[EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GAP OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE] October 15, 2013

Heritage University

Arts and Sciences Building, Smith Family Hall 3240 Fort Road

Toppenish, WA 98948 9:00 am-5:00pm

8:30 Leave Heritage in Carpool vans

9:00-10:30 Heritage University 105 Site Visit-

Kirkwood Elementary School, Toppenish School District 403 South Juniper St Toppenish, WA 98948

10:30 Return to Heritage

11:00-11:15 Introductions, agenda overview, and approval of meeting minutes 11:15-12:00 League of Education Voters Chris Korsmo, Executive Director-League of Education Voters 12:00-12:15 Break 12:15-1:00 Working lunch- Heritage College of Education and ELL Retooling Academy Educator Panel Mea Moore and Tricia Valdez-Zontek 1:00-2:00 November Meeting and Community Forum Planning 2014 Agenda Items-Work plan 2:00-2:15 Public Comment 2:15-2:30 Final announcements, Conclude Member Meeting 2:30-2:45 Break 2:45-3:00 Transition and Set up for Community Forum

3:00-5:00 Community Forum 3:00-3:05 Committee Introduction Co-chairs: Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos, Sen. Steve Litzow, and Commissioner Lillian Ortiz-Self 3:05-3:30 Presentation of Six Recommendations Maria Flores, Accountability Policy & Research Program Manager- OSPI 3:30-4:30 Breakout Group Activity

1. Disproportionate disciplinary actions 2. Cultural competence of current and future educators 3. Provide English Language Learner/Second Language Acquisition endorsement 4. English Language Learner Accountability Benchmarks 5. Deeper data analysis and disaggregation 6. Recruitment and retention of educators of color

4:30-5:00 Community discussion with state agency leaders- Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Office of the Education Ombuds

[EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GAP OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE] October 15, 2013

Committee Members and Alternates in attendance: Fiasili Savusa, Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (Pacific American) Frieda Takamura, Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs (Asian American) Lillian Ortiz-Self, Commission on Hispanic American Affairs Representative John McCoy, House of Representatives Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos, House of Representatives Assistant Superintendent Gil Mendoza, Alternate for Randy Dorn Stacy Gillett, Office of Education Ombuds (OEO) Wanda Billingsly, Commission on African American Affairs Uriel Inequez, Alternate for Lillian Ortiz-Self Committee Members and Alternates not in attendance: Assistant Superintendent Andrew Kelly, Alternate for Randy Dorn Bernard Thomas, Tribal Nations Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs Ben Kodama, Alternate for Frieda Takamura Dr. James Smith, Alternate for Wanda Billingsly Representative Kevin Parker, House of Representatives Sally Brownfield, Alternate for Bernard Thomas Mele Aho, Alternate for Fiasili Savusa Senator Rosemary McAuliffe, Senate Senator Steve Hobbs, Senate Senator Steve Litzow, Senate Superintendent Randy Dorn, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Staff and Public in attendance: Maria Flores, Program Manager- Accountability, Research and Policy Jenny Owre, Administrative Assistant – Student and School Success Alexandra Manuel, Director, Educator Pathways- Professional Educator Standards Board Steve Myers, Superintendent-Educational Service District 105 Amy Liu, League of Education Voters Kelly Munn, League of Education Voters Mark Cheney, Director-Heritage University 105 Melissa Kotun, Heritage University Antoniette Hall, Heritage University Mea Moore, Interim Dean- College of Education and Psychology Heritage University Patricia Valdez-Zontek, Associate Professor Bilingual/ESL Department- Heritage University Mary Ellen Robinson, Wapato’s Marie Rose House Cathy Hardison, Heritage University Mateo Arteagam, Central Washington University Dori Peralta Baker, Mabuhay Foundation Moretto Shelton, Filipino-American Community of Yakima Valley Didi Cabusao, Filipino-American Community of Yakima Valley Josephine Valencie, Filipino-American Community of Yakima Valley Apanakhi Buckley, Heritage University Andy Pascua, GEAR UP- University of Washington Becky Iwlen, Wapato Public Schools Susie Bollinger, Heritage University 105 Kathy Moe Hagen, Life Time Certified Teacher Rebecca Knox, Catholic Family Child Services Diane Ibatuan, Filipino-American Community of Yakima Valley Lorena Silva, Filipino-American Community of Yakima Valley Laticia Rance, GEAR UP- University of Washington Julia Silberman, Heritage University Kay Bassett, Heritage University Sarah Augustine, Heritage University

[EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GAP OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE] October 15, 2013

Vivian B. George, YN Tribal Council-LEEH Doug Nelson, PSE/SEIU 1948 John Cerva, Toppenish School District Elizabeth Lara, Student-Heritage University Introductions, agenda overview, and approval of meeting minutes: The meeting was called to order at 11:05 a.m. by Chair Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos.

