Education News in Alabama

February 19 , 2008 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

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1. A+ College Ready Names Pioneering Program Schools
• Alabama Gains in Advanced Placement
2. RESEARCH FINDING: Program Like A+ College Ready Succeeds in Texas
3. How Do Alabama's Large Systems Stack Up?
4. Deadline Extended For Teacher Survey
5. Pre-K Grant Writing Workshops
6. Worth Repeating
7. State Board of Education Update: 'Best possible budget … under these circumstances'
8. Examples of Excellence
   • Alabama's Best
   • Active Students = Engaged Learners
   • Positive Behavior Supports
9. Low-cost Grant Writing Workshops in East Alabama
10. Two Good Reads
    • 'No Limits'
    • 'No Child Left Behind delivers on its promises'
11. What's Up @ A+
    • 'Pre-k a Powerful Investment'
    • Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and George Hall Elementary
    • Patriot Pundits

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1. A+ COLLEGE READY NAMES PIONEERING PROGRAM SCHOOLS

A+ College Ready has named the first 12 schools to benefit from its statewide Advanced Placement ® (AP ®) training and incentive grant. The program is designed to increase the number of students prepared to take rigorous college courses in math and science.

For the 2008-2009 school year, these 12 schools are projected to increase AP Course offerings in mathematics, science and English by 60 percent and to more than double the number of qualifying scores on AP exams.

The first A+ College Ready Program Schools are:

• Clay-Chalkville, Gardendale, Hueytown, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate, Minor, Pinson Valley, Pleasant Grove and Shades Valley high schools, all of the Jefferson County system.
• Booker T. Washington Magnet, Brewbaker Technology Magnet, Robert E. Lee, and Loveless Academic Magnet Program high schools, all of the Montgomery County system.

A+ College Ready will invest $4 million in training and incentives for these schools over the next five years. When commitments by the state and districts are included, the total grows to $8 million.

The National Math and Science Initiative, which is primarily funded by the ExxonMobil Foundation, created A+ College Ready with a $13.2 million grant. The lead Alabama donors to A+ College Ready are the Alabama Power Foundation and Regions Financial Corp.

View the news release http://snipurl.com/12schools.

See ABC 33/40's coverage of the Jefferson County announcement: http://snipurl.com/apluscr3340.

Alabama Gains In Advanced Placement ®

Alabama's recent investment in Advanced Placement, supported by the Legislature, seems to be paying off. The College Board's latest "Advanced Placement Report to the Nation" contains good news for Alabama, even before the impact of A+ College Ready:

• AP growth in Alabama is outpacing the nation, both in participation and high scores.
• Alabama’s African American students posted the biggest gains – more than doubling the national percent increases on both participation and high scores
• According to the 2008 report, Alabama is a leader in the effort to expand access to and success in AP courses.

Read "Alabama improves, but still lags behind other states " from The Birmingham News, http://snipurl.com/bn021408.

Get The College Board's report: http://snipurl.com/08apreport

2. RESEARCH FINDING: PROGRAM LIKE A+ COLLEGE READY SUCCEEDS IN TEXAS

A new research report analyzed the impact of AP Strategies, and Advanced Placement training and incentive program in Texas that Alabama is replicating through A+ College Ready.

A Cornell professor found that Advanced Placement participation and scores rose when the AP training and incentive program was implemented. And he suggests that the financial incentives may not be the program's most influential factor.

"What I heard from guidance counselors was … that it changed the culture of the school," C. Kirabo Jackson told Education Week. That is, students had more access to AP courses, teachers and students changed their attitudes toward AP, and students had better information.

Find the report "A Little Now for a Lot Later: A Look at a Texas Advanced Placement Incentive Program" from the Cornell University Higher Education Research Institute at http://snipurl.com/apincentives. (PDF 344KB)

Read "Cash for School Grades? It works" from the Christian Science Monitor, at http://snipurl.com/apincentives01.

3. HOW DO ALABAMA'S LARGE SYSTEMS STACK UP?

The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama has just released performance comparisons of Alabama's 12 largest school systems. Systems are compared on spending, student achievement and college readiness.

Find the analysis at http://parca.samford.edu/speeches.html. Check out both links for Performance Comparisons.

This work formed the basis of the Press-Register's "Study: Mobile County leads state in standardized test scores," which was the most popular link in the Jan. 29 edition of this newsletter. http://snipurl.com/mobileleads

4. DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR TEACHER SURVEY

School-based teachers and administrators now have until Friday, Feb. 22, to complete Take 20, the Alabama Teaching and Learning Survey. http://www.take20alabama.org

The survey is a project of the Governor's Commission on Quality Teaching, and results will be used to guide decision-making. Take 20 is it is rooted in the belief that for Alabama's educational progress to continue, the state must recruit, retain and support highly effective educators.

Take 20 is jointly sponsored by Gov. Bob Riley's Office, the Alabama Education Association, the Alabama Department of Education, the Alabama Best Practices Center, Council for Leaders in Alabama Schools, Alabama Association of School Boards, School Superintendents of Alabama, the A+ Education Partnership, and the Alabama Supercomputer Authority.

The survey was designed to be completely confidential to ensure privacy and to allow for candor.

Educators will need to input one of the randomly generated codes that were provided to each school. If you do not have a code, you can request one from the help desk at helpdesk@asc.edu or 1-800-338-8320. If you are a principal, please pass this information along to your faculty.

You can check a school or school system's participation at http://www.take20alabama.org/response_rate/

Kudos to Roanoke, the only system (so far) with 100 percent participation!

5. PRE-K GRANT WRITING WORKSHOPS

Thursday, Feb. 21, is the last day to register for Technical Assistance Grant Workshops offered by the state. These workshops are open to anyone who would like assistance in applying to become a part of Alabama’s nationally recognized, state-supported, four-year-old pre-k program.

Workshops are scheduled for the last week of February in Montgomery, Mobile, Decatur and Birmingham. For more info, call the Alabama Office of School Readiness at 334-223-0522.

6. WORTH REPEATING

"My room is not the quietest or most orderly one on the hallway, but I am an advocate that learning does not have to occur in straight rows of student desks with the teacher lecturing at the front of the room."

-- Winston County High School science teacher Dana G. Baker on how effective teaching can defy expectations. Read more at http://snipurl.com/danabaker

7. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE:

'Best possible budget … under these circumstances'

State Superintendent of Education Dr. Joe Morton praised the governor's budget recommendation. "It is the best possible budget we could have under these circumstances," Morton said. "This budget does protect K-12 as best as it could be protected."

Because of an economic slowdown, the state will have about 6 percent less money – or $400 million fewer dollars -- for education next year than it is spending this year.

Gov. Bob Riley's recommended budget would spend $4.384 billion on K-12 education during the fiscal year that begins in October. That figure represents a 2.6 percent decrease compared to the current year, a far smaller decline than he recommended for higher education.

There are strategic increases for the Alabama Reading Initiative, ACCESS distance learning and the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative. "The programs that have made the difference in Alabama are protected," Morton said.

Public schools would gain ground in the funding split with higher education, with K-12 going from a 67 percent share to a 69 percent share. Still, public schools were not shielded from all pain of budget cuts. The governor proposed reductions for technology, library materials, professional development, textbook, teacher supplies, transportation, Advanced Placement programs and teacher mentoring, among others.

The superintendent also announced the upcoming retirement of Dr. Ruth Ash, the deputy state superintendent.

Those were the most significant items when the Alabama State Board of Education met Feb. 14. All were present except the governor.

In other action, the board honored three teaching award recipients (see Examples of Excellence) and recommended the Early College Enrollment Program. It allows qualifying high school students to earn college credits toward a technical or health credential/certificate/degree in a field that is high-skill, high-wage and high-demand. The board also appointed a textbook committee and a course-of-study committee, and it approved teacher education programs at Samford University and the University of Montevallo.

8. EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE

• ALABAMA'S BEST – Effective teaching is the No. 1 way to increase student achievement, and three teachers have been named finalists for the Presidential Awards for Excellence. They are Ashley Allen of Oneonta High (Oneonta City Schools), Jennifer Reed-Taunton of Alabama Ave. Middle (Albertville City Schools), and Rebecca Darby of Central High (Lauderdale County Schools).
• ACTIVE STUDENTS = ENGAGED LEARNERS – In Tuscaloosa, Hillcrest High students have created a website called Patriot Pundits (http://patriotpundits.wikispaces.com/) to educate their classmates about the presidential election. The project is a great example of a teacher using technology as a sophisticated learning tool.
• POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS – Marion County High in Guin has seen both learning and school safety increase with a program called Positive Behavior Supports. http://snipurl.com/positivebehavior
• Vision 13, an East Alabama leadership program, will offer Grant Writing 101 on March 17 in Heflin and March 18 in Lafayette. The six-hour workshop costs $50 per person. For more information, call the Randolph County Cooperative Extension Office at 256-357-2841.

9. LOW-COST GRANT WRITING WORKSHOPS IN EAST ALABAMA

Vision 13, an East Alabama leadership program, will offer Grant Writing 101 on March 17 in Heflin and March 18 in Lafayette. The six-hour workshop costs $50 per person. For more information, call the Randolph County Cooperative Extension Office at 256-357-2841.

10. TWO GOOD READS

• In "No Limits", Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach details how digital technologies have opened up unimagined environments for teachers and students. She cites George Hall Elementary in Mobile as an example of best practice. http://snipurl.com/snbnolimits
• In "No Child Left Behind delivers on its promises," Janice Hawkins examines how the much-debated law has made Alabama's public schools better. http://snipurl.com/nclbhawkins

11. WHAT'S UP @ A+

• The Press-Register recently published A+ Education Partnership President Caroline Novak's opinion piece, "Pre-k, a Powerful Investment." http://snipurl.com/cnprek
• Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, author of "No Limits" http://snipurl.com/snbnolimits , is a consultant to the Alabama Best Practices Center. And George Hall Elementary is an active participant in the ABPC's Powerful Conversations Network.
• Students of Scarlett Gaddy, a Fellow of the Alabama Best Practices Center's 21st Century Learners project, won notice from the Tuscaloosa News. http://snipurl.com/patriotpundits

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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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