than a choice of two schools
• LEA may choose to offer school choice with
  transportation, and additional school choice
  without transportation as long as the school
  choice without transportation does not unfairly
  exclude the lowest achieving children from
  low-income families

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FLDOE Responsibilities to LEAs

• The DOE must provide to each LEA in a timely
  manner
• student assessment results
• lists of schools identified as in need of
  improvement
• Allowing the LEA, before the new school year
• to identify those schools whose students may
  transfer and
• to inform parents that they may choose a
  different school for their child.

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LEA Responsibilities

• The LEA, not later than the first day of school
  provides students with the option to transfer to
  another public school, which may include a public
  charter school, that has not been identified as
  in need of improvement Section 1116(b)(1)(E).
• The LEA shall give priority to the lowest
  achieving children from low-income families.

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FLDOE Responsibilities to USDOE

• The Florida Department of Education must
  include, in their annual NCLB Consolidated Report
  information on
• the number of schools that offer choice under the
  Title I provision and
• the number of students who exercise the options
  to change schools Section 1111(h)(4)(F).

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FLDOE Data Collection

• The Florida Department of Education will
  create a new MIS data element to track students
  that have taken advantage of this choice option.
  
• The data element will be collected each time a
  student enrolls in a school.
• The system will begin in the 2004-2005 school
  year.

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Choice ?s

• Ask
• Discuss
• Share

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Student PrioritizationBegin work on a student
prioritization plan
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What does it mean to give priority to the
lowest-achieving children from low-income
families?

• In implementing this option to transfer, however,
  there may be circumstances in which the LEA needs
  to give priority to the lowest-achieving children
  from low-income families Section
  1116(b)(1)(E)(ii).
• The LEA must give ALL students in a school
  identified as in need of improvement the
  opportunity to transfer to another public school.

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Giving priority to the lowest-achieving children
from low-income families

• If not all students may attend their first choice
  of schools, an LEA would give first priority in
  assigning space to the low-achieving low-income
  students.
• If an LEA does not have sufficient funding to
  provide transportation to all students who wish
  to transfer, an LEA would give first priority in
  assigning space to the low-achieving low-income
  students.

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How does an LEA determine which students are from
low-income families?

• The law requires that LEAs make this
  determination using the same data that they use
  in allocating Title I funds to schools Section
  1116(e)(12)(A).

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How does an LEA determine which students are
lowest achieving?

• LEAs have flexibility in determining which
  students from low-income families are lowest
  achieving and thus must be given priority for
  public school choice.
• Ideas
• Rank-ordering based on FCAT achievement levels in
  reading and/or mathematics
• FCAT Cut-off scores
• Level 1

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Student Prioritization

• When defining your LEA student prioritization
  plan it is imperative that the priority for
  Choice opportunity is equal for all students and
  communities in the LEA.

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What about students not yet enrolled?

• Students planning to enter a school for the
  first time, such as
• entering kindergartners
• students moving from elementary to middle school
  or
• those who have just moved into the school
  attendance area
• should have the same opportunity to exercise
  choice as students previously enrolled in a
  school.

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Student Prioritization ?s

• Ask
• Discuss

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CommunicationBegin Work on a Communications Plan
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Communication to Parents

• An LEA shall promptly provide to a parent or
  parents (in an understandable and uniform format
  and, to the extent practicable, in a language the
  parents can understand) of each student enrolled
  in a school identified for school improvement an
  explanation including
• what the identification means

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Communication to Parents

• the reasons for the identification
• what the school identified is doing to address
  the problem
• what the LEA is doing to help the school address
  the achievement problem
• how the parent can become involved in addressing
  these issues and
• the parents option to transfer their child.

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Communication to Parents

• The LEA should also include an explanation of why
  the choices made available to parents may have
  been limited.
• Additional information should be presented in an
  unbiased manner that does not seek to dissuade
  parents from exercising their opportunity to
  choose a new school.

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Communications to Parents

• Communications should include multiple
  delivery systems
• Mailing notices
• Newspapers
• Posters
• Internet
• Local television and radio
• Community centers and organizations

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Communication to Parents

• The LEA should work with parents to ensure they
  have ample information and time to take advantage
  of the opportunity to choose a different public
  school or program for their child.
• Policies should not impede parents opportunities
  to exercise choice options.

