IEM January 2009 ES Agenda

Please read the agenda, along with each of its links (all links available in ES Handbook for future reference).

The agenda quiz must be completed in your ES WEBfiles BEFORE attending your ES meeting! This agenda has been posted 1/16/2009 and the agenda quiz is due 1/26/2009.

 

Please note that if you must miss your ES meeting, you should inform your Area Facilitator and ES Advisor and arrange with another AF to attend another meeting that month. (All meeting times and dates are posted in the ES handbook along with AF e-mail addresses and meeting date, time, and location). Your AF is listed in ES Webfiles on the ES Welcome page. If you miss the meeting altogether, you will be reminded of your responsibility to attend and will be held responsible for the information given at the meeting. If you miss another meeting, it will become a discipline issue and may result in a drop in your student load. We do not believe that you can effectively serve your students if you miss critical information about the school and your job. Thank you for making these meetings a priority as you schedule your time for this school year!  The ES Support Department.

 

1) Dates to Remember and Dated Duties

a) January 5, 2009:  Start date for all your students who require a SME to be enrolled with a SME for 2nd semester if they expect to earn 5 credits.

 

b) January 9, 2009: For all ESs with students enrolled in SME courses, last day to send to your SME All the Supporting documentation requested for 1st semester courses (see November agenda for more details).

 

c) January 16, 2009: For all May 20, 2009 graduates, send/email to your ES Advisor information needed for a 2nd semester graduates preliminary assessment (See Grad Procedure in ES Handbook).

 

d) January 16, 2009 at noon: The Payroll Snapshot will be run.  Any forms not entered by the office by this date will not be paid in the January 30 paycheck (but will be reconciled in later pay periods—no pay for active student days is ever lost to the ES). The office needs 3 days to get paperwork entered after they receive it.

 

e) January 23, 2009: For every high school student (not a choice), and any elementary students wishing report cards (as indicated on their 1st semester SA), Webfiles report cards must be submitted PRIOR to this date. Important Reminder: Any 19 year old student (as of 12/19/2008) who did not complete their required 25 credits (as listed on their report card/transcript for Fall) may no longer be eligible for enrollment in a regular high school and be dropped effective December 19, 2008—contact your advisor for help with your specific situation! Adult student policy is posted at: http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/highschool/adultpol.htm .

 

f) January 23, 2009: LR Assessments for all elementary students-- final day to email to your advisor a list of your students with the date of the LR that contains assessments for each course taken.

 

g) January 26, 2009: Deadline to take and pass your January ES Agenda 2009 Quiz in ES Webfiles!

 

h) January 30, 2009: Complete STAR entries in ES Webfiles (see December agenda for details).

i) February 2, 2009: All 2nd to 11th grade students have been assigned to a STAR test site on your Assessment page in ES Webfiles.  If you have a student who needs to test in a location other than their local area, you can email that information prior to Feb. 2nd to Fina at assessmentclerk@ieminc.org. Be sure to indicate the student’s name, number, and the site where they need to test.  (Note: This is only for unusual circumstances!).

 

j) February 3 & 4, 2009: CAHSEE for all 10th graders and those 11th/12th graders who qualify to take the assessment again. We must have 95% participation from our 10th graders at this test session in Feb for our schools’ API and AYP. Please do all you can to ensure your students will be at their required test session.  (To receive the school assessment reward for this year, all 10th graders must attend the CAHSEE assessment and score according to the standard on the STAR assessment). Do what you need to do to ensure your students attend their test session—sites are assigned in Webfiles.

 

k) February 13, 2009: Complete transcript coding in ES Webfiles for any students with transcripts not currently sub-coded.

 

l) February 20, 2009: Complete mid-year check and email to your advisor (See 2c below).

 

m) March 3 & 4, 2009: Please remind your 4th and 7th grade students this month of their upcoming STAR Writing assessment on these dates. Again, the school must have 95% participation; therefore do all you can to make your students/parents feel comfortable with this upcoming assessment. We hope the school writing assignment was a help for this.

 

n) March 6, 2008:  Postmark date for original writing samples with scored rubrics & WASC cover page to be sent to the school office (See 5a below).  Mail originals to:  (school) Writing Samples, 1166 Broadway, Suite Q, Placerville, CA  95667.