Introduction of committee members, staff, and public attendees were made. Committee Members reviewed and approved September meeting minutes. Julia Silberman welcomed the committee and gave a brief explanation of Heritage University’s collaboration.

League of Education Voters Presenter: Chris Korsmo, Executive Director-League of Education Voters

League of Education Voters (LEV)’s goal is to ensure adequate and amiable funding for ALL students. All staff members are aware of opportunity gaps and are doing what they can to close those gaps.

Current Highlighted work: 1. Funding: Efforts resulted in 255 school levies passing which resulted in $4.7 billion in k-12 education system. 2. Elementary learning: The opportunity gap exists and begins at an early age. Advocating for full day kindergarten. 3. New issue- Discipline: Measure included in new discipline language is a good start. Moving away from long term

expulsion. Develop plans to reinstate students after long term suspension or expulsion. 4. Post-Secondary: LEV is also working on the other end of the education spectrum. Working towards ensuring

transfer agreements between community colleges and universities. Higher enrollment has not transferred to higher rates of completion.

5. Culturally Responsible Instruction: Developing strategies to learn more about our students. Focus on giving parents and educators the tools they need to ensure equal education opportunities in regards to Students’ backgrounds, cultures, and language abilities. There is a concern about effective implementation of new laws.

The demographics are changing. Our education system is not maximizing potential of our children and we must work together to reach this goal of maximizing potential for ALL students.

Questions: You are aware of EOGOAC’s six priorities. Are those in line with the goals of LEV?

o Yes. LEV shares many of the same priorities and is interested in working in partnership. Open to further conversations with EOGOAC and other organizations the committee members represent.

Where are we with the charter school initiative? o The law is in implementation phase and we’re currently having discussions with Charter School Commission

Executive Director Josh Halsey. LEV is excited by the depth of interested parties and putting a lot of emphasis on the kids especially those who are, for example, low income, come from military families, and students with disabilities. Goal is for schools to be open in 201, if time allows.

How are you planning to recruit schools? o Every applicant must have a community engagement plan to show the work they are already doing within the

community. Charter Association has hired the Former Office of Education Ombuds (OEO) Executive Director to support the parent engagement program.

Glad to hear you say you are looking at including cultural responsiveness. Can you help us put pressure on superintendents or district representatives to get the disaggregated data for students of color? o We can’t have data driven instruction without data. Absolutely committed to ensuring we have the right data and

would like to talk more about how we can work together to gather comprehensive date. Thank you for supporting our initiative. Discipline legislation didn’t go far enough, and failed to include all of our

recommendations. We are pushing the idea that all children be educated regardless of circumstances and education includes best practices of an ELL task force. This committee would like your support in continuing to push through those. o Yes. If you would like our help or have advice of partners we should make connections with, let us know.

EOGOAC would like to invite LEV’s leadership team to participate in a discussion that builds towards mutual understanding to authentically ensure LEV is exercising the appropriate leadership in following the leads of other organizations and communities most affected.

[EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GAP OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE] October 15, 2013

Working lunch- Heritage College of Education and ELL Retooling Academy Educator Panel Presenter: Mea Moore and Tricia Valdez-Zontek

Supporting certified teachers to add ELL certification and what we do to increase cultural competency. Tricia Valdez Zontek shared a personal story that focused on how educators need to adjust to the students, not vice

versa. One barrier we have in Washington is that our state WAC is very unclear. Not enough accountability and rigor in state

or federal laws. Sheltered Instruction model: Before you can put a model into place you need to educate all staff (teachers, district,

and superintendents) in what is language acquisition. Heritage University will be launching an ELL leadership academy on November 4th which will provide high quality

professional development to professionals in leadership positions. Questions:

What is being promoted to students who are not specifically ESL but struggle with standardized English? o We already addressed that and our undergrad curriculum involves quality coursework. The only way this works

is to partner with the district. Language proficiency levels and language e acquisition are important whether they’re ELL identified or not.

