Application Now Open for New Superintendent’s Principal Advisory Council
State Superintendent Hanseul Kang seeks principals and other senior school-based leaders to participate in the Superintendent’s Principal Advisory Council (PAC). Members of the council will share their insights, suggestions, and feedback with OSSE to help refine current policies and inform the development of new policies and resources at the state level. OSSE seeks a diverse group of school leaders from across the city that reflects the demographics of the District’s students. In the inaugural year of the PAC, the council will focus on special education and literacy, in alignment with OSSE’s agency priorities.
The application is now open and will close on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. [Apply] The first meeting will be held the week of Feb. 10-14, 2020 with three additional meetings to be held across the 2020 calendar year. Meetings will be held at OSSE during the day from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. For questions, please contact Shavonne Gibson, assistant superintendent for Teaching and Learning, at Shavonne.Gibson@dc.gov.
LEA Financial Reporting Application Released
In April 2020, the DC School Report Card website will be updated to include per-pupil financial expenditure data for each school and LEA for the 2018-19 school year. OSSE is releasing the LEA Financial Reporting Application, a new application designed for LEAs to submit the required financial expenditure data. LEAs will have until Thursday, March 5 to submit financial expenditure data through the application.
The application is available to the following LEA staff: Head of School, LEA Data Manager, Chief Financial Officer, and LEA Finance/Grants Manager. If you would like additional staff to have access to the application, they will need to be assigned one of those roles in eSchoolPLUS.
OSSE will hold a training session on Monday, Jan. 13, from 4-5 p.m., at OSSE, Eleanor Holmes Norton I, Room 108 for LEA staff to walk through the application. LEA financial staff are encouraged to attend. For questions or to RSVP, please contact OSSE’s Special Assistant for Budget and Finance Ryan Aurori at Ryan.Aurori@dc.gov.
Nominate an Outstanding Teacher Today! 2021 DC Teacher of the Year
OSSE is searching for the 2021 DC Teacher of the Year. We are seeking nominations for outstanding teachers who:
Inspire and accelerate growth for all students,
Build strong partnerships with families and communities, and
Champion the teaching profession.
Administrators, colleagues, LEA and school staff, parents, students, and community members can submit nominations. Self-nominations are also acceptable. Please complete the 2021 DC TOY nomination form through Friday, March 6, 2020.
To be eligible for this award, a candidate must be a current teacher in a public or public charter school in DC, have five years’ teaching experience, and must plan to continue as a teacher in DC for the 2020-21 school year. The 2021 DC Teacher of the Year will receive a $7,500 award, professional development and leadership opportunities, and will represent DC in the 2021 National Teacher of the Year competition. For more information about the DC Teacher of the Year Program, visit OSSE's website. OSSE also invites you to nominate outstanding K-6 math and science teachers for the 2020 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST), and outstanding K-12 history teachers for the 2020 DC History Teacher of the Year. For questions, please contact Annette Thacker-Bartlett at Annette.Thacker@dc.gov.
New OSSE Home Language Survey
In advance of enrollment for the next school year, OSSE has released an updated Home Language Survey. LEAs should stop using the old form and start using the new form effective immediately. The Home Language Survey must be provided to all families enrolling their child in a District of Columbia school for the first time. The form is in English, Spanish, Amharic, French, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese.
Why must the home language survey be provided to all families enrolling in a DC school for the first time? The Home Language Survey is used to determine if the student is eligible to take an English language proficiency screener. The screener score determines if the student is identified as an English learner or not an English learner. Students who are identified as English learners have the right to participate in the English language instructional program at school. Federal law requires schools to offer eligible students an English language instructional program so they may attain English language proficiency and achieve academic success. ESSA sec. 1112 requires LEAs using Title I or Title III funds to provide a language instruction educational program no later than 30 days into the school year and inform parents of an English learner identified for participation or participating in such a program.
What is new? The new Home Language Survey features new questions, updated instructions and a streamlined layout. Download the Home Language Survey. For questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Norton at Jennifer.Norton@dc.gov.
Call for Proposals: 2020 Multilingual Learner Conference(reminder)
OSSE is pleased to announce its second Multilingual Learner Conference, “Strengthening Teaching Practices for Multilingual Learners Together,” to be held on Thursday, May 21, 2020 at the Kellogg Conference Center at Gallaudet University. This conference will feature educators sharing their programs and practices for English learners and multilingual learners in both English language and dual language programs. This convening is geared toward all DC educators who work with students who are English learners and/or in dual language programs.
Call for Proposals: OSSE seeks interactive, practice-oriented proposals for 60-minute presentations relating to the conference theme, and geared toward one of the six conference topic areas listed on the conference website. All are welcome to submit a proposal by Monday, Jan. 13, 2020, 11:59 p.m. We strongly encourage proposals from DC educators, including bilingual/dual language teachers, ESL teachers, content/general education teachers, instructional coaches, and school leaders. We welcome proposals in other languages than English. Proposals may be submitted from individuals or teams of up to three presenters. For questions, please contact OSSE’s Teaching and Learning team at OSSE.TTA@dc.gov.
