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March 1, 2010
Duncan
Supports Reauthorization of Child Nutrition Act
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently
conducted a conference call with reporters to
discuss reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act,
which
sets nutrition standards for what children eat
at school. During the call, Vilsack said that the
Obama’s administration’s priorities for
reauthorization of the law are to improve access to
free or reduced-price meals and boost their
nutritional value, priorities which Duncan called “a
major step in the right direction for the health and
well-being of our school children."
A statement
issued by Duncan supporting reauthorization of the
law is available at:
http://www2.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2010/02/02242010a.html.
REMINDER
2009-10 LEA Public School Choice Website Reporting
Districts with campuses in Title I School
Improvement are required to post specific
information related to public school choice (SC) on
their website. Guidance requires LEAs to post three
(3) data components to the Internet in a timely
manner; however, the list of available schools to
which eligible students may transfer must be
displayed sufficiently in advance of, but no later
than 14 calendar days before, the start of the
school year. (See SC Guidance questions G-8 through
D-10 at:
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/schoolchoiceguid.pdf).
The TEA will begin conducting a review of LEA
websites on April 1, 2010, to review the below
School Choice data reporting requirements.
LEAs that have
not already posted the required SC data to their
district and/or campus(es) websites should continue
to work with district staff to post the required
information. To comply with this website reporting
requirement, LEAs must display the following
on their website no later than March 31, 2010:
Beginning with 2007–08 data
and for each subsequent year:
1) the number of students eligible for SC.
2) the number of students participating in SC.
In addition, for the current 2009-10 school year:
3) a list of available schools to which students
eligible to participate in school choice may
transfer.
Districts that do not have a website, or for
questions regarding this data requirement, please
contact Rita
Ghazal, State
Coordinator, at (512) 936-9374 or
rita.ghazal@tea.state.tx.us.
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February 16, 2010
NEW
2009-10 LEA Selection Priority Criteria Submission
If more families request Supplemental Education
Services (SES) than there are funds, or if the LEA
believes the number of families requesting services
will exceed the LEA’s funding obligation, then the
LEA should set selection criteria to determine which
eligible students can get services (see SES Guidance
question F-3 and LEA Provisions and Assurances Item
2). LEAs must
contact the Division of NCLB Program Coordination at
TEA and discuss its implementation of these criteria
before denying services to any eligible
student.
If possible, LEAs are encouraged to
contact TEA before the LEA believes it will
reach its 20 percent Title I, Part A (regular and
ARRA) set-aside obligation.
The Division of NCLB Program Coordination will
review, approve, and retain on file the LEA’s
selection priority criteria.
Districts that have reached
or are close to reaching its set-aside obligation
must contact Rita Ghazal, SES State Coordinator, at
the TEA to verify whether its priority criteria were
received and approved.
For questions regarding this requirement, or to
verify receipt of priority criteria, please contact
Rita Ghazal,
SES State Coordinator, at (512)
936-9374 or
rita.ghazal@tea.state.tx.us.
REMINDER
2009-10 Supplemental Educational Services Parent
Complaint Policy
Submission
Districts with campuses in Title I School
Improvement Stages 2 or above are required to have a
parent complaint policy addressing parent concerns
related to inaccessibility of
Supplemental Educational
Services (SES).
LEAs must provide the TEA
with a written plan addressing such concerns.
(See also guidance questions D-4 and D-5.) LEAs may
fax or mail these to the TEA.
To send via U.S. mail:
Rita Ghazal
Division of NCLB Program Coordination
Texas Education Agency
1701 North Congress Avenue
Austin,
TX 78701-1494
To send via fax:
(512)
305-9447
Attention: Rita Ghazal
For questions regarding this requirement, please
contact Rita Ghazal,
SES State Coordinator, at (512)
936-9374 or
rita.ghazal@tea.state.tx.us.
REMINDER
Only One Submission Required: SES and SC 20 Percent
Set-aside Reservation Reallocation Process and
Procedures
On April 28, 2009, the Texas Education Agency (TEA)
released policy guidance on the school choice (SC)
and SES 20 percent set-aside reservation in response
to the U.S. Department of Education’s newly released
guidance on SC and SES on January 14, 2009. School
Improvement Program (SIP) requirements require
school districts to notify the TEA if they plan
to reallocate funds reserved to meet the 20 percent
SC and SES set-aside requirement beginning with the
2008-09 school year.
