October 2010 ES Meeting Compilation

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

 

ES Specific Info:

Are ESs paid for missed student attendance days?

Yes.  ESs are paid from the student’s first attendance date to their drop date, by dates on the school calendar.

 

If the missed attendance days constitute a truancy - does the family lose funding?

We do not remove IF for missed attendance days at this point. Do not deliver any school materials to a family that is in danger of dropping very soon.

 

Can we still purchase copy cards from Kinko's with IF funds?

You should purchase copy cards (not sure what vendor is approved today) when YOU are making copies for a student.  Or, you can purchase ink and paper for your home copies to make student copies. Do not use your stipend funding for this.

 

Because the Student Agreement Late Notices are sent out as a "reminder", will that go against us, with 2nd and 3rd notices?  Why are they run so “early”?

The 2nd semester SAs are due “early”, as we are required to have them before the 1st day of the 2nd semester for the student to be legally enrolled.  With the lead time for all of these thousands of forms to be received and entered, we do not want any continuing students to be left not able to start school on time.  Therefore we must run the late notices “early” in order for you to confidently go off on Winter break, knowing you will not receive a desperate call that “your form never made it to the office and you need to go get another one right now”, as the student is not enrolled, and you will not receive pay for those school dates for this student. Changing wording is not easy to do, so instead we tell you when to ignore the wording—and we mean it.  But, if a notice is NOT mailed to the office by the last date of the semester, then you ARE dinged.

 

What do/can we do if/when we get put on a parents personal email list, and receive nonworking related things (religious, jokes, etc.)?

The same thing you would do if anyone did this—ask them to remove you from those extra items they send out; block their emails or identify as spam/junk mail.

 

Can we use Google Voice if we want to help manage our cell phone calls?

I am not familiar with it.  You must have a phone where your parents/students can access you during working hours. If it requires you to be on the internet to use it, then it probably would not work, as you are out in the field about half of your working hours.

 

Why are we required to make our personal cell phones our work cell phones when the $30 stipend isn't enough to pay for a separate work cell phone?

You are not “required to make your personal cell phone your work cell phone”. You are being paid a $30 stipend to have a usable cell phone for work calls. We assume that $30 worth of a plan will cover the work needs, and that most people want to be able to take personal calls as well, therefore we “allow” you to use one cell phone for both purposes if you wish.  Here are some of the plans ESs have chosen to use (many others may be available in your local area):

·         AT&T has a voice plan of 450 minutes for $39.99/month.

·         Verizon has a voice plan of 450 minutes for $39.99/month.

·         Sprint has a voice plan of 450 minutes for $39.99/month.

·         Sprint has a voice plan of 200 minutes for $29.99/month.

·         TMobile has a voice plan of 500 minutes for $29.99/month.

·         Virgin Mobile has a voice plan of 400 minutes for $20/month.

 

Does the professional cell phone message have to include the ES's complete name and include something about them being with SSCS?

Yes. Think of what you want to hear if you call someone on business.

 

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

Why do EAs require a permission slip?  We’ve only filled them out for GEAs and didn’t know we needed to for EAs.

An EA is the same school event type, only with one family going instead of a school organized group.  It is the type of event that requires the permission slip, not who is leading it.  Remember you, the ES, must collect and keep the permission slip in the student’s file for any EA they attend—no Permission Slip, no school check or PO.

 

Can we have a list of the math websites that Shelly mentioned in her webex?

I showed them the ones that are on our website and how I got to the link on our website:

The Mathematics Website links are posted on the Curriculum Handbook/Subjects by Growth Area/Mathematics
Math Websites K-5, http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/gencurres/curric/MA_K-5/ma_web_K-5.dwt

Math Websites 6-12, http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/gencurres/curric/MA_6-12/ma_web_6-12.dwt

 

Why is the Transfer Items button on the PO form, because it is unlikely that you would transfer the item that year (while the PO is still accessible) and the next year the PO isn't available?

That button is for you to immediately transfer those PO items onto your Materials list so that you can then print out a complete list for your family, and not have to wait for the overnight script to enter them in.  Only use it for your convenience when you are in a hurry for that complete list (such as when you ordered a computer and need to print out the computer forms right now).

 

How do we know if a vendor is an EA or just a GEA vendor?

If they show upon your list to place a PO, they do EAs.  If they are not there, they require a minimum group and can only be done by a GEA, and will not show up on your Service PO list in ES Webfiles.

