Commissioner's Newsletter
December 19, 2005 Dear School Administrator: Winter is nearly here, and the first half of the school year is almost over. What a “first half” this has been! Following are several important items and enclosures for your information. PROPOSED CHANGES IN “MAP” STANDARDS By now you have probably seen or heard news reports about proposed changes in standards for the Missouri Assessment Program which will be submitted to the State Board of Education for consideration in January. We issued a news release about this topic today (December 19), and it is posted on our Web site. On December 7-9, more than 100 educators and citizens from across the state convened, at our invitation, to review the new grade-level MAP exams and recommend “cut scores” for the new achievement levels (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced) that will be adopted for the MAP exams next year. I want to express our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in this difficult process with us. If you nominated a member of your staff to participate, thank you. I want to thank the staff of DESE’s Curriculum and Assessment sections who have worked extremely hard this year to prepare for the transition to grade-level testing. Finally, we want to thank the personnel from CTB/McGraw-Hill for their expertise and excellent support during this transition. The MAP exams are nearly 10 years old now, and it is difficult to overstate the impact they have had on students, teachers and schools throughout Missouri. In combination with the Missouri School Improvement Program standards, the MAP tests have dramatically altered how we think about student and school performance – in positive ways, in my view. Now, we are at the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the Missouri Assessment Program. The standards we set now could define education policy and school practices in our state for another 10 years. In other words, a lot is riding on the decisions the State Board of Education will make next month. For me, the question is how to strike the best balance between “rigorous” standards and “realistic” standards. We cannot, and should not, set standards low enough for all schools in Missouri to achieve adequate yearly progress with all students. Based on this premise, we must remember that we are about educating students to high standards, not just reaching some created numerical target. We also recognize that some of our current MAP standards are unrealistically high and should be adjusted. I hope that the recommendations developed by the achievement-level-setting committees will address this issue satisfactorily. I do not know what action the State Board of Education will take next month, but I know they will tackle this important issue thoughtfully. Again, my thanks to everyone who has participated, directly or indirectly, in the development of the new grade-level exams. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ABOUT NEW GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS Since the State Board of Education voted in October to raise the minimum graduation requirements for Missouri students, we have received numerous questions from teachers and school officials about the implementation of the new requirements. To address the most common questions, we have just completed the enclosed: Questions & Answers about Missouri’s New High School Graduation Requirements. We will be posting this document on our Web site and making it widely available. Please share it with your board, principals, counselors, high school faculty and others who may have a particular interest in aspects of the new graduation requirements. MODEL POLICY ON PARENT/FAMILY INVOLVEMENT At its recent meeting, the State Board of Education adopted a model policy on parent and family involvement in education. Adoption of this policy was required by a state law enacted this year. Click here for the full text of the law. I expect you are already aware of the provisions of this law. If not, it is important for you to read the enclosure. The board of education of each Missouri school district is required to adopt a similar policy on parent and family involvement by March 1, 2006. Your district may already have policies regarding parent involvement. You will need to review and revise such policies, however, to reflect the specific provisions of the law. The new law (Senate Bill 480) was sponsored by Sen. Charlie Shields (R-St. Joseph) and actively supported by the Missouri PTA. UPDATE ON “IDENTIX” AND BACKGROUND CHECK PROCEDURES There has been a great deal of activity this year related to mandatory background checks for Missouri school personnel and the implementation of new procedures for securing fingerprints from thousands of job applicants and employees. (Some school districts also are requiring fingerprints from adults who volunteer in schools.) Our offices have been inundated this year with additional fingerprint cards. We appreciate your patience and cooperation in working through implementation of these new requirements and the new computerized fingerprinting system (Identix). Effective January 3, the Educator Certification Section will stop sending out cards for applicants to use in submitting fingerprints through the traditional ink-and-paper method. Instead, all applicants for teacher and administrator certificates and substitute certificates will be directed to the Identix system. The computerized (digital) Identix system adopted by the Missouri Highway Patrol this summer is far more accurate and reliable than the ink-and-paper method. This system is somewhat more expensive for applicants, but because it is so much faster and so much more accurate than the traditional method, we believe the switch is justified. The Educator Certification Web site will provide instructions to all who need assistance with accessing the Identix system. Please notify your staff members who work with employment and certification matters about this change in procedure. IMPORTANT CHANGES COMING FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION Some important changes will be implemented in 2006-07 for Career Education Business Education programs. School districts will no longer be required to submit an application for approval of every course; instead, Business Education will be approved as a program. Moving from courses to a program-approval basis will result in Core Data reporting changes as well as changes in educator certification. We will send you more information about this issue in January. If you have any questions or comments, please contact Carey Smith, Director of Business, Marketing and Cooperative Education, at 573-751-3484. As of last week, all but five school districts had submitted information to become part of the Missouri Student Information System (MOSIS). Unique ID numbers have been issued for more than 955,000 public school students (pre-kindergarten through grade 12), including students in our state-operated schools. Thank you to everyone for their cooperation in making it possible for the state to move forward so rapidly with this important project. Enclosed is a copy of the latest Missouri Public School Accountability Report, also known as the “state report card.” We issued this document on December 1, the same date we announced the online availability of revised district-level reports. The report includes many “FAQ-type” statistics, and it is a useful reference. Enclosed is my Christmas greeting to you and your family. I also extend my best wishes for a productive 2006 to you and your entire school family. I would like to thank the artist for this card, Joshua Romaker, a student at Wellsville-Middletown Elementary School; his teacher, Vickie Robinson; and the staff at the Missouri School for the Deaf for their assistance in creating this year’s greeting. I hope you have a safe and relaxing holiday break. Sincerely, D. Kent King |