The existing policy guidance was updated in October
2009 to address LEAs only carrying out the provision
of school choice. However,
school districts with campuses in any stage
of SIP are required to implement these policies as
specified.
Only one submission per
district is required. Districts do not need to
submit regular Title I, Part A and ARRA Title I,
Part A notices separately. However,
districts submitting one form for both set-aside
requirements should ensure that the percentage of
funds indicated in the reallocation notification
includes both 20 percent set-aside amounts (see
example below).
Example
LEA regular Title I, Part A allocation: $2,000,000
20 percent set-aside amount: $400,000
ARRA Title I, Part A allocation: $1,875,000
20 percent set-aside amount: $375,000
If the LEA plans to reallocate $155,000 across both
fund sources it would list four (4) percent to be
reallocated on the notice to reallocate submission
form.
School districts have two options to reallocate
unused funds reserved for SC and SES. For funding
reserved for the 2009-10 school year, districts
selecting Option One must notify the TEA on or
before May 1, 2010. Districts selecting Option Two
must notify the TEA on or before Wednesday,
September 22, 2010.
The 20 Percent Set-aside Process and Procedures is
located on the NCLB website at:
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/PDF/20PercentProcedureProcesses.pdf.
For questions or more information, please call Rita
Ghazal at the TEA at (512) 936-9374.
Education Secretary Teaches Advanced High School
Class About Federal Education Budget
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan stepped out of
his office and into a classroom last week to educate
a group of a advanced high school students about the
federal education budget.
Armed with pie charts and graphs, Duncan
served as a guest teacher to the Advanced Placement
(AP) government and politics class at Falls Church
High School in Northern Virginia, where he taught a
lesson on the federal budget for public education.
USDE officials said the students were surprised to
learn that, despite President Barack Obama’s request
for billions of dollars in education funding from
Congress, the federal government provides only about
10 percent of total expenditures nationwide for
public schools.
Students seemed the most interested in the amount of
federal funding available for college, particularly
when Duncan informed them of the availability of
nearly $170 billion
in student
financial aid in the form of Pell Grants, Perkins
Loans, and tuition tax credits. More information on
Duncan’s visit to the class is available at
http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/02/investment-versus-expense-secretary-duncan-teaches-lesson-on-the-federal-education-budget/.
New Learning Resources Available on FREE Website
New learning resources in several areas have been
posted to Federal Resources for Educational
Excellence (FREE), the website that makes it easier
to find teaching and learning resources from the
federal government. Among the topics of the new
learning resources are children's literature
classics, genetics, bioethics, water, the science
behind drug abuse, a history of the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP), and an oral history of the House of
Representatives. These and many other learning
resources are available at
http://www.free.ed.gov/.
New NCES Report Examines Identification Trends,
Outcomes for Students With Disabilities
A
new report issued by the U.S. Department of
Education’s National Center for Education Statistics
(NCES) examines existing data collected by USDE and
other federal agencies to provide a national
description of identification patterns and
comparisons of the outcomes for children and youth
with disabilities. The report, “Patterns in the
Identification of and Outcomes for Children and
Youth with Disabilities” is available on the NCES
website at
http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/20104005/.
USDE Video Examines Los Angeles High School
Turn-Around Model
A new
U.S. Department of Education video tells the story
of
Locke
Senior High School in Los Angeles, California, where
the non-profit organization Green Dot has
implemented a school turn-around model focused on
ensuring students achievement and college or career
readiness upon graduation. The video is available
on the USDE website at
http://www.ed.gov/blog/2010/01/a-promise-kept-a-school-renewed-locke-high-schools-turn-around/.
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January 8, 2010
REMINDER:
Second 2009-10 SES Parent Notification Letter
Guidance and Submission Process
LEAs with campuses in Title I, Part A School
Improvement Stage 2 and above must notify parents of
eligible students about the SES option at least
twice during the school year. However, LEAs that
meet their Title I, Part A (regular and ARRA) 20
percent obligation are not required to disseminate a
second SES parent notification letter because the
district already exhausted its funding obligation.
