Education News in Alabama

December 19 , 2007 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

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1. Inside Look: Struggling Schools Move Up
   • Maplesville High School
   • Ervin Elementary
   • Brighton Middle School
2. More National Praise for Alabama's Reading Gains
3. Growing 'First Class,' Alabama's Pre-K Program
4. Alabama 12th in Nation
5. Research Finding: Both Quality, Equity Possible
6. Worth Repeating
7. State Board of Education Update: Reading and More Financial Accountability
8. Examples of Excellence
   • High-achieving, High-poverty Schools
   • Pair from Alabama Wins National Teaching Awards
   • Alabama's Best Leaders
   • Alabama's Teaching Star
9. What's Up @ A+

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1. INSIDE LOOK: STRUGGLING SCHOOLS MOVE UP
Want to find out how some struggling schools overcome obstacles to success?

"Alabama Tackles Adolescent Literacy" is the latest issue of the Alabama Best Practices Center's journal, Working Toward Excellence. In it you will find an inside look at three Alabama schools where educators do whatever it takes to make sure their students are learning.

You will also get a glimpse of leadership's essential role in turning around a struggling school.

• At Maplesville High in Chilton County, teachers are changing their instructional methods to boost reading skills as part of the Alabama Reading Initiative's growth.
• Ervin Elementary in Wilcox County used a new reading curriculum and single-gender classes to help students make key gains in learning.
• Adults at Brighton Middle School worked their way out from under state sanctions, and – with 2003 National Teacher of the Year Betsy Rogers' help – are setting their sights higher.

"Alabama Tackles Adolescent Literacy," (527 KB)
 http://www.bestpracticescenter.org/pdfs/wte7-1.pdf

2. MORE NATIONAL PRAISE FOR ALABAMA'S READING GAINS
A piece in the Winter 2008 Journal of Staff Development hailed Alabama's reading progress, noting that "Alabama students made a significant gain of eight points in fourth-grade reading, more improvement in fourth-grade reading than any other state in the nation."

That jump was "almost triple the national average" of fourth-grade reading gains, the education journal states.

The author also spotlighted why this happened, saying "Alabama educators were clear about the reason behind the improvement: staff development provided through the Alabama Reading Initiative."

3. GROWING 'FIRST CLASS,' ALABAMA'S PRE-K PROGRAM
If you want to see the impact of First Class, Alabama's voluntary, high-quality prekindergarten program, consider the Butler County School System's experience.

Here's what educators found this fall when they assessed kindergarteners' progress on reading skills:

• 44 percent of kindergarteners were on track.
• f those who had gone to the system's pre-k, 92 percent were on track.

To read more about voluntary prekindergarten in one Alabama community, check out "Bright Beginnings offers a shining start for preschoolers," http://snipurl.com/butlerprek

4. ALABAMA 12th IN NATION
Alabama is 12th nationally in the number of teachers earning national board certification this year. Some 226 teachers achieved this advanced teaching credential in 2007, bringing Alabama's total to 1,329.

5. RESEARCH FINDING: BOTH QUALITY, EQUITY POSSIBLE
Schools can have it all, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Schools can challenge the brightest students to do more while also bringing struggling students up to grade level, according to analysis of an international assessment.

“Quality and equity need not be considered as competing policy objectives,” researchers wrote.

Among other findings:

• Students from many industrialized nations outperformed American students in math and science.
• Schools in other industrialized nations do a better job than U.S. schools of making sure all students – including those from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds -- are learning.

"Poverty's Effect on U.S. Scores Greater Than for Other Nations," Education Week http://snipurl.com/06pisa  (Free registration required.)

6. WORTH REPEATING
"Hard for schools, but good for kids"

-- Charleston (WV) Daily Mail headline over an editorial calling for No Child Left Behind to be "tweaked but never abandoned."

7. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE:
Reading and More Financial Accountability

The Alabama State Board of Education met Dec. 13. All were present except the governor.

Sherrill Parris was named assistant state superintendent for reading. Parris, who directs the Alabama Reading Initiative, succeeds the retiring Dr. Katherine Mitchell.

The Department of Education's top financial officer also summarized new guidelines to strengthen the accountability over private funds given to school-related organizations, such as booster clubs. (Find a related news article here http://snipurl.com/boosterrules)

The board recognized the accomplishments of several individuals and schools (see Examples of Excellence below). The board also approved teacher education programs at Faulkner, Athens State and Auburn universities.

8. EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE

• HIGH ACHIEVING, HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS – Anna F. Booth Elementary in Bayou La Batre (Mobile County Schools) and Fruithurst Elementary (Cleburne County Schools) have been named National Title I Distinguished Schools. Booth won for "exceptional student performance," and Fruithurst won for bringing special education students up to the achievement level of their classmates.
• PAIR FROM ALABAMA WINS NATIONAL TEACHING AWARDS – The Association for Career and Technical Education tapped Judy Brown as national teacher of the year and tapped Mark Raines as outstanding new teacher. Brown, who now works for the state, is a former culinary arts teacher at Bob Jones High in Madison. Raines teaches television production at the Tuscaloosa Center for Technology.
• ALABAMA'S BEST LEADERS – Debra Beebe of Auburn's J.F. Drake Middle School and Gerald Johnson of the Florence Freshman Center are the state's middle- and high-school principals of the year.
• ALABAMA'S TEACHING STAR – Leann White, who teaches fifth grade at Auburn's Dean Road Elementary, was named the state's 2007 American Star of Teaching.

9. WHAT'S UP @ A+
Congrats to the hard-working, award-winning educators at Booth Elementary, Bob Jones High, and Dean Road Elementary! The three schools are part of the Alabama Best Practices Center's Powerful Conversations Network. Well done!

WE NEED YOU
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation. You can give online or mail your check to P.O. Box 4433, Montgomery, AL 36103.

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The A+ Education Partnership, based in Montgomery, publishes Education News in Alabama twice a month. A+ is a nonprofit organization that advances policies, programs and initiatives in Alabama's K-12 education system that result in high achievement by every child.

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