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A $500 stipend is available to all elementary schools to support and promote gifted and talented instruction and/or gifted and talented special programs. Principals can submit application through April 1, 2018. See attached document for more details and application. For further information contact Rebecca Smith at 801-567-8368.

Published on

DATE:
September 4, 2017

TO:  
Elementary DLI Administrators

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum & Staff Development
Michele Daly, DLI Content Administrator

SUBJECT: 
Substitutes for DLI Parent/Teacher Conferences

The District will pay for fall parent/teacher conference substitutes for 1st-6th grade level DLI target language and English partner teachers. The school will then be responsible for paying for the spring parent/teacher conference substitutes for each grade level.

Published on

DATE:
August 31, 2017

TO:
District Administration

FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Planning and Student Services

SUBJECT:
1st Day Enrollment vs. the Estimate
Traditional Schools

See attached memo.

Published on

DATE:
August 24, 2017

TO:  
All Principals

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:  
Upcoming Changes to UTIPS

USBE has been working to update the UTIPS system to be aligned with the Utah Core.  The item bank for English language arts is 100% updated and aligned with the core, the math item bank is 75% completed, and the science item bank will be updated later this fall.

Teachers will now need to check their assessments on UTIPS to be sure that they are aligned to the Utah Core as well.  The standards bank in UTIPS will be updated in mid-September and all obsolete standards will be removed from the system.  This will affect any teacher-created assessments that are not aligned to the current core.

We ask that all principals pass this information on to their faculties so that teachers may take the appropriate actions to ensure that they will still have access to their assessments on UTIPS and that those assessments are aligned to and assessing the current Utah Core.

If you have any questions, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

Published on

DATE:
August 24, 2017

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT:
2017 SAGE Data Release on USBE Data Gateway

Beginning August 25, 2017, the 2016-17 SAGE proficiency results will be released on USBE’s Data Gateway for principals, schools, and districts to review.  The URL for the Data Gateway is https://datagateway.schools.utah.gov/.  The login prompt is in the upper right hand corner of the screen.

We ask that principals log into the Data Gateway and review their school’s SAGE results for accuracy as soon after August 25th as possible.  The intent of the review is to address any data errors before the mid-September public release date.  Please report any concerns or inaccuracies to the Evaluation, Research & Accountability department at 801-567-8185.

It is anticipated that USBE will release accountability data and school report cards in mid-September for principals, schools and districts to review.  While the release date is still tentative, schools will have an opportunity to review their accountability data prior to public release.

If you need assistance navigating the Data Gateway or logging in, please contact Ben Jameson at 801-567-8243.

Published on

DATE:
August 24, 2017

TO:
Secondary Principals

FROM:
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Pam Su’a, Consultant, Social Studies

SUBJECT:
U.S. Civics Test and UTIPS

In order to facilitate record keeping more easily and lessen the burdens of social studies teachers, we will be administering the U.S. Civics test required for high school graduation (see Utah Code 53A-13-109.5 and Board Rule R277-700-8) via UTIPS.

The plan for administering the U.S. Civics test is as follows:

  • Students will continue to take the test starting in 8th grade as part of their U.S. History course. Seniors will also be given a chance as needed to pass the test through their required U.S. Government and Citizenship course.
  • Social studies teachers of all grades can give the test.
  • Testing results will be entered in Skyward under Educational Milestones so that counselors can continue to track this graduation requirement. A ‘passed’ indicator will then print on student transcripts.  The Evaluation, Research & Accountability department will facilitate this process.  Individual schools and school personnel will no longer need to input Civics test scores into Skyward.
  • The Civics test will be administered online through UTIPS: https://jordan.utips.org/.
  • Students can take and re-take the test as needed in order to pass under a teacher’s direction or in a school computer lab/testing center.
  • If an IEP team determines a student qualifies for an alternate assessment, the teacher can administer a 10-question oral exam where the student only needs to pass 6 questions correctly, following the same process as we have in the past. In this case, that student’s score will need to be entered into Skyward by the school.
  • On January 1, 2018, all graduating seniors become eligible to take a 10-question version of the test with a 60% passing threshold. This 10-question version of the test will be posted and available on UTIPS by January 1st.