A
second SES parent notification letter is only
required if a district has not met its Title I, Part
A 20 percent obligation (regular and ARRA).
The state-required PNL and instructions are located
on the TEA’s Division of NCLB Program Coordination’s
website at:
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/titleia/sesPNL0910.html.
The second SES packet must be disseminated to
parents of eligible students not currently enrolled
in the program.
LEAs should disseminate the second packet during
the second semester. The SES packets must include
the following three (3) enclosures.
1.
Providers’ One-Page Summaries
·
http://www5.esc13.net/ses/parent_notification_09-10_ProviderSummaries.html
2.
Provider Service Area Spreadsheet
·
http://www5.esc13.net/ses/parent_notification_09-10.html
3.
SES State Enrollment Form
·
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/titleia/AppendixD.html
A
copy of the parent notification letter and/or
packet(s) is required to be mailed to the TEA at the
time they are disseminated from the LEA to the
parents. SIP campuses that do not submit this
notification may forfeit their ability to reallocate
these funds for other allowable activities and/or it
may cause the district’s 2010 Initial Compliance
Review (ICR) score in the 2011 NCLB desk audit
process and subsequent Performance-Based Monitoring
(PMB) interventions to be elevated.
Please mail a copy of the SES PNL and packet at the
time it is disseminated to parents to:
Rita Ghazal, SES State Coordinator
Texas Education Agency
1701 North Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas 78701
For questions regarding this requirement, please
contact Rita Ghazal,
SES State Coordinator, at (512)
936-9374 or
rita.ghazal@tea.state.tx.us.
REMINDER
Initial SES Parent Notification Letter Update
The Division of NCLB will review the initial SES
PNLs in two phases. The first phase is completed.
Phase one included a compliance review of the parent
letter. Phase two includes a compliance review of
the three (3) required enclosures. Thank you for
all of your hard work in completing this
requirement.
The division received a
record number of accurate phase one submissions.
LEAs requiring PNL corrections will
be contacted by Friday, January 15, 2010.
Otherwise, no action is required.
REMINDER
2009-10 LEA Supplemental Educational Services
Website Reporting
The TEA has begun conducting a review of LEA
websites to review the below SES data reporting
requirements.
LEAs that have
not already posted the required SES data to their
district and/or campus(es) websites should continue
to work with district staff to post the required
information.
Districts with campuses in Title I School
Improvement Stages 2 or above are required to post
specific information related to Supplemental
Educational Services (SES) on their website.
Guidance requires LEAs to post four required data
components to the Internet as close to the school
start date as possible, and that the data are
regularly updated throughout the school year (see
SES Guidance questions G-10 through G-13).
To comply with this website reporting requirement,
LEAs must display the following on their
website, beginning with 2007–08 data:
1) the number of students eligible for SES.
2) the number of students participating in SES.
3) a list of approved SES providers that can serve
the LEA.
4) the location where SES will be provided, by
provider.
Districts that do not have a website, or for
questions regarding this data requirement, please
contact Rita
Ghazal, SES State
Coordinator, at (512) 936-9374 or
rita.ghazal@tea.state.tx.us.
REMINDER
2009-10 Supplemental Educational Services Parent
Complaint Policy
Districts with campuses in Title I School
Improvement Stages 2 or above are required to have a
parent complaint policy addressing parent concerns
related to inaccessibility of
Supplemental Educational
Services (SES). LEAs must provide the TEA with a
written plan addressing such concerns. (See also
guidance questions D-4 and D-5.) LEAs may fax or
mail these to the TEA.
To send via U.S. mail:
Rita Ghazal
Division of NCLB Program Coordination
Texas Education Agency
1701 North Congress Avenue
Austin,
TX 78701-1494
To send via fax:
(512)
463-5337
Attention: Rita Ghazal
For questions regarding this requirement, please
contact Rita Ghazal,
SES State Coordinator, at (512)
936-9374 or
rita.ghazal@tea.state.tx.us.
REMINDER
SES POLICY GUIDANCE
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Updated
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQs)
On July 14, 2009, the Division of NCLB Program
Coordination released a SES resource to assist
campuses and districts understand the provision of
SES. The resource, frequently asked questions,
addresses many common questions about the April 8,
2009, SES Guidance document.
