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<p>Report from meeting with Jessica Vavrus On November 2, 2009 Board members Jim Patenaude, Karen Tennyson, Abi McNaughton and myself met with Jessica Vavrus to discuss what is up-coming for education and OSPI. We took our list of member generated questions and spent a couple of hours talking about the current issues facing educators and publishers as we all work to navigate the economic situation and the myriad of changes coming with the prospect of national standards and racing to the top. What we discovered in the course of our conversation is 1) there are more questions and answers at all levels; 2) there is more possibility for partnership ; and 3) the current administration makes for a much kinder and gentler OSPI. In this particular meeting, we met only with Jessica as Dr. Burke was called to a meeting with the Gates foundation regarding the Race to the Top (RTTT) Grant application. We are planning a full membership meeting in mid-February where all members interested can hear first- hand about the RTTT application, school improvement, state assessment consortiums, and national standards. Once we have a date finalized, we will let everyone know location and time. Race to the Top: When we met with Jessica, she and Dr. Burke had just returned from a meeting in Chicago regarding common assessments and national standards. We actually postponed our meeting with them to wait until they returned to have access to the additional information. At this time, there are no final guidelines for the applications for RTTT applications. There are four assurance areas: teacher quality, struggling schools, common standard/assessments and data. STEM is an unstated area that is being looked at and evaluated in the process. At present, OSPI has formed some work groups to look at the criteria—look at gaps and try to figure out where to go. The stakes are high thus all players are involved—governor, State Board of Education, and OSPI. This is likely to be the topic of SBE meeting for some months to come. First round of the application deadline is January. OSPI is planning to submit an application for this round of funding. Areas of concern for meeting assurance areas are the teacher compensation system, and the lack of private charter schools. In order to meet the assessment and common standards section, states must fully adopt the national standards in math and English by the end of summer 2010. These national standards must make-up at least 85% of the state standards. Round 2 of the RTTT grants are due May or June. OSPI plans to apply for both rounds. If the first application is not accepted, they hope to have feedback from that application to improve application number 2. This will require district and building buy in across the state. It sounds as if WA is leaning toward participating in common standards and assessments. The trick is making sure adopting the national standards is not a step down in rigor. There is a bit of wiggle room in that there is an additional 15% of standards that can be above the national standards that can be state specific. In choosing states to form a coalition, OSPI and company, are looking for states that match WA assessment philosophy rather than by geographic proximity. We suggested they look to partner with one of the big states, CA, TX, NY or FL if possible as they represent a large portion of the population and position WA in relation to materials meeting specific needs. Currently, OSPI is not looking to change the new science or math standards. The message is these are the standards to teach. With English standards being part of the national standards work it is a good time to begin reviewing LA standards; however, the legislature has not appropriated any money for reviews of materials nor is it likely to happen in the near future. There is a chart posted in the newsletter section showing the current standards development and revision cycle. The question of what will happen with the new math standards in regards to adopting national standards is still an unknown. By the Feb meeting, Jessica thought they would have a better idea of how the standards would match in a rudimentary side-by-side comparison. In regards to the recommendation of top three programs that meet the standards, there is a strong feeling that we will not see this action again from the legislature in the review of other materials. As far as funding for the recommended programs, there is none available from the state level. The only prospective requirement of using those materials may come from the State Board of Education mandating use of the recommended materials for districts or buildings not meeting AYP. There is a RTT website through the Governor’s office where more information is available. School Improvement The new regulations are very specific for the upcoming release of school improvement funds. The Title 1 requirements coming out are more focused than the current requirements. There are funds coming out E2T2 or Innovation funds—not much information yet. Striving Readers is a Research Study and is not available in an open bidding process or open choice of materials. There are 4 districts and 6 schools participating. OSPI funds were used to choose the programs used, timeline, and professional development looking for very specific results. With the adoption of the new law determining basic education, there is discussion of NERK or non-educational resource. This funding formula is about creating funding sources for adoption of curricula. This is not a new idea, the hope is to up the dollar amount per pupil to allow districts to have money to set up an adoption schedule and purchase materials on a regular adoption schedule (determined by district.) Other Stuff In terms of the online Learning Initiative, courses not materials are being evaluated. There is no intention to evaluate materials at this time. Information about the courses that are being evaluated are on the OSPI website. The ESD’s role of support is in helping teachers understand and use the new standards. They are creating train the trainer seminars and webinars to help districts implement the new science standards. They are not supporting per se the recommended curricula. Although the legislature mandated that OSPI recommend no more than three programs, there is no requirement that districts purchase only those three programs. So, OSPI is working with LASER for guidance in using materials that are adopted by LASER and not on the recommended list. They want to support all districts in teaching to the standards regardless of what curriculum is being used.</p>
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