Updated District of Columbia Early Learning Standards(reminder)
This December, OSSE's Division of Early Learning released updated District of Columbia Early Learning Standards (DC ELS) in response to the evolution of the standards movement in early care and education throughout the country. The primary purpose of the DC ELS is to ensure children in the District of Columbia have the rich and robust early learning experiences that prepare them for success in school and for lifelong learning. The DC ELS include indicators for infants, toddlers, 2-year-olds and preschoolers, as well as exit expectations for children matriculating from pre-K and kindergarten.
The DC ELS should be used as:
A resource for guiding the selection and implementation of curriculum;
A focus for discussion by families, educators, community members and policymakers regarding the care and education of young children;
A guide for selecting assessments appropriate for children from a variety of backgrounds with differing abilities;
A guide for planning experiences and instruction that enable children to make progress in meeting the standards; and
A framework for planning professional development opportunities for education staff.
OSSE's Division of Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce its new 2020 Professional Development Catalog where educators can preview course offerings for January to April 2020. To access registration links for all upcoming training opportunities, please visit OSSE's events calendar.
New Meeting Series for LEA English Learner Coordinators
OSSE invites LEA English learner (EL) coordinators to participate in the first of a series of EL Coordinator meetings on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020, from 1-4 p.m. at OSSE, Eleanor Holmes Norton II, Room 109. The EL Coordinator meeting series will focus on policy and practice topics that are key to supporting ELs effectively through discussions on best practices, problem-solving, and providing input to inform OSSE’s EL programmatic supports. Register
The next EL coordinator meeting will occur in June 2020. For questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Norton at Jennifer.Norton@dc.gov.
Training for Mandated Reporters
OSSE's Division of Systems and Supports, K-12, in collaboration with the DC Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and the DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA), will host a mandated reporter training on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. Mandated reporters are professionals obligated by the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) and DC law to report known or suspected incidents of child abuse and neglect. In DC, mandated reporters who should be trained include school officials, teachers, athletic coaches, counselors, social service workers, and other direct care professionals. This training is for new mandated reporters and also serves as a refresher course for previously identified mandated reporters.
The training will be held on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020, 1-4 p.m. at OSSE, First Floor, Eleanor Holmes Norton I, Room 108. Register
For more information or questions, please contact OSSE's Special Programs Unit at OSSE.SPU@dc.gov.
Community Schools Community of Practice For the 2019-20 school year, OSSE's Division of Systems and Supports, K-12, will host a series of community of practices related to the community schools. The community of practices will be offered on bi-monthly through June 2020. The sessions are open to all District of Columbia schools that are interested in receiving training and technical assistance on creating and sustaining a community school model.
The February session will occur Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, 1-3 p.m. at OSSE, Fifth Floor, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Room 523. The session will focus on Addressing Attendance and Truancy in Community Schools to Foster Academic Success and will emphasize attendance and truancy initiatives, such as Everyday Counts and other available resources to support student educational outcomes. Register
For more information or questions, please contact Melissa Harper-Butler at Melissa.Harper-Butler@dc.gov or (202) 478-2409.
Building a Diverse Educator Pipeline - Ensuring Equitable Cultivation and Hiring(reminder)
Join OSSE and TNTP for the next session of the Talent as a Lever of Equity Community of Practice, which will focus on Building a Diverse Pipeline - Ensuring Equitable Cultivation and Hiring. During this session, participants will connect and share personal identities and stories; explore how identities and biases intersect with the identities of potential candidates who apply to and work in each school/LEA; and as a group, discuss what we can do to prevent the manifestation of bias in our hiring and selection practices. TNTP will also share selected best practices in diversifying teacher pipelines and mitigating bias in the pipeline process.
Heads of school, directors of talent, and human capital managers from DC LEAs are invited to attend this session, held on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020, 1:30-4 p.m., at OSSE, First Floor, Eleanor Holmes Norton I, Room 108. Register by Friday, Jan. 10, 2020. For questions, please contact Laura Montas-Brown at Laura.Montas@dc.gov.
Help Spread the Word About Partnership Opportunities for New Special Education Grant (reminder)
OSSE is soliciting grant applications for the Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) Special Education Enhancement Fund (SEEF) Competitive Grant. Eligible lead applicants include third-party nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher education. All applicants must partner with targeted school(s) at one or more LEAs. Applicants must secure partnerships with the partner school(s) and parent LEA(s) with which they intend to work and will be required to verify these partnerships by uploading, as part of the grant application, a signed Partnership Agreement that details the parameters of the partnership and demonstrates each partner’s role in the planning and implementation of programs and services. Applications are due Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at 3 p.m. and must be submitted through OSSE’s Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS).
For more information about this grant, please contact Brianna Griffin at Brianna.Griffin@dc.gov.
Opportunity to Provide Feedback on the DC School Report Card
OSSE seeks your feedback on potential DC School Report Card designs. OSSE is asking you to try out design prototypesof the DC School Report Card website (using fictional schools) and respond to a short survey based on your experience. Your feedback will help OSSE improve future versions of the DC School Report Card and also help to inform states and districts across the country as they are considering how to effectively communicate information to parents. Please take the survey and share with anybody who has thoughts about the report card. Thank you!
OSSE will continue to update and redistribute these resources quarterly. If you have a question not addressed in these resources, please contact OSSE Communications at OSSE.Communications@dc.gov.
Subscribe to LEA Look Forward
To subscribe to OSSE's LEA Look Forward, please contact OSSE Communications at OSSE.Communications@dc.gov and provide your first name, last name, and email address.
