Legislative & State Update Dr. Brandie Oliver Indiana School Counselor Association Legislative Co-Chair Butler University School Counseling Program

How Are You Celebrating National School Counseling Week? #NSCW17 National School Counseling Week 2017, "School Counseling: Helping Students Realize Their Potential," will be celebrated from Feb. 6-10, 2017, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by ASCA, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.

Officials celebrate National School Counseling Week in Vigo County Showing appreciation to those who help counsel our youth every single day. This is National School Counseling Week and to celebrate Vigo County School Officials and Terre Haute’s Mayor recognized all of the elementary, middle and high school counselors who serve the corporation. Rick Stevens says these mentors are so crucial to shaping our children’s futures especially since the family dynamic has changed so drastically over the years. “They are exposed to so much more,” Stevens explained. “School shootings, terrorism, parents who have lost their savings for life due, you know, the stock market going down, poverty in our area, we’re talking about 50 percent kids that are on free/reduced lunch and that brings a lot of different challenges.”

AP Fees IDOE will cover in full the exam fees for the 2017 English, Math, and Science Advanced Placement (AP) exams taken by 11th and 12th grade Indiana students enrolled in the corresponding course offered by accredited public and nonpublic schools. Please remember, to qualify for state coverage of AP exam fees, the IDOE requires students to complete both the AP course and corresponding exam during the 2016-17 school year *Please note: nonpublic schools must be state-accredited. http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/student-assistance/ap-exam-ordering-information-2017-02-07.pdf

IC 21-18-12 Indiana E-Transcript Program Required the state (CHE, DOE) to develop a common electronic transcript, using common data fields and formats All public schools (including charter schools) shall use the common electronic transcript by July 1, 2015 Accredited nonpublic schools may elect to use the common transcript Schools are in full compliance when sending all transcripts in xml format Resources http://www.doe.in.gov/indianacommonelectronictranscriptRe 78% of schools are in compliance as of 9/2. Committee CHE, DOE, Parchment, postsecondary institutions, SIS vendors. Charter schools included.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015 Replaces No Child Left Behind (NCLB), which was the previous version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Goes into effect during the 2017-18 school year US ED is currently in the rulemaking process Please keep updated on this work. Required plan components: State Standards Assessment Accountability School Improvement

IDOE’s ESSA Coordinator: ESSA Resources IDOE’s ESSA Webpage: www.in.gov/doe/essa U.S. Department of Education’s ESSA Resource page: http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/essa/index.html Council of Chief State School Officers Website: http://www.ccsso.org/ ASCA’s website: https://www.schoolcounselor.org/school-counselors-members/legislative-affairs Special Education video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUZHX8c-Te0&feature=youtu.be IDOE’s ESSA Coordinator: Kristin Reed Federal Title Grant Policy Coordinator kreed@doe.in.gov

21st Century Scholars Beginning with the graduating class of 2017, completion of the Scholar Success Program must be verified using online ScholarTrack accounts As of 8/29/2016, 73% of 17,534 enrolled class of 2017 Scholars have ScholarTrack accounts and 29% of these students are on track to earn their scholarship Students who fail to complete these required activities before June 30th of their senior year will lose up to four years of paid college tuition Grants: www.Scholars.IN.gov/grants Scholars.IN.gov/ScholarTrack 1-888-528-4719; Scholars@che.in.gov

SAT SCORE: AHD Due to the changes in the SAT format and design, there are significant changes in the scores that will be reported. The SAT test with a composite score of 1250 or higher and a minimum score of 560 on the math section and a 590 on the evidence based reading and writing section. I have been told that this should be finalized by June. I understand this would be too late basically… so I would strongly encourage the counselors having students complete other options to earn the honors diploma just in case this proposed score changes. Prior to March 2016 Old SAT format—after March 2016 new SAT format Indiana State Board of Education intends to adopt a rule concerning the need to make this update. https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/scores/understanding-scores

Promising Counseling Practices To celebrate Indiana’s bicentennial, the Indiana Department of Education will recognize 200 promising practices from schools from all over the state to commemorate our 200 years of Statehood. http://www.doe.in.gov/school-improvement/promising-practices

200+ promising practices to be recognized Are student centered and inclusive Impact student growth and/or performance and closes gaps for specific subgroups Positively impact the climate and culture of the school Set high expectations within the school community Showcase innovation Provide equity for all students Considers wrap around support systems for students Provide evidence that the practice has positively impacted students

Advocacy Do you know your legislator? https://iga.in.gov/legislative/find-legislators/ Have you invited him or her to your school? Have you sent him or her an email to share your great work? We HAVE to communicate our message!

On Your Radar SB 469: Social work and substance abuse prevention. Requires the office of the secretary of family and social services (office of the secretary) to implement an evidence based model of social work and substance abuse prevention that includes partnering with elementary and high schools to provide social and emotional support services to children, parents, caregivers, teachers, and the community. Requires the office of the secretary to contract with an entity to implement the evidence based model, and sets forth requirements that the contractor must meet. Makes an annual appropriation. $10 million appropriation.

Lilly Counseling Initiative Congratulations to all of you that received Planning Grants! Implementation Grants are due May 19, 2017 Understands best practices & relevant research on comprehensive school counseling Engagement of community partners and stakeholders (and will sustain these partnerships) Financial sustainability (matching funds/resources) Evaluation Plan/Metrics/Accountability; How will you show impact? How will this program/project meaningfully enhance the quality of its counseling efforts and expand its impact on the applicant’s students?

Elementary School Counselor Grant Information should be posted sometime this spring. IDOE should have funds to distribute to a small handful of schools next school year. This grant partially funds elementary school counselor positions. Look for information to be sent via counselortalk and to superintendents and principals when it’s available.

Stay Connected Monthly School Counselor e-newsletter – SS INTouch Contact: Amanda Culhan IDOE Program Coordinator for School Counseling aculhan@doe.in.gov