We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
In news released on December 14, the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) is requesting public comment on the waiver and addendum that was proposed by the United Stated Department of Education (DOE) for specific assessment and accountability requirements for the 2019-2020 school year. The DOE charged OPI with providing notice to the public as well as a reasonable opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed addendum and waiver.
The OPI applied for the waiver last March when extraordinary circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in school closures. The waiver cancelled assessments in the 2019–2020 school year, suspended the accountability system, and removed specific elements related to assessments and accountability on a school’s report card.
After securing these waivers from the federal government in its response to the global pandemic, OPI and its stakeholders continue to experience impacts of the pandemic in the current school year, 2020-2021. Because these impacts are affecting teaching and learning for students across Montana, the OPI is seeking to address some of those effects by extending (putting an addendum on) parts of the 2019-2020 waivers and seeking an additional, related waiver for identification of Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools.
Through the Addendum and the Waiver for TSI, Montana proposes to address the following components of the accountability system:
• Shift forward timelines by one year to 2022-2023 for identifying schools for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) and those eligible for Additional Targeted Support and Improvement (ATSI) because the growth indicator and the Student Quality or Student Success (SQSS) indicator cannot be calculated in 2020-2021. Note: Schools are eligible for ATSI if they are among schools eligible for TSI and if any student group at the school, on its own, meets the criteria for the lowest-performing five percent of Title I schools for CSI.
• Shift exit criteria for CSI and ATSI schools to be in 2022-2023 based on data from the 2021-2022 school year.
• Shift forward timelines by one year for measuring long-term goals and measurements of interim progress.
• Waive annual requirement to identify TSI schools in 2020-2021 for consistently underperforming subgroups.
To gather public commentary and opinion about the local impacts and implications that these proposals may have, OPI designed a survey. The survey is accessible from the OPI Public Comment website.
After outlining that the addendum proposes to not run the accountability system for the year 2020-2021, to maintain the statuses of schools identified as CSI or ATSI, and to next identify schools in 2022-2023, the first survey question reads:
• Do you have concerns about keeping schools in the same status?
If a respondent answers Yes or Maybe to having concerns about keeping schools in the same status, the survey will prompt for follow-up:
• What supports should be provided to the CSI and ATSI schools in addition to funding supports?
• What are possible consequences for maintaining identification status as CSI or ATSI that Montana may not have considered?
The second question explains that the addendum also proposes to move the timelines for measurements of interim progress and long-term goals forward by one year and asks:
• Do you have concerns about moving these timelines forward? If you have concerns about moving the timelines forward, please share your concerns.
In a third question, the survey reveals that the waiver proposes to move the first year of identification for TSI (those consistently under-performing schools) to 2023-2024 and wonders:
• Do you have concerns about moving that identification ahead? If you have concerns about moving the TSI identification forward, please share your concerns.
Finally, the survey invites comment on future flexibilities related to the federal accountability system:
• Given the amount of uncertainty and difficulty that schools, teachers, students, and parents have faced due to the ongoing pandemic, what additional future flexibilities would you suggest related to the federal accountability system?
According to Julie Murgel, ESSA Accountability Director at OPI, public participation matters. “Your input will help the OPI address real-world concerns and understand how stakeholders are feeling about the changes in accountability. Your ideas will strengthen the quality and relevancy of resources to support the implementation of the current plan.”
Those interested in sharing their thoughts should complete OPI’s Public Comment Survey by January 15 or make their voices heard through one of the Webinar meetings to be held January 7 and January 14. Another option is to express concerns in an email addressed to essainput@mt.gov. Questions can also be directed to Murgel, whose office phone number is 406-444-3172.
The OPI intends to use any public comments to inform the preparation of a final addendum and waiver before sending it to the DOE by the February 1 deadline. Additionally, the OPI will use the comments to strengthen the quality and relevance of supports to schools, as well as to help dictate what resources are needed to support a review of the state's Accountability Plan.
In a letter addressed to Elsie Arntzen, Montana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Frank T. Brogan, Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education at the DOE, wrote: “I know that you are doing all in your power to support your districts and schools to ensure the health and well-being of students and educators. Thank you for your dedication to this effort.”
Arntzen and the Montana OPI are currently applying to the DOE for an assessment waiver of 2020-2021 statewide testing.