The FAQ document was
updated on Friday, September 18, 2009; the updated
guidance document creates new SES policy guidance
and program implementation requirements.
It includes new questions that address issues that
were undeveloped or unaddressed in the July 2009 FAQ
guidance, and it responds to inquires that the TEA
received from LEAs and SES providers. It is located
on the NLCB website at
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/PDF/SES-FAQs.pdf.
REMINDER
Second SES Parent Notification Letter (PNL)
Dissemination Clarification (See FAQ 29)
Question:
If a student is already enrolled in SES, are LEAs
required to disseminate the second parent
notification letter (PNL) and/or any additional PNL
packets to the child’s family?
Response:
No. Districts are not required to disseminate the
second PNL and/or any additional PNL packets to the
parents of eligible students already enrolled in
SES. The purpose of disseminating additional PNL
packets after the initial August PNL is to give
parents of eligible children more options to choose
SES for their child. Therefore, if a parent already
selected SES and enrolled their child, additional
PNLs are not required for these parents.
REMINDER
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Learning
Tool Delivery Clarification
Question: At
what point during SES enrollment/implementation does
this learning tool 10-day delivery period begin?
Response: Students enrolled in SES and assigned to a
provider must receive applicable learning tools as
soon as possible, but not later than 10 days from
the date the student’s student learning plan (SLP)
is approved.
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January 8, 2010
U.S. Department of Education
Hispanic Outreach & Resources
USDE Has Simplified the
FAFSA (Free
Application for Federal Student Aid)
Earlier this week, Secretary Duncan and Dr. Jill
Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden and
a long-time educator, joined students at
Washington, D.C.’s Benjamin Banneker Senior High
School as they worked with counselors to
complete the new, streamlined Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The 2010-11
FAFSA-on-the-Web has been redesigned to be
shorter, simpler, and more user-friendly.
Questions are now asked only if relevant to the
applicant; low-income students, for example, are
no longer asked for asset information, and only
returning students are asked about prior drug
convictions because the question does not apply
to first-year students. Also, immediately after
submitting the FAFSA, applicants will now
receive a confirmation email message which
indicates Pell Grant eligibility and links to
information about the schools they are applying
to, such as graduation and transfer rates and a
detailed breakdown of costs and expected
expenses associated with the schools.
Most higher
education institutions began receiving updates
and tutorials on the new application in early
December (via training, the Federal Student Aid
conference, webinars and
www.ifap.ed.gov).
Later this month, those applying for aid in the
spring semester using the 2009-10 FAFSA will be
able to retrieve and import their tax data from
the Internal Revenue Services (IRS). And, in
summer 2010, those applying for aid in the
2010-11 a year will also be able to access the
IRS web site to retrieve income information to
complete the FAFSA.
President Obama has challenged the nation to
have the world’s highest percentage of college
graduates by 2020. Simplifying the federal
student aid application process supports that
goal by making it easier for students to access
financial support for postsecondary studies.
Students could begin filing FAFSAs for the
2010-11 academic year on January 1.
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December 14, 2009
NEW
Highly
Qualified Teacher Public Reporting Deadline Extended
NCLB requires each LEA to publicly report progress
of the LEA and its campuses toward meeting the HQ
teacher requirements as defined by the state’s
measurable highly qualified teacher objectives. The
2009-2010 Highly Qualified Teacher Reports for LEAs
and individual campuses are available on the Texas
Education Agency (TEA) NCLB web site at:
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/hqreport.html.
Please note that there will be three applicable
reports for each LEA and one report per campus:
Highly Qualified Teachers Report (by LEA and Campus)
Highly Qualified Teachers Report by LEA’s High
Poverty Quartile Campuses
Highly Qualified Teachers Report by LEA’s
Low Poverty Quartile Campuses Poverty
The following poverty percentages can be used to
determine if a district has any campuses in the
High-Poverty or Low-Poverty quartiles:
Elementary
Low 0% to 41.4%
High 86.1% to 100%
Secondary
Low 0% to 27.77%
High 71% to 100%
The deadline for completing the Highly Qualified
public reporting process has been extended until
January 15, 2010.