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Procedures for enabling parents to communicate
their choice

• Parents should be able to communicate their
  choices in a variety of ways
• Standard mail
• Email
• Fax
• Intranet
• In person
• The LEA should confirm with parents that it has
  received their communication regarding choice.

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Choice Best Communications Practices

• Leon Choice Brochures provided to all local
  day care centers billboards strategically
  located in hard to reach neighborhoods
• Manatee Partnership with Title Is Family
  Involvement Team and bi-lingual staff to assist
  with communication with parents
• Palm Beach Community Volunteers and Business
  Partners are provided materials and technical
  assistance concerning choice for use as they work
  with schools and students

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Communication ?s

• Ask
• Discuss

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• Transportation Begin work on a
  transportation plan

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School Choice Transportation LEA Successes

• Pinellas implemented a full scale school
  choice program in 2003-04. There is one
  countywide choice zone for high schools, three
  geographic zones for middle school, and four
  zones for elementary school. Each parent has
  approximately four school options to choose from
  within their zone of residence.
• Miami-Dade offers all of the legislatively
  authorized types of choice programs to varying
  degrees.

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School Choice Transportation LEA Successes

• Lee County most widespread choice program.
  The district is divided into three large
  geographic zones and parents may select any
  school of the appropriate grade level that is
  available within that zone. Nearly 96 of the
  students attend schools chosen by their parents.
• St. Lucie adopted a controlled choice open
  enrollment plan in 1991. The county is divided
  into three geographic zones, each containing
  several elementary schools and two or more middle
  and high schools.

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Transportation Plan How to Start What do we
already know?

• LEA transportation and Title I folks work
  together to determine
• the total of amount of funds set-aside and the
  fund sources (20 of LEA Title I Allocation)
• the location of schools that are probable choice
  options and
• the location of schools most likely to be in
  need of improvement.

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Transportation Plan What do we already know?

• Student transportation options
• Current transportation routes
• Number of students in Title I schools (those
  currently transported and those not transported
  previously)
• Approximate cost per pupil to be transported
  certain distances within the LEA
• School time schedules

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Calculating Per Pupil Cost

• Choice LEA pays for the costs of transportation
  associated with the provision of choice (up to an
  amount equal to 20 of the LEA Title I Part
  Allocation)
• SES LEA pays the lesser of
• actual costs, or
• amount of the LEAs Title I allocation divided
  by the number of poverty children (based on the
  latest census data)
• Prior to any reservations (administration, set
  asides, etc.)

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How long must students be allowed to attend the
school of their choice?

• If an eligible student exercises the option to
  transfer to another public school, and LEA must
  permit the student to remain in the school until
  he or she has completed the highest grade in the
  school.
• However, the LEA is no longer obligated to
  provide transportation for the student after the
  end of the school year in which the home school
  is no longer identified for school improvement.
  34 CF.R. Section 200.44(g)

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School Transportation Options

• May an LEA establish transportation zones within
  an LEA based on the geographic location of
  schools?
• Yes, an LEA has latitude in deciding which
  options to provide for eligible students.
• For example, it might establish transportation
  zones based upon geographic location and fully
  fund transportation to different schools within a
  zone.
• This option would allow the district to offer
  more than one choice of school while ensuring
  that transportation can be reasonably provided or
  arranged.

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School Transportation Options

• Outside the transportation zone, the district
  could decide to pay for only part of the
  transportation to the school.
• Parents might select a school outside of their
  designated attendance zone, but they would be
  informed prior to making this decision that they
  may be responsible for providing or arranging
  transportation for their children.

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School Transportation Options

• If transportation zones are developed, they
  should be drawn to provide genuine choice and
  address only issues of geographic distance.
• LEAs should ensure that there is sufficient
  capacity to accommodate the demand for choice
  within each zone.
• If this cannot be done, students must be given
  the opportunity to attend schools outside their
  zone of residence and provided with
  transportation.

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School Transportation Challenges

• What must an LEA do if funds are not
  sufficient to provide transportation to all
  students wishing to transfer?
• If the funds available are insufficient to
  provide transportation to each student who
  requests a transfer, the LEA must give priority
  to the lowest-achieving students from low-income
  families.
• However, LEAs must still offer the opportunity to
  transfer to all students.

