Connecting Differentiated Accountability & ESSA

As we transition to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), I would be remiss if I didn't take a little time to make the connection(s) between the great work you've started with Differentiated Accountability (DA) with ESSA.
Below you will find a helpful graphic that begins to connect these two initiatives.  You will find the support and requirement at each level of both ESSA and DA.  The celebration is that as I mentioned earlier....some of this work has already started in your district. 

 So....where do you go from here?  Below you will find a few recommendations to get started with:

• Begin talking to your stakeholders!  Below you will find a couple of resources that might help  
• Make sure you have a team in place that is meeting on a regular basis to start working the Differentiated Accountability action plan
• Confirm that all PK-6 students are completing the Universal Screening assessment (i.e., FAST) 3 x per year
• Establish classwide interventions in classrooms that struggle to meet benchmarks
• Assign interventions to learners for whom universal instruction alone is not sufficient.  To identify initial instructional needs, we highly recommend completing Learner Step 2 (Instructional Sorts)
• Ensure that students that are not meeting benchmark are provided with a research-based interventions that will remediate the identified skill deficit
• Frequently monitor the effectiveness of interventions and make appropriate adjustments
• Verify that weekly progress monitoring occurs and is recorded properly for those students that are Persistently at Risk or At-Risk
• CELEBRATE the successes you see.

  
RESOURCES to use to Begin Talking to Your Stakeholders about ESSA

• Every Student Succeeds Act in Iowa ppt from Statewide Curriculum Network (Fall 2017)
• Iowa Department of Education ESSA webpage 

Spring Pilot for Iowa's Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation.

We would like to announce an opportunity for schools to participate in a Spring, 2018 pilot for the Self-Assessment of MTSS Implementation, or SAMI!   The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires all schools identified as either Comprehensive or as Targeted to engage in a needs assessment as they develop an action plan in 2018-2019.  For Iowa, the SAMI is the needs assessment for schools.  The SAMI was adapted for Iowa using an established self-assessment developed and validated by national experts - the SAM [Self-Assessment of MTSS implementation].  Iowa conducted a small pilot of the SAMI, Spring 2017.  We would like to expand the pilot to any school that would like to volunteer and meets the criteria for participation.  Click to access details about the SAMI, including the two ways to be part of the pilot:

1.     To be an On Your Own site, you will need a SAMI Facilitator who will access online, self-paced modules that provides the information needed to facilitate a school leadership team to engage in discussions and complete the SAMI, complete the SAMI in your school leadership team, and complete brief surveys on the SAMI and the process.  Click for more information about being an On Your Own site, and to sign up!

2.     To be a Facilitated Pilot site, you will need to attend a 2-day DE/AEA facilitated session on April 5-6 with your school leadership team, complete the SAMI, and complete brief surveys on the SAMi and the process. Click for more information about being a Facilitated Pilot site, and to sign up!

Sponsored by Collaborating for Iowa's Kids (C4K) - a collaboration across the Iowa Department of Education, Area Education Agencies and Local Education Agencies to support Early Learning Standards/Iowa Core within an MTSS framework through Differentiated Accountability.

FastBridge Math & Behavior Opportunity

Just in from the Statewide Curriculum Network mtg. 

Below is information regarding a great opportunity to purchase an expansion to FastBridge Learning that will include math, behavior, and additional literacy resources.  NOTE:  There are two different start windows available, thus two potential deadline dates are listed below.   Fastbridge will include the Spring 2018 assessment window for districts/schools who commit to 2018-19 participation, at no additional charge.  

• If your district would like to commit to participation in 2018-19, but start using the assessments in the spring 2018, please notify Tesha Ruley by Jan. 15, 2018.

• • Deadline for 2018-19 participation, beginning in fall 2018, is June 15, 2018
  
  
  • Click here to access the entire FastBridge AEA System communication about this opportunity