Commissioner's Monday Message

February 8, 2021

Dear Colleagues:

Today we released three new guidance documents to help you begin thinking through some of the new questions that are facing us as we enter the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. We released new guidance on decisions regarding promotion and retention, operating schools after staff have been vaccinated, and ESSER II and GEER funding for local education agencies.

We’ll also be talking about these new guidance documents at the next superintendents webcast, scheduled for 2-4 p.m. ET tomorrow (Feb. 9) and viewable on the KDE Media Portal. You can submit questions ahead of time using this Google link. We also will have a special follow-up webcast on Feb. 23 to hear from local leaders on their plans for the ESSER II and GEER funds.

Just like they have for the past year, KDE staff continue to work on new guidance documents to provide you with the information you need to help make the best decisions for the schools in your districts.

I also wanted to share some information with you about the upcoming Commissioner’s Listening Tour, which is scheduled throughout April and the first week of May. Nine sessions will be held across the state, one in each cooperative region and one in Louisville. Sessions will be in the evening and will last approximately 90 minutes.

I hope you will share information about the virtual listening tour with your teachers, staff and especially, your students and their families. You will hear a short presentation from me, then we’ll split up into breakout rooms where we’ll have student-led discussions about what you think is important in education and how educators can make a deep and lasting impact on Kentucky’s public school students. We will be using this information to guide the work of the department for the year.

Pre-registration is available for a date you think will work best for you. If you are not sure which date will work at this time and you wish to receive an invitation for more than one of the sessions, please select all the dates that may work.

I would encourage you, your teachers, staff, students and families to pre-register so we can have enough staff on hand to ensure we can have meaningful conversations about what our system should look like and what kind of experiences will best serve our students.

I look forward to hearing from you at the Superintendents Webcast tomorrow and at the virtual town halls in April and May.

Kind regards,

Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.

Commissioner & Chief Learner

Register to Participate in New College Persistence Project

Each year, 1 in every 5 graduating high school seniors who is admitted to college fails to enroll and attend in the fall. This phenomenon is known as “summer melt.”

In partnership with the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), the American Institute for Research (AIR) is conducting a project on reducing summer melt and increasing college persistence, known as Text4College. The AIR has partnered with 11 KCTCS colleges, including: Ashland, Bluegrass, Elizabethtown, Gateway, Hazard, Hopkinsville, Maysville, Owensboro, Somerset, Southeast and West Kentucky.

If your school typically sends students to any one of these partner colleges, please consider participating in this project. To participate, high schools will administer a 10-minute survey to graduating seniors in April 2021. Students from schools that participate in the project will receive text messages that break down the multi-step process of college enrollment into manageable tasks.

You can officially sign on to participate by completing this form for your high school. For more information visit www.text4college.com or reach out to Text4CollegeKY@air.org. More detailed information can be found in the attached Text4College document.

Computer Science Training Opportunity to Obtain ACS Permission

The Approval for Computer Science (ACS) is a portable teacher permission that allows teachers with an existing high school certification to teach all computer science courses. Read the ACS FAQ for more information.

Grant applications for the year-long professional learning program are now available through Advance Kentucky.

Upcoming Superintendents Webcasts

The Kentucky Department of Education is planning two superintendent webcasts for February.

The regular Superintendents Webcast will discuss three new guidance documents being released next week: decisions regarding promotion and retention, operating schools after staff have been vaccinated, and ESSER and GEER funding for local education agencies. That webcast is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. ET Feb. 9 and viewable on the KDE Media Portal. You may submit questions in advance using this Google form.

A Special Superintendents Webcast is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Feb. 23 to hear from local leaders on their plans for these funds. That webcast also will be viewable on the KDE Media Portal.

2021 Continuous Improvement Summit Save-the-Date

Mark your calendars to attend the annual Kentucky Continuous Improvement Summit, co-hosted by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and Cognia, that is scheduled for Sept. 22-23 at the Lexington Convention Center. Through a partnership focused on ensuring success for all learners, KDE and Cognia are excited to offer a valuable professional learning experience to meet your needs.

During the Kentucky Continuous Improvement Summit, KDE leaders and Kentucky teachers and administrators will provide the up-to-date information to help you effectively lead your district, school or classroom during the 2021-2022 academic year and beyond. Learn about upcoming accountability changes, as well as the latest instructional tools and best practices.

Educators from across the state will connect and network during this two-day event. Do not miss out on the opportunity to learn from experts and peers to enhance your continuous improvement efforts.

What Works Kentucky Program Seeks Peer Reviewers

What Works Kentucky (WWKY) is a yearlong training program for school and district leaders looking to improve their research and data analysis skills. Participants in the program complete 30 hours of professional learning culminating in a peer-reviewed research project.

The WWKY team is seeking applicants for the peer reviewer pool. Volunteer peer reviewers support WWKY participants in the completion of quality projects. All projects must pass a double-blind peer review process by three reviewers before being published on the Kentucky Department of Education’s website.

Peer reviewers must complete an online training module before being assigned papers to review. Reviewers are expected to commit to two papers, which must be reviewed within 10 business days after being assigned. Reviewers should expect to review papers multiple times and provide detailed feedback to improve the quality of the paper to prepare it for publication.

Qualified peer reviewers will hold a terminal degree (Ph.D., Ed.D.) in education or a related field and should be either practicing school or district staff or university faculty in Kentucky. To become a peer reviewer, complete the WWKY Peer Reviewer Application. For more information, email Matthew Courtney.

Those receiving this at KSB and KSD, please make sure all employees receive it. Also, ATC principals are asked to forward it to their staffs.

Please send your questions, comments and suggestions on Monday Message to Jennifer Ginn by 10 a.m. Friday to be published in the upcoming week.