Education News in Alabama

April 17, 2008 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

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1. Community leaders say 'Yes We Can!'
• Yes We Can! Alabama video
2. Research Finding: Instruction, instruction, instruction
3. NIEER: Alabama pre-k tops in quality again
4. 8th graders set state record with writing scores
5. State Board of Education Update: Bice named new deputy state superintendent
6. Examples of Excellence:
   • 4 Rural counties partner for arts
   • Strong financial management
   • Community partnership wins national nod

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1. COMMUNITY LEADERS SAY 'YES WE CAN!'

Four Alabama organizations came together last week for an Education Summit focused on how communities can improve their public schools.

Nearly 200 community leaders – educators, public officials, business leaders and volunteers – gathered at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham to learn what is possible when a community sets high goals and then helps schools get there.

"It isn't about somebody deciding what's good and going out and 'selling it' to the public," says Carolyn Akers, executive director of the Mobile Area Education Foundation. "It's about understanding and listening to what the public says is important, and then delivering on that promise."

The four sponsoring organizations – A+ Education Partnership, Leadership Alabama, Mobile Area Education Foundation and Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama – also wanted to pose questions. Do communities in Alabama want to improve their public schools? Would they like to be part of a statewide network of like-minded community organizations?

The answers were overwhelmingly "yes" and "yes!"

The summit kicked off that network of communities, called "Yes We Can! Alabama." Read summit coverage from The Birmingham News, "'Civic army' encouraged to help improve state schools," http://snipurl.com/bnewsywc  [www_al_com]

- YES WE CAN! ALABAMA VIDEO: One of the first tools available to the "Yes We Can! Alabama" communities is a video about Mobile. The video outlines the community's critical role the community in improving schools, and how better schools are helping the area's economy.

Copies of 15-minute "Yes We Can! Alabama" video, complete with a guide to help facilitate discussion when showing it to a group, are available for $10 from the Mobile Area Education Foundation, 251-476-0002.

2. RESEARCH FINDING:
Instruction, instruction, instruction

McKinsey & Co. examined the best school systems in the world to find out why some schools succeed and others don't, and the answer is simple: instruction.

Looking at school systems that perform better and improve faster, researchers identified three things that matter most:

1. Getting the right people to become teachers.
2. Developing them into effective instructors.
3. Ensuring that the system is able to deliver the best possible instruction for every child.

"How the World's Best-Performing School Systems Come Out on Top" (PDF, 9.52MB)
http://snipurl.com/worldsbestschools  [www_mckinsey_com]

3. NIEER: ALABAMA PRE-K TOPS IN QUALITY AGAIN

For the second year in a row, Alabama's pre-kindergarten earned a perfect 10 out of 10 in quality rankings from the National Institute for Early Education Research. North Carolina is the only other state to score as well.

Read more and find a link to NIEER's report:
http://snipurl.com/bestprek  [www_governorpress_alabama_gov]

4. 8TH GRADERS SET STATE RECORD WITH WRITING SCORES

The latest results from the National Assessment of Education Progress (aka the Nation's Report Card) show that Alabama's eighth-graders posted the state's highest-ever score, coming in at 148, which is six points below the national average.

The NAEP assessments are considered the "gold standard" for measuring education progress and comparing states. Because of the Alabama Reading Initiative, the state's fourth-graders recently posted best-in-the-nation gains on NAEP. State officials said they expect the ARI to also lead to improved writing scores in the future.

5. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE:
Bice named new deputy state superintendent

At the Alabama State Board of Education's April 10 meeting, the board unanimously named Dr. Tommy Bice the new deputy state superintendent for instructional services. All board members were present except the governor.

Bice is currently superintendent of Alexander City Schools, where he has built a record of innovation and community partnership. He is also president-elect of the School Superintendents of Alabama. Bice praised the advances made under the leadership of the state board and state superintendent, saying, "We are on the brink of transforming education in Alabama."

Read more about him at http://snipurl.com/bice01 and http://snipurl.com/bice02.
  [www_alexcityoutlook_com]

In other business, State Superintendent Dr. Joe Morton said the board would again discuss the proposal to strengthen graduation requirements at the April 24 work session. The issue is scheduled for a vote May 8.

6.  EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE

• 4 RURAL COUNTIES PARTNER FOR ARTS: Schools from Pickens, Fayette, Marion and Lamar counties teamed up to produce a show based on Disney's "High School Musical." Visual and performing arts are essential to a rich curriculum, and research shows they boost academic success. Read more at http://snipurl.com/artspartners   [www_tuscaloosanews_com]
• STRONG FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: The Alabama Association of School Business Officials honored Baldwin County's chief school financial officer, Jean McCutcheon, with the Morton Award. McCutcheon is a CPA who also holds the CSFO, government finance officer and internal auditor certifications.
• COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP WINS NATIONAL NOD: The prekindergarten collaboration of Tuscaloosa City Schools and the City of Tuscaloosa has earned a 2008 Alabama National Civic Star Award from the American Association of School Administrators and Sodexho School Services.

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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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