How is program helping those classes recover their native tongues? o We have bilingual endorsement added in. Dual language development is a priority and is considered the least

expensive/most effective method. Through this program, many kids were relearning their heritage language. Representative John McCoy requests Tricia Valdez-Zontek to briefly explain what concerns she has with current state

WAC and accountability. Future Meeting Planning and Conclusion

November 19th Meeting Agenda Items: o ACTION: Committee moved to invite Washington Student Achievement Council to speak. o ACTION: Committee moved to invite Doug Nelson to speak about the Paraeducator Bill. o ACTION: 2014 Agenda Items – Work plan to be added to November and December agendas

State Board of Education: Senate Bill 5491 Discussion o ACTION: Chair Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos has been elected to attend the October 25th phone

conference from 10-10:30 and the November 14th State Board of Education meeting from 1:15-3:30. Quality Education Council

o QEC requests a half hour presentation on EOGOAC’s six recommendations. o ACTION: Stacy Gillett will present using the six recommendations PPT.

November Community Forum o ACTION: Rep. Santos will provide light refreshments.

Follow up: State Seal of Biliteracy o Committee was given a follow up FAQ to September’s State Seal of Biliteracy presentation. o The State Seal and ELL retooling academy are related in a Venn diagram sort of way. The seal is for providing

students with appropriate credentials while the ELL retooling academy is more along the lines of teachers receiving the education to teach ELL at all levels.

o Committee discussed the pros and cons of the seal. o ACTION: Committee would like to invite Michelle Isoki to speak more about the seal. Assistant Superintendent Gil

Mendoza volunteers to help arrange this. o ACTION: Chair Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos and Representative John McCoy should touch base with

fellow representatives who support the seal and have that conversation. Public Comment Presenter: Doug Nelson, Director of Governmental Relations—Public School Employees Union

Paraeducator Development Program. The Paraeducator Bill more actively reflects the diversity than the S275 is information submitted by school districts. Working with Representative Santos, we developed and proposed legislation to give paraeducators the professional

development needed ensuring that the future of teachers will more accurately reflect the student population. Presenter: John Cerna, Superintendent—Toppenish School District

[EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GAP OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE] October 15, 2013

Funding for preschool: provided data he pulled from last year’s information. Last year, Toppenish School District turned away approximately 80 kids because of a lack of funding.

Dipples preschool data shows that most kids are pretty close to standard and many of those kids are ESL students. It would be beneficial to put money into our younger students, because that’s where it makes a difference. Unless we can provide highly qualified teachers in our classrooms, we are going to continue to struggle. Need to structure test expectation to honor students’ native languages.

Presenter: Elizabeth Lara, Student—Heritage University

Discussed the importance to have good ELL programs so all students can have an equal opportunity. All educators should have the proper training and ELL certification. Majority of ELL students are undocumented.

Presenter: Kevin Chase, Superintendent—Grandview School District

Closing the achievement gap at Grandview has included units of study for CCSS implementation/MSP which takes massive amounts of time and knowledge. Encourages strong professional development for all teachers.

Asks the question, how do you get teachers to the point where they can do the work and do the work successfully? August 1st Grandview School District began professional development with teachers. Need additional time for

professional development, curriculum mapping (weekly meetings). Need frequent monitoring of teaching and learning to make a difference in student achievement outcomes.

With no further action, the meeting was adjourned at 2:55 pm.

Community Forum Committee Introduction Presenter: Co-chairs: Rep. Sharon Tomiko Santos and Commissioner Lillian Ortiz-Self

Representative Santos proceeded with a brief explanation of the committee and the goals of this forum.

Presentation of Six Recommendations Presenter: Maria Flores, Accountability Policy & Research Program Manager- OSPI

Explanation of the six recommendations and how this community forum invites the community to engage with us in discussion of successfully addresses each priority.

Breakout Group Activity

Participants divided themselves into six groups based on interest level in given priorities. 1. Disproportionate disciplinary actions

a. Where is the connection to parents’ access and parent engagement? b. How do we really know what scope of problem is without data? c. How do we get districts the resources they need for students to stay in school? We often know what students

need and schools don’t have the resources, tools, capacity and training. d. How do we support safe school environments? e. Where are the alternative settings?

2. Cultural competence of current and future educators a. Some view cultural components as “content” vs. “pedagogy” b. Barriers for TOC like West B, assessments, etc. c. Competency is a low bar, relational experiences, not making assumptions. d. How can we better arm our teachers to be successful educators in serving diverse populations of students? e. How do we support teachers/admin in support with cultural competency who have been in education for 10-

20 years. f. Utilize parents as a meaningful partner, listen to parent voice. g. Help to get more parents on campus, school sites, and support parents in creating partnerships (homes). h. Get parents on school boards or in other decision making roles. i. How can we support young teachers to obtain leadership roles for the veteran teachers and support?

[EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY GAP OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMITTEE] October 15, 2013

3. Provide English Language Learner/Second Language Acquisition endorsement a. HU105 is a powerful example of the value of an ELL endorsement on k-8 student achievement. b. Concern re-equitable access to training for staff in rural & small school districts. c. Suggest expanding the pathway to ELL endorsement to include non-traditional , experimental learning (e.g NOT

seat-time based) d. Focus MESSAGE n good practice/strategy that supports student success for ALL children not just ELL, and

message away from one more regulatory burden. e. Needs to be included in basic Teacher Ed Program 4. English Language Learner Accountability Benchmarks f. The need for the taskforce and best practices is important at a variety of levels g. From total emersion to dual language teaching programs h. Not just best practices in curriculum but in testing standards, higher Ed programs, language acquisition

knowledge, teacher prep programs 5. Deeper data analysis and disaggregation

a. Make sure the data gathering, given that it is needed, really does inform instruction b. Data should measure the progress of the students and not only standardized tests but also reaching

benchmarks c. Ask questions: Multi-generational demographics—how does that affect achievement? What generation are US

students in? d. Filipino American community has a scholarship for students geared specifically towards a career in

education. e. Progress monitoring at every step-not just standardized tests.

6. Recruitment and retention of educators of color a. Value education by paying teachers more b. Debt forgiveness incentive c. Identifying kids early d. With a commitment to higher Education e. Importance of developing relationships which will then influence kids to go into teaching f. Focus on financial Literacy g. Parent empowerment h. Retention ideas:

i. Subsidize PD and training ii. Ask question: standards at what price

iii. Make it more exciting, stimulating and rigorous for teachers iv. More ownership in the classroom v. Mentorship (like mentors)

Conclusion: Brief Summary of groups’ discussion and main points Community discussion with state agency leaders Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and Office of the Education Ombuds With no further action or comments, the community forum was adjourned at 5:07 pm.

Closing Opportunity Gaps in Washington’s Public Education System: Recommendations from the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight & Accountability Committee

Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos

Commissioner Lillian Ortiz-Self

http://www.k12.wa.us/AchievementGap/default.aspx

Background on the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight & Accountability Committee

Authorized by RCW 28A.300.136, the Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight and Accountability Committee (EOGOAC) makes policy recommendations for closing opportunity gaps in Washington public schools.

The EOGOAC takes a multidisciplinary approach, reviewing social, emotional and health supports, and seeing input and advice from other state and local agencies and organizations with expertise in health, social services, and other issues that disproportionately affect student achievement and student success.

• Supporting and facilitating parent and community involvement and outreach;

• Enhancing the cultural competency of current

and future educators and the cultural relevance of curriculum and instruction;

• Expanding pathways and strategies to prepare

and recruit diverse teachers and administrators;

• Recommending current programs and

resources that should be redirected to narrow the gap;

• Identifying data elements and systems needed

to monitor progress in closing the gap; • Making closing the achievement gap part of

the school and school district improvement process; and

• Exploring innovative school models that have

shown success in closing the achievement gap.

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Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight & Accountability Committee

Governance

Committee Co-chairs:

Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos

Senator Steve Litzow

Commissioner Lillian Ortiz-Self

Staff to the Committee:

Statute specifies that the Center for the Improvement of Student Learning (CISL) within OSPI will staff the committee.

After CISL was defunded, staffing is now provided by the Office of Student and School Success within OSPI.

Membership • The chairs and ranking minority members of the

House and Senate education committees

• One additional member of the House appointed by the speaker of the House, an additional member of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate

1 Representative from each:

• Office of the Education Ombudsman

• Center for the Improvement of Student Learning/ OSPI

• Federally recognized Indian tribes within Washington

4 members appointed by the Governor in consultation with the state ethnic commissions who represent:

African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans

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2013 Legislative Recommendations:

1. Decrease the disproportionate

representation of students of color in

disciplinary actions in schools.

2. Enhance the cultural competence of current

and future educators.

3. Provide English Language Learner/Second

Language Acquisition endorsement for all

educators.

4. Create new English Language Learner

Accountability Benchmarks.

5. Provide tools for deeper data analysis and

disaggregation of student demographics to

inform instructional strategies to close the

opportunity gap.

6. Invest in the recruitment and retention of

educators of color.

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1. Decrease the disproportionate representation of students of color in disciplinary actions in schools.