 

Regarding vendors not being able to charge more for our students than the public, most of us have had vendors who charge extra processing fees for our students. What should we do when we encounter this kind of thing?

Let Vendor Relations know. They handle the business part of vendor issues for the IEM schools. They only know that we are having an issue with a vendor if you will tell them (or your advisor, if you are unsure of whether you should report an issue).

 

So many parents and vendors struggle with the vendor approval process and paperwork and we have no way of helping them.  Is there any way we can have a clear timeline of how this all work, what is required, etc? 

No.  A vendor approval may take from 1 day to several months, depending on how quickly each vendor chooses to go through the approval process.  Everything they need is sent to them from vendor relations, and they may call the office for help as needed.  Remember, IEM handles this business part of this process for us, so we can concentrate on educational issues.  We do not want to take on this role, we are busy enough already!

 

Are there any exceptions for contacting a Business Vendor before submitting a Service PO?  Is it sufficient if a trustworthy parent gives us all the information we need for a PO?

You need to contact a business vendor to be sure your student is enrolled in a spot, and to understand what you need to be submitting on your PO for fastest service and less errors.  This is your job as you serve your student.

 

Should magazine subscriptions be marked as received once the first issue arrives or should we wait until they all have arrived?

No.  These are considered a service and there is no need to mark them received.

Do we put “IF used” for items bought by OG? 

No.  The only designation to use on LRs if “EA” if it is a school paid GEA, EA, Service PO, or CP course.

 

Can ALEKS be mentioned by name in a Learning Record?

Absolutely, it is a school provided curriculum.

 

Can we say a student visited a national monument (without the actual name?)

If it is located in CA, yes.  If outside of CA, no. 

 

Can we use future tense wording in our LRs?

No.  The LR is your request to the state for the ADA (recorded on the matching rollsheet) for these completed activities for that LR time period.  The state does not pay us on future promises….

 

Where does the (EA) designation go in the learning record? Does it go after the title or after the activity within the sentence?

After the title, at the top of that section.

 

Can a LR just say "ice-skating (EA)" or "math tutoring (EA)" or does there have to be more formal "course name" included?

Either way is fine.

 

If there isn’t much work shown in the learning record for a subject, is it assumed that the student didn’t earn the full 20 days of attendance?

Either that, or that the ES has not done their job…. Advisors will have to follow up on this, so please make it easy for them to tell the difference! 

 

If a student only shows enough work to show 11 days of attendance, is there something that could be written in the learning record that acknowledges that this doesn’t constitute enough learning for full attendance?

Yes, we ask that you always make these type of statements first in the Reading/writing growth area.

 

Is recording increasing time, such as increasing workouts from 20 to 30 minutes, acceptable on LRs?

Yes.  This is appropriate for PE and for typing, but not for many other activities. 

 

Is it a rule across the board that we use the LR template? 

Since this is to be a contemporaneous report, we will not standardize it.  The template is to help you include the required elements for the LR.  Your choice of how to use it.

 

Within the LR assignment, “local youth club” was unacceptable. Can you suggest some terms or phrases we could use that would be acceptable?

No, just leave that out.  The stae does not pay school ADA for any type of local youth clubs; parents all pay for those on their own.  You may count any learning they acquire there, but no credit goes for the location.

 

May we include scores earned on tests in LR?

Yes, absolutely!

 

The LR template includes “New Learning”. May we use the word “learned” in this section of the LR?

We want to know what the student learned, yes, absolutely.  But in order to understand how they learned, we want you to select words from Bloom’s Taxonomy instead of stating “learned” for every section every month.

 

Learning Record question ~ are we supposed to name specific text books, work books when recording the learning?

Your choice.  If the school purchased it or could purchase it, yes, mention it if it helps you organize your LRs.

 

Can the word mom/dad appear in the LR and should just be avoided in the assessment statement? Or should mom/dad be avoided in the LR altogether, due to the fact that they are not employed by the school?  

Why would you include that?  This is a record of the student’s progress towards the standards and the activities done by your student, and how the student was assessed.  The state is not paying for mom/dad, and neither are we.  Therefore, leave that out. (if the parent assessed the learning with a test, great, state “the student was assessed by the unit test”.

 

“Realizes his/her own special interests, talents, and abilities.” This standard is included for all grades except 1, 5, and 10. Why is it missing from those grade levels?

Thanks for pointing this out.  It was and is supposed to be in all grade levels!

 

Can we add a sample e-mail to remind or guide parents on how to provide PE samples?  

