Florida Department of Education – Differentiated Accountability Documents

The 2011-2012 Matrix of School Categories, Reporting Timelines, Frequently Asked Questions, and Strategies and Support Document have been published to the following website:

http://flbsi.org/DA/index.htm

These resources are helpful in  guiding schools and school systems  through school improvement procedures and requirements. For more information, contact Dr. Shawn Servos at 561-357-7667 or shawn.servos@palmbeachschools.org.

Good news! Due to an increase in discretionary lottery funds received from the state, all district operated schools are receiving an additional allocation of $2.00 per student. See Bulletin #P-13875-CAO/COO for each school’s additional allocation based on student enrollment at the end of the first nine weeks FY11.

According to Bulletin #P-13875-CAO/COO, the budget adjustments were booked to fund 1000, function 5150, account 551100, program 3040. Budget transfers to other functions or accounts may be processed as needed. However, funds may not be transferred in or out of the School Improvement program code 3040. These adjustments are reflected in school’s budgets as of June 2, 2011.

Please note that these funds are to be used to enhance school performance through development and implementation of the school’s improvement plan. For more information on spending school improvement funds see:

http://www.palmbeachschools.org/schoolimprovement/documents/Spending_School_Improvement_Funds.pdf

Funds remaining at the end of the year will be carried forward to next year, tentatively scheduled for mid-September.

For questions regarding this matter, contact Sam Melecio, Budget Manger, at (561)434-8329 or PX 48329.

The FY2012 School Improvement Plan (SIP) template is now available at: http://www.flbsi.org/SIP 

The SIP is the blueprint for school success.  In an effort to facilitate additional support, per School Board Policy 2.09, school improvement working sessions have been established to provide an opportunity for School Advisory Council stakeholders to learn about and develop FY2012 SIP plans. The schedule includes sessions on August 4, 2011, and August 8 to August 12, 2011, beginning at 8:30 a.m.  These working sessions will take place at the Fulton-Holland Educational Service Center in Building D, Room 9791. 

Registration is now open!  District employees can register through Course Registration online.  Non-district employees can register by sending an email to Dr. Shawn Servos at shawn.servos@palmbeachschools.org. 

Resources regarding the SIP and associated processes can be found on the School Improvement website: www.palmbeachschools.org/schoolimprovement 

If you have questions regarding this opportunity, please contact Dr. Shawn Servos at shawn.servos@palmbeachschools.org.

The 2011-2012 online School Improvement (SIP) template is available at the following link:. http://www.flbsi.org/SIP.
Schools will be able to complete the online template  once logged in. Note, the FY2011 information has been pushed into the FY2012 SIP and needs to be edited and updated. Technical Training for the FY2012 SIP Template is forthcoming!

Each year, the School Improvement team offers SAC compliance training to district stakeholders. This year, the May 12 and 19 trainings filled in record time. In response, an additional training has been added on May 26 at 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Building D, Room 9791, of the Fulton-Holland Educational Services campus. Registration for this training is open through Course Registration. Non-Employees to the district can register by sending an email to Dr. Shawn Servos at shawn.servos@palmbeachschools.org  

For more information, call the Office of School Improvement at 561-969-5814 or PX 45814

The following 26 schools have been randomly selected for this year’s Internal Quality Assurance Peer Review (QAPR):

Addison Mizner Elementary, Banyan Creek Elementary, Binks Forest Elementary, Calusa Elementary, Carver Middle, Citrus Cove Elementary, Congress Middle, Crossroads Academy, Crystal Lake Elementary, Diamond View Elementary, Dr. Mary M. Bethune Elementary, Forest Hill High, Gove Elementary, Highland Elementary, Independence Middle, LC Swain Middle, Omni Middle, Palmetto Elementary, Panther Run Middle, Polo Park Middle, Santaluces High, Suncoast High, Timber Trace Elementary, Verde Elementary, Village Academy, and Wellington Middle.  

Congratulations to this year’s selected schools! Per bulletin #P-13780-GA/FSP, these schools have been selected to participate in the 2011 QAPR Visit that is part of the school system’s internal protocol for District Accreditation. Each year, a random cross-section is chosen. The QAPR visit, this year, will be on Tuesday, May 3rd. The QAPR, more than anything, provides selected schools with the practice that is necessary in order to be prepared for the next external review of the school system that occurs on a 5-year cycle.  In addition, the QAPR builds on leadership capacity through reflection and review of the school system.

Twenty-nine members representing the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) visited and reviewed Palm Beach County’s school system in 2008. The next external review visit from SACS CASI will be in the spring of 2013. In the meantime, the district coordinates, annually, this replicated process known as the QAPR.  

The following presentation (see link below) contains critical information (i.e., schedule of visits), provides greater clarity, and includes embedded documents that should be downloaded (use the paperclip icon within the presentation):

http://breeze.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/qapr3/

In sum, on May 3rd, a mini-team of two to three peer reviewers from the School District of Palm Beach County will be on the campus of the 26 schools named above. The mini teams will be validating that the school system of Palm Beach County meets the indicators of quality school systems by interviewing numerous groups of stakeholders across the school system.  In addition, the mini-teams will be observing classrooms and reviewing artifacts across the district and then collectively building consensus as to where each standard has been met. This aspect of the QAPR is invaluable to team members who plan to be future leaders of schools and school systems.  The presentation linked above provides greater clarity for understanding the process.  All interviews are conducted in a group format.

For additional information call the Office of School Improvement at (561) 969-5814 (PX 45814). We are here to support all school stakeholders!

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation requires that school districts provide parents with an annual school status report prior to the beginning of each school year. To assist Florida school districts in preparing these reports, known as the NCLB School Public Accountability Reports (SPARs), the Department of Education (DOE) will post all reports containing data for the required NCLB indicators and the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) addendum report on the Web before the end of September 2011. 

