Details
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver Project
A series of stakeholder meetings, four over 2 days, facilitated by Kris Kaase, Beth Howard, and Robyn Madison-Harris in conjunction with SCDE leaders, was held in order to collect input from various stakeholder groups, such as teachers, administrators, district superintendents and assessment staff, and community leaders, regarding the SC ESEA waiver application. A presentation regarding the four components of the waiver application was made to each group who provided relative feedback that was documented for consideration during the waiver application revision process prior to its submission to the U.S. Department of Education. The waiver application was submitted in February.
This project is in the following state: South Carolina.
Previous Work Updates
2012
September
Research on South Carolina’s Information Request, Preparation and Certification of State Educator Evaluation System Evaluators, was completed and submitted to the South Carolina Department of Education. Resource information regarding a TQ Center webinar, "Teacher Preparation Program Evaluation for Accountability and Improvement," also was provided.
August
SECC and SCDE staff discussed the status of the South Carolina/SECC Educator Evaluation Project work and the need for additional SECC technical assistance. SCDE revised its original request to a targeted request for information regarding what other states are doing to prepare/certify and to annually update evaluators. A team comprised of SECC staff and an external consultant was formed to conduct the requested research. Work on this request was initiated in August and will be completed by the end of September. Information on the SEDL briefing paper, Teacher Preparation Programs: Research and Promising Practices, and the TQ Center’s webinars, Measuring the Growth of Students Participating in the Alternate Assessment and Evaluating Teachers of English Language Learners also was provided.
July
SECC staff followed-up with the SCDE regarding the need for additional technical assistance from SECC for the ESEA Flexibility Waiver Project.
June
On June 29, 2012, SECC staff spoke with SCDE staff regarding the status of the South Carolina/SECC Educator Evaluation Project work. Since the educator evaluation guidelines have been completed, technical assistance is not needed in this area. SCDE staff will research the need for additional technical assistance and will contact SECC by August 1, 2012, with the department’s decision.
May
SECC staff spoke with SCDE staff regarding the completion of the remaining four deliverables in this project. SCDE staff agreed to develop a revised timeline and submit it to SECC for feedback by June 15.
April
The South Carolina Department of Education and SECC are continuing to discuss next steps concerning the ESEA waiver.
March
Next steps are continuing to be discussed between the SCDE and SECC concerning the ESEA Flexibility Waiver.
February
SECC spoke with SCDE staff to begin the development of timelines and next steps, sharing of teacher quality information, and the U.S. Department of Education review of the ESEA Flexibility Waiver.
January
A SECC consultant reviewed a draft of the state's ESEA Waiver Request for Principle 3, supporting Effective Instruction and Leadership, and prepared a written report to the SCDE on January 20, 2012. The report included a description of the strengths and weaknesses of the proposal as well as recommendations for moving forward with the redesign of the teacher and principal evaluation and support systems.
2011
November
SECC facilitated four stakeholder meetings in conjunction with South Carolina Department of Education leaders. These meetings were held to present the four components of the waiver application and to collect relative feedback that was documented for consideration during the waiver application revision process prior to its submission to the U.S. Department of Education. Particular focus was honed on Principle 3 of the waiver application.
