As mandated by Arkansas Code § 6-15-202 (e), the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) shall conduct an On-campus Standards Review (OSR) of each school district no less than one (1) time every four (4) years. ADE may visit any school campus for an OSR at other times as determined necessary by the Commissioner of Education or the State Board of Education.
Monitoring reviews for the 2007 –2008 school year will occur between October 2007 and April 2008. Please refer to the attachment indicating the school year in which school districts are scheduled for the four (4) year monitoring. Team leaders from the Standards Assurance Unit (SAU) will contact district superintendents by telephone in advance of the OSR to outline the monitoring review procedures and to confirm date and time. Following contact, the team leader will send the Superintendents a packet with details to assist the districts and school officials in preparing for the monitoring review.
An OSR Checklist (see attachment) will be used during the monitoring review. For each item on the checklist, support documentation should be prepared by the district for the OSR team. Checklist documentation for review should be organized by item number to facilitate the monitoring review process. An administrative staff member or other licensed district personnel familiar with the process must be available for questions during OSR. Some items have been placed on the checklist as a technical assistance tool to assist districts in maintaining compliance with these areas. It is not necessary to prepare folders for technical assistance items placed on the checklist after the signature page for review during the on-campus monitoring. These items are monitored by ADE sections (including but not limited to Equity, Gifted/Talented Education, Special Education) and/or included on the Cycle 2 statement of Assurance.
Pursuant to Arkansas Code § 6-15-206, districts in which schools are assigned a final accreditation status of accredited-probationary may be reviewed at an interval more frequently than once every four (4) years. Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-15-206 and Arkansas Department of Education Standards for Accreditation Rule 23.03 require ADE to annually review all reports and investigate suspected deficiencies in meeting standards. Each year ADE shall conduct an OSR of a selected number of school districts and review the schools for compliance with the standards. The ADE shall notify all schools not meeting the Standards for Accreditation of deficiencies by May 15 of each year. In the year of the OSR, the assignment of the annual accreditation status will result from the Cycle 2 data submission and the OSR.
To assist school districts in preparing for the 2007-2008 OSR, the Standards Assurance Unit will host a training session via videoconference. The session has been scheduled for Thursday, September 13, 2007, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Roll call will begin at 8:30 a.m. Coordinators for this training are: Dr. Diana Julian, Deputy Commissioner/Learning Services; Annette Barnes, Coordinator-School Improvement Section; and Frank Wimer, Standards Assurance-Unit Leader.
The following is a list of the sites for the videoconference:
**ADE-Main (Arkansas Department of Education)–Little Rock
**Arch Ford ESC–Plumerville
**Arkansas River ESC–Pine Bluff
**Crowley’s Ridge EC–Harrisburg
**Dawson ESC–Arkadelphia
**DeQueen/Mena EC–Gillham
**Great Rivers Co-op–W. Helena
**Northcentral Arkansas ESC–Melbourne
**Northeast Arkansas EC–Walnut Ridge
**Northwest ESC–Farmington
**Ozarks Unlimited Resources ESC–Harrison
**Southcentral ESC–Camden
**Southeast Arkansas ESC–Monticello
**Southwest Arkansas EC–Hope
**Western Arkansas ESC–Branch
**Wilbur D. Mills ESC-Beebe
Districts scheduled for a 2007-2008 OSR visit are encouraged to attend. Pre-registration is required, as seating is limited. Participants should include one (1) district administrator and one (1) principal or designated leader from each building; participants are responsible for bringing copies of the attachments to this memo to the training session.
For pre-registration information, please coordinate efforts and contact the local education service cooperative.