Winter hung on for a long time this year, and now it seems suddenly the school year is done! I hope you had an enjoyable graduation season in your school district and that you will have a chance for some well-deserved downtime this summer.

Of course, a big part of wrapping up the school year is the statewide assessment. Thank you for everything you and your staff do to ensure testing runs smoothly. As you may have heard, the Department of Education will be issuing a Request for Proposal for delivery of the state assessments beginning with the spring 2020 administration.

In preparation for that process, we are pulling together a group of stakeholders to help us determine priorities for the next iteration of state assessments in English language arts, math and science. We have reached out to educators with expertise and interest in the testing process, aiming for a balance of broad and varied representation from across the state. We look forward to gathering their input and ideas for assessment moving forward.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, my phone line, door and inbox are open.

Thank you for everything you do for South Dakota students. Have a great summer.

With the transition to the new Every Student Succeeds Act, the department will be creating and publishing a new Report Card. The amount of new data that will be included will push back the time of the data release.

• June 8: Last date for districts to make changes to their 2017-18 data in Infinite Campus, the Perkins CTE Data System, the Safe, Drug and Gun Free Data Collection System and the PRF System.
• Oct. 19-29: Districts review and validate data in SD-STARS. If data errors are discovered, this is the time to fix them. We recommend that you have your Accountability Team available during this time to assist with the data review process.
• Oct. 29: Pre-appeal window closes at 5 p.m. CDT.
• Nov. 15: Department provides districts with final data prior to the public release of the Report Card.
• Nov. 15-19: Districts share local data with key stakeholders, including boards of education.
• Nov. 19: Department shares state-level data from 2018 Report Card at South Dakota Board of Education Standards meeting. Press release issued.
• Nov. 20: Report Card website goes live at 5 p.m. CST with state-, district- and school-level data.
• Nov. 21-Dec. 5: Formal appeals window.
• Dec. 5: Deadline for formal appeals to be submitted to the department.
• Dec. 15: Deadline for the department to make decisions on formal appeals.
• Dec. 17: Final version of the 2018 Report Card released.

• Changes to 24:43:02 will authorize DOE to equalize the distribution of accreditation reviews across a five-year time frame.
• Changes to 24:55 will align language related to the state accountability system, performance goals, school classifications, and school support process with the state’s approved plan under the Every Student Succeeds Act.

• Estelline School District
• Meade School District
• Milbank School District
• Mitchell School District
• Mitchell Area Development Corporation
• RTEC, Inc. in Yankton

In an effort to improve student retention and graduation rates, a new instructional model for math has been approved by the South Dakota Board of Regents. By fall 2019, no public university student will be required to take traditional remedial math courses. The new ‘math pathways model’ is a result of a comprehensive review on how to improve student success in math at South Dakota public universities.

Read more at https://www.sdbor.edu/mediapubs/New Press Releases/050918MathPathwaysFinal.pdf.

The Governor’s Advisory Panel for Children with Disabilities meets four times per year and advises the Office of Special Education Programs on a variety of topics. The following positions are open: teacher, individual with a disability and other state agency. Find more information on the Boards and Commissions portal [https://boardsandcommissions.sd.gov/Meetings.aspx?BoardID=16]. Questions? Email Melissa Flor [melissa.flor@state.sd.us] or call 605-773-6119.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has announced it is launching a new technical assistance initiative to assist schools, districts, state education agencies, libraries, colleges and universities in making their websites and online programs accessible to individuals with disabilities.

Read more at https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-launches-new-website-accessibility-technical-assistance-initiative.

2018-19 Consolidated Application Workshop
June 7, Pierre

The Fundamentals of Using Data for Educators
June 11, Aberdeen
June 13, Rapid City
June 18, Yankton

Crisis Management for School-Based Incidents – Partnering with Rural Law Enforcement, First Responders and Local School Systems
June 19, Pierre [https://sdoem.eventsmart.com/events/crisis-management-school-based-incidents-pierre/]
June 21, Sioux Falls [https://sdoem.eventsmart.com/events/crisis-management-school-based-incidents-sioux-falls/]

2018 MTSS Summer Education Conference
June 20-21, Oacoma [http://www.cvent.com/events/2018-mtss-summer-education-conference/event-summary-88b446845a8043eb89894207409580da.aspx]

Advanced Data Use Skills for Educators
June 25-Aug. 12, online

Board of Education Standards
July 16, Pierre [http://doe.sd.gov/board/]

School Library Boot Camp
July 23-26, Pierre [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/sdslbootcamp2018]

SD-STARS Workshop for new STARS Certified Trainers
July 26, Pierre

CTE Conference
July 29-31, Rapid City [http://doe.sd.gov/octe/training.aspx]

Top 20 Training
July 30-31, Rapid City
Aug. 1-2, Sioux Falls

Behavior De-escalation Training
July 30, Sioux Falls
Aug. 3, Rapid City
Aug. 10, Aberdeen
Aug. 14, Fort Pierre

SD Department of Education Annual Conference
“Well-Rounded Education = Success”
Aug. 1-2, Pierre

Indian Education Summit
Sept. 23-25, Pierre [https://tie.events/ies]

Annual Community Response to Child Abuse Conference
Oct. 4-5, Sioux Falls [https://www.sdcpcm.com/conference/]