Social studies department chairs have already been trained on this updated process.  Teachers have already received updated UTIPS accounts, with demo accounts, so that they can see what the student sees.  They have also received the instructions and materials to administer the Civics test as needed.

Building principals will be receiving an individual email in the near future from the Evaluation, Research & Accountability department with individual UTIPS usernames and passwords.  This account access for principals will allow for another level of completion tracking for this graduation requirement, at each principal’s discretion.

For more information on the Civics test administration, please visit the district’s assessment website under Assessments tab and US Civics Test: http://assessments.jordandistrict.org/assessments/citizenship-test/.

Please call the Evaluation, Research & Accountability department with any concerns or questions you may have at 801-567-8017.

Published on

DATE:
August 23, 2017

TO:
All Principals

FROM:
John Larsen, Business Administrator
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum & Staff Development
Ron Bird, Director of Information Systems
Michael Heaps, Support Services Manager, Information Systems
Mark Sowa, Instructional Technology Consultant

SUBJECT:
Canvas Licenses

Many of you may have heard that Canvas licenses have been purchased by the State for all students in Utah public schools. This is accurate. However, funding has only been committed for the current school year. There is no current plan or guarantee that the State will pay for licenses after this school year.

If you are interested in using Canvas at your school under the current free licensing, please contact Michael Heaps or Steffany Ellsworth in Information Systems (801-567-8140) for more information and instructions on how to begin this process.

You will also want to consider a professional development component to implementation. To discuss this further, please contact your respective Instructional Technology Teacher Specialist.

Published on

Urgent Message for Schools

Please remember that it is  illegal to gather citizenship status information per the Office of Civil Rights in both the Department of Education and Department of Justice and the U.S. Supreme Court in 1982 (Plyler vs.Doe - 457 U.S. 202). Please see the attached document from the Utah State Board of Education.

Published on

DATE: 
August 17, 2017

TO:   
Elementary Principals

FROM: 
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curriculum and Staff Development
Norman R. Emerson, Fine Arts Consultant

SUBJECT: 
Assemblies by Artistic Resources for Teachers and Students, Inc. (ARTS, Inc.)

ARTS, Inc., now in its fifty-sixth year of operation, was founded in 1961 and has provided performances in all forty-one school districts in Utah, reaching more than 250 schools each year with professional arts and education programming.  We welcome their artists in our schools again for the 2017-18 school year.

Click this link to find:

  • The assembly schedule with the date and time the artists will be at your school.
  • The contact information for the performing group coming to your school.

The artists have been instructed to contact you at least two weeks prior to their assembly to verify starting times and specific needs for their performance.  If the date selected for the music group to perform at your school does not work with your schedule, please contact the music group as soon as possible to reschedule.  The name and phone number of the contact person for each group has been provided.

If you have any questions, please contact Norman Emerson at 801-567-8364.

 

Published on

DATE:
August 16, 2017

TO:
District Administration

FROM:
Administrators of Schools
Dr. Anthony Godfrey, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Planning and Student Services

SUBJECT:
1st Day Enrollment vs. the Estimate
Year-round schools, Tracks A, B, C & D
(August 16, 2017 count)

See attached memo.

Published on

DATE:
July 1, 2017

TO:    
Principals
Head/Financial Secretaries
Special Education Teachers (Resource and Cluster)
Speech-Language Pathologists

FROM:  
Laura Finlinson, Administrator of Curric./Staff Development & Special Programs
Lisa Robinson, Director of Special Education
Julie Brown, Program Specialist

SUBJECT:  
Special Education Budget Allocations 2017-18

See attached memo and budget guidelines.

Published on

JPLS Reminder:

Administrators, please remind all administrative assistants to not create default accounts for new teachers on JPLS.  New teacher accounts are created on JPLS within a week of HR updating information on Skyward. If you have questions please contact the JES office at (801) 5f67-8239 or (801) 567-8369. Thank you.