• Report and disaggregate ethnicity and race of students involved in mandatory and discretionary offenses

• Create discipline taskforce to develop common definitions of discretionary offenses, data collection standards and exclusionary discipline incidents

• Track data from exclusionary discipline incidents

• Add newly developed discipline definitions and require school districts report student offenses under the new codes

• Provide alternative discipline consequences that reduce out of school time and provide necessary social and emotional supports for students

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2. Enhance the cultural competence of current and future educators.

• Require teachers who received their Residency or Professional Certification before cultural competency standards were enacted by PESB in 2010 to receive cultural competency training

• Additionally, all certificated administrative and classified staff must receive the training

• Training will include a foundation course in multicultural education and a course in language acquisition strategies for English Language Learners

• Encourages partnerships for training between diverse community groups, families, schools and institutions of higher education

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3. Provide English Language Learners/ Second Language Acquisition endorsement for all educators.

• Increase funding to the Educator Retooling Grant Program at the Professional Educator Standards Board to enable all certificated staff to receive a bilingual or ELL endorsement.

• This could be phased in with a focus on schools in improvement status- Priority, Focus and Emerging schools

• Require that certificated staff that are paid through the Transitional Bilingual Instructional Program (TBIP) funds must hold a bilingual or ELL endorsement

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4. Create new English Language Learner Accountability Benchmarks.

• Establish a taskforce to create new English Language Learner Accountability Benchmarks

• The taskforce would review research and best practices for ELL instructional programs in order to identify appropriate performance benchmarks

• Taskforce should represent diverse families, community members and educators in schools, representative of languages groups common in Washington

• The English Language Learner Accountability Benchmarks will be used to assess instructional programs and interventions being employed in schools and school districts using TBIP funds.

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5. Provide tools for deeper data analysis and disaggregation of student demographics to inform instructional strategies to close the opportunity gap.

• Require school districts to report the minimum federal ethnicity and racial categories, as well as sub-ethnic categories

• Convene a taskforce to revise the racial and ethnic reporting guidance, with representation from the EOGOAC, the ethnic commissions and the tribal nations

• Support OSPI request to create a K-12 Statewide Longitudinal Data System (K-12 SLDS) and provide professional development on data collection for educators

• Disaggregate data: • Black: national origin from a country in Africa (indicate country of origin) and

African American: national origin in from the United States with African ancestry

• Asian: Cambodian, Filipino, Hmong, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian, Malaysian, Pakistani, Singaporean, Taiwanese, Thai, Vietnamese, and other Asian

• White: Eastern European nationalities that have significant populations in WA (to be defined)

• Multi-racial: report discrete racial/ethnic category combinations

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6. Invest in the recruitment and retention of educators color.

• Create a cohesive and comprehensive career path to provide incentives and greater access for candidates of color to become teachers

• Provide additional district and school level support services to retain educators of color and create an inclusive work environment

• Focus on the recruitment of educators of color, particularly targeting ethnic serving higher education institutions

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Basic Education Funding Recommendations

ESHB 2261 • Fund increased instructional hours, with additional

funding for schools in improvement status

• Fund all-day kindergarten, starting with schools with highest poverty levels

• Provide opportunity for 24 credits for high school completion

• Highly capable program-fund and ensure equitable opportunities for students of color to be represented in the program

• Include family involvement and community engagement, social and emotional support services, mentoring and school improvement academic interventions in the definition of basic education

• Fund Basic Education by deadline of 2018- priority for funding given to schools with large opportunity gaps and in improvement status

• Supports the prototypical schools funding formula, as it provides more clarity to school funding to family and community members

SHB 2776 • Support the prototypical funding formula adopted

in statute

• Change the title of the “parent involvement coordinator” to the family and community engagement coordinator

• Allocate 1 FTE staff per each prototypical elementary, middle and high school, requiring this allocation be used on a family and community engagement coordinator

• Use the comparable labor analysis wage of $45, 346 established for the position by the Compensation Technical Working Group

• Support the additional funding included in the Joint Taskforce on Education Funding final report for Accountability, Evaluation and Common Core: • $66.5 million in the 2013-15 biennium

• $44.5 million in the 2015-17 biennium

• $42.0 million in the 2017-19 biennium

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For more information:

http://www.k12.wa.us/AchievementGap/default.aspx

Group Activity • Pick 1 of the 6 recommendations you are interested in discussing • Move to the recommendation group – signs around the room • Provide input on the recommendation-changes, experiences and

additional information from your perspective • The facilitator will write down the input on chart paper and will

share out the input at the end