Education News in Alabama

December 10, 2004 (archive)

IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR:
School Leadership, with the convening of The Governor's Congress on School Leadership. More than 250 leaders in education, business and government met on Tuesday, November 30, to begin work on a plan to improve the quality of school leaders in Alabama's public schools.

Governor Riley charged the delegates to create plans and develop recommendations that will result in a new generation of school leaders. "There are children in this state who will never have an opportunity to lead a successful, productive life unless we change what we do," Riley said. "It starts with leadership."

A 107-member task force will divide into subcommittees to identify needs in five areas: Standards for preparing and developing school leaders; selection and training of indiviudals who have potential to fill leadership roles, certification of school leaders, professional development for current and potential leaders, and working conditions to attract and retain quality principals in every school. The subcommittees have five months to complete their work, with presentations to the State Board of Education slated for May 2005.

Additional School Leadership Resources:
"Today's Effective Schools Have High-Capacity Leadership"
Working Toward Excellence, Spring 2004
http://www.bestpracticescenter.org/publ/wteindex.html

"Good Principals Are the Key to Successful Schools: Six Strategies for Prepare More Good Principals," Southern Regional Education Board, 2003.
http://snipurl.com/b5hy

Alabama Education Policy Primer
Chapter 10: School Leadership
http://www.aplusala.org/primer/ch10.asp

IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR:
Math scores, as the results of the quadrennial Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) were released. The test shows that the math skills of American 15-year-olds are sub-standard and falling, compared to their international peers.

"This is depressing enough," editorializes Checker Finn of The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, "but if you look closely at the results, things get worse. The achievement gap between whites and minorities persists, and a full one-quarter of American students performed at the lowest possible level of competence or below--meaning they are unable to perform the simplest calculations."

On NPR's Marketplace, one businessman said he thought of this problem "in apocalyptic terms," while Susan Traiman of the Business Roundtable called for a "Sputnik-like" urgency to tackle the problem of declining math skills. The Trends In Math and Science Studies (TIMSS) report will be released in mid-December and Fordham's upcoming State of State Math Standards will be released in January, both of which, according to Finn, "look likely to add additional bad news to this report on K-12 math expectations and achievement."

Additional Math and Science Resources:

"U.S. students fare poorly in international math comparison," by Sean Cavanagh and Erik W. Robelen, Education Week, December 7, 2004
http://snipurl.com/b9qj

"Johnny can't do the numbers," Marketplace on NPR, December 7, 2004 (audio link)
http://snipurl.com/b9qs

Alabama Education Policy Primer
Chapter 6: Math, Science and Technology
http://www.aplusala.org/primer/ch6.asp

The latest issue of the Education Commission of the States' bimonthly research roundup focuses on the state of K-12 science and mathematics education in America, what's being done to improve it, and the consequences of failing to do so. http://www.ecs.org/00CN2266

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION NEWS
The State Board of Education met on Thursday, December 10. The following members were present: Governor Bob Riley; Randy McKinney, District I; Betty Peters, District II; Stephanie Bell, District III; Dr. Ethel Hall, District IV; Ella Bell, District V; Sandra Ray, District VII; and Mary Jane Caylor, District VIII.

TEACHER TESTING
The most significant course of action taken was the approval of the second Amended Consent Decree in the Allen vs. State Board of Education teacher-testing case. With the approval of this decree, subject-matter teacher testing can resume in Alabama after a 23-year absence. Such testing is critical to ensuring that every student in Alabama is taught by teacher who is well qualified in his or her subject.

The revised consent decree the state Board of Education approved today will enable the Alabama Department of Education to administer the PRAXIS II series of tests, developed by Educational Testing Service, to measure subject-matter knowledge of teacher certification candidates. The first use of PRAXIS II tests for actual certification of teachers wanting to work in Alabama classrooms could occur in early 2006. Nearly 80 percent of states including testing as part of their teacher licensure process utilize the Praxis battery of tests.

DISPELLING THE MYTH
The Board also honored West Jasper Elementary School, the recipient of The Education Trust "Dispelling the Myth" Award. Based in Washington, D.C., The Education Trust is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to raise achievement for poor and minority students. Its "Dispelling the Myth" awards are presented annually to schools national that show steady improvement in closing the achievement gap.

Based on three years of school assessment data, West Jasper Elementary was selected as one of five schools in the nation to receive this prestigious award. The school has an average student population of 305, with 49 percent African American and 86 percent low income. An Alabama Reading Initiative site for six years, West Jasper Elementary has built a strong foundation on reading. As a result, Students at West Jasper outperformed the state average in fourth grade reading and math in 2004, with 97 percent of student scoring proficient or above on the Alabama Reading and Math Tests. Principal Eric Smith and Superintendent Phillip Woods were on hand to receive the Board resolution.

West Jasper Elementary was featured in this year's "Closing the Gap" issue of Working Toward Excellence, the quarterly journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center. To read their success story, download a free copy of the summer and fall issue of the journal at http://www.bestpracticescenter.org/publ/wteindex.html.

IN THE NEWS
An Update on Southern States and No Child Left Behind (NCLB)
The Columbia Group, a consortium of education advocacy groups from eight Southern states (including Alabama), recently issued a summary of the progress being made by Southern states in complying with NCLB. Read report.

Taking Root
The most recent issue of Education Week has a collection of articles entitled, "No Child Left Behind Taking Root." Taken together, they provide an excellent overview of where states are in compliance with NCLB's testing, accountability, and teacher quality requirements, and of reaching the goal of 100 percent proficiency in reading, math, and science. Read it online at http://snipurl.com/b9t4.

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Education News in Alabama is published bi-weekly by the A+ Education Foundation and is distributed to A+ board members, the media, and list serve subscribers. View archived newsletters.

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