STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION



STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION ANNUAL RETREAT

Richmond, VA

April 20 – 21, 2005

Discussion Items:

SOA Revision

• Under discussion:

CTE’s – SOA currently limit to one

Expedited re-takes

Local verified credits – not currently included in SOA and will be gone in a year if not put in SOA or extended

Denial of accreditation – not currently mentioned in SOA; BOE to address in SOA discussion over next several months

Accreditation withheld/school improving – begins in 05-06; subject to change or revision

Review of SOL cut scores

• Licensure – certification, provisional licenses, reciprocity, license renewal (noted that peer observation and educational travel no longer included), possible addition of evaluation and data analysis requirements, middle school endorsement (dual or single), role of principal (will review and revise preparation course requirements), multi-tiered licensure as discussion issue (i.e., mentor teacher, lead teacher, alternatives to licensure, etc)

• Teacher Preparation – discussion re: shifting some licensure requirements to preparation programs

Current licensure regulations do not address: alignment between teacher preparation programs and K-12 needs; up-to-date and more inclusive data on higher education “pass” percentages (currently must have 70% pass rate; NCATE requires 80% for accreditation)

Dr. DeMary – must separate accreditation from program approval and differentiate from outcome accountability; may need to separate process

Current requirements for teacher program entry include 2.5 GPS and Praxis I (take but not required to pass)

Mr. Jackson – may be allowing students to enter higher education programs who are not good teaching candidates and keeping them in the program, requiring state to “weed out” in licensure process; most states do this prior to and during the program rather than in licensure phase; may look at faculty requirements

Career and Technical Education

• Perkins’ re-enactment should pass (currently zeroed out); administrative costs to be lowered from 5% to 2%

• Low graduation rate at community colleges questioned – representative responded that was #1 issue for schools

• Representative announced that staff at community colleges and the VCCS available to assist high school staff with all enrollment issues

Board’s 6-Year Plan Under Review

Issues included in discussion:

• Low performing schools (need for more Review Teams and DOE to expand and revamp; BOE to approach issue by looking at how to effect change and build capacity so that schools can stand alone

• Students with greatest needs (suggestion that they be taught by most qualified teachers)

• Students “in the middle” (middle quartile)

• Students who fail to graduate in 4 years; drop-outs; only 52% of VA high school graduates go on to post-secondary endeavors (not just college but also job-related “schools” and apprenticeships)

• Alternative paths for students (expanded high school) and increased student and community services

• High school reform (Dr. DeMary praised increased achievement and overall improvement – described as “yeoman’s job”)

• Middle school reform – (Dr. DeMary noted data shows achievement flat; in need of overall improvement)

• Salaries, preparation, licensure; how to attract and retain teachers and administrators

• Practical relationship between SOQ funding/programs and the General Assembly; Mr. Jackson – “train wreck” ahead if legislature and Board do not reach agreements

• Early childhood preparation (Governor’s upcoming Early Childhood Summit may provide guidance)

NCLB Update

• Request rejected by USED – VA’s request to exempt K-1 students from annual reading and writing tests as per NCLB turned down

• USED guidance re: LEP students comes too late to help in this school year but does allow for needed flexibility – provides that assessments need not be a group administered, paper-pencil test or a single testing event; collected samples of work or teacher observation over time would be sufficient

• Different tone in Washington – appear more willing to work with states

• USED focus to be on 1) special education (more flexibility, etc) 2) LEP students 3) growth models – VA plans to file growth model based on actual starting points (which were denied previously), i.e., for subgroups – start where they are rather than where they have never been; Dr. Wright noted that state would still have to plan for 100% but could have multiple paths to that 100%.

National Information System

S and P’s “School Matters” ()

With initial funding from the Gates Foundation, S & P has initiated a school evaluation and comparison service that compares schools and scores nationally on one central site, their representative noting, “knowledge is never private property.”

Dr. DeMary reported that Virginia was one of the first states to sign on and to provide data for the site, which can be accessed through the Department of Education web site, which is linked, with VASSP at .

Included in each school’s data from the participating states is information on student scores, spending per student, school AYP status, etc. The challenge, according to Dr. DeMary, is for the site to maintain up to date statistics from all states.

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