Local Educational Agency Monitoring: Best Practices Yield Excellent Results

1. Local Educational Agency Monitoring: Best Practices Yield Excellent Results Title Programs Conference June 20-21, 2012

2. Evelyn Maddox Georgia Department of Education Title I Education Program Specialist emaddox@doe.k12.ga.us (404) 656-2045 James Everson, Ed.D. Georgia Department of Education Title I Education Program Specialist jeverson@doe.k12.ga.us (229) 723-2664 Presenters

3. Agenda • Local Educational Agency (LEA) Preparation for On-site Monitoring Visit • Development and implementation of procedures • Familiarity with the monitoring document • Setting up monitoring files • Filing documentation

4. Agenda • Provide Training For Staff • Share monitoring document • Review required documentation • Provide timelines for submission of documents • Effective Routine Practices • Monitoring Team Expectations

5. Agenda • Monitoring of Federal Programs • LEA monitoring form • New Requirements • Samples of Best Practices Documents • Questions and Answers

6. LEA Preparation For On-Site Monitoring Visit • Develop written procedures for implementing all aspects of your Title programs • Implement developed procedures • Deal with the root cause of inadequate implementation • Develop routines that create an attention to detail at the district and school level

7. LEA Preparation For On-Site Monitoring Visit • File appropriate documentation in folders labeled according to the monitoring form • Make a copy of written procedures/processes as listed on the monitoring document and file in appropriate folder

8. LEA Preparation For On-Site Monitoring Visit • Become familiar with the monitoring document • Requirements column • Documentation on File at the LEA column • How to set up files • Hanging files with each section name and number (example: 3. Parental Involvement) • Separate folders with name and number of each requirement placed in appropriate hanging file (example: 3.7 Evidence that schools have signed and dated school-parent compacts)

9. LEA Preparation For On-Site Monitoring Visit • Items too large to be placed in folders should be readily available, with required items clearly identified • When To File Documentation • Current Year documentation for each required descriptor should be placed in a folder for team review • Contemporaneously – as it occurs

10. Provide Training For Staff • Share monitoring document • Provide to school level staff and participating programs directors • Review required documentation • Emphasize and clarify specifics in LEA compliance column • Provide directions on how to file and submit documentation to Title I office • Provide timelines for submission of documents • Incremental follow-up of collection of required documentation

11. Effective Routine Practices • Agendas and sign-in sheets for all meetings/technical assistance • Matching dates for agendas and sign-in sheets • Sign-in sheets with lines for people to sign their names and list their roles • Include parents and other stakeholders in the writing and revision of all plans, including Flexible Learning Program (FLP) Plan when required • Include parents’ and other stakeholders’ names on sign-in sheets to document that they were involved

12. Monitoring Team Expectations • Documentation that is not already available to the GaDOE Cross-Functional Monitoring Team on file for team review • Organized system that is easy to follow • Consistent format for plans • Ensure all school plans are written (according to required components) and labeled in the same order • Example: schoolwide/school improvement plan template • Documentation in folders or, if too large for folder, readily available • Folder contents clear and meet requirements

13. Federal Programs To Be Monitored • Title I, Part A – Improving the Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged • Title I, Part A – Reward Schools • Title I, Part A – Reward Districts • Title I School Improvement 1003(a) • Title I, Part C – Education of Migratory Children

14. Federal Programs To Be Monitored • Title I, Part D – Prevention and Intervention Programs for Children and Youth Who Are Neglected, Delinquent, or At-Risk • Title II, Part A – Teacher Quality • Title III, Part A – Language Instruction for LEP and Immigrant Students

15. Federal Programs To Be Monitored • Title VI, Part B – Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) • Title X, Part C – Education for Homeless Children & Youth • Race To The Top (RT3) – Incentive Grants ARRA-State Fiscal Stabilization Fund

16. New Requirements • Georgia Law 20-2-2130 – 2131 Intra-District School Choice requires districts by July 1 of each year to notify parents which schools in the district have available space and to which of these schools the parents may request a transfer for their child. • Flexible Learning Program (FLP) required for all schools identified as Priority or Focus [exception: schools receiving School Improvement Grant (SIG) 1003g]

17. Samples of Best Practices Documents • DISCLAIMER • Sample documents are for discussion purposes only. Many are borrowed from districts with their permission and are therefore district-specific. • Some items contained on sample documents no longer apply (example: Supplemental Educational Services)

18. Questions and Answers

19. Helpful Resources • Title I Handbook – Current Edition • NCLB Act of 2001 (Blue Book) • GaDOE Web site – http://public.doe.k12.ga.us • US ED Web site – www.ed.gov • LEA Cross-Functional Monitoring Form • Education Support Services Operations Manual • Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circulars • Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR)

20. Title I Program Specialist Contact Information

21. Local Educational Agency Monitoring: Best Practices Yield Excellent Results Title Programs Conference June 20-21, 2012