NCLB SPAR Indicators

The following list shows the indicators that are required for the annual public disclosure reports under NCLB provisions, as well as additional indicators providing data of interest on the status of Florida’s public schools.

Indicators Prepared by the DOE

• Kindergarten Readiness
• NCLB Graduation Rate – Provided to districts in November 2010
• NGA Graduation Rate – Provided to districts in November 2010
• Dropout Rate – Provided to districts in November 2010
• Student Test Results (FCAT and Alternate Assessments) Reading, Math, and Science
• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores at the state level
• New Teachers and Staff
• School Evaluation for Unsafe School Choice Option
• Teachers by Professional Degree Level
• Classes Taught by Teachers Teaching In-Field/Out-of-Field
• Classes Taught by Highly Qualified Teachers
• October Membership
• School Performance Grade
• NCLB AYP Indicator

Distribution Requirements

To meet NCLB legislation requirements, school reports must be made available to the public before the beginning of the school year, which for SPAR purposes is September 1.

In an effort to reduce duplication, the DOE will no longer produce any final reports to download from Northwest Regional Data Center. Instead, DOE will post the NCLB SPARs online by September 1.  The DOE suggests using alternative methods of communication instead of distributing a copy of the NCLB SPAR to each parent or guardian. However, if requested, schools must provide a copy of the NCLB SPAR.

The following recommendations are provided to assist schools with reducing distribution costs and staff resources:

• Send only a notification of the report’s availability to parents or guardians of every student, indicating where and how they can view or obtain the report.  
• Keep a printed copy of the report at the school’s main office for viewing only. 
• Send copies to parents, guardians, or community members only upon request. 
• Provide copies to public libraries or other public areas. 
• Provide reports to local newspapers.

Additionally, the Community page of the District’s website (www.palmbeachschools.org), the School Improvement news feed (http://www.palmbeachschools.org/schoolimprovement/NewsFeed.asp), and the Department of Federal and State Programs’ website contain more information pertaining NCLB SPARs.

If you have any questions concerning the report data or printing reports, please contact Dr. Andrew Binns, Director, FTE and Student Reporting, at 561-434-8542 (PX 48542) or binns@palmbeach.k12.fl.us. If you have questions concerning teacher certification data, please contact Cherrie Hires, Certification Manager, at 561-434-8151 (PX 48151) or hires@palmbeach.k12.fl.us.

According to members of AdvancED, parent organization to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), “Accreditation engages the school community in meeting high quality standards, implementing a continuous improvement process, and engaging in quality assurance through internal and external review. Accredited schools demand rigor, use data to make informed decisions, and approach the  documentation of results with discipline. Accredited schools invite external scrutiny and welcome the constructive feedback of peers.”

Each year, a random cross-section of the district’s schools are visited by a two-person peer-review team, as part of the quality assurance piece of accreditation, to ensure that each of the seven high-quality standards are met (for a complete list of the Standards and Indicators for Quality Schools see  http://www.advanc-ed.org/webfm_send/10). The annual internal review visits replicate the external review-visit protocol of AdvancED (SACS CASI) to provide continuity and practice to schools who might receive an external visit during the 5-year cycle visits. The internal visits this year will occur on May 3, 2011.

District Accreditation methodology is centered on system’s thinking. To this point, the overall review of schools and the system is collective as a whole and not reflective of any of its individual parts or schools. Once all interviews, observations, artifacts, and evidence are conducted, the entire Quality Assurance Peer-Review (QAPR) team convenes to build consensus around the seven high-quality Standards for School Systems (for a complete list of the Standards and Indicators for Quality School Systems see http://www.advanc-ed.org/webfm_send/11).

Each year, the School Improvement office seeks candidates to be part of the QAPR Team.   A half-day training will occur on April 29, 2011, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The full-day visits to schools will take place on May 3, 2011. Then, a half-day debriefing and consensus-building exercise will occur on May 6, 2011, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

The names of interested personnel should be sent to Dr. Shawn Servos at Shawn.Servos@palmbeachschools.org or 561 -357-7667 (PX 4 7667).

Most school advisory councils (SACs) are aware that school Improvement funds are for the purpose of enhancing school performance through development and implementation of the school improvement plan. The allocation from the State department this year was $2.21 per student.

If requests for money from this source do not support items in the school improvement plan, the SAC should not approve the expenditure. The legislature intends for the money to be spent during the year it is allocated and intends for the money to be spent in a manner that enhances school perfomance.

For additional information, contact Dr. Shawn Servos at 561-357-7667 or Shawn.Servos@palmbeachschools.org.

Beneath all the requirements of Differentiated Accountability and Title I lies underscoring processes that are paramount to school improvement. This is the time of year when school advisory councils are analyzing data to make informed decisions about adjustments to instructional strategies in various goal areas of their school improvement plan.

Council members should engage in meaningful dialogue central to the needs of the school so they can reach consensus on school improvement efforts. The needs of the school are based on progress trends observed from the start of the year to the midyear point. By looking at those progress trends, the council can more clearly identify where the academic focus must be. Subsequently, teachers can use the school-level focus, based on trend data, to instructionally drill down to the subgroups and students in their classrooms who need the most re-teaching and support. 

Mid-year reporting, as a mechanism of regulatory compliance, might appear burdensome. However, the planning processes beneath the surface of this sanctioned task are well worth the investment. Note that not all schools are sanctioned to upload data and narrative reports to the State department but all schools should be monitoring progress trends and making adjustments accordingly.

For more information on Mid-Year Reporting, contact Dr. Shawn Servos at 561-357-7667 or Shawn.Servos@palmbeachschools.org.