State Update - Karen Kahan, Texas Education Agency

The following notes were taken at the Texas Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Clinic held June 19 and 20, 2007. Any imperfections, missing/incomplete information, assumptions are my fault unless otherwise noted. <smile>. My comments appear in square brackets [ ]. Thank you, Miguel

State Update - Karen Kahan, Texas Education Agency

[UPDATE: The presentation slides are available in Powerpoint presentation (108 megs-long download) or as a Flash file you can view with your browser].

Topics:

-Texas Legislative Update

-TEA Update

Anita Givens couldn't make it since she's doing the Textbook Panel Review. I'm going to be talking a lot about educational technology but also bringing in the textbook materials. I am only the messenger. I cannot claim to know everything about all of these bills. Anita followed all of them. It was a really busy legislative session.

Go read more online at http://www.legis.state.tx.us

Legislative Briefing Book coming in July - www.tea.state.tx.us
This book is coming in mid July before the Board meeting (not sure). Tells you what was passed, what money, what staffing, everything it means. Up front, this is going to be a very valuable tool.

Texas Legislative Update:
-Changes to the Textbook Adoption Process
-Technology Literacy Assessment Pilot
-Internet Safety Curriculum
-Technology-based Supplemental Instruction Pilot for Rural Schools (this was a big thing we'll be implementing in our division)
-State Virtual School Network
-End of course tests administered by computer - there will be a study to see how this proceeds.
-Teacher liability for electronic textbooks and computer equipment
-Online Library Resources
-Library Study

This is just a handful of the bills passed, but these are the ones we followed.

HB 188-Textbooks:
-Resumes the textbook proclamation process and retains conforming and non-conforming lists
-Adds requirement for TEKS to be addressed in the student edition as well as the teacher materials
-Name proclamations for the year the materials will be in classrooms, not the year of issue. Example: Proclamation 2004 was issued in 2004 and those secondary math materials will be in classrooms in Fall 2007. Under this bill, that proclamation would have been named Proclamation 2007.

Here's where we move into technology and changes how we do business:
-Adds mid-cycle review process
-Mid-cycle review provides opportunities for materials not ready when subject area proclamation was issued.
-Products submitted during mid-cycle review do not have to be available--publisher can designate a region or area....

-Adds supplemental materials to review and adoption process
-Supplemental materials cover one or more primary focal points of primary topics of a subject in the required curriculum.
-Districts may use a combination of supplemental materials to cover all the TEKS in a given course.
-Supplemental materials are not intended to be the sole textbooks--provides opps for tinstructional materials, including electronic instructional materials.

-Expands textbook credit pilot statewide
-Textbook credits-Districts that order materials below maximum cost keep 50% of the difference between actual and max cost
-Textbook credits may be used to purchase additional adopted mats during mid-cycle review....

-Currently, textbook prices are at or near max cost
-For textbook credits to be signficant, cost of materials submitted will need to be priced well below max cost.
-Textbook credits, mid-cycle review, and supp. materials adoption will impact textbook rules and should be implemented in concert. Opens it up for electronic materials.

Question from audience: What incentive would a textbook publisher have for not bringing something in at maximum cost?

HB 2503-Technology Literacy Assessment Pilot:

-Currently available assessment
-District option (Grades 5,6,7,8 or 9)
-Report results to TEA
-This was passed but no funding. The Agency may find funding but there isn't any...there may be $200K available to try this pilot.
-This would involve a currently available assessment.
-By the 8th grade, everyone has to be literate. This gives districts the option to test for literacy at different grade levels.
We have not had a lot of internal meetings to analyze all this.

SB 136 - Internet Safety:

The Texas School Safety Center in cooperation with the attorney general shall develop a program that provides instruction concerning Internet Safety
-Potential dangers of posting personal information
-Reporting an inappropriate online solicitation
-Prevention, detection and reporting of bullying or threats over Internet

TEA won't be leading this effort but will be working closely with them.

HB 3171 - Internet Safety

-Requires TEA to develop and make available to school districts a list of resources concerning Internet safety, including organizations and Internet websites that may assist in educating teachers and students
--Potential dangers of posting personal information
--Significance of copyright laws
--Consequences of cyber-plagiarism and theft of audio-visual works, including motion pictures, software, and sound recordings through uploading and downloading files.

Need our support and to know what we're doing as districts.

HB 2864-Technology-based Supplemental Instruction for Rural Schools Pilot

-This one was funded.

-Districts under 5000 and not in a a metro area
-Grades 6-12
-Provides up to $200 per student
[MORE HERE BUT COULDN"T GET IT]

-Research-based instructional support
-Teacher Training

SB1788 - STATE VIRTUAL SCHOOL NETWORK

-Criteria for online courses
-Courses approved to be offered through network
-Texas Certified Teachers
-Provider School Districts
-Funding for students taking online courses
-Tuition for private and home-schooled students

No funding was provided, so TEA is trying to figure out how to implement it.

SB 1031 - End of Course Tests

-Study of high schools to determine
--Readiness to implement end of course tests designed to be administered by computer
--Timeline and cost needed to get ready
--Report back to the legislature

There is a timeline of what is expected will be shared.

SB 370- District Employee Liability

-School district employees not liable for instructional materials issued to students
-Technological equip. collected from students for inappropriate use (cell phones, mp3 players, etc)
-May sign separate agreements regarding equipment assigned to teachers for use off campus

This is important for school districts to look at more closely.

