Education News in Alabama

July 21, 2005 (archive)

IT WAS A GOOD WEEK FOR:

A+ Education Foundation and the Alabama Best Practices Center, the recipients of two large grants that will support and expand our work.

Wachovia Foundation -- In late June, A+ was awarded $750,000 grant ($250,000 a year for three years) from the Wachovia Foundation’s Teachers and Teaching Initiative for the work of the Alabama Best Practices Center’s Powerful Conversations Project (PCP). The PCP is a three-phased process designed to deepen a school’s understanding and use of results-driven professional development. The PCP helps faculties learn to use effective school-based professional development to address the specific learning needs of every student in the school. This funding will allow the Best Practices Center to expand the Powerful Conversations Project and partner with the Alabama Reading Initiative to sustain growth in established ARI schools by engaging them in the PCP. Doing so will bolster the professional development practices of the teachers in ARI schools and augment ARI's school improvement efforts.

This award is recognition of the impact that that the Powerful Conversations Project has had on the nearly 150 schools currently involved in the Network. Wachovia used a very rigorous process to first identify potential applicants across the country and then to award these grants. This work has been almost 15-years in the making, starting with the establishment of A+ and the work accomplished by key staff and volunteers over the years. We believe strongly that the success of this project – and the grant – is attributable to the many people and schools that have been involved and are committed to its success.

The award will be announced formally at a press conference on August 18 at Central Park Elementary School in Birmingham. The time period for the grant is from July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2008.

Microsoft Corporation -- The Alabama Best Practices Center was awarded a two-year $480,000 grant from Microsoft Corporation to establish and operate a Virtual Learning Community (VLC) to support the Powerful Conversations network. We were one of 11 organizations across the country be awarded a grant (75 organizations submitted letters of intent and 26 finalists were named). This grant will do two things: create a sophisticated web-based communications program for schools involved in the Powerful Conversations Project (PCP). It will also begin to infuse into the PCP self assessment important research about how to effectively teach the "net generation," or the current and upcoming generation of students who regard the internet as an essential and commonplace component of life and learning.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE

The State Board of Education held its annual meeting on Tuesday, July 12. The first order of business was to elect Vice President and President Pro Tem. By unanimous vote, Sandra Ray, District VII, will serve as Vice President and Randy McKinney, District I, will serve as President Pro Tem.

The State Board approved a Parental Notification Letter in Compliance with the No Child Left Behind Act. According to the law, if a teacher is assigned to teach one or more classes for which she/he has not yet achieved Highly Qualified status, the notification letter should be sent to the parents of his/her students at the beginning of school. The State Department of Education and teachers have worked diligently to raise the number of teachers who meet the HQ status. Currently, approximately 75% of all Alabama's teachers are considered Highly Qualified according to the state's definition under the NCLB law.

The State Board also approved the recommendations for the Student Health Committee. The recommendations address the important issues of nutrition and physical fitness for Alabama's students. Schools will now be required to serve more Alabama-grown fruits and vegetables, phase out fried foods in cafeterias, provide healthier choices in vending machines and offer 30 minutes of physical education a day for every student.

There was much discussion over the recommendations for the types of drinks offered in vending machines. Ultimately, the board approved a plan that requires elementary schools to stock vending machines with only noncarbonated beverages (i.e. juice, water, milk, tea, sports drinks). Seventy percent of the selections in the vending machines in middle schools will be noncarbonated, with half of the remaining selections (15% of total) to be low/no calorie soft drinks. At the high school level, half of the selections in vending machines will be noncarbonated. The other half can be carbonated, but 50% of all carbonated offerings must be low/no calorie drinks. This regulation will be in effect for the upcoming school year but will not supercede contractual arrangements already in place between school and beverage companies. Further, there is nothing in the board's resolution that prohibits a school from exceeding these requirements should it desire to do so.

Finally, the Board approved a Code of Ethics for Alabama Educators. Previously, Alabama did not have such a code for teachers, administrators and other school personnel. This issue arose from the work of the Governor's Congress on School Leadership and was quickly addressed by the State Department of Education and the State Board of Education.

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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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