Legislative Briefing 2008                                                                                                                                                       Indiana Manufacturers Association Legislative Briefing   

On January 23, 2008, Indiana Professional Educators, Inc. attended he Indiana Manufacturers Association Legislative Briefing.  Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard was the key note speaker at the meeting (to see a completed copy of the report, visit www.imaweb.com).                

The main topic of discussion throughout the entire briefing dealt with the current property tax issue in Indiana and how it may affect education.  The property tax bill has passed through the House and is currently under review in the Senate.  Each day there sems to be many amendments that take place to the bill.  Therefore, to see the latest information, please visit the legislative site at www.in.gov.

Many individuals feel that school spending should be more closely watched in regard to their spending by elected officials (City/County Counsels).  In addition, to watching spending closer, every large capital expenditure needs to be "signed off" by this elected official.

Many years ago, there were 850 school districts in Indiana.  The General Assembly decided that there were simply not enough opportunities in the small school districts.  Therefore, many of the districts were eliminated and/or combined which now make up 290 school districts (which still may be too large according to some officials and are not being run efficiently).

The current property tax bill would eliminate some of the levies currently in place that directly affect schools, such as child welfare and school transportation.  This money would no longer come directly from the property tax payments; instead, it would be funded from the state level.

Core 40 classes were also a topic of discussion.  Many universities want individuals who wish to attend their institution to have had the Core 40 classes in high school.  By 2010 or 2011, Bloomington in West Lafayette will require students to have completed the Core 40 classes to be accepted into the university.  At this point, one-third of the school districts graduate three-fourths of the students without Core 40 classes.

The idea of larger enterprises, not larger schools, was also in the topics of discussion.  There is a wish that schools become smaller and managed better.  Indiana is not to scale on this according to legislators.  

Ultimately, the decisions that are made with the new property tax assessment will affect how and when schools are funded.

ISTEP                                                                                                                          

The following information was obtained from the Indiana Department of Education.  Changes are being made on a continual bases.  Therefore, to get more accurate and up-to-date information, check out the Department of Education Website at www.in.gov/gov/files/ISTEP info.pdf

Governor Daniels announced in October 2007 that the I-STEP test would be administered in the spring.  This would then allow for the results to be in the appropriate hands months sooner, the costs to taxpayers would go down and school will no longer have to start sooner than it does now.  The cost of the I-STEP was $31 million on an annual bases.  With the test moving to the spring, the cost is expected to drop to $29.5 million each year for two (2) years and then move to $28.5 million in the third and fourth years.

As most are aware, at this point the spring testing will begin with the 2008-09 school year.  Students will still take the I-STEP in Sept3ember of 2008 to test what they learned in the 2007-08 school year.  Then children will take the new spring test beginning in the spring of 2009 on what they have learned during the current academic year.  After the first spring test in 2009, the test will only be distributed in the spring.

A new comprehensive testing plan was unanimously approved by the board in the Department of Education.  This comprehensive testing plan includes diagnostic testing in the fall and throughout the year and accountability testing in the spring for grades 3-8 and high school end of course exams.  

In the spring of 2009, students in grades 3-8 will take the new spring test which consists of two parts:

    1.  An open-ended assessment administered in March (writing assessment)

    2.  A multiple choice assessment administered in May (progress assessment)

The test consists of different content areas:

    1.  English and math in grades 3-8

    2.  Science in grades 5 and 7

    3.  Social Studies in grades 4, 6 and 8.

The open-ended and multiple choice results will be combined to create a single score for each content area and for each student.  For the 2009 test, results will be returned in August due to achievement standard setting.  Beginning in 2010, the results will be returned at the end of the school year.

Students in the class of 2011 (current grade 9 students) will be tested on the GQE in the fall of 2008.  This will be the last class held to the current GQE requirement.  GQE retest opportunities will be made available through the 2010-2011 school years.  Beginning with the class of 2012 (grade 9 students in 2008-09), students must meet the standards tested on the End-of-Course Assessments (ECAs) in Algebra 1 and English 10 to satisfy the graduation testing requirement.  All students will take the ECA when they complete the course.  Beginning in 2007-08 (current), students who are enrolled in Biology I (at any grade level) must take the Biology I ECA when they have completed the course.  "Participation in this assessment is an NCLB requirement."  You may contact the Division of Assessment at 317-232-9050 or 1-888-544-7837 and select option 2 with any question regarding the Assessment Plan.

Highly Qualified Teacher Status                                                                                                                                                                HOUSSE Teacher Verification 

Remember, as part of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), each state is required to have a plan to assure that teachers are "highly qualified" in core academic subject matters.  Verification of Highly Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) is required only for teachers of core academic subject areas.  These subject areas are as follows:  English, Reading/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Foreign Language, Social Studies and Fine Arts.  

The Department of Education website gives explanations of guidance for particular circumstances affecting Social Studies, Sixth Grade, Special Education, Co-Teaching/Team Teaching and Multi-Subject Alternative Education teachers.

To check your highly qualified status for our state, go to:  www.doe.state.in.us/hqt  Scroll down to "Online Highly Qualified Teacher Assessment" on the right side.  Click on  "Online Highly Qualified Teacher Assessment" and after reading, check the box in the 5th paragraph down that reads "I have read and understand the disclaimer".  That will take you to a page where you enter your school corporation (list is provided) and your school in that district.  Enter the additional information and "submit".  If you are a core subject teacher, select the appropriate subject you teach and "submit".   

Additional sites for information:  www.doe.state.in.us/dps/visitors/Indiana_HOUSSE.pdf  (teacher definition)

                                                 www.doe.state.in.us/hqt/pdf/HQcoverletterFINAL.pdf  (explanation)

                                                 www.doe.state.in.us/hqt/  (Highly Qualified Home Page)

IPE Annual Meeting 2008 

Indiana Professional Educators, Inc. is planning to hold our annual membership meeting on July 26, 2008.  We are currently looking to see how many members we will anticipate attend this meeting.  At this time, a tentative site has been set.  We will have a definite site by the beginning of April (the facility will not make reservations more than three (3) months out).  

If you have e-mail access, please e-mail IPE to let us know if you will attend the annual meeting to be held at the end of July.  Also, if you would be interested in attending, please let us know if there are any specific topics that you may like to have presented.  Click here to contact us: ipe@indy.net.  

If you do not have access to e-mail to let us know that you would be interested in attending, please send us a note through the mail or leave us a phone message at 317-356-2878 or 800-673-4734.  Your response would be greatly appreciated and help us to better plan for the meeting.

UPDATE/NOTE: The Annual IPE Meeting will be held on Saturday, September 20th, 2008, in Greenwood.  Members should have received a packet of information for Agenda, directions, et al.  Click here to contact us if you need additional information!

"National Commission on Teaching and America's Future"

Recently, IPE received a letter from the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) requesting that we get involved in "encouraging national and state leaders to re-focus their energy to put public education at the top of the national agenda".  With this letter, a book was sent for review titled "Building a 21st Century U.S. Education System".  The book was published to "provoke serious discussion about public education at all levels of society".  

If you are interested in downloading a free copy of this book, you may do so at www.nctaf.org