No.  Parents do not provide samples; ESs collect samples.

 

Is it required to print labels from FRED for materials?

Yes.

 

In the Bulletin Board, all items have original prices. Does this mean that the family will be charged that price? Is there a way to show if there will be a cost and what the cost will be?

It means you need to email with the ES offering the item to find out the details.

 

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

If the prompt is not appropriate for a student on the Writing Assignment (i.e. an eighth-grader who is not taking American history), may we give them another prompt?

We do not encourage students to change the prompt just because they do not like the one they are being asked to write about. They should have enough general knowledge about the colonists by 8th grade in order to write to this prompt. If it becomes absolutely necessary to change prompts, it must be pre-approved by the ES and of like rigor for an 8th grade student. Remember, the ESs have to grade these samples in one evening so it will go much slower and it becomes much more difficult if the ES have to score many different prompts…also the scoring won’t be as consistent if there is just one paper for that prompt to score.  So while the parent can change prompts…we really discourage it if at all possible.

 

What if this format (Scantron worksheets) is not conducive to our students’ way of learning?

Assessment – but in my view, they are going to have to take a test just like the printed out Scantron one, so it doesn’t hurt to try small study guides.

 

If students are already doing another form of CAHSEE prep, do they also have to do this? 

Its fine if the ES is aware and participating and making sure the students are actually doing the work they are claiming.  Also, if the parent has been using  their own preparation and failed the test the first time – the student needs to “enhance” their preparation to ensure they pass the second time.  Respecting what they are using and “enhancing” it a bit, I think is the most effective plan.

 

How many study guides and tests are we supposed to provide, there can be a lot? Also, what if a parent doesn’t want to do them? Can we choose other ways to practice skills instead of having families use the Scantron study guides and tests? The impression we got from the agenda was that this was required and this is freaking ESs out and families!! 

It is mandatory that ES’s provide extra help and support for any student that scored basic or below on the STAR.  Scantron is the free, standards based support that ES’s were told to use at the all ES meeting in August.  We have now approved the use of Study Island as well.  How many study guides the students need to do each month depends on each student.  Each standard that students scored below proficient in must be addressed in the study guides each month before the spring testing.  Students that have more standards to address will have larger study guides each month.  They must be working on these standards having started in September and working through March to prepare them for their spring STAR assessment.     

 

How does the Bridges Life Skills course work with CASHEE prep?

Students sign up and create a portfolio in Bridges, then they take the Ability Profiler. I suggest the student look at the high school plan in Bridges as well. At the same time, students are given a CAHSEE prep curriculum by their ES, i.e. Aleks, Revolution Prep., Released Test Questions, Study Island and are monitored by the ES (or Art if enrolled in CP class). Students must be preparing for their future and following their HS Plan as explained in Bridges and by preparing, students are completing Life Choices units.  Teachers need to make sure students are actually completing the CAHSEE assignments.

 

Khan Academy now has explanations of previous math problems. Can this be used as math CAHSEE intervention?

Yes – as long as the math covered corresponds with the CAHSEE standards. Yes – I think they can use anything, as long as it addresses the CAHSEE standards.

 

Guidance Info:

If a student transfers in from another high school, it is difficult to know how to code the classes.  Is there a list of classes that can be created so we know what class at the other school counts under what category at South Sutter?  This is especially difficult with VPA classes. 

I’m requesting ESs to check either with the Registrar at the school or to check the school’s website. I’m also asking for ESs to include that documentation in the grad packets they send me. I’m finding more have their course descriptions listed on the school’s website. 

 

How much work do we need to collect for a-g students? Should we collect every piece of work they do during the semester, or only the key assignments?

Collect all work.

 

If we have a high school student working on an A-G course with an SME do they need to follow the syllabus exactly? Or can they work with the SME to modify it some to accommodate some for parent choice? 

Es’s don’t have to follow the syllabus exactly, as long as the assignments that are changing are comparable to the ones on the syllabus.  For example,  if the syllabus says that a student needs to write out chapter tests, the student could complete the online chapter assessment that corresponds with the textbook instead and print out the results for the ES.  Another example:  if the student is asked to write two book reports in one semester, the student could complete one book report that compares 4 books written by the same author.  The one book report would contain even more reading that the two book report assignment. The assignments need to be within the spirit of the syllabus.

 

Driver’s Ed:  Can we get around the “pink slip” requirement if the student is already 18? 

Students who are 18 have different DMV requirements—they should check with the DMV themselves.