Education News in Alabama

August 29, 2006 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

It was a good week for …
three Alabama schools, selected for Microsoft Corp.'s Innovative Teachers Forum. A total of 28 schools were picked nationwide, and the only state with more schools picked was Washington, home of Microsoft. All three Alabama schools are affiliated with the Alabama Best Practices Center. (More information below)

Jobs for Alabama's Graduates, which won the "Five of Five" National Performance Award for the second consecutive year. The program helps prepare high school juniors and seniors to enter the workforce.  To be selected, JAG needed a minimum of a 90 percent graduation rate and an 80 percent success rate. To determine the success rate, student progress at work or in school is monitored for 12 months after high school graduation.

Mobile County public schools, which Parade magazine cited as an example of how "Good schools can happen."

Class of 2006's ACT scores
For the fifth year in a row, more Alabama high school graduates took the ACT college entrance exam and plan to go to college, according to data released from the testing company about the class of 2006. 

In Alabama, test participation was also up among African-Americans, who boosted their average from 17.1 to 17.2. A perfect score is 36.

The average Alabama score held steady at 20.2, compared to the national average of 21.1.

"The results show increased student achievement and college readiness," said Dr. Ruth Ash, deputy state superintendent of education.

State Board of Education update: rewards, financial accountability and part-time teachers
The State Board of Education met Aug. 24 for a work session on K-12 matters.  Such meetings are designed to prepare for upcoming meetings, and no votes are taken. All board members were present.

The State Department of Education gave the board a preview of the rewards program.  A total of $2.4 million in performance-based rewards will be announced at the Sept. 14 meeting. Performance was measured using each school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) report, which primarily reflects scores on math and reading tests as well as the graduation exam.

Rewards will be awarded in five categories:

• Schools with more students scoring at the advanced level than statewide figures;
• schools where a defined group (such as African-American or special education students) has closed the achievement gap;
• schools where a defined group made significant progress toward closing an achievement gap;
• high-poverty schools that made AYP two years in a row;
• schools that overcame numerous hurdles to achieve high test scores and other top marks.

The rewards range from $800 to $8,000 in various categories. Schools may earn rewards in more than one category.

The board was briefed on implementation of the School Fiscal Accountability Act, which the state Legislature approved earlier this year to strengthen existing financial guidelines. Among the changes, school systems will be required to post monthly financial reports online for the public. The first of these are expected to be available in November.  Chief school financial officers will also be required to notify in writing board members and the system superintendent of any financial transaction that is "non-routine, unusual, without legal authorization or not in compliance with the fiscal policies of the board."

The State Department of Education is also preparing to "cut through as much red tape as possible" so that retired teachers have the option of returning to the classroom part-time. Retirees who go back to work would have to do professional development, keep their certificate or license current and meet federal standards for highly qualified teachers. The move is designed to help ease a teacher shortage.

Quote of the week
"We are trusting (teachers) to use the money to better the school. It throws everybody off…. Teachers say, 'We don't know how to spend money like that. Nobody's ever let us.'"

– State Superintendent of Education Dr. Joe Morton on the rewards program, which lets teachers decide how to spend reward money. He said that empowers teachers and fosters competition.  Rewards may be spent on bonuses, instructional materials and professional development.

Starting from scratch
Officials in Saraland, located north of Mobile, plan to open a new school system in 2006. The financial side of creating a school system usually turns out to be more difficult than it seems in the beginning, according to a report from the Press-Register. Read lessons learned by officials from Leeds and Trussville, two other recent startups.

Spotlight on Kinterbish Junior High School
Eddie Lard, an editorial writer for The Birmingham News, took his readers on a road trip last week to southwestern Sumter County. Lard introduced readers to Kinterbish Junior High School, where some poor African-American children from the Black Belt are outperforming the rest of the state in reading and math. Read Eddie Lard's column.

The school was profiled in a recent special issue of Working Toward Excellence, the journal of the Alabama Best Practices Center.

Calcedeaver, Vestavia Hills East and Wrights Mill Road elementary schools tapped for national honor
Teams from three Alabama schools have been selected for the Microsoft U.S. Innovative Teachers Forum next month in Redmond, Wash. All three schools are part of the Alabama Best Practices Center's 21st Century Learning Initiative, which is funded by a Microsoft grant. Microsoft's Innovative Teachers Program sponsors regional forums around the world to recognize and reward outstanding educators.

Microsoft chose 28 schools from around the nation to participate in the Innovative Teachers Forum. Alabama had more schools selected than any other state with the exception of Washington State, the home of Microsoft.

Read the Opelika-Auburn News' story about Wrights Mill Road Elementary.

Read full text of the A+ news release.

Education News in Alabama returns
A+'s e-mail newsletter is back in business after a hiatus. If you have suggestions – or even a nagging question that has gone unanswered in the newsletter's absence – please let us know. Send your message to comments @aplusala.org

New faces at A+
This summer the foundation welcomed two new people to the team. Elaine Green, who recently moved to Montgomery, is the new executive assistant. Sallie Owen, a former newspaper reporter for the Press-Register, is communications director.

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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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