Forces of our Focus

Recently I was in a statewide training session and this slide was shared.  I love how it ties school improvement together!

Universal Desk Audits

The Iowa Department of Education (DE) is piloting a new Differentiated Accountability system during the 2015-2016 school year as part of the work of Collaborating for Iowa’s Kids (C4K), a partnership of the DE, AEAs, and LEAs in the state.  Forty-eight districts, nonpublic schools and AEAs have volunteered to pilot continuous improvement processes in Pre-Kindergarten through 6^th grade literacy as part of the state’s single continuous improvement system.  As the system grows, it will continue to parallel the work of C4K, creating a system of delivery for evidence-based practices across Iowa.

A new Statewide School Improvement Team (SSIT) has been created to support Differentiated Accountability.  The SSIT is made up of members from all Iowa AEAs and the DE.  SSIT members will meet monthly to analyze healthy indicator data for districts, nonpublic schools, and AEAs; participate in focused site visits to support volunteer districts, nonpublic schools, and AEAs; and provide follow-up support to volunteers.

The first pre-pilot visits for the 2015-2016 school year are in Centerville, October 27-30 and Carroll, November 17-20.  The SSIT will conduct the remaining visits during the spring semester of 2016.  The SSIT members will work with districts during visits in an environment similar to a professional learning community and will engage in collaborative inquiry with district, nonpublic school, and AEA staff.

Impact on our Keystone AEA Schools:  It is our understanding the all districts will be required to participate in a Universal Desk Audit at the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year.  This desk audit will be an examination of documents and records, limited in scope, and conducted off-site, the purpose of which is to determine compliance with state and/or federal requirements.  Each month, we will focus on 1-2 documents that will be required for the Universal Desk Audit.  Last month I recommended that all districts consider making Board Policies for Accessibility and Confidentiality of Student Records and Graduation Requirements available on their websites.  This month we will focus on Annual and Continuous Nondiscrimination Notices.  Having these notices posted on your school/district website and uploaded to parent/student handbooks is strongly recommended.

To view the entire list of all Annual Notices, click here
Another great resource to help with your Annual Notices, click here 
To view the entire list of 2015-2016 Universal Desk Audit Documents, click here

NOTE: I understand there are new nondiscrimination notice policies that you may want to check out on the IASB website.

Starting to Understand Iowa's DIfferentiated Accountability

Our goal at Keystone this year is to keep everyone apprised of the Differentiated Accountability and Support to District Pilots this year and begin to strategically planning what this means for all of our schools for the 2016-2017 school year.

• 48 AEAs, districts, and nonpublic schools

• Pilot AEAs, districts, preschool programs, and nonpublic schools will
• Submit initial desk audit information for compliance with state and federal legal requirements (e.g. Ch. 12, preschool requirements, AEA accreditation and special education)
• May have further compliance review through more detailed desk audit, remote interview, or on-site review if needed   
• Have their Healthy Indicator data analyzed and may have further review and support through remote interview or site visit
• Have opportunities to provide feedback to inform the process periodically throughout the year as the process is refined for statewide implementation in 2016-2017

• Pilot schools will dig deeper in Assessment and Universal Instruction with assistance from members of the SSIT and Keystone AEA

• Keystone AEA will support this statewide effort with De Blanchard, Alicia Helle and Sarah Lehmann participating in
• 10 Statewide School Improvement Team meetings
• 2 week long Differentiated Accountability (DA) Visits in Centerville and Carroll
• 12 additional DA Visits across the state