A MESSAGE FROM THE IOWA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
(This message was sent earlier to all superintendents, elementary principals, and nonpublic administrators --- )
Dear Colleagues,
You
were notified last week of the Department's decision to terminate the
contract with TIES, the developer of the Iowa TIER data system. For the
2017-18 school year the Department will be working with FASTBridge, and
districts and schools, to transfer all district and nonpublic school
users directly into the FASTBridge data system. As our state transitions
to the FASTBridge data system over the summer, the Department will be
communicating important information with districts and schools in order
to keep you updated on our progress and to make you aware of tasks for
which you will be responsible.
District and School Summer Communication Contacts
The
Department will include all superintendents and principals that we have
on file when communicating about the transition to FASTBridge over the
summer. If there are additional people from your district or school that
you would like to receive communication updates, please forward this email to them and they can click here to subscribe to future emails. Please
make sure that you have at least one contact at your district/school
who will be checking email regularly over the summer and and will be
able to respond to requests from the Department during this transition.
Closing of the Iowa TIER Data System/Summer Interventions and Progress Monitoring
Our
intent is that the Iowa TIER data system will not be available for
screening, progress monitoring, or scheduling interventions after June 9, 2017,
except for three extended school year elementary schools that will be
finishing spring screening and literacy status certification activities
through June 23rd. However, the system will remain open until June 30th for
downloading information such as one-click reports, progress monitoring
graphs, student profile page data, and summary reports.
Because
of the closure of Iowa TIER, the Department will not be able to offer
on-line assessment administration, scoring, and reports for summer
school. Schools that will be having summer school are encouraged to
track interventions and progress monitoring data locally, and to
administer progress monitoring assessments with paper and pencil. If
interested in paper/pencil administration, see the Progress Monitoring Using FAST: Paper and Pencil Administration document for a brief explanation and key points and the Progress Monitoring Using FAST: Paper and Pencil Materials folder
for the necessary administration, scoring, and recording forms. We are
exploring options for entering or uploading summer data into the
FASTBridge data system sometime during the 2017-18 school year.
Historical Data Housed in Iowa TIER
The
Department and the State's Office of the Chief Information Officer
(OCIO) will be working with TIES to obtain all of the historical data
that has been stored in Iowa TIER since the 2013-14 school year. We
are unsure when the data will be available in a consumable format for
districts and schools, but it is unlikely that historical data for
students will be accessible right away in the fall. Before June 30th,
we encourage (but do not require) schools to export information from
Iowa TIER that may be useful for the beginning of next school year -
this may include one-click reports, progress monitoring graphs, student
profile page data, and summary reports. Please see the Iowa TIER Export Instructions for information on the most efficient way to export data.
Preschool Screening
The
FASTBridge data system will not include on-line administration of the
IGDIs assessments for preschool students. The Department encourages
preschool classrooms that use IGDIs to administer it with paper and
pencil during the 2017-18 school year, and track student data locally.
We are exploring possibilities for accommodating data collection of the
IGDIs data and will keep you informed with any updates we have.
Screening with Approved Measures Other than FAST
Districts
and schools will still have the option to use other approved measures
besides the FAST assessments. The Department is exploring how we will
have these schools report required data. Again, we will keep you
informed as we have updates available.
Thanks
for your support during this transition. We know it will be a summer
and fall of new learning but believe we are all headed in the right
direction for learners in Iowa. We remain committed to our efforts in
early literacy as a state, and partnering with you as we continue on
that journey together. Throughout this transition, the Department will
continue to be the first line of communication and support for
districts. As you have questions related to the transition, please use
the contacts below. We ask that you do not use the Iowa TIER knowledge
base or ticket system for questions or comments related to this
transition.
Administrative issues: Dave Tilly
Differentiated Accountability issues: Amy Williamson
Technical issues: Janell Brandhorst
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