National Endowment for the Humanities Study
Opportunities Available
American educators are encouraged to apply now for
2010 summer study opportunities in the humanities.
Each summer, the National Endowment for the
Humanities (NEH) supports national residential
seminars, institutes, and workshops located in the
U.S. and abroad. Program participants receive
stipends to help defray travel and living expenses.
The application deadline for 2010 summer programs is
March 2, 2010. Educators
may apply for up to three projects in any given year
but may participate in only one.
For more information, visit
http://www.neh.gov/projects/summer10.html.
Reports
Reveals School Crime and Safety Data
“Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2009,” a
report by the U.S. Department of Education’s
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and
the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, presents the
most current available data on school crime and
safety. According to the report, students ages
12-18 were victims of about 1.5 million crimes in
2007, with 55% of these crimes reported as thefts
and the rest reported as violent crimes -- ranging
from simple assault to serious violence. In each
year during the period from 1992-93 to 2006-07,
there were at least 50 times as many homicides away
from school than at school, and at least 150 times
as many suicides away from school than at school.
For more information, visit
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/crimeindicators/crimeindicators2009/.
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December 7, 2009
REMINDER
Deadline for Public Reporting of Progress in Meeting
Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires
each
local education agency (LEA) to publicly report
progress of the LEA and its campuses toward meeting
the HQ teacher requirements as defined by the
state’s measurable highly qualified teacher
objectives. The 2009-2010 Highly Qualified Teacher
Reports for LEAs and individual campuses are
available on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) NCLB
Program Coordination website at
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/hqreport.html.
This public reporting process is to occur no later
than December 15,
2009.
NCLB also requires that the LEA publicly report the
annual progress of the LEA and each campus served by
the LEA in meeting the state’s measurable highly
qualified teacher objectives. The LEA should
compare the data reported by the LEA to these state
annual targets to determine the LEA’s progress in
these areas. The LEA must report both campus and
LEA data in comparison to targets for the 2009-2010
school year.
For more information, see Attachment 2 of the August
20, 2009,
To the Administrator Addressed Letter titled Status
of No Child Left Behind Highly Qualified Teacher
Requirements at
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/taa/stanprog082009.html.
Obama Launches Educate to Innovate Campaign
On November 23, 2009, President Obama launched a new
campaign designed to improve the participation and
performance of America’s students in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Called Educate to Innovate, the campaign builds on
Obama’s pledge to use his position to encourage
students to study and consider careers in the STEM
fields and elevate those students from the middle to
the top, worldwide. At the kick-off event, Obama
announced the following five public-private
partnerships that have committed to using media,
interactive games, hands-on learning, and community
volunteers to reach millions of students over the
next four years:
Discovery
Communication’s “Be the Future” Campaign
(http://science.discovery.com/fansites/be-the-future/be-the-future.html)
Sesame
Street’s Early STEM Literacy Initiative (http://www.sesameworkshop.org/newsandevents/pressreleases/stemeducation_11212009)
Time Warner
Cable’s “Connect a Million Minds” Campaign
(http://connectamillionminds.com/)
National Lab
Day
(http://www.nationallabday.org/)
National STEM
Game Design Competitions
(http://www.dmlcompetition.net/)
Obama also announced a commitment by leaders such as
Sally Ride (the first female astronaut), Craig
Barrett (former chairman, Intel Corporation), Ursula
Burns (CEO, Xerox Corporation), Glenn Britt (CEO,
Time Warner Cable), and Antonio Perez (CEO, Eastman
Kodak), to increase the impact of private sector and
philanthropic support for STEM education. Obama
also announced an annual science fair to be held at
the White House, showcasing the student winners of
national competitions in such areas as science,
technology, and robotics. For more information,
visit
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/educate-innovate.
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November 23, 2009
NEW
Deadline for Public Reporting of Progress in
Meeting Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements
The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act requires
each local education agency (LEA) to publicly
report progress of the LEA and its campuses
toward meeting the HQ teacher requirements as
defined by the state’s measurable highly
qualified teacher objectives. The 2009-2010
Highly Qualified Teacher Reports for LEAs and
individual campuses are available on the Texas
Education Agency (TEA) NCLB Program Coordination
website at
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/nclb/hqreport.html.
