SCSC Releases Year-End Video
The State Charter Schools Commission (SCSC) released our inaugural 2020-2021 year-end video. The video highlights the impact the SCSC, the State Charter Schools Foundation (SCSF), and state charter schools have made over the last school year during the COVID-19 pandemic. The SCSC and SCSF are proud of our schools' hard work to keep students learning.
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SCSC Proposes Alternate Academic Performance Measures for 2020-21 School Year |
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At the Sept. 28, 2021 SCSC board meeting staff presented proposed measures for evaluating state charter school academic performance for the 2020-2021 school year due to the absence of CCRPI data. Specifically, SCSC staff propose that a state charter school can meet academic standards by outperforming the schools from which it enrolls students, across all relevant grade bands, on any one or combination of the following metrics:
- SCSC calculated Content Mastery scores- shared with schools in late Sep.
- GaDOE Achievement scores- to be released later this fall
If a school fails to meet standards via one of the two metrics listed above, the SCSC will consider school-administered benchmark assessment results. SCSC staff will reach out to schools in this category once all data for the other two metrics have been gathered and analyzed. Specifics regarding applicable benchmark data, what will be requested, accepted and how it will be reviewed are still being determined and may vary from school to school based on assessment type.
The SCSC board will consider this recommendation at the October 27th board meeting. Please submit any feedback regarding the proposed academic measures for 2020-2021 to Katie Manthey, katie.manthey@scsc.georga.gov, by Tuesday October 12, 2021. The proposed changes will apply only to the previous, 2020-2021, school year. Traditional SCSC CPF academic measures are in place for the current school year.
The SCSC appreciates the hard work state charter schools are doing for Georgia’s students. While we understand these are challenging times, the SCSC must uphold its duty as an authorizing body to hold schools accountable. We appreciate your partnership as we work through this process.
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Accountability Lunch and Learn
Transition to Microsoft Teams
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Beginning with the Oct. 20, 2021 Lunch & Learn, all of GaDOE's Accountability Lunch & Learns will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. In preparation. please register for the October and November Lunch & Learns using the following links:
Additionally, you should download the Teams app on your desktop. Please remember that you will be held in the waiting room for the October 20 session until the webinar begins at noon.
As part of this transition, you will no longer be able to access previous Accountability Lunch & Learns by clicking on the GoToWebinar registration links. However, you can access all 2021 Lunch and Learn recordings by using this link.
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BEACON launches new Georgia Milestones predictive scoring feature |
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The Georgia Department of Education provides free formative tools for all LEAs in the state. BEACON is a computer-adaptive, formative tool for grades 3rd-8th in ELA and Math.
Educators and school leaders have the flexibility to administer BEACON strategically – across grade levels or at the team, classroom, or student level. BEACON provides quick results with either testlets or full content-area tests. Students use the same portal and accommodations/tools as Georgia Milestones – reducing anxiety on testing day.
This school year, BEACON is launching a new feature – predictive Georgia Milestones scoring. Predictive Georgia Milestones scores allow for monitoring and support for targeted instruction throughout the year.
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FREE Suicide Prevention course for all LEA staff |
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The Georgia Department of Education's Office of Whole Child Supports is launching a newly updated Suicide Prevention Course for teachers and school personnel.
This asynchronous, interactive course is intended to help school staff recognize the risk factors and warning signs associated with youth suicide, the third leading cause of death in Georgia for those ages 10-24. The course emphasizes the referral function teachers can play to ensure at-risk youth receive the necessary mental health support from professionals in their school or community. This no-cost course fulfills the education requirement under the Jason Flatt Act of Georgia that requires identified public school employees to undergo annual suicide awareness and prevention training.
The revamped course includes the following new elements:
- A module centered on promoting student wellbeing
- Strategies to talk about a suicide with students after it has occurred
- Updated facts from the 2020-2021 school year on youth suicide in Georgia
- Functionality to self-pace the course lesson by lesson
The course is housed in the Georgia Department of Education’s new statewide professional learning platform, Georgia Learns, which will replace the current in-house PLO beginning in August 2021 with completed migration planned for January 2022. Georgia Learns will provide quality professional learning courses for all Georgia Department of Education’s employees and LEA staff.
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United States Senate Youth Program Application & Changes
For this year’s United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) application for Georgia, Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) has made some changes in an effort to make this opportunity more open and accessible to Georgia students. Beginning this year, GaDOE will not limit USSYP nominations to one per school district. Instead, any high-school junior or senior may choose to apply, provided they secure signatures from their principal and school counselor. The application is available online at gadoe.org/USSYP and should be sent via email to mfrick@doe.k12.ga.us by October 29, 2021 at 5 p.m.
Students will take the USSYP Public Affairs Exam only if they are selected as a finalist. GaDOE will coordinate with the finalists’ schools to ensure administration of the exam.
GaDOE ask that school counselors or USSYP coordinators who receive requests for the application direct students to the link above. Qualifications for the program have not changed and are listed both at the link and within the application itself.
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SCSC Petitioner Bootcamp
The SCSC is hosting its annual Petitioner Bootcamp training on October 12th. Petitioner Bootcamp prepares potential petitioners for the SCSC charter petition process. Attendees will learn what goes into a successful charter petition, with a specific focus on timeline, legal requirements, board governance, financial controls, and budget preparation.This year’s training will be held virtually. Please see the trainings page on the SCSC’s website for more details.
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Petitioner Webinar Series Pt. 1: Overview of Application and FluidReview
The SCSC will offer a series of webinars following the petitioner boot camp to assist applicants in the petition development process. Part 1 will be hosted on October 27 th
and go over the application process and the FluidReview platform it must be submitted on.
