Did You Get Selected for the Wisconsin Special Education Parent Survey?

In Wisconsin every year school districts are selected to participate in a self assessment process. Part of this self assessment is a special education parent involvement survey.  All school districts in the state of Wisconsin participate in this survey at least once in a five year cycle. The parent survey is part of the State Performance Plan that also includes gathering information on Preschool Outcomes, Transition Goals, Post-Secondary Outcomes, and a Self-Assessment on special education procedures.  Through the survey, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) collects statewide data to determine how districts are doing in the state.  This information is reported to the federal government Office of Special Education Programs.

There is no risk to parents filling out the survey.  Their answers will not affect the services provided for their children by the school.  Parents will not be identified with their responses to the survey questions.

Questions in the survey include:  Are you considered an equal partner with teachers and other professionals in planning your child’s program?  Is there someone on the school staff who is available to answer your questions?  Is your child’s evaluation report written in terms you understand?

Filling out this survey gives information to the Department of Public Instruction that assist in developing resources for Wisconsin schools to increase parent understanding of the special education process and encourage parent involvement.  For example, previous responses to this survey led to the development of resources such as “Communication Options for Families” (A document you can personalize that outlines local, regional and state contacts you can talk with if you have questions or disagree with a decision of the school.), broadened awareness of parent support organizations, and development of tools to support parents at IEP meetings.

Parents of students with disabilities have been chosen at random to complete the survey.  If you are a parent who was selected you received a letter from your school district about the survey back in March. The letter had instructions for you to access the survey and fill it out on the internet. Some districts sent out paper copies of the survey for parents to fill out and mail in. If you were selected and have not yet completed the survey please respond by filling out the survey on the Internet, or calling your school district to ask for a paper survey. You might be getting a follow up call to see if you have questions. Your feedback is important in statewide planning on how we can improve parent involvement in your child’s education. Parents that have been selected for the survey can access the survey through this page on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website http://dpi.wi.gov/sped/parentsurvey.html

A Message from Tony Evers WI State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Teacher Appreciation Week is held each year during the first full week of May. It is a special time to recognize the efforts of the women and men who educate our children. Whether it is through a phone call, card, e-mail or other contact, it means a lot to a teacher to hear of the success of a former student or the thanks of a grateful parent.

The work of a teacher is critical to building our future. Some would suggest that education is all that stands between civilization and catastrophe. The common school, educating all children as they come, transmits our American values of honesty, compassion, and hard work along with the academic knowledge and skills that prepare young people to become the leaders, thinkers, and innovators who will propel our society further. The task of educating tomorrow's citizens is both rewarding and demanding. In Wisconsin, it's been made more difficult by a political atmosphere that nourishes envy rather than cultivating unity. We can heal our state by uniting on the importance of educating our children and supporting our public schools.

The most important factor in a student's educational success is the quality of the teacher in the classroom. We want our children to have teachers who are well trained and enthusiastic about their work. In the countries that do best on international measures of educational success, teachers are held in high esteem. That respect is part of a cultural foundation of valuing children and their education. When U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan toured Wisconsin recently, he called for elevating the teaching profession. I agree.

The efforts of a teacher can change the life of a child. Without the dedicated teachers I had in school in Plymouth, Wisconsin, I would not be where I am today. They encouraged me. They pushed me. They helped light the fire for service to education that drives me every day.

During this year's May 7 to 11 Teacher Appreciation Week observance, I'd like to thank my teachers, indeed, all teachers. I value education and the work of Wisconsin's teachers. I encourage all citizens to commit to the importance of education and extend a "thank you" to a teacher who has made a difference in your life.

Tony Evers is the elected state superintendent of public instruction.

Who you are and how you are makes a difference ....

“I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down...” ~Abraham Lincoln

I learned about research last week that indicates having at least 3 minutes of positive human contact each day can make a huge difference for our "at risk" kids (it likely uplifts all of us). Guess what? The three minutes can be incremental, a 30 second greeting in the morning, 60 seconds of spontaneous interaction sandwiched between and sprinkled with 90 seconds of random encounters throughout a regular school day. Oh my! Who you are and how you are makes a difference in ways you will never know.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Wisconsin Post High School Outcomes Survey

State Superintendent appoints Digital Learning Advisory Council

MADISON — State Superintendent Tony Evers has appointed a Digital Learning Advisory Council which is working to coordinate the approach to technology by Wisconsin’s entire education community—from teachers and district administrators, to private vendors, technical and four-year colleges.
“We've reached a point in education where skillful use of technology will have enormous payoffs in terms of every child’s readiness for further education and the workforce," explained State Superintendent Tony Evers.
“The work of my Digital Learning Advisory Council will guide us so we can deploy technology in the best way possible to advance student learning and make schools more efficient.”
The council is crafting a digital learning plan that will serve as a blueprint for schools and their partners,
such as public libraries, community organizations, and local employers, to follow in order to maximize the impact of their work—not only in making learning more meaningful and relevant for students, but also more accessible for economically disadvantaged students and more cost-effective for school districts.
The council includes teachers, technology specialists, and other representatives from public and private
schools, school districts, libraries, higher education institutions, and industry. The co-chairs are Connie Erickson,
director, Cooperative Educational Service Agency 11, and Mike Kerr, executive director, Wisconsin Technology Initiative. The group expects to consult with educational technology vendors as it progresses in its work. Among the elements the council is likely to consider including in its final plan are:
• Leveraging technology for innovative instruction such as the “flipped classroom” model (where
students listen to recorded lectures as their homework, while traditional “homework” is instead done in class, allowing teachers to spend more time supporting and observing students at work)
• Personalizing learning through technology that allows students to learn at their own pace and prove their mastery in multiple ways, reducing the need for “seat time” as a crude measure of student engagement
• Giving students 21st century methods to learn 21st century skills—for example, using a cloudbased application like Google Docs to practice collaborating with others
• Providing expert guidance to schools on infrastructure issues like wiring or network security, to ensure they get the most performance out of current equipment
• Coordinating a statewide educational resource portal available to any educator from his or her computer
• Ensuring broadband Internet access for economically disadvantaged students outside of class, through such solutions as expanded school hours, library and community partnerships, or programs modeled on the Comcast Internet Essentials and Connect to Complete partnerships which give discounted services and computers to families whose children qualify for free or reduced lunch
• Advocating that both teacher preparation programs and teacher licensing policies better address virtual learning methods
• Recommending school policies that allow students to utilize their own electronic devices for work purposes, as many workplaces do
Many of the plan’s elements are likely to connect with other current initiatives to ensure every child a graduate ready for further education and the workforce—initiatives like Response to Intervention (a systemic approach to making sure every student has an opportunity to succeed); implementation of the Common Core State Standards in mathematics and English language arts; or the state’s work to create a new, balanced assessment system.
“We are transforming the way schools work,” Evers noted. “Most of these goals aren’t easily attained without very deliberate use of technology as part of the plan. Whether it’s preparing students for the workforce, tapping into a rich source of student data, individualizing a child’s education experience, or saving precious time for educators, students and teachers need modern tools to succeed.”
He added, “It doesn’t make sense for school districts or their partners to use their individual resources to duplicate front-end research or develop multiple, similar approaches to similar problems. That’s where a statewide plan comes in.”
The State Superintendent’s Digital Learning Advisory Council has been meeting since April and expects to complete its work in early 2012.

WDPI Press Release 11/17/11 http://dpi.wi.gov/eis/pdf/dpinr2011_128.pdf