Current News and Updates

09/20/05: Tuesday Bulletin

Download:

09/13/05: Tuesday Bulletin

Please click here to download a PDF version of the Tuesday Bulletin

04/20/05:

The school data needs assessment survey is open for business. Please take the time to complete the survey on behalf of your school and classroom. This information will help us assess the condition of data use in our city's charter schools and the more accurate the input the better our service output. It's simple, really.

Visit: The Data Needs Assessment Survey

03/14/05:

The MIS Conference participants will meet on Thursday March 17th to discuss their conference experiences and to discuss their expectations. The conference attendees, who were sponsored by the NCLB program, went to New Orleans to get a better understanding of data-driven-decision making, to network with those who have implemented information systems, and to learn the costs and benefits of the data processes.

02/01/05 - Coming Soon!

TV show about D.C. public charter schools to air in February

"Charter Schools in Focus: Myths, Truths and Realities,"a new television series, will begin airing on local cable stations in mid-February. The series, produced through a joint project of the D.C. Public Charter School Board and the D.C. Board of Educationís Public Charter School Office, will inform community members about D.C. public charters schools, their offerings and their accountability to parents, local officials and the Federal No Child Left Behind act. Viewers will learn about the diversity of offerings in public charter schools, see interviews with school leaders, teachers, parents and students, and get a birds-eye view of schools in action. The program will also debunk common myths about charter schools.

Starting on February, 19^th, the series will air on Saturdays from 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. and Sundays from 3:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m. on News Channel 8; and at various times on Channel 32, DC-TV, and DC28.

In the coming weeks, show summaries will be posted here before each show airs.

Let us know what you think about the shows!

Send us feedback by clicking here:

01/19/05- EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

D.C. Board of Education Public Charter School Office
and
D.C. Public Charter School Board
Request for Proposal

The D.C. Board of Education Charter School Office and the D.C. Public Charter School Board are seeking proposals for organizations to provide technical services in Data Driven Decision Making (D3M) for school improvement. This is NCLB driven and will support D.C. public charter schools. The project involves:

• Working with project team members to facilitate a Data Summit that will help school leaders understand the importance of information-driven decision making.
• Addressing the need for data analysis, diagnostic use in the classroom, & cost effectiveness over time.
• Understanding NCLB requirements in reference to D3M.
• Understanding the challenges of implementing D3M system in an educational setting.
• Reviewing of all data systems that are available to the schools.
• Facilitating a Data Driven Decision Making Certification program that provides support (as needed) for the process at the school level.

The program must be based on the train the trainer model.
Proposals should include the following:

• Short summary of the organization’s experience, including biographies of the organizational leaders; descriptions of similar projects; and/or experience with or exposure to D.C. public charter schools.
• Brief narrative describing the organization’s approach to DDDM training and available resources.
• Understanding of NCLB & D3M
• Estimated fees and/or rates for the above project.
Please provide one original copy and 5 duplicates of the proposal to:

DC Public Charter School Board
NCLB Project
1436 U Street, NW Suite 401
Washington, DC 20009

The deadline to submit proposals is February 2, 2005.
Questions should be addressed to dcpublic@dcpubliccharter.com

Download the PDF in Word: (24KB)

1/13/05 - Washington DC - Today the PCSB had its charter school leadership meeting. The agenda included:

1. New Leaders for New Schools overview
2. Enrollment audit updates
3. Update on the district-wide assessment & standards
4. The anxiously awaited NCLB update
5. Emergency response contact info for charter schools (please contact PCSB's Chon Davis for more information)
6. PSCB monitoring process (including the changes in the review process and review framework). Please contact PCSB's Tamara Lumpkin for more information.
7. Charter school leaders' concerns.

As for item 4 "NCLB"- here is the skinny. 1) we are concluding the School Improvement Plan process and are 2) entering the school based SIP implementation support phase. We are 3) also entering the Data Driven Decision Making phase and want to make this a collaborative effort. The more minds and resources we have on the topic the better.

To get more minds on the matter we are going to be as transparent as possible about where we stand and where we are going. "Full speed ahead" is the program's motto. To that end, please download and comment on our draft business plan. Pay particular attention to the academic support section and the D3M section. All typos and errors are ours.

Download the plan in PDF format here: (1.6MB, this will take a minute or two)

Get ready, here we come.

12/10/04 - Washington DC - The "Current News and Updates section of the NCLB 4 DC Charters site intends to serve 2 purposes. First, to keep DC charter schools up to date on the programs and musings of the NCLB program. Second, a place to house insightful articles (or links to those articles) that deserve special attention.

Of course, the determination of worthiness is subjective (left to the whim of the program staff) but we will do our best to ensure the material is on point and, hopefully, entertaining.

But make this distinction - this is not the resource page. The resource page has all the substantive documents and links. This page is for entertainment and light education only. Ideas found here may become resources but it also may not. The good substantive stuff is found there and NOT here.

With that, happy reading and browsing.

11/13/04 - Washignton DC - A post-election insight: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is not going away. That draws divergent sentiments, but agreement on the importance of school improvement planning (SIP). Nobody (or at least no reasonable person) ever suggested that planning was unimportant, but federal law has never required it, and, as any student or former student knows, a mandated task tends to lose its beneficial luster.

NCLB requires schools identified for improvement to submit a SIP to their state agency. This SIP must analyze the schools academic data and narrate how the staff will address the academic deficits over the next two years with programs that are based in scientific research. It must describe how they will develop professional development around the plan, how they will measure progress, and how they will include parents in the process. And it must detail how they will pay for the work.

The timeframe to submit the report is tight. Schools must submit their plan no later than three months after they are identified for improvement, but few schools begin work as soon as they are notified. The actual working time tends to be closer to eight to six weeks and sometimes less. Because time is tight insightful advice is golden, and there are sites and resources that meet that description. This article highlights two such sites:

> The Annenberg Institute’s Tools for School-Improvement Planning Web Site (http://www.annenberginstitute.org/tools/index.html) and
>The Maryland State Department of Education’s 10 Step Process for School Improvement (http://www.mdk12.org/process/10steps/index.html).

The Annenberg site contains observation protocols, focus group samples and questions, surveys, questionnaires, and other techniques to help educators examine their specific school-improvement concerns. It contains many helpful PDF files and is a goldmine if there is time to review all the material.

The MD site is an easy to use guide that walks a school team through the school improvement process. By selecting the series of 10 steps, educators get an explanation of the key questions that need to be answered and key actions that need to be completed. Like the Annenberg site, it offers many useful worksheets and exercises to facilitate the work off-line.

School Improvement is not easy. It takes time away from the classroom and requires much collaboration, but, even if NCLB’s requirement diminishes its luster, it’s worth it – not to mention required for many. As stated by an executive officer for Howard County Schools in MD: “No one wants to take time out of the classroom, but if a few days out means that the remainder of the days in are on point, then that is time well spent.” Indeed, thoughtful planning generates success, and that is why the above sites are worth an examination.

back to top