 

o) March 13, 2009: This is the last day to sign a SA and start a student for the 2009 school year. This enrollment cut-off date is based on state funding, and the minimum amount required to support a student’s enrollment in our school until May 20.

 

2) Things to Do

a) Response to Literature Writing Assignment: (Reminder of how to prepare your writing samples)

·         COPY: Make your copies before you do the next step.  You will want 1 copy for returning to the parent with the rubric for discussion purposes; you might need a copy to send to your SME; you may want to use a copy as a portfolio sample.  Remember the original will go to the IEM office.

·         ATTACH:

Print out the corresponding grade level rubric (http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/writing/2009/wr_re_rubrics/wr_re_ru_index.dwt) completing the info at the top and bottom (if applicable) of the rubric form.  Attach appropriate grade level rubric to the front of each student’s writing response sample.  The writing prompt (selection) used should be attached between the rubric and the sample. … DO NOT SCORE!

·         BRING:

Then remember to bring these prepared assignments to your January ES Group Meetings. Do not attempt to score any of the writing assignments prior to your meeting!

 

b) Writing Assignment Followup: After your writing samples are scored at your January ES Group meeting, follow the directions on the document below in the Networking section (5a) to provide a copy of the scored rubric and writing to your parents/students. Use this activity as a productive time for your students/parents. Plan to explain to them why they received the scores they did, and what they can do to improve their writing overall.  It would be a good time to provide some helpful curriculum ideas and/or weblinks for further practice, especially for your 4th, 7th, and 10th grade students. You might want to ask your students to do a rewrite based on the scoring info that you will score for them at the end of the year (This rewrite does not need to be sent to the school, nor is it a school requirement). Webpage writing helps are posted at: http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/writing/index.htm

 

c) Go to ES Webfiles to a Mid-year “self” check of your records this month on or before Feb 20, 2009. Follow the directions on the OG/SS Mid-Year ES Records Check  for this records review. Resolve any problems now so that the end of the year checkout goes smoothly!

 

d) NCLB Certification Plan for 2009:  Read the document and submit any forms needed to Linette Harris at iemtraining2@ieminc.org : http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/esjob/SSOGNCLBCertPlan.htm .

 

e) ES Discretionary Funding for 2009: Plan now to spend your ES Discretionary Funding announced in the ES Listserve!  POs can be placed now!

 

f) PG Outside Conferences:  The school will pay for any outside PG conferences you wish to attend this school year if you receive prior approval from your advisor and training office.  Submit the RAF form to iemtraining2@ieminc.org along with an email of approval from your Advisor.  After you receive approval from the office, you may submit reimbursements (same process as for CSET reimbursements). We have tried to send out information on as many opportunities as we receive information about.  If you find a good conference, do send us the information. After attending the conference, you will need to send a write-up of what you learned to your advisor.  Plus we expect you to share ideas from your conference that will benefit other ESs with your ES group during an ES group networking time.

 

g) Sample Emails posted in ES Resources: Remember to use already approved school emails for various purposes when emailing your families from this ES Resourses webpage: http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/samples/indexiem.html.

 

3) Training Items

a) Commission on Teacher Credentialing Info

·         The CCTC now will only provide credentials, certificates, and permits through an online view and print process. No duplicate or ornate documents may be requested; the Commission will no longer print and mail these documents; they will only be available online to colleges, universities, employers and the document holder within 48 hours of issuance. At that time, a document may only be printed from the Commission’s website at: https://teachercred.ctc.ca.gov/teachers/index.jsp .

·         Renewal must also be done online at: https://teachercred.ctc.ca.gov/teachers/RenewableSearchProxy .  Even though it is online, do plan ahead!

·         Contact personnel (personnel@ieminc.org ) to let them know when your new or renewed credential is viewable.

 

b) CALSTRS: Please check the CALSTRS website for info periodically.  Here are some websites you may want to visit:

·         Increasing your Service Credits: http://www.calstrs.com/members/Defined%20Benefit%20Program/increaseSC.aspx .

