Message: RE: Letter received today in regards to the 2017 end of course assessment

RE: Letter received today in regards to the 2017 end of course assessment
RE: Letter received today in regards to the 2017 end of course assessment

From | Dickey, Kelli | Date Tuesday, September 12, 2017 8:14 AM

To | 'Chris Mahurin'
Cc |
Subject | RE: Letter received today in regards to the 2017 end of course assessment

EOC Parent Letter.pdf (110 Kb )
RE: Letter received today in regards to the 2017 end of course assessment

I am sorry that you received the letter that you had attached. The letter that is attached to this email is the letter that went to the school districts. Please let me know which school district sent you the initial letter.
Kelli E. Dickey
Executive Assistant to the Commissioner of Education
Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Office: 573‐751‐4446
dese.mo.gov | facebook.com/MOEducation | twitter.com/MOEducation | youtube.com/MODeptofEducation
Missouri public schools: the best choice…the best results!
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Mahurin [mailto:cwmahurin@yahoo.com]
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 8:48 PM
To: Commissioner of Education
Subject: Letter received today in regards to the 2017 end of course assessment
Dear Ms Vandeven
To say I am shocked by this letter would be an understatement. I would typically not provide this type of feedback but with the intent of this letter to inform me that the results would be excluded I feed compelled. The spelling and grammatical errors in this letter should be unacceptable for a member representing DESE. Error one End-of-Course in the second paragraph has an extras space making it look like two words and not one. Error two second paragraph states English IL. I believe that should be English II followed by a period. Error 3 a period is missing after English IL this creating a run on sentence and placing a capital where it should be. Error 4 advisory is spelled as such and not advismy. Error 5 In the second paragraph the department is referred to as elementary and secondaly education. I believe that should be secondary. Error 5. In the third paragraph, the first sentence appears to be a run on sentence as inclusion of a host of college and career readiness indicators; including attendance rates etc doesn't appear to have a place in the sentence and seems to be an after thought.
I have attached a scanned image of the letter as well we received. I am shocked that this letter coming from DESE would not have been proof read and spell checked. I am embarrassed by this letter for you

    September 1, 2017      Dear Parents:    A top priority of educators is to help prepare Missouri children for success, not only in school  but also for life after graduation. We know you are proud of your children, and we are too.     We want to inform you about some developments resulting from the 2017 End-of-Course  assessments in Algebra I and English II. The technical advisory committee (TAC) retained by  the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to review assessment results  each year determined that the 2017 Algebra I and English II assessments are not suitable for  establishing assessment performance trends. Upon the recommendation of the TAC, DESE will  exclude data from these assessments in school district and charter school annual performance  reports (APRs).     The APRs that we provide to school districts and charter schools look at multiple factors,  including state assessments in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies;  a host of college and career readiness indicators; attendance rates; and graduation rates. For  each of these indicators, multiple years of data are used. Your child’s class grades and any local  decisions about A+ eligibility, as it pertains to these two assessments, are not at risk.    I appreciate your understanding as we work through this unfortunate event.     Thank you for supporting Missouri public education and your local school district.    Sincerely,
      Margie Vandeven  Commissioner of Education