This public reporting process is to occur no
later than
December 15, 2009.
NCLB also requires that the LEA publicly report
the annual progress of the LEA and each campus
served by the LEA in meeting the state’s
measurable highly qualified teacher objectives.
The LEA should compare the data reported by the
LEA to these state annual targets to determine
the LEA’s progress in these areas. The LEA must
report both campus and LEA data in comparison to
targets for the 2009-2010 school year.
For more information, see Attachment 2 of the
August 20, 2009,
To the Administrator Addressed Letter titled
Status of No Child Left Behind Highly Qualified
Teacher Requirements at
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/taa/stanprog082009.html.
Next
Education News Broadcast Plans Town Hall Meeting
for Students Format
The next edition of “Education News Parents Can
Use,” the U.S. Department of Education’s monthly
television news program, will be a national town
hall meeting for students. The program will be
broadcast from 2 p.m.to 3 p.m. Eastern Time on
Tuesday, December 15, 2009.
During the broadcast, Secretary of Education
Arne Duncan will take comments and questions
from students in the studio audience and around
the country via telephone, email, and video.
For more information and/or to contribute to the
conversation, visit
http://www.edgovblogs.org/duncan/2009/11/town-hall-for-students-on-november-24/.
USDE Seeks Input on ESEA Reauthorization
The U.S. Department of Education is holding
meetings in November and December at its
headquarters in Washington, D.C., to allow
stakeholders to offer input on the
reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act. For an up-to-date schedule and
registration information, visit:
http://www.ed.gov/news/events/forum.html.
Individuals unable to attend the events are
invited to send comments to
ESEA.Comments@ed.gov.
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November 9, 2009
USDE Issues Guidance in Preparation for H1N1 Flu
Outbreak
To improve preparedness in response to the H1N1 flu
outbreak, the U.S. Department of Education has
issued guidance under the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) to answer questions that
school officials may have concerning the disclosure
of personally identifiable information from
students’ education records to outside entities when
addressing an H1N1 flu outbreak. The information
covers how, what, and when information can be
shared. The guidance is available at
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/pdf/ferpa-h1n1.pdf.
USDE’s Family Compliance Office (FPCO) is available
to respond to any questions school officials may
have about FERPA. For quick responses to routine
questions about FERPA, school officials may e-mail
FPCO at
FERPA@ed.gov, or
call them at (202) 260-3887. Additional information
and guidance on FERPA is available on FPCO’s website
at:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/index.html.
For additional questions about pandemic planning,
please e-mail USDE’s dedicated mailbox at
flu@ed.gov.
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November 2, 2009
REMINDER
Second SES Parent Notification Letter (PNL)
Dissemination Clarification
(See FAQ 29)
Question:
If a student is already enrolled in SES, are LEAs
required to disseminate the second parent
notification letter (PNL) and/or any additional PNL
packets to the child’s family?
Response:
No. Districts are not required to disseminate the
second PNL and/or any additional PNL packets to the
parents of eligible students already enrolled in
SES. The purpose of disseminating additional PNL
packets after the initial August PNL is to give
parents of eligible children more options to choose
SES for their child. Therefore, if a parent already
selected SES and enrolled their child, additional
PNLs are not required for these parents.
REMINDER
Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Learning
Tool Delivery Clarification
Question: At
what point during SES enrollment/implementation does
this learning tool 10 day delivery period begin?
Response: Students enrolled in SES and assigned to a
provider must receive applicable learning tools as
soon as possible, but not later than 10 days from
the date the student’s student learning plan (SLP)
is approved.
REMINDER
SES Complaints: Recruitment, Marketing, Enrollment,
and Implementation Practices
The School Improvement Resource Center (SIRC) and
the Division of NCLB Program Coordination are
receiving a number of informal and formal complaints
on SES program implementation practices such as
recruitment, marketing, enrollment, and incentives.
According to SES Guidance, the SES Provider
Provisions and Assurances policy, and the Provider
Business Code of Ethics (see below), a provider
cannot list or mention any incentives on flyers or
posters, through word of mouth to parents, students,
or teachers during enrollment and SES delivery.
