Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Commissioner's Newsletter

September 16, 2003

Concepts for School Funding	Basic Formula Calculation
AYP Data	Teacher Certification Changes
Deputy Commissioner Position

Dear School Administrator:

Jefferson City was unusually busy last week because of the special legislative session and veto session. I know you are busy as well with start-of-school matters, AYP data and other "breaking news" issues. This brief letter will bring you up to date on several important matters.

"CONCEPT PAPER" ON SCHOOL FINANCE

The State Board of Education met September 4 in Jefferson City. At this meeting, the Board formally approved the attached paper, Concepts for Developing Any Foundation Formula. The Board’s approval of this paper culminates several months of discussions related to issues and trends that affect Missouri’s current school-funding system.

This paper outlines, in very broad terms, some of the basic principles and ideas that the Board feels should be incorporated into any future funding formula. We intend to share this with the Joint Interim Committee on Education, the legislative committee that recently began meeting to study the current funding formula and related school-finance issues. It will also serve as a guide for our staff as we address this topic over the next several months.

COMING SOON: THE FIRST "LIVE" PAYMENT

The staff of our School Finance Section has been working very hard to review data collected this summer and has completed the first calculation of the 2003-04 Basic Formula payments. The payments of Basic Formula and Line 14 aid will be made September 22 and will be "live" for the first time. In recent years, we have not made a live payment until November. As a result, you should have a better picture of what your financial situation is going to be this year sooner than you would have in the past.

Thank you for providing data according to the due dates and for responding promptly to questions from our staff about your data so that this calculation could be done two months sooner than in the past. I also want to thank the members of our School Finance office who pulled this off despite some challenges this summer. The September memo from School Finance/Governance will be posted on the Web in a few days and provide more details about the calculation.

"AYP" DATA AND RELATED ISSUES

This month’s release of building- and district-level data on Adequate Yearly Progress has certainly generated plenty of ink and anxiety. In general, it appears that districts handled this new and confusing mass of data pretty well. And, despite a few unfortunate headlines, we believe the news media actually did a fairly good job of capturing the complexity of AYP data – and how confusing it can be for citizens and educators.

This issue has generated about as much energy among school administrators as any I can recall in recent years. We may not be able to "fix" some of the major pieces of the AYP puzzle, but we understand your anger and frustration with this new accountability measure. Here is what we are doing and what you can expect in the next few weeks as we deal with this issue:

• Each district’s Clear Access disk with detailed MAP data will be completed and shipped by September 19. This will provide the student-level data you need to analyze your district’s MAP results and to verify students’ demographic information.

• Beginning October 1 (target date), we plan to offer an online structure for districts to submit corrections for certain coding errors that may have occurred in reporting students’ demographic information. Such corrections may or may not have an impact on how your schools or your district stand on the AYP list, but this will be an important opportunity for you and your staff to verify that your student information is as accurate as it can be.

• We recognize that a few districts have specific concerns about the number of LEP students who were not tested, due to conflicting instructions that they received. Because of this problem, these districts ended up with too many students in the LND category and, as a result, they did not make AYP. We will discuss this issue with federal officials and see if we can find a resolution.

The opportunity to submit corrected information should be available on or about the first of October and will be open for 30 days. You will receive additional information along with your MAP CD.

The AYP data have created a tough situation for many. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we try to work through this challenge and sort out both the technical and public relations issues connected with these statistics.

CHANGES IN TEACHER CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES

Legislation enacted earlier this year (Senate Bill 296), and which became effective August 28, requires some significant revisions in the State Board of Education’s requirements and procedures for teacher certification. At its September 4 meeting, the Board adopted proposed state regulations to implement the new legislation and to provide more consistency and clarity throughout our many regulations that deal with the certification of professional educators.

The most significant change required by the new law is that the current three-tiered system (PC I, PC II, Continuous) must be replaced by a two-level system. The new two-level system will consist of an Initial Professional Certificate that is valid for four years. This certificate will require two years of district-sponsored mentoring for new teachers, participation in a beginning teacher assistance program, and completion of 30 contact hours of professional development during the initial four-year span.

The current "CPC" level of certification will be replaced by an ongoing "Career Certificate." It requires a one-time application fee of $35 and annual completion of 15 contact hours of professional development, unless a teacher meets two of the three following requirements:

• Has 10 years of teaching experience

• Holds a master’s degree

• Passes a rigorous national certification

Other changes that are being proposed in these amendments to existing certification polices include:

• Elimination of the requirement that candidates who hold certification from other states must take the Praxis specialty area test. These individuals will be required to pay the out-of-state application fee and to meet the current state requirements of the certification level to which they are assigned.

• Allowing individuals with a doctoral degree to apply for the Initial Professional Certificate, for middle and high school subject areas, in the content area of their postgraduate major.

These proposed regulations call for some significant changes in current certification practices. In addition to complying with the new law, the revisions are intended to streamline our present certification system. If you would like to review the complete text of the proposed amendments and/or submit comments about the proposed changes, you may view the proposed amendments on the DESE Web site at http://dese.mo.gov/schoollaw/rulesregs/pending/index.html. These proposed amendments will be published in the Missouri Register on October 15.

REPLACING THE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

On September 2, Department staff officially said goodbye to Orlo Shroyer, who retired last month as Deputy Commissioner. Orlo has been a friend and colleague for many years, and he will be missed. Although personnel replacement is a rather "treacherous" process with the current budget constraints, we have advertised the position; and I hope we will be able to employ a new deputy by January 1.

Sincerely,

D. Kent King