Education News in Alabama
May 28, 2004 (archive)
IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR:
The Alabama Reading First Initiative, which received national attention
at a White House press gathering. Kindergarten teacher Cynthia Henderson
from Montgomery spoke with President Bush and members of the press
about the dramatic progress she witnessed in her classroom this
year as a result of the Montgomery Public Schools' system-wide focus
on reading. Read the
full transcript of Ms. Henderson's conversation.
IT WAS A BAD WEEK FOR:
Accountability. While the allocation of funds for the expansion
of the Alabama Reading Initiative and restoration of funds to classroom
support should have teachers and children dancing in the streets
(we were!), several key pieces of legislation that would have provided
greater accountability in state government failed to even make it
out of committee in the last legislative session. The lack of progress
on any true accountability legislation was a definite blow to rebuilding
public confidence. Other education-related legislation failing to
receive attention included bills that would have:
- Removed tenure for all future central office personnel;
- Established financial incentives for teachers who agree to teach
in hard-to-staff areas, including math, science and special education,
as well as teachers who agree to teach in rural and inner-city
schools. Such incentives are one way to ensure that every child
in Alabama has access to a caring, capable, qualified teacher.
- Improved the financial management of school systems by adding
more rigor to the qualifications for and responsibilities of school
financial officers.
"WORKING TOWARD EXCELLENCE" TO FOCUS ON LEADERSHIP
The Spring 2004 issue of "Working Toward Excellence,"
the free quarterly journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center,
focuses on the direct link between strong school leadership and
improved student achievement. Highlights include a profile of Mike
Lenhart, a first-year principal at an elementary school in inner-city
Montgomery who has fostered a "no excuses" attitude among
his staff; an article on the success of the Alabama Reading Initiative’s
principal coaching program, which offers school leaders the skills
and knowledge to lead whole-school reform; and an in-depth look
at the Alabama Leadership Academy, the State Department of Education's
effort to help principals "move from being a building administrator
to a leader of instruction." This issue will be available online
June 1 at http://www.bestpracticescenter.org/publ/wteindex.html.
It will be mailed to all subscribers in early June.
IN THE NEWS
WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
In all the debates about public schools, many things that are being
done well have been overlooked. This report by the Center for Education
Policy documents how public education is getting better. For example,
overall student test scores are up, high school students are taking
harder courses, and more students are going on to college. "That
does not mean, of course, that all public schools are doing fine,"
write the authors. "Much work remains to be done to eradicate
inequities in American schools and eliminate achievement gaps between
students from different economic, racial, and ethnic subgroups."
The full report, "What's Good About Public Schools," is
available in the "Notable Publications" section on the
A+ homepage.
EDUCATION WATCH: ALABAMA
The Education Trust, a Washington-D.C.-based advocacy organization
for minority and low-income students, recently released a series
of state profiles examining student achievement, attainment and
opportunity from elementary school through college. The Alabama
report highlights reading and math scores on the National Assessment
of Educational program (NAEP), a rigorous test administered to a
sample group of students in all 50 states. The NAEP scores illustrate
a large achievement gap between white and African-American students.
The report also examines which students are taking Advanced Placement
exams and how they are performing on those exams; which students
are graduating and attending college; and the number of qualified
teachers in Alabama's classrooms. The entire report is available
in the "Notable Publications" section on the A+
homepage.
OVERHEARD
"… I think it's all about changing a school, that changes
a community, that changes a whole city, that changes a state, that
changes a whole nation of readers."
— Cynthia Henderson, Kindergarten teacher, Floyd Elementary,
Montgomery, telling President Bush about the successful implementation
of the Alabama Reading First Initiative in her school.
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Education News in Alabama is published bi-weekly by the
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