·         Sign up for a local workshop based on your years of service: http://www.calstrs.com/Counseling%20and%20Workshops/lgbo.aspx#DCW .  These workshops are very valuable for you as you progress through your years of teaching service and prepare for retirement—very much worth your while to set time aside to attend, no matter where you are in your teaching career!

·         CALSTRS & Social Security: http://www.calstrs.com/Legislation/Federal%20Legislation/SSandYou.aspx .

 

c) Report Cards: If you have questions about report cards, review the ES Resources documents online (http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/repcardtrans/indexssog.htm ), attend a Webex training, or for specific questions, ask your advisor!  Remember, you as the Highly Qualified California credentialed teacher of record are the only one authorized to assign grades and credits for your students.  You can set your own grading criteria, but do confer with your parents/students at the beginning of each semester about what your grading criteria for each course will be. If you have a student doing an a-g course, please be sure you understand the following:

A-G COURSES and Grades:

·         All students taking an a-g course through independent study must take an ES administered midterm and final exam for each course.

·         Students must receive a semester grade of “A” or “B” in order for the semester to be counted as a-g. 

·         If a student doing an a-g course receives a C grade or lower for their semester grade, the course title that the ES assigns to the report card/transcript must revert and be shown as a “Regular” course prior to marking that course line “Ready” in the report card file. (If you need a correction to an already submitted course, follow the correction process.)

·         Highly qualified teachers must uphold high standards when “weighting” the a-g midterm and final exams.  We want to maintain our charter school’s a-g status.  Highly qualified ESs can view the HQT SME syllabuses to see how those HQT SME’s are weighting exams as a guideline.

 

4) Messages from School Departments

a) Assessment

·         Director information: Please read prior to your meeting: SSCS OGCS

·         STAR Reward:  Due to our low STAR scores, there will be assessment rewards this year ONLY for those students who score a “Basic” or above level on their mandated STAR tests.  The rewards will be given out after we get the scores back, typically in August.  In addition to scoring a “basic” or above level, 10th graders must attend their CAHSEE February test in order to earn their reward and  4th & 7th grade students must take their required writing test in order to earn their reward.  Thank you for your reward suggestions.  As soon as we choose the reward, we’ll let you know.

·         OGCS CAHSEE reminder for you to tell your students:  Please make sure that your students know to show up to the CAHSEE on-time!  The start time is 9:00 AM.  They cannot come anytime between 9:00-1:00, they need to be there at 9:00.  If you have a special case where the student might be late, please contact the student’s CAHSEE site coordinator by e-mail.  Also, please remind your students to bring their ID card.  Here is the link to the February CAHSEE sites:  http://www.ogcs.org/assessment/OGCAHSEEsite209.htm. 

·         SSCS CAHSEE reminder for you to tell your students:  Please make sure that your students know to show up to the CAHSEE on-time!  The start time is listed on the CAHSEE site list.  They cannot come anytime between those hours, they need to be there at the start time.  If you have a special case where the student might be late, please contact the students CAHSEE site coordinator by e-mail.  Also, please remind your students to bring their ID card.  Here is the link to the February CAHSEE sites:  http://www.sscs.cc/assessment/SSCAHSEESites209a.htm .

·         STAR Assignments:  All 2nd to 11th grade students have been assigned to a STAR test site on your Assessment page in FRED.  If you have a student who needs to test in a location other than their local area, you can email that information to Fina at assessmentclerk@ieminc.org by February 2nd.  Be sure to indicate the student’s name, number, and the site where they need to test.  (Note: This is only for unusual circumstances!).

·         February 3 & 4, 2009: CAHSEE for all 10th graders and those 11th & 12th graders who qualify to take the assessment again.  We must have 95% participation from our 10th graders at this test session in February for our schools’ API and AYP. Please do all you can to ensure your students will be at their required test session.  (To receive the school assessment reward for this year, all 10th graders must attend the CAHSEE assessment and the STAR assessment). Do what you need to do to ensure your students attend their test session—sites are assigned in FRED.

 

b) Curriculum

Print out your curriculum trainings this month from this link: (link)

 

c) Guidance:

·         CONCURRENT COLLEGE ENROLLMENT – We're glad to have our students taking advantage of the opportunity to complete college coursework while in high school.  Although various colleges’ requirements for concurrent enrollment differ, in general students are limited to 2 college courses.  They must be full-time high school students and have approval from the Guidance department. Our approval is tied to the individual college’s requirements --- age, grade level, GPA, types of courses that may be taken, etc. 

