| TO: | Members, Indiana Professional Standards Board (IPSB) |
| FROM: | Sheridan Rayl |
| DATE: | June 17, 1999 |
| SUBJECT: | Report on Region 8 Education Service Center (ESC) Contract |
At the Board's April 29, 1999, business meeting,
the Teacher Induction Committee (TIC) received IPSB approval of its recommendation
to amend and renew, subject to the final biennium budget appropriation,
the IPSB contract with Region 8 Education Service Center (ESC) to: (1)
implement the Beginning Teacher Induction Performance Assessment Program
(BTIPAP) in six content areas on a limited basis in six regions of the
state in 1999-2000; (2) implement the BTIPAP in six content areas on a
full scale basis in all nine regions of the state in 2000-2001; and (3)
conduct a Request for Proposals (RFPs) process to solicit subcontractors
from among the ESCs and entities other than the ESCs to assist in implementing
the contract. Region 8 ESC will recommend subcontractors to the TIC based
on selection criteria established by the TIC. The TIC will recommend subcontractors
to the Executive Committee for final approval.
Following this action, the Indiana Legislature did not approve the biennium
budget appropriation request submitted by the Board. Thus, the IPSB staff
re-appropriated the scope of work for the Region 8 contract to align with
the current funding available for the induction assessment program. The most
notable changes in the program plan and the resultant biennial contract were
to: (1) extend the field test one additional year so that the induction program
will not become mandatory (pending legislative action in the 2000 session)
for beginning teachers until the 2001- 2002 school year; (2) reduce the number
of content areas to be field tested for support seminars, mentoring, and
portfolio development from six to threemathematics, science, and English/language
arts; (3) reduce the number of new beginning teacher/mentor teams from approximately
240 to 100 in all three content areas combined; (4) reduce the number of
regions for field testing from six to no more than four; (5) reduce the number
of participants in scorer training in all six content areasmathematics, science,
English/language arts, social studies, elementary, and special educationfrom
approximately 240 to 120 total scorer trainees.
In addition to signing the biennial contract, the following events have occurred
or are scheduled to occur:
- An RFP was prepared by the IPSB induction staff and the Region 8 ESC program coordinator. It was disseminated by the Region 8 ESC to ESCs and other prospective bidders using lists available for the Indiana Department of Administration for Broad Agency Announcements.
- A Memorandum of Agreement signed by the Region 8 ESC and the IPSB specified how the work plan governing contract activities will be developed and modified if necessary in the future.
- The Region 8 ESC will interview bidders on June 15, 1999, and submit a recommendation for subcontractors for the biennial contract to the TIC on June 18, 1999.
- The TIC will forward its recommendation for
the subcontractors to the Executive Committee for approval by June 25,
1999.