SC3 Project Update (May 2015)

The South Central Comprehensive Center (SC3) at the University of Oklahoma and the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) co-hosted the fifth annual Indistar Summit, sponsored by the Center on Innovations in Learning (CIL) on March 16-18, 2015, in Rogers, Arkansas.  Indistar is a Web-based, customized platform state education agencies can select as a tool to guide and document district and school improvement.  At the Summit, ADE presented on “Arkansas Pilot & Stellar Schools/Districts,” that highlighted the newest additions to Indistar for the 2014-15 school year and showcased successful schools and districts.  SC3 supports Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana in using Indistar.
 
ADE first used Indistar as a tool for parent involvement in 2009.  ADE began using Indistar for school improvement planning in school improvement grant (SIG) schools in 2011, and added Priority and Focus schools in 2012.  ADE requested the creation of a budget piece to be built by Academic Development Institute (ADI) to connect federal and state dollars being spent to actual improvement plan efforts for the 2014-15 school year.  One-hundred and ninety-one schools worked through a one-year pilot that started in June 2014 using Indistar to complete their required Arkansas Comprehensive School Improvement Plan (ACSIP).  ACSIP is the annual planning and fund distribution design that must be used by all Arkansas public and charter schools to address the effective implementation of the school’s goals, instructional programs, and strategies to meet student needs.  The pilot program participants submitted the district ACSIP online using Indistar, which decreased extensive paperwork and provided a focused school improvement plan.

Based on the success of the pilot, the ADE Commissioner and Arkansas Legislature approved the expansion to all Arkansas districts and schools for the 2015-16 school year in Arkansas.  SC3, ADE, CIL, and ADI completed planning this month for Indistar training sessions that will be held statewide in Summer 2015.  READ MORE on the Arkansas Indistar System for School Improvement (SC3's Project Update from December 2014).