November 2013

Commissioner's Memo: Wellness Committee Requirements

From: Jody Wiggins <Jody.Wiggins@sssd.k12.ar.us>

Date: Thu, Oct 17, 2013 at 11:57 AM

Subject: Suggestions for ACSIP Changes from AAFC.docx

To: "Bobby.Lester@arkansas.gov" <Bobby.Lester@arkansas.gov>, "Elbert Harvey (ADE) (Elbert.Harvey@arkansas.gov)" <Elbert.Harvey@arkansas.gov>, "megan.witonski@arkansas.gov" <megan.witonski@arkansas.gov>

The Arkansas Association of Federal Coordinators was recently asked by the AAEA to provide feedback to questions provided to the ADE by the Arkansas Legislature concerning the ACSIP process. The AAFC Board of Directors met earlier this week at the AAEA building to craft a response to the questions and provide our thoughts on how to improve the school improvement planning process. In the attached document, we have offered our comments/thoughts on four major concerns that we have with the ACSIP process, and then answered the six questions that came from the Legislature.

We believe school improvement planning to be vital and hugely important for schools and districts. We also believe that several things about the current ACSIP process could be modified to make it a more viable and useful tool in this planning. Federal Coordinators have the unique perspective of being responsible for writing district ACSIP plans and coordinating building ACSIP plans, so it is our hope that this input will be looked upon as valuable feedback from a group of stakeholders that have a keen interest in making the school improvement process the best that it can be.

Please read our comments and the answers to the six questions, and please reflect upon this information as changes are made to ACSIP.

Thank you for your consideration,

Jody Wiggins, President AAFC

Suggested Changes (uploaded below)

NOTES FROM MEETING:

Dr. Wilde - Hoping for feedback and requested ideas on means of communication for the upcoming spring. FPCs explained that ADE representation at monthly meetings would be helpful to have ongoing information and updates. Dr. Wilde suggested that feedback in the spring in order to help plan for the fall plans would be beneficial. FPCs suggested a list of changes and requirements for the upcoming year.

ESEA Waiver - the states that did not receive RTTT funding are being pushed to do the same as those who did receive these funds. If waiver is not renewed, we revert back to NCLB which means all schools would be required to have 100% proficient and advanced. The year of school improvement would pick back up where they left off before the waiver. Dr. Wilde provided a handout (p. 6-11) on the waiver. Have to declare by Dec. 15 if they are planning to file for the waiver renewal. The Arkansas Title I monitoring report from the federal government has been uploaded at the bottom of this page.