In order for us to provide the required approval, we must have the college's completed form as well as a fully completed Pre Concurrent Enrollment Form.  The college provides their form.  The Pre Concurrent Enrollment Form is ours and available in the forms area of our website: http://www.ieminc.org/genericforms/conenrollmentiem.pdf.  The Pre Concurrent Enrollment Form is designed to help us process the paperwork in a more efficient, timely manner.  It provides confirmation that the ES believes that concurrent college enrollment is appropriate for the student.  It also requires that the student/ parent acknowledge that they understand the responsibilities of attending college as a high school student.  In addition the form provides information as to whom, where, and how the processed form should submitted.  It is strongly recommended that the student/ parent plan ahead and do not wait until close to the college’s deadline to send us the paperwork. We cannot assure that the paperwork will be processed by the deadline if we are not provided a reasonable amount of time in which to complete it. 

·         BRIDGES http://www.bridges.com At the August All-ES Meeting, you were introduced to Bridges.  We hope you have found this to be a helpful resource to use with your students.  As a reminder, Bridges is a web-based program that is available for all our students at no cost to them.  The Bridges tools that are available to our students are Choice Planner and Ability Profiler.  These user-friendly tools are designed to help 7th/8th – 12th grade students make knowledge-based choices for their post-high school education and careers.  Within the Bridges program students are able to explore their interests and abilities, research various colleges and training programs, find out about a wide variety of careers, become aware of available scholarships and financial aid, create resumes, practice interviewing for jobs, and more.  Parents are being directed to ESs for information on how to access and use this program.  The Site ID and Passwords to provide your students with access to these programs are available in the ES Detail area of the ES Webfiles/ FRED.

 

d) Vendor Relations

·         New Vendors by School:  SSCS   OGCS

·         GEA Info by school

SSCS:

OGCS:

·         Reminder: Educational Activity payment checks are for a school year only, and must be used within a school year only. If a check is not used, the ES must get the check back from the parent and return it to IEM. If the check is used, then a receipt must be sent in immediately to IEM, with the PO number written on it. Keep the PO handy in your student’s file to remind you to ask about the check at the LR meetings, and please be sure this is taken care of in as timely a manner as possible for school accounting purposes. If they have not yet used it by the last day of school, collect the check from the parent and mail to IEM, Accounting department in Placerville.

 

e) IT/Database: The IT department has been busy with many of your “little improvement requests” this past month.  Take a look at these timesavers that will help make your work quicker and easier (especially the LR standards search feature!).  Keep those requests coming, as they benefit all!

·         ES WEBFILES: STANDARDS SEARCH Button in LRs: A new button was added to LRs that allows ESs to quickly search standards in FRED by: keyword, subject, and/or grade.

·         Dropping from a CP course reminder: If you hold your cursor over the red x next to the student's name in the list for the particular course it gives instructions (email cp@ieminc.org with student name, number, course number, and drop date).  Also they should cc the SME if it is a HQT course.

·         CP Enroll date for HQT courses: Enroll date can now be entered when you enroll a student.  It is the actual date the student started the course. The enroll date will default to the date you add the student.  In the case of HQT courses only, the ES can then modify the Enroll date until they click "ES approved" for that student. (If you do not enter the date prior to clicking "ES approved", then you will need to email Shelley at sross@ieminc.org for any needed changes.

·         CP ENROLLMENT VISIBLE ON HS REPORT CARD:When working on high school report cards, the furthest tab on the right, called “CP Enrollment” will show you a list of the CP courses that the student is enrolled in for the chosen semester of the current year. This will help to show if students are actually enrolled in the courses that they are receiving credit for on their report cards. This view will only work for the current year’s report cards.

·         CP TIMESHEET COURTESY NOTIFICATION: If a timesheet has not be submitted for a CP course in the past 60 days, a automated courtesy email will be sent to the ES who initiated the course and to the course contact person. This email simply alerts them to the situation to assist

with communication on course activities.