SB 913 - Library Study

-State Library and Archives Comission and TEA to conduct a joint study to identify the needs of public school libraries and determine which needs each agency is best suited to address.
-Joint written report due to the legislature December 31, 2008

I highly recommend speaking to librarians and getting their input on what TEA needs to do on their behalf. By December, a report sharing who's going to do what will be ready. We'll also be doing online resources with the state library.

Funding Update

-Funding for textbooks
-Increase in the Technology Allotment - didn't go anywhere, not funded and didn't pass...this included the TIP
-Funding for Online Library Resources
-Funding for Technology-based supplemental instruction in rural schools
-Authority to spend fees collected for review of instructional materials
-Authority to spend fees collected via the state virtual school network

Full funding for textbooks and an increase in the technology allotment

-Rider 3: Included in the sum--certain amounts above in fiscal year 2008 is $496,495,840 for textbooks, any unexpended balance of which, as of August 31, 2008 is hereby appropriated for fiscal year 2009 for the same purpose.
-Also included in the sum--certain amounts above is $130,300,000 in fiscal year 2008 and $132,700,000 in fiscal year 2009 for payment of the technology allotment to school districts.

Educator Salary increases

[didn't get this slide]

Funding for HB 2864 - Rural Schools Pilot
-4 million for 2008
-4.15 million for 2009
-This is for supplemental instruction in rural schools

Funding for HB 1788 - State Virtual School Network
-TEA has appropriated revenue collected from fees authorized by the legislation.
-Does not include staff or funding to implement the network.

Not sure about the fees. Ask Kate Loughfrey (sp?) about this one. Kate knows about this.

Funding for Library Resources

-Rider 88. Library Resources. This is for Texas Library Connection. It asked for funding for school library resources. It was going to be for TEA to implement. As it finally passed, it actually gave money but TEA is to contract with the State Library to provide the service. Schools will get online resources and databases...but...this will come out of the state technology allotment. It's about 50 or 60 cents out of the allotment ($30). Amounts not to exceed $2.5 million in fiscal year 2008 and $2.5 million in fiscal year 2009.
-This is for the purpose of acquiring online research and information resources for libraries in public schools, and for administrative expenses related to this particular service.

This is the only thing that will specifically be coming out of the State Technology Allotment, some in the audience assert. Karen says that TEA wants to know what resources do you want or need in your district. Karen wants to know what libraries need in your school. The money comes to us in September and fiscal year 2008...what are you using and what would you like?

Audience Response/Discussion: Having a meeting with state library to share your responses. Would you want us to wait for bid or have something else out? Would the piloted K-12 texshare K-12 TexShare/EBSCO meet district needs? We need to tell Karen what's up. We need to go into that meeting with a list of what schools want.

September 2007? Is there money? Response from Karen: YES.
Audience Discussion: If this is going to replace current services, the State Library going out for bid...Should we stay with what we have for this year and work on the bid, selection, then have it for the following year? Is what schools have NOW meeting the needs? What are the administrative expenses related to this particular service? In the past, Region 20 has been a prof. dev research center...TEA really needs our feedback. The meeting is on the 29th.

Funding Update

-No additional funding for tehnology literacy assessment pilot
-No additional funding for Internet safety curriculum
-No additional funding for changes to textbook adoption process
--Ability to implement remains in question for a lot of these things without funding. Sometimes funding is left over in the Agency, but nothing was appropriated.

It was expected that there might be additional staff but it didn't happen.

Web site:

www.tea.state.tx.us

Now that you've heard all that, there are other bills that dealt with other important topics.

-Be on the lookout for TEA Press Releases and get on the listserv.
-Get on the TEA Correspondence listserv
-Mailing List Administration - www.tea.state.tx.us/list

-Looking for grants? New and revamped site
-Our Schools, Our Stars - helps schools get the word out about how to get the success stories/best practices out. Showcases school districts. Anything you do that is exciting and wonderful for technology, share it here. Shared an example of "Schools hit home with online 'gradcasts'" from Huffman ISD.
-Student Assessment Division ....be sure to check the letter on "Planned Student Assessment Long-Range Online Testing Plans for the 2006-2007 through the 2009-2010 School Years."
-Instructional Materials and Ed Tech - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/imet

Listening to a lot of folks on implementing the long range plan. Urges the Texas CTO group and brainstorm together how to meet these challenges.

Teacher STaR Chart - 300,000 teachers have filled it out.

The TIP Toolkit - a tool for planning a school technology immersion program - http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/tip/TIPtoolkit.html

STaR Grant Awardees out soon! Start date is September 1st.

ISTE NETS Refresh - www.iste.org - Karen is looking for folks to help that have TechApps TEKS knowledge. Need school district expertise.

Audience Discussion: When will TA:TEKS be revised? This might be done far in the future, and maybe since we're aligning with national standards, we may be able to do something sooner...but for now, TA:TEKS aren't due to be revised for a few years. Internet safety and other areas need to be done. The TA:TEKS revisions were aligned with the textbook process.

-TechAppsNetwork

-School Library Standards

-Next Curriculum, Library, TechApps TETN Meetings
--August 15, 2007
--December 12, 2007
--Let ESC TETN Contacts or Karen Kahan karen.kahan@tea.state.tx.us

These will focus on LRPT and Educator Development.