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 6th 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.