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School Transportation Challenges

• How much must an LEA pay to provide
  choice-related transportation?
• The law establishes a joint funding
  mechanism for choice related transportation and
  supplemental educational services Section
  1116(b)(10). Unless a lesser amount is needed
  to meet demand for choice-related transportation
  and to satisfy all requests for supplemental
  educational services, an LEA must spend an amount
  equal to 20 percent of its Title I, Part A
  allocation, before any reservations, on
• Choice-related transportation
• Supplemental educational services or
• A combination of (1) and (2).

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Transportation ?s

• Ask
• Discuss

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Options?
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A Bit of Perspective

• A Florida Power Light crew putting in lines
  for an addition to the Orlando International
  Airport found the following in a culvert they
  were using...

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• And we thought our jobs were tough!

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No Schools to which students can transfer ????

• Options to consider (USDOE Non-Regulatory
  Guidance Draft February 6, 2004)
• Creating new, distinct schools, with separate
  faculty, on the site of the home school
• Bus the teachers instead of the students, place
  the highest quality instructors with the highest
  priority students.

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Virtual School

• As long as the virtual school is public and has
  not been identified for school improvement it can
  be among the schools to which eligible students
  are offered choice.
• If the virtual school is not operated by the LEA,
  the LEA could enter into a cooperative agreement
  with the school as a choice option.

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No Schools to which students can transfer ????

• Attractor Programs within the school for priority
  students only
• Rigorous magnet programs
• Highest quality instructors
• Looping paired with quality instructors
• Interdisciplinary teaming
• Assistance programs mentor, guidance, health,
  extended services

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No Schools to which students can transfer ????

• Options to consider (USDOE Non-Regulatory
  Guidance Draft February 6, 2004)
• Supplemental Educational Services (SES)
• Reconfiguring space into new classrooms
• Expanding space, portable classrooms
• Redrawing zones
• Satellite divisions of receiving schools

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No Schools to which students can transfer ????

• Supplemental Educational Services (SES) can be
  offered to all students that would otherwise be
  offered Choice with transportation but without
  the regulations of a school that has not made AYP
  of three consecutive years

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No Schools to which students can transfer ????

• Options to consider
• Encouraging creation of new charter schools
• Distance learning programs
• Reshaping long-range renovation plans
• Modifying school calendars or the school day, in
  order to expand capacity
• Enhancing inner-district choice programs

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Options ?s

• Ask
• Discuss

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School in need of improvement Responsibilities

• Not later than 3 months after being identified
  develop or revise a 2-year school improvement
  plan that
• Is written in consultations with parents, school
  staff, the LEA, and outside experts
• Incorporates research-based instructional
  strategies, curriculum programs and professional
  development

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School in need of improvement Responsibilities

• Directly addresses the academic achievement
  problem that caused the school to be so
  identified
• Establishes annual, measurable objectives for
  continuous and substantial progress by each group
  of students that did not meet performance targets
  for AYP
• Describes how written notice about the
  identification will be provided to parents

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School in need of improvement Responsibilities

• Includes strategies to promote effective parental
  involvement
• Incorporates before school, after school, during
  the summer and during any extension of the school
  year educational activities and
• Incorporates a teacher mentoring program.

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LEA Responsibilities

• The LEA within 45 days of receiving a school
  plan, shall, establish a peer review process to
  assist with review and work with the schools as
  necessary to approve the school plan. At the end
  of this period, after LEA approval, plans will be
  reviewed by the state.
• The LEA shall ensure the provision of
  research-based technical assistance to the school
  with implementation of the approved plan
  throughout the plans duration.

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Support from the State

• The state has provided web-based school
  improvement plan and district assistance and
  intervention plan databases to provide a format
  that will fulfill NCLB requirements.
• The timeline for submissions is dependent upon
  the release of statewide AYP data and appeals
  processes.

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• Contact Information
• Public School Choice
• Mary Jane Tappen, Bureau of School Improvement
• Mary.Tappen_at_fldoe.org
• Transportation
• Herman Carter, School
• Herman.Carter_at_fldoe.org
• No Child Left Behind
• Lou Marsh, Bureau of Grants Management
• Lou.Marsh_at_fldoe.org
• Title I Program Implementation Project
  Application
• Lisa C. Saavedra, Bureau of School Safety
  School Support
• Lisa. Saavedra_at_fldoe.org