·         ES EMAILS ON ASSIGN, ACTIVATE, AND TRANSFER: The emails sent upon assignment, activation, and transfers were updated to always include the family’s physical address, and, if the mailing address is different from the physical, the mailing address is included as well.

·         ASSIGNING EMAIL 504 DETAILS ADDED: When a student has a 504 plan, the assigning email will now state this next to the student name (i.e. “Gregg Brady is a 504 plan student”). Additional instructions for 504 students is also included for the assigned ES.

·         NEW BACK BUTTONS: The following Back Buttons were added in FRED: Print Course LR Info screen in CP and Vendor Request List.

·         CAHSEE CONCERNS: If the ES has any concerns for their students at the designated CAHSEE test sites, they now have a place to note that on the CAHSEE tab of the assessment screen.

·         ES WEBFILES: AUTO-FILL STUDENT AGREEMENT VALUES: Now when ESs create a new HG or GS report card, they will get a dialog that will ask if they want to fill-in values from student's prior Student Agreement. This dialog appears after the ES has selected the student and semester for the report card. The values that auto-fill are: Time, Frequency, Place, and Percentages.

·         ES WEBFILES: CP STUDENT LIST IMPROVED: The CP Student List has been improved with several features: 1) Click on the course number to go to the CP form for that course. 2) Several fields were added to the list: Year, Semester, and ES Approval. 3) An option to sort the list byES Approval was added.

·         ES WEBFILES: CURRENT STUDENT TRANSCRIPT REPORT: A button was added to ES Webfiles so ESs can print a transcript list for just their current students.

·         ES WEBFILES: PO INVOICE TOTAL ADDED TO PARENT DETAIL PAGE:The total of invoices for a PO now appears on the Parent Detail page in the ES Webfiles.

·         ES WEBFILES: VENDOR RECORD IMPROVED:The ES view of the Vendor detail was improved to include any special vendor notes and Educational notes.

·         HS REPORT CARD: CREDITS ATTEMPTED & COMPLETED: Credits Completed were added to the Report Card next to the previously existing field, Credits Attempted. When a Mark is entered for a course, the Credits Completed will default to the same value as Credits Attempted (except if the mark is F or INC, in which case Completed will be 0). The default value for Credits Completed can be edited as needed before the report card is sent to the transcript. Both Credits Attempted and Completed will be imported into the transcript and print on the printable report card.

·         When viewing the STAR/SCANTRON assessment results, you have the option to print all of your students, or just one, using the appropriate button in the top left.

 

5) Networking:  

a) Score the group’s Response to Literature  writing samples using this guide: http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/writing/WritingSampleScoring.htm . Reminder of what to bring to your ES Group meeting: Print out a rubric (http://www.ieminc.org/handbook/curriculum/writing/2009/wr_re_rubrics/wr_re_ru_index.dwt)to attach to the front of each student’s assignment along with the writing prompt used (if not written out on the student’s sample), completing the info at the top and bottom (if applicable) of the rubric form, but DO NOT SCORE! Then remember to bring them to your January ES Group Meetings.

 

b) Discuss help needed from each other for textbook ideas, CP classes, tutors, and other curriculum.

 

6) Peer Tips:

*Assigning grades: Most ES's use typical scale (90-100%= A). It is a good idea to give your  parents a Grading Policy in writing so they know what to expect at the beginning of the school year.

*One ES takes simple projects with her to do with students at each visit. Makes for a connection with them as well as fun.

*Assessment suggestions from your fellow ESs:

·         Remind parents that the STAR results can be used to help pinpoint weaknesses in their children’s education and help them decide what to work on next year!

·         "Taking the test is a good way to keep your school open."

·         "Possible incentive for taking the test." 

·         Send families the vocabulary list for math and LA.

·         Give students Scantron worksheets for weak areas.

·         Encourage the use of online and paper test prep materials.

·         Prepare test prep booklets for each grade level.

·         Create one email with links to free test prep sites.

·         Have a workshop to help children learn how to take a test and to acquaint them with test subjects/ language: synonyms, antonyms, indices, etc.

·         Proctors be sure to provide a calm and pleasant atmosphere for students who are testing. 

·         Tell parents the test dates only (not make up dates) as some families purposely “wait” to take the test later in hopes that their child has time to learn more.