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State Charter Schools Foundation 2021 Annual Report
Learn more about how the State Charter Schools Foundation of Georgia supports state charter schools in the 2021 Annual Report. To learn about sponsorship and investment opportunities, please contact Michele Neely. Your financial support helps ensure more of Georgia's children have access to high-quality charter schools. |
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Superintendent Woods names Garve Patel to 2021-2022 Student Advisory Council
The State School Superintendent Richard Woods has selected 66 Georgia high-school students to serve on his 2021-2022 Student Advisory Council. Garve Patel, a student from the Academy for Classical Education,(ACE), was selected as a member of this year's council! Throughout the year, these students will meet with Superintendent Woods to discuss the impact of state policies in the classroom. Congratulations, Garve!
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Majority of Georgia Voters Support Public Charter Schools & Statewide Charter Expansion
A new poll out by the Georgia Charter Schools Association (GCSA) finds that nearly two-thirds of Georgia voters favor public charter schools and over half support public charter expansion! The Public Opinion Strategies poll comes a year and a half after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These findings continue to show there is strong demand and support for public charter schools throughout the state of Georgia,” said Tony Roberts, President and CEO of the Georgia Charter Schools Association. “We believe the COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened the need for more high-quality public charter schools in our state. These innovative public schools are important to Georgia’s overall public school system because they meet the individual needs of students and successfully prepare them for the future. "
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Scintilla’s Milestones Scores Show Significant Gains in Reading Levels
Scintilla Charter Academy (SCA) scholars showed significant gains in reading levels based on 2021 Georgia Milestones scores! 3rd grade scholars saw increases of 21% from 2019-2021, and grades 3-6 held a higher percentage of readers reading at or above grade level than the state's average. Congratulations SCA scholars and instructional staff for this achievement!
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The next SCSC monthly board meeting is scheduled for October 27, 2021 at 10 AM. A list of upcoming meetings for 2021 can be found on the meetings page of the SCSC website.
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The State Charter Schools Commission’s (SCSC) FY21 Reporting Deadlines calendar is available on the SCSC website here. Please note that most deadlines are established by the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and are subject to change. The SCSC makes every attempt to ensure that it maintains all dates as accurately as possible. However, all schools are encouraged to stay up to date of any changes to the timeline made by GaDOE. Any failure by a state charter school to meet deadlines established and enforced by the SCSC and GaDOE will be reflected in the school’s assessment through the SCSC Comprehensive Performance Framework. |
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2021 CCRPI Live Data Verification Tool Available in the Portal
On March 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Education approved Georgia’s waiver of several accountability, school identification, and report card requirements. (For more information about the waiver, please review the 2021 Accountability Waiver FAQ 3.29.21.) Though there will be no 2021 CCRPI summary score for the state, school districts, or schools, some CCRPI-related data, such as achievement rates, participation rates, and graduation rates, for example, will still be calculated and publicly reported by Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE).
Due to this, GaDOE is providing schools and districts with a valuable accountability resource – the Live Data Verification tool. The Live Data Verification tool, available now in the CCRPI portal with demographic and attendance data and provides summary data from Student Record that updates nightly as your district updates the data. Additional Student Record data (such as students in the 2021 4-year graduation cohort) and data from Student Class data will populate in the tool in May. This tool will assist district staff and principals in verifying the accuracy of the data submitted in Student Record and Student Class before the data collections close. The accuracy of such data is critical to accurate accountability reporting.
View the user guide at your convenience.The user guide, training webinar, and webinar PPT handout for this tool are also available for download on the MyGaDOE portal.
To access the Live Data Verification tool, log on to the MyGaDOE portal, click on the CCRPI link, and then choose Live Data Verification. For help accessing the portal and with any functionality issues, contact the GaDOE Information Systems Customer Support Center at 1-800-869-1011 or dticket@doe.k12.ga.us. Contact the GaDOE accountability specialist assigned to assist your district with questions regarding the data. |
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Funding & Professional Development Opportunities |
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GaDOE Professional Learning Catalog
Free Yearlong Science of Reading Course on the Cox Campus
COX Campus has launched their latest free course in their K-3 Science of Reading series! This is part-one of their K-3 Yearlong Learning Journey, a series focused on the practical application of the Science of Reading. A great resource and training course for educators and parents!
GCSA FY22 Financial Management Certification Program
REGISTER NOW for GCSA’s Financial Management Certification Program. You can still sign up for five of the six remaining courses! GCSA will offer any courses that you miss during our spring semester. This year’s program is offered virtually, and each course is split into two, four-hour sessions in the same week.
This training is specifically designed to build the expertise and knowledge of charter school leaders and board members who oversee school financial operations. However, registration is open to all interested charter school employees. GCSA’s rigorous program is tailored to address the unique financial issues facing charter schools.
**Scholarships are available for state charter school participants.**
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FY22 Estimated Formula Allocations - ESSA and IDEA
Preliminary FY22 estimated formula-based allocations under Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A; Title III, Part A; Title IV, Part A; Title I, Part C and Title I Part D of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 are posted under the Resources section on the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) Federal Programs webpage.
Estimated allocations for Title V, Part B, and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 611 Flowthrough and 619 Preschool grants should be finalized in early July and posted on our website.
These allocations are not final and are provided for planning purposes only. Final grant award notifications (GANs) will be issued after July 1, 2021 pending State Board of Education (SBOE) approval of funding.
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State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia
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For real-time updates and announcements: |
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The State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia (SCSC) is a state-level, independent charter school authorizing entity. The SCSC has the power to approve or deny petitions for state charter schools and renew, nonrenew, or terminate state charter school contracts in accordance with Georgia law. |
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Copyright © 2021 State Charter Schools Commission of Georgia, All rights reserved. |
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