November 2010/11 ES Meeting Compilation

(A compilation of questions and answers from the all ES meeting this month)

ES Specific Info:

What information can you provide regarding high school students who wish to participate in sports with the local high school? What is the process?

Contact your school’s Ed Liaison for this. The process must start the year before the student wishes to participate and is quite complicated.

How does the "Shipping Button" work on the "Bulletin Board"? Would we be sent a UPS pick up label and then the funds would be taken from the families IF account that the ES is requesting the item for?

I believe this was covered in the posted Webexs. Please review those, or follow the steps through in ES Webfiles as needed.

Is it possible to have a different SA for high school that specifically states that the high school students need to complete 90% of the standards for their classes?

No, sorry! The SA is a CDE regulated document. We are provided with exact specifics of what it must contain.

Educational Info (POs, Curriculum, Vendors, LRs, etc )

Permission slip button form: Does this form take the place of the permission slip from the generic forms page in the ES protected website?Do we have to use the Webfiles GEA permission slip, or can we use the generic form?

Yes, please use the one from ES Webfiles from now on. You can print to pdf and easily email to your families for their completion.

We are still unclear as to what EA's need permission slips.

The simple test is: Is it a weekly ongoing class that meets in the same location each time, then no, no permission slip is needed. Is it a one time activity? Do a permission slip. There might be other less simple needs, but those would be noted individually.

Learning Records: When a holiday like “Thanksgiving” is on the standards, is it okay to put it on a learning record?

Absolutely.

Can a link be added to the curriculum website about the application info for BYU Courses? 

All online vendor ordering and pricing information is posted at http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/vendor/vendor_info_index.dwt and in the PO Notes.

Can we add an SST to IEP timeline to the handbook?

That is Special Ed law, not regular ed, and probably varied according to where each individual student is starting with the process. Therefore, sorry, no.

Dual Enrollment Questions:

Is it dual enrollment if Johnny takes violin lessons from an instructor that is not on the list approved vendor list?

No. This policy only applies to the 4 school core subject areas: English, math, science, social science.

Are K-8 Core on-line classes that are not OG vendors considered Dual Enrollment?

No, as most online courses do not “count”. No dual enrollment, unless they are also online CA public schools.

Do additional steps need to be taken when enrolling a family that has filed a private, R4 affidavit themselves?

No. Their enrollment in our school negates their prior enrollment.

There is confusion about what determines whether a tutorial or supplemental program constitutes dual enrollment. Some classes/programs appear to be ok, and others not.

Yes, the distinction can get quite muddied, therefore, you are not on your own, but our request is to always ask your advisor if it appears that it might be an illegal situation. We prefer to check out anything suspicious, instead of waiting for someone else to make the discovery and risk being shut down as a school.

Materials Questions:

If the materials were already paid for by one family do we “charge” for those materials again to the family receiving the transfer?

No, please share and do not “charge”!

What are we supposed to do with broken/damaged/unusable items returned from a family??

Wait for those instructions coming later this school year. One step at a time to avoid ES overload!

How do we list items on the Bulletin Board that we have in our possession, but are NOT on our list?

Wait for those instructions coming later this school year. One step at a time to avoid ES overload! (January, actually, I believe).

What does 'archive' mean? Is that only for items like computers that are no longer to be used (usually because they are broken)?

At this point, yes, and for those special circumstance items, such as Rosetta Stone. Mark as archived when the first family returns it and you send it to your school office/RL.

Portfolio:

Can there be a sticky label on samples that has a sentence by a student stating what he/she is doing (versus being written directly on the sample)?

Yes, that would be OK.

Are there cases where portfolio samples of pictures showing student learning are acceptable without student written narration?

Yes, but do consult with your advisor as we then receive too many “on the line” pictures that we cannot accept.

Are online quizzes where students answer questions online (printouts show the questions, answers, and incorrect answers) still accepted as portfolio samples?

Yes, these have always been accepted, as it is “student work”. Those reports that do not show the question and the student’s answer choice do not work. The questions to ask is, does it show actual student work (not a summary of the work, not a report of the work, the actual work.)

What if a student is taking a karate class that COULD be a vendor but is not. Would a photo of them wearing that logo be OK?

Yes, that is what we said in the last training.

What grading mark WOULD be appropriate for a student over 2^nd grade? Do you want letter grades, comments a star?

This is up to every professional educator in CA to set their grading standard & system (unless the school as a whole adopts one, and we do not).

Are we not allowed to use check marks as teacher marks on portfolio samples for third grade and up? Are teacher comments okay or do we need to give samples a letter grade?

The law states that the sample must be “teacher evaluated”. We chose the simple route—give it a grade! You may also write an evaluative paragraph on the sample if you wish to do so.

If we stress to the parent the importance of grading carefully, may we assume that it has been done correctly?

No. Again, the law states that the sample submitted for the student portfolio must be “Teacher evaluated”—and that is you, the school employed, credentialed ES, not our parents (who we value as partners in education, but the state does not recognize as the person who may evaluate a required portfolio sample).

For the label on PE Logs, do we fill in the duration as how long the activities added up to, or how long it took them to fill out the log?

Our auditor says it can be done either way.

Can we ever use the word “learned” in a portfolio sample or should we avoid it altogether?

We strongly desire that you avoid the work “learn” at all times in LRs and portfolio samples (see Bloom’s Taxonomy for other wonderful choices), but if you must use it, only do so in a LR, and try to use it sparingly.

Portfolio sample # 12 had the label on the wrong part of the page.  Isn’t this unacceptable? 

Yes. Most groups caught that error that I, in my haste, did not catch! Hence the reason we review our samples 3 times before we trust their “visit” with our auditor. J

Assessment Info (Scantron, Writing assignment, state assessments, etc):

Why do we, on the one hand, say that the early grade levels are very flexible and, on the other, say that they must be given Scantron worksheets if they scored below grade level?

The simple answer is that we want to remain in business through the years to offer all of the rest of the educational flexibility we are able to offer.

Are high school students who have taken Algebra II required to take Summative Math EOC every year that they take the STAR test?

Yes, through 11^th grade.

If a student completes a B course in first semester, will they still get the EOC test for STAR?

Please contact the assessment office directly and individually on your specific irregular situations.

Truancy Question: If you have a student who waives the STAR test and does not show up for the mandatory school test at all (regular test dates and make up dates) will that student receive 1 or 2 truancy notices?

One.

Guidance Info:

What is the definition of a “basic” level high school course? If a student is using Starline or Learning Springs, are they doing basic level work? Should it show basic on their report cards?

The Advisors are the ones to collectively determine (with input from the Curriculum Coordinator) whether Starline Press or The Learning Springs is “basic” or not.  The ES should check with their Advisor. A course is “basic” if it covers the standards minimally, is written below reading grade level, and does not have the rigor level of a “regular” course…or a combination of these things.  Rigor is somewhat subjective, but it often correlates with the reading level…the lower the reading level, often the lower the rigor level.

Can you clarify the policy about collecting ALL work for students taking 40 credits?

The policy is if a student takes 41 or more credits (for which you also need prior school approval as this is not allowed).

Is there a secondary form for SST referrals? The Spec. Ed department is requiring the ESs to fill out additional forms called “Modification and Interventions for student success.” Is this a required document?

Special Ed handles all SE requirements and will provide any additionally required forms for your student. Remember SE is governed by many state and Federal regulations, therefore, we rely on the SE office to keep us in compliance. If they indicate it is required, please complete it!

Parent Specific Info:

(n/a)