A question that we've gotten a lot lately is how many times must a persistently at risk IEP student be progressed monitored?

Answer~Iowa's Early Literacy Implementation (ELI) states that all (non-IEP and IEP) students who are persistently at risk in grades K-3 must be progress monitored weekly.  Additional guidance states that it is required for benchmark (universal screening) measures to be administered beyond third grade to students identified as persistently at risk in reading.  It is strongly recommended that more frequent progress monitoring continue in order to assess the student's rate of progress and to assist instructional decisions-making.  Students who enter the fall of fourth grade and beyond persistently at risk and not proficient in reading must participate in benchmark measures the full year (fall, winter, spring).  Best practice recommends that you continue to provide precise interventions and weekly progress monitoring.

Need Additional Guidance?  Check out the Iowa Department of Education Early Literacy Document

FAST/TIER Testing Issues: PLEASE READ!

The message below was sent to Superintendents a few minutes ago. We wanted to get the information out to all of our other contacts. Two minor changes to the note below the extension of the window is four weeks to the 31st of October. Also, the voluntary focus on grades K3 first and the higher grades later
should include PK in the later timing. This will allow us to spread out the load and still get all of the testing done that is desired. There will be more details posted in the knowledge base as the day progresses. Thank you for your patience and support as we work through this issue.

Dear Colleagues:
This message is a followup regarding the performance issues with the Iowa TIER
system. These problems are the direct result of increased numbers of students’ data going into the system and the number of simultaneous users statewide. I fully understand and share your frustration with these performance problems. Access issues not only cost money, but more importantly they get in the way of instruction which is unacceptable. Please accept my apology and please know how vigorously we are pursuing getting it fixed. The database developers have been working to resolve the issues. Some changes have been put into place, and we have devised a plan to reduce the simultaneous load on the system. The following strategies will be used to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of the system during the remainder of this fall’s universal screening period.

First , the universal screening calendar is being extended to October 31. This will allow schools an additional three weeks of time to complete universal screening. Schools are encouraged to use the extended time to their advantage.
Second , we ask that schools, when possible, adjust their universal screening
schedules to support a more predictable load on the system. Specifically, we ask that schools follow the schedule in Table 1 for universal screening (US) and progress monitoring (PM).

Last , schools continuing to experience performance problems may voluntarily choose to implement one or both of the following strategies:
● Schools may choose to screen only with the default assessment. As the
window progresses, additional assessments may be used.
● Schools may choose to focus assessment first on students in grades K3.
As the window progresses, students in higher grades may be assessed.
The Department will closely monitor system performance and will take additional steps as necessary.
We take this work very seriously and understand that you rely on your data to help your students succeed. I pledge our very best efforts to remedy these issues as quickly as possible and I remain confident that ultimately the system will work the way we expect it to.

Thank you for your honest communication and for hanging in with us.
Sincerely,
Dave
David Tilly
Deputy Director
Iowa Department of Education

SMARTER BALANCED ASSESSMENT Resources

Anxiously awaiting what's to come with Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)?  Check out the great resources on the Iowa Core website @
https://iowacore.gov/content/smarter-balanced-assessments

SINA Updates

SINA?  I thought that has "gone away"....I wanted to clarify a few questions I've gotten that last couple of weeks.

Here is current guidance provided by the Iowa Department of Education (David Tilly, Statewide Curriculum Director Network mtg 9/2/16)

 Additional guidance

1.  SINA Statuses will be FROZEN this year as we transition to the new Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)
2.  If you have been a building that uses Title 1 funds, you will still need to send a communication out to parents again. You can mention that your status is frozen since this is a transition year and this will be the last year of SINA.
3.  If you are SINA 2 and above, you must maintain efforts to offer Supplemental Education Services (SES).  In this transition year, buildings are able to provide their own SES (without filing an application). If buildings choose to provide their own SES, these services need to occur outside of the regular school day i.e, before school/after school, summer school, etc)
4.  In your SES notification to parents you will need to indicate your plan for SES. This includes who is delivering instruction(certified teachers or outside providers), when will it occur (cannot be during the regular school day), and what students will be working on.
5.  Buildings are required to set Professional Development funds aside in their TITLE I budget.  This does not have to be 10% as in the past.

2016-2017 FAST Screening Windows & Updated Benchmarks

Just a quick reminder of some important FAST information.