Fw: Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services

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BEESS Weekly Memo

ACTION ITEMS

Rule Development Workshops – The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) and the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) will be hosting two rule development workshops related to the forthcoming Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds (2011), also known as Standards for Four-Year-Olds. This is an exciting opportunity for all interested stakeholders to provide public comment and feedback as we finalize Standards for Four-Year-Olds, which will be used for Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program and School Readiness Program. This milestone opportunity will be a chance to provide input on the collaborative set of Standards for Four-Year-Olds.

The purpose of the proposed rule is to adopt revised Standards for students in the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program and School Readiness programs serving four-year-olds, and may be used by others serving four-year-olds in Florida. These Standards for Four-Year-Olds have been revised to:

o create one set of standards for programs serving four-year-olds

o align with the birth to four Standards (http://www.flbt5.com/), the Florida Department of Education Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (http://www.floridastandards.org/homepage/index.aspx), and the upcoming implementation of Common Core State Standards (http://www.floridastandards.org/Standards/Common_Core_Standards.aspx)

o further align Florida’s standards to the findings of the National Early Literacy Panel (http://lincs.ed.gov/earlychildhood/NELP/NELPreport.html)

o include updated information throughout the document.

Two opportunities to participate in the rule development webinars will occur on Monday, May 23, 2011.

First webinar:

o Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. EST

o Link: https://suncom.webex.com/suncom/j.php?ED=158152687 & UID=492662297 & PW=NNGE0YmY2YmU3 & RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

o Conference Call Number: 1 (Code: 921-3167)

Second webinar: (This is a repeat of the morning session.)

o Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST

o Link: https://suncom.webex.com/suncom/j.php?ED=158152862 & UID=492662297 & PW=NMTllZGJjYTMy & RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

o Conference Call Number: 1 (Code: 921-3167)

THE PRELIMINARY TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS: 6A-1.099823 Performance Standards for Children Participating in the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program.

Minimum student performance standards adopted by the State Board of Education for children participating in the Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) Education Program are contained in the publication “Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds (2011).†The standards incorporated in this document are hereby incorporated by reference in this rule and made a part of the rules of the State Board of Education to become effective with the effective date of this rule.

Specific Authority 1002.79(1), F.S., Law Implemented 1002.67(1), F.S., History–New 7-25-07, Amended 9-22-08.

A draft of the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds (2011) can be found at: http://www.fldoe.org/earlylearning/pdf/Standards-Survey.pdf.

We look forward to your input as we proceed with this important collaboration that will impact the learning of Florida’s four-year-olds.

· Link: http://www.flbt5.com

· Link: http://www.floridastandards.org/homepage/index.aspx

· Link: http://www.floridastandards.org/Standards/Common_Core_Standards.aspx

· Link: http://lincs.ed.gov/earlychildhood/NELP/NELPreport.html

· Link: https://suncom.webex.com/suncom/j.php?ED=158152687 & UID=492662297 & PW=NNGE0YmY2YmU3 & RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

· Link: https://suncom.webex.com/suncom/j.php?ED=158152862 & UID=492662297 & PW=NMTllZGJjYTMy & RT=MiMxMQ%3D%3D

· Link: https://www.flrules.org/gateway/ruleNo.asp?id=6A-1.099823

· Link: http://www.fldoe.org/earlylearning/pdf/Standards-Survey.pdf

The 8th Annual Turn on the Light Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect – This one day regional conference brings together professionals in South Florida who are working with or on behalf of children for a full day of educational opportunities in workshop settings. The conference offers continuing education credits while creating public awareness of child abuse and neglect prevention, intervention, and advocacy. There will be six tracks with three workshops in each track. Nationally known speaker and author Darlene Ellison will be the keynote speaker this year. The conference will be held at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on October 20, 2011. For more information, please visit the Children’s Healing Institute website at www.childrenshealinginstitute.org/light or call

Santosus at .

· Link: www.childrenshealinginstitute.org/light

· Contact: Santosus at

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

Questions and Answers on Serving Children with Disabilities Placed by Their Parents in Private Schools – In April 2011 the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services issued a Q & A document to address school districts’ obligations for ensuring equitable participation of private school students with disabilities in services provided under IDEA. The document supersedes previous guidance on the topic issued in March 2006 and January 2007, and includes new and updated questions to reflect recent policy letters as well as the Department’s current thinking on the topic. Section H: Expenditures and Section I: Property, Equipment, and Supplies, will be of particular interest to districts as they determine those services or resources that will be provided on behalf of parentally-placed private school students during the upcoming school year. The document may be

accessed at http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cdynamic%2CQaCorner%2C1%2C. We strongly encourage districts to share this information with your finance department and general counsel.

· Link: http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/%2Croot%2Cdynamic%2CQaCorner%2C1%2C

New Website Provides Up-to-Date Information on Common Assessment System – The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) has launched a new website that provides information and timely updates on the progress of the 25-state consortium in developing a next generation common assessment system aligned to the Common Core State Standards in English and mathematics. The website http://www.parcconline.org/ is part of the effort to ensure that all students graduate from high school ready for college and careers.

The website has five main sections:

o About PARCC – Contains information on the goals, governance structure, key stakeholders, timeline and challenges.

o The PARCC Assessment – Information is presented about PARCC’s major design elements and development work. In the future, the site will include the assessment blueprints and related materials, along with archived and new Requests for Proposals (RFPs) as they are released.

o Implementation – Major policy and system-level issues are highlighted that states, districts, and/or schools need to address for a successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards and PARCC Assessments.

o In the Classroom – This section is dedicated to the classroom teacher and focuses on the instructional resources being developed through PARCC. Instructional resources on the Common Core State Standards from other organizations are also included.

PARCC States – Each of the 25 member states has a page with information on the K-12 and postsecondary leaders managing the PARCC work in each state, as well as information on the state’s implementation of the Common Core State Standards.

Visit http://www.parcconline.org/ today to learn more about the latest developments in creating a common assessment system based on the Common Core State Standards.

· Link: http://www.parcconline.org/

Students Are Tops in FCAT Writing – Florida students continue to excel with more students earning high scores on this year’s FCAT Writing assessment. The latest release of writing results indicates that 81 percent of students in grade 4, 82 percent of students in grade 8 and 75 percent of students in grade 10 scored at or above 4 on the six-point grading scale. This compares with previous highs of 73 percent in grade 4 (2009), 80 percent in grade 8 (2009), and 72 percent in grade 10 (2010). These results continue a trend also seen in Florida’s performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) writing assessment, where there have been continuous

increases in the state’s eighth grade writing performance. For more information about FCAT Writing, including this year’s results, visit http://fcat.fldoe.org/fwinfopg.asp.

· Link: http://fcat.fldoe.org/fwinfopg.asp

Emergency Preparedness Self-Help List – Hurricane season is June 1st through November 30th. Fires, floods, and other natural disasters and emergencies can strike at any time throughout the year. The Florida Alliance of Assistive Services and Technology (FAAST) developed a list of helpful websites, videos, articles, and other information about emergency preparedness for individuals with disabilities. The Got A Plan document can be downloaded from FAAST’s website at http://www.faast.org/sites/default/files/Got%20A%20Plan.pdf.

· Link: http://www.faast.org/sites/default/files/Got%20A%20Plan.pdf

Bambi J. Lockman, LL.D.

Chief, Bureau of Exceptional Education and Student Services

Phone:

Fax: