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Education News in Alabama
By Sallie Owen
1. CRITICAL NEED FOR AN EDUCATION BUDGET Many are calling for legislators to make quick work of the education budget during the special session that began today. School children need a budget as soon as possible, and here are a few points that deserve extra attention: One: There are some school systems with the financial reserves to avoid laying off personnel, and these communities and school leaders deserve a round of applause. State law requires school systems to have a reserve equal to one-month's expenses, and recent events show the wisdom of this requirement. Read more here http://snipurl.com/madv0521 and here http://snipurl.com/ddaily0521 Two: The impact of the budget delay is uneven. Some schools systems – and by extension some students – will be hurt more than others. Three: Students benefit when their school's faculty members can work together during the summer. Many teachers use the summer months to plan and prepare for the upcoming school year, and they often work collaboratively with their colleagues. This is less likely to happen when funding is uncertain. The state superintendent of education briefed the state school board on the budget situation last week, and he stressed the impact on recruiting and retaining the most effective teachers. This is peak hiring time for schools all over the country, said Superintendent Joe Morton. "Some superintendents will be very reluctant to hire all the people they need," he said. "Many of our top-talented first-year teachers won't work in Alabama – that's the tragedy of this." 2. WORTH REPEATING "It's shameful that public higher education and public schools cannot learn to pull together to work for a larger state funding pie. The state really should spend more on all of its education system, from kindergarten through graduate school. "But as long as the debate revolves around which segment of public education can survive cuts better than the other, K-12 has the facts on its side." –"State ranks high in college funding," http://snipurl.com/collegefunding 3. TOP HIGH SCHOOLS RANKED Ten Alabama schools made it onto Newsweek's list of the top 5 percent of public high schools in the United States, led by Loveless Academic Magnet Program High in Montgomery (No. 56). The high schools are Mountain Brook, Auburn, Homewood, Grissom, Oak Mountain, Spain Park, Hoover, Alabama School of Math and Science and Bob Jones. In addition, Jefferson County International Baccalaureate High School – which has ranked as high as No. 1 – was excluded because the school's "sky-high scores" indicate it has few or no average students. Newsweek ranks schools using a system developed by Washington Post writer Jay Mathews. "The index ranks schools based on college-level course participation, adding up the number of Advanced Placement**, International Baccalaureate and other college-level tests in a given year for a given school, and dividing that total by its number of graduating seniors," he writes. In the Challenge Index's Frequently Asked Questions, Mathews explains why this is the criteria: "To send a student off to college without having had an AP, IB or Cambridge course and test is like insisting that a child learn to ride a bike without ever taking off the training wheels until the day you send the kid out onto the city streets alone. It is dumb, and in my view a form of educational malpractice. But most American high schools still do it. I don't think such schools should be rewarded because they have artificially high AP or IB passing rates achieved by making certain just their best students take the tests." Read more at http://www.newsweek.com/id/137547/ U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT ADDS ALABAMA SCHOOLS The updated list (revised when additional data was released) adds 31 schools from Alabama, including putting Montgomery's Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School in the top 100. http://snipurl.com/usnewsupdate 4. ROUNDUP: ADVANCED PLACEMENT BUZZ A+ College Ready, a division of A+, is working to expand Advanced Placement Programs around the state. This will help more students succeed in college, and it will also affect how Alabama's schools fare in national rankings.
5. RESEARCH FINDING: The National Mathematics Advisory Panel recently released findings about how to improve math achievement in the United States. A few highlights:
Research also indicates that student effort makes a difference (it's not just a matter of being naturally gifted at math), teachers themselves must be knowledgeable in math and effective instruction matters. "Foundations for Success: Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel" http://snipurl.com/mathpanel 6. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE: Many Alabama teachers are not yet maximizing technology's benefits for student learning, according to a forthcoming report previewed for the Alabama State Board of Education. According to a statewide teacher survey conducted for the State Department of Education, 44 percent of teachers do not report using technology for their own productivity or to find resources online. Teachers say they use technology primarily to collect data, record grades and monitor student progress. Looking forward, the biggest opportunity is helping teachers incorporate technology into assignments that develop higher-order thinking skills. Another survey found that Alabama parents overwhelmingly believe their children need technology skills to do well in school, to succeed in college and to find a job. (See how technology can be used to deepen learning at http://www.abpc21.org) In other business, the board learned about efforts to strengthen library media programs. The role of the media specialist (formerly known as a librarian) is more important than ever with the explosion of information available to students, said one state official. And schools with strong library media programs average 10-20 percent higher test scores. The board also heard about the revised report cards that assess how well colleges and universities prepare teachers. Three new indicators have been added: success rate on prospective teacher testing, quality of time prospective teachers spend in K-12 classrooms and partnerships with local K-12 schools. Find report cards here http://www.alsde.edu/AllReportCards/CollegeReportCards2007/ . Board members also heard about proposed updates to regulations regarding special education and teacher certification. All members except the governor were present when the board met for a work session May 22. 7. WHAT'S UP @ A+
Advanced Placement Programs is a registered trademark of the College Board, which was not involved in the production of, and does not endorse, this product. What is SNIPURL? We Need You Spread the word Want to subscribe? The A+ Education Foundation, 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. Past editions can be found at www.aplusala.org/ednews/index.asp Feedback is welcome. Send messages to comments@aplusala.org |
May 28 , 2008 (A+ Education Foundation
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Montgomery, AL 36103
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