Category: High Schools

For schools that are considering the purchase of a new Apple TV, you will want to be aware that any model you purchase MUST have the Ethernet option included. An Ethernet port is required to permit setup of the Apple TV on the district’s network. Apple TVs without an Ethernet port will not be able to be used.

Currently, Apple has only two models of Apple TVs available. One is a WiFi only model at $129.00. The other is a WiFi and Ethernet model @ $149.00. Purchases of the WiFi only model have been blocked, so you will only be able to acquire the WiFi and Ethernet models through district vendors. If you choose to acquire Apple TVs through other means, please ensure you are purchasing the model that includes an Ethernet port.

DATE:   
Thursday, December 1, 2022

TO:  
All School Administrators

FROM:   
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability

SUBJECT: 
Testing Ethics Reminder – Parents Should Not Proctor State Assessments

Principals are asked to share the following information with their faculty at their earliest convenience.

This is a friendly reminder about a few less known but important aspects of the state’s testing ethics policy:

• All state assessments must be proctored under the supervision of a licensed educator.
• Unless they are an employee of Jordan School District, parents should not be proctoring any state assessments.
• Unless they are an employee of Jordan School District, parents should not be allowed in the classroom where students are taking a state assessment. In addition, the public is not allowed to view secure test items or to observe testing sessions.
• All educators, education support professionals, and administrators who participate in state assessment administration and/or proctoring must complete the annual testing ethics training. As part of their crucial concerns and policies checkoff, licensed employees have completed this training already. School administrators must complete testing ethics training with any ESPs that will participate in any way in the administration of state assessments (see JAM memo dated 8/18/2022 for procedures and training materials).

Testing ethics violations are to be immediately reported to Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability so that an investigation may be initiated. Please contact Ben Jameson with any questions.

Testing Ethics Reminder

DATE: 
November 17, 2022

TO: 
Principals
Assistant Principals
Elementary Administrative Assistants
Secondary Registrars
Secondary Attendance Secretaries

FROM: 
Michael Anderson, Associate Superintendent
Travis Hamblin, Director of Student Services
Caleb Olson, Consultant, Planning & Enrollment

SUBJECT:  
School Choice Permit Allocations and Procedures

The open enrollment permit window opened on Tuesday, November 15, 2022.

Permit seat totals can be found on each school’s Enrollment Dashboard. Open the “2023-24” tab and scroll down to the permit section.

A calendar of required tasks and completion dates is available at this link. As a general rule, the following are the requirements for schools to remain compliant and provide the best response to applications:

• At least weekly, schools should verify applications in the 2023-24 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist.
• At least monthly, schools should verify applications in the 2022-23 school year workspace and prepare them to be processed and moved to the waitlist.

Schools should verify all outstanding applications prior to leaving for Winter Recess and verify any applications received during Winter Recess as soon as possible in the morning on Tuesday, January 3, 2023, so that the lottery can be run that afternoon. Once the lottery has been run, schools may immediately begin offering seats (if available). Seats not accepted within two weeks should be revoked (after attempting communication with the parent) and reoffered to the next student in line on the waitlist.

The calendar of required tasks and completion dates also reflects an important change for this year’s permit processing: In previous years, several schools have not kept current on processing permits or seating students, meaning these students were not given the appropriate opportunity to be awarded a seat. This year, to avoid this situation, Planning & Enrollment will “mass approve” unprocessed applications prior to the lottery and will “mass seat” students on the waitlist if schools do not verify and seat in a timely manner. Please note that these mass actions will be done to ensure compliance and permits will not be individually verified for discipline or other requirements. Schools concerned about ensuring that students with discipline or other concerns are appropriately processed should ensure they stay current in their own processing.

During the early enrollment window (now through February 3), the availability of permit seats is governed by BUILDING CAPACITY. Schools that are the most full will have the least available seats. Adding seats is governed by rules of the tier system established by the Board of Education and, in all instances, requires conversation with the Administrator of Schools for the building. In the late enrollment window (after February 3 and 2.0 allocations are released), schools may request additional seats from their Administrator of Schools. Available seats in this window will be determined by the availability of space, by grade, in the teacher allocation based on current enrollment figures.

One final reminder: the early enrollment window (now through February 3) requires schools to seat students if permit seats are available. Schools MUST follow the waitlist order when offering seats. It is inappropriate – and potentially illegal – for a school to modify the waitlist order so that students who listed the school as a “first choice” are placed before others, regardless of their lottery priority. Schools who follow this practice may lose the ability to seat permit applications themselves. School administrators with concerns over this guideline may raise the issue with their Administrator of Schools.

School Choice Permit Allocations and Procedures 2023-24

DATE:  
Thursday, November 17, 2022

TO:   
All School Administrators

FROM:  
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
Michelle Love-Day, Director of Language & Culture Services

SUBJECT:  
WIDA ACCESS 2.0 Test Administration Training for Schools

School administrators are asked to pass this information on to anyone who will be proctoring or coordinating the WIDA Access testing in your school this year.

As part of a federal requirement and the state’s accountability system, districts are required to administer the WIDA Access 2.0 annually to all EL students who have earned a Language Proficiency Level (LPL) of less than 5. The 2022-23 WIDA test administration window begins on January 5 and ends on March 3, 2023.

Schools will administer the WIDA Access to students in grades 1-12. Because the WIDA Access test is administered one-on-one to kindergarten students as well as students with severe cognitive disabilities that are eligible for the WIDA alternate assessment, Evaluation, Research & Accountability will complete testing for these students.

All school personnel who will assist with WIDA Access test administration are asked to attend a mandatory test administration training. Participants may choose to attend any one of six training sessions, including one online training. Training participants will need to bring a device. Please note that if schools choose to send a classroom teacher, principals will need to cover the cost of the substitute teacher. Test pool hours may also be used for this.

Those who are to be trained to administer the WIDA should register in JPLS so that we may create their accounts in the testing and training platforms prior to their selected training date. Following are the training dates and times:

Please contact JoLynn Snelgrove in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with questions about the WIDA Access test administration and training.

2022-23 WIDA Administration Training for Schools