This information can only be provided after a
student is enrolled in SES through EZSES.
Please review the requirements below and ensure all
appropriate LEA and SES provider staff, specifically
those staffs within schools, are aware of these
guidelines. Specifically, please review:
SES provider Provisions and Assurances
J. The provider shall comply with all requests of
the Texas Education Agency and the School
Improvement Resource Center regarding provider
information, monitoring, evaluation, and compliance
processes and procedures.
L. The provider shall abide by the Code of
Professional Conduct and Business Ethics for
Supplemental Educational Services Providers, adapted
from the Education Industry Association Code of
Professional Conduct and Business Ethics for
Supplemental Educational Services Providers, as
outlined on the following page of the application,
or the provider may be removed from the list of
state-approved providers.
Code of Business Ethics
In the conduct of business and discharge of
responsibilities, providers commit to:
2. Conduct business honestly, openly, fairly, and
with integrity.
7. Refrain from publicly criticizing or disparaging
other providers.
Standards Specific to SES
Members will consistently implement the NCLB
Supplemental Services provisions and promote full
access to SES services. To that end, providers
shall:
7. Not offer a student, parent, or teacher any form
of incentive for signing up a student with a
provider. This includes restricting the promotion
of any allowable attendance or performance
incentives to the period following student
enrollment. Only then may the provider inform the
student of any incentives that are directly linked
to attendance or performance in SES.
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September 21, 2009
REMINDER
Submission Guideline for SES Statewide Enrollment
Form
Question: Are LEAs required to accept and
process SES State Enrollment Forms PRIOR
to the LEA's dissemination of the
2009-2010 SES parent notification packet?
Answer: No. LEAs should not accept SES State
Enrollment Forms from parents or providers dated
and/or delivered PRIOR to the LEA's dissemination of
the 2009-2010 SES parent
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August 31, 2009
Government’s Web Portal Lists Education Resources
The federal government's web portal, USA.gov, has an
extensive list of websites, with resources for students,
parents, and educators. In particular, the U.S. Census
Bureau's annual Back-to-School feature at
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/ facts_for_ features_special_editions/013847.html,
highlights customary statistics on students, teachers,
and learning, as well as data concerning back-to-school
shopping. To see the list of website resources, visit:
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Back_ to_ School.shtml. |
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April 15, 2009
Websites for Stimulus Update - American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
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March 23, 2009
Government Establishes New Website for
Supporting Youth
A new
federal web site,
http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/,
provides interactive tools and other
resources to help community organizations
and partnerships in their efforts to support
youth. While on the site, developed through
the coordination of 12 federal agencies, a
user can learn about the critical elements
of effective youth partnerships, generate
maps of local and federal youth programs,
and search a database of evidence-based
programs to deal with risk and protective
factors
in youth.
This spring, the site will add on tools for
strategic planning. For more information
about the site, visit
http://www.findyouthinfo.gov/AboutUs.aspx.
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March 2, 2009
Duncan
Says Stimulus Bill Will Expand Financial Aid for
College
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan unveiled an
overview of the U.S. Department of Education's
proposed FY 2010 budget last week, highlighting
provisions that would dramatically expand student
financial aid while making it simpler, more
reliable, and more efficient.
USDE’s budget will be increased significantly from
funding provided under the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA). In addition to increases
in funding for elementary and secondary education,
the ARRA would provide an additional $17 billion for
Pell Grants in 2009 and 2010, Duncan said. Current
year funding for Pell Grants is $16.2 billion, with
6.1 million students participating. The stimulus
package also is providing nearly $14 billion in
tuition tax credits for middle class families,
raising the credit to $2,500 from $1,800.
USDE’s proposed budget also would restructure and
expand the federal Perkins Loan program to ensure
that all institutions can take part in the program.
The revised program would offer $6 billion in loans
every year, an increase from the current $1 billion
in funding. Funds would reward schools that provide
more need-based aid to students and that maintain
reasonable student costs relative to other schools
in their sector.
Details of USDE’s budget proposal for the 2010
fiscal year will be released in late April. For
more information on the department’s proposed
budget, visit
http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/budget/budget10/index.html.
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