PREPARING FOR AN OEPA AUDIT

Allen D. Brock, Coordinator

West Virginia Board of Education

Office of Education Performance Audits

WHAT IS GONE

• The Five Day Notice

• The Lateral Files (or at least most of them)

• The 34 Verification Standards

• The Compliance Driven Mentality

WHAT REMAINS• The Student Interviews

• The Teacher Interviews

• The Administrative Interviews

• The Classroom Observations

• Monitoring of the School Environment

• Verification of a Standards-Focused Curriculum

• Professional Development Verification

• Efficient and Effective Management of Personnel and Resources

• Various Policy/Code Compliance

• Regulatory Agency Reviews

• School Facilities Checklist

WHAT SHOULD YOU PREPARE

• Condensed Master Schedule

• Daily Use Schedule/Elementary Classroom Schedules

• Bell Schedule

• Building Map (with teacher names on map)

• Directions to School From Central Office

• Facilities Evaluation Checklist

• Other Monitoring Reports (Financial Audit Report, Special Education Monitoring, Fire Marshal Report, Health Department Report, SBA report if applicable, Federal Programs Reports)

• Wireless passcode

THE DAY OF THE AUDIT• The Team will arrive 30-45 minutes before the instructional

day begins

• They will need to follow the school procedures of guests entering the building

• Please brief the Team as to changes in daily schedule and absent teachers

• Team breaks out to observe classrooms and interview students, staff, and administrators

• Prior arrangements may be requested by the Team leader for interview process for students and teachers

• The OEPA Team will have a consensus meeting at the end of the day

• Team Leader will meet with OEPA Coordinator

• School exit conference will take place at a later date

THE SCHOOL MONITORING REPORT

RATING SCALEDistinguished – 4. Strong and Pervasive Characteristic.

KEY WORD – ALL

Accomplished – 3. Present but not Pervasive.

KEY WORD – MOST

Emerging – 2. Present in a few areas, but needs improvements.

KEY WORD – SOME

Unsatisfactory – 1. Rarely evidenced; needs significant improvement.

KEY WORDS – FEW/NONE

S.M.R.

SECTION ONE• Must include input from entire staff

• Consensus must be reached on each function

• During consensus meeting, focus on ENTIRE function

• Fully utilize the school evidence column to verify rating

• PLEASE review school evidence column for spelling/grammar

SECTION ONE: SEVEN STANDARDS• Standard 1: Positive Climate and Cohesive Culture.

• Standard 2: School Leadership.

• Standard 3: Standards-Focused Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessments.

• Standard 4: Student Support Services and Family/Community Connections.

• Standard 5: Educator Growth and Development.

• Standard 6: Efficient and Effective Management.

• Standard 7: Continuous Improvement.

SECTION TWO: SUPPORT NEEDED

1. Resource and/or Facility needs that would impact student performance and well being.

2. Professional Development needs and capacity building needs to improve student performance and well being.

**The OEPA Team may add needs under either section based on observations and interviews conducted.

SECTION THREE: BEST PRACTICES

Best Practice:• School Developed, or

• “Canned Program” that was dramatically modified to meet a specific need of the school

• School has data to show great positive impact on school

• Can be implemented in other schools to provide positive results

SECTION FOUR: POLICY AND CODE

Criteria:• Full Compliance: If the school can answer “Yes” to all

questions under that specific code/policy

• Partial Compliance: If the school can answer “Yes” to more than 50% but less than 100% of the questions under that specific code/policy

• Noncompliance: If the school answers “Yes” to 50% or less of the questions under that specific code/policy

POLICY AND CODE (CONTINUED)POLICIES:

• Policy 2320 – A Process for Improving Education: Performance Based Accreditation System

• Policy 2340 – West Virginia Measures of Academic Progress

• Policy 2510 – Assuring the Quality of Education: Regulations for Education Programs

• Policy 4373 – Expected Behavior in Safe/Supportive Schools

CODES:

• W.Va. Code §18-2-7a – Physical Education

• W.Va. Code §18-5-18b – Counseling Services

POLICY AND CODE (CONTINUED)

OTHER MONITORING REPORTS:

• Policy 1224.1 – Accounting Procedures Manual for Schools

• Policy 2419 – Education of Students with Exceptionalities

• Fire Marshal

• Health Department

• School Building Authority

• Federal Programs

COMMON PROBLEMS• Failure to submit SMR on time

• Failure to complete the Facilities Checklist

• Misinterpreting the Function

• Over rating or under rating the functions

• School evidence insufficient or nonexistent

• Staff unaware of contents of SMR

• Listing of needs in Section 2 that do not impact student performance and well being

• Failure to provide required courses listed in Policy 2510

• The required teams in Policy 2510 are not in place

• Physical Education not receiving required amount of time per programmatic level

• Guidance counselor(s) cannot verify 75% direct counseling with students

• Other Monitoring Reports: Findings not corrected and/or no plan in place to correct issues

THE BOTTOM LINE• All decisions must be made in the best interest of the

students

• All staff must be aware of the contents of the SMR

• There is no substitute for high quality instruction

• High expectations MUST be evident buildingwide

• ALL students must be challenged to perform at their highest level

• Instructional time is valuable and must be fully utilized

• EVERY student deserves a high quality education