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<p>Update from the Department of Teaching and Learning for WA and OR In the course of the last week, I have talked with both Jessica and Drew to find out what is going on at the state level. My specific questions were around the Race To the Top applications and what is happening, Common Core Standards and the progress being made in that area, and the Legislative session-- new information which is coming out from the legislature. Washington: There is no round one application for RTTT being submitted. Although Alan and the people at OSPI are working hard to complete an application for round 2, the information they are receiving regarding states actually receiving these grants is not promising. So they are looking to see what is possible if WA does not win one of these grants. The legislative package being addressed during this session of the legislature includes: •<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Teacher evaluations •<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The accountability Index •<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Adoption of Common core Standards (it looks like this adoption is probable and WA will add the 15% of the standards available to each state above the common core. There is a website where you can look at the progress of Race to the Top. It is out of the governor’s office http://www.recovery.wa.gov/rttt/default.asp. Jessica said they have been looking at the common core standards for math and Language Arts and correlating them to the new math standards adopted last year. She said the shift in math is insignificant. Therefore the priority for them is in implementation of the standards. This year about 15 percent of the student population is using one of the three recommended curricula. At this time there are no materials reviews funded, but new reviews are likely. It depends on funding that may be in conjunction with implementation of common standards. If you have an idea of how you might like to partner with the districts around implementation of the new standards, please let me know. It would be great to hear from representatives of ways to work with OSPI as partners in this work. I understand that the bottom line must be a way to connect with potential customers and generate sales, but how out of the box can we think (this is my question not Jessica’s)? Work on common summative assessments is beginning, and the members of OSPI are talking with other states to find members of the consortium with like philosophies regarding assessment. Currently there are 23 states involved. It is still uncertain if funding for this work is tied to RTTT grants. Formative assessments are also being worked on. This is called MOSAIC and 20 states are involved. Funding for this work is tied to RTTT dollars. There are still more questions than answers, and OSPI is working with even fewer staff members. You can have an opportunity to talk with Jessica and/or Alan Burke at a special meeting sponsored by WOATRA in early March. We’ll send you all the details in the next week. Oregon: Oregon has completed the application for round 1 of Race to the Top. Much of the work has been completed by special task force out of the governor’s office. They are beginning the work with math specialists to correlate Oregon current math standards with those of the common core standards. Because the Oregon math standards are closely aligned to the national standards, there is reason to believe that there will be close correlations. With the college board, a state holder in the creation of the common core standards, Drew thought we would see a focus on adjusting skills downward. So, the focus in grades 1 &amp;2 would be multiplication instead of the current addition and subtraction. The goal is for students to be ready for algebra by grade 7. Other news out of Oregon Teaching and Learning are the new graduation requirements and the change to proficiency credits. The increase of core classes in order to graduate could have implications on text books being used. Here is the big tip from Drew. In early November there is to be a conference held by NASTA, SIIA where the discussion regarding involving publishers in the discussion of quality materials for students will be taken to the US Dept of ED. The first day and a half of this meeting will be open to publishers. Drew thought information regarding registration would be available on the NASTA website within the next month. This could be really important information for your company to know and attend to be a part of these discussions. More to come about this soon. For now . . . . Thhhhhhattt’s all folks</p>
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