Education News in Alabama

December 21, 2006 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

PANEL RECOMMENDS WAYS TO STRENGTHEN TEACHING

The Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching has given state leaders a “To Do” list of five things that can be done right now to improve teaching – and boost student learning – in Alabama’s public school classrooms.

1. Help new teachers get off to a good start by creating a mentoring program that would pair them with veteran educators.

2. Reward teachers who take jobs in hard-to-staff places or whose students learn the most by an incentive pay pilot program in a few systems.

3. Start recruiting future teachers in high school and strengthen teacher preparation programs through a pilot that partners colleges with school systems.

4. Adopt the proposed Quality Teaching Standards so there is a common description of quality teaching. The standards, which are the foundation of all efforts to strengthen teaching, outline common-sense requirements that research shows are essential to helping children learn.

5. Measure and monitor progress.

These recommendations were contained in the panel’s initial report (full text available here http://snipurl.com/gcqt1). Former National Teacher of the Year Dr. Betsy Rogers leads the group, which is filled with all-star teachers from around the state.

Information about the Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching is available under the resources tab at http://www.aplusala.org.

RESEARCH FINDINGS:
CUTTING DROP OUT RATE COULD SAVE BILLIONS ON HEALTHCARE

The Alliance for Excellent Education has calculated how much states would save if every high school senior had graduated this year. Nationwide, states would save more than $17 billion on healthcare over the students’ lifetimes.

The issue brief, available from http://snipurl.com/healthiergrads, examines the complex reasons why increased educational attainment is connected to better health. High school graduates live an average of six to nine years longer than dropouts.

 Then a professor of public health from Columbia University estimated how much money states could save on healthcare if residents went further in school. Analysis showed that states spend more on healthcare for a high school dropout than for high school graduate, and states spend more on healthcare for a high school graduate than for a college graduate.

States spend a larger share of their budgets on healthcare than on any other expense.

FUTURE ENGINEERS TACKLE ‘LAUNDRY QUANDARY’

For the BEST Robotics competition, middle and high school students built robots that could hang wet laundry on a clothesline and could remove dry laundry. They also made trade-show style presentations for their creations, complete with marketing plans. And they had fun along the way.

Perhaps most importantly, they did some sophisticated, hard-core learning. These students gained a deeper understanding of technical concepts and scientific principles, and they practiced skills including written and spoken communication, project management, abstract thought, self-directed learning, problem-solving and collaboration.

“BEST rocks,” says Heather Sawyer, a junior at Austin High School in Decatur. “I originally joined to work on the booth and presentations for the BEST Award but have found out that I am good at designing and engineering things, and really enjoy it. I’m now seriously thinking of majoring in engineering in college.”

Auburn University hosted a regional championship earlier this month for teams from a dozen states in the eastern United States. The competition is linked to Best Robotics Inc. (http://www.bestinc.org), a nonprofit organization that inspires students to careers in engineering, science and technology through sports-like robotics meets.

Alabama’s big winner was the team from Priceville High (Morgan County schools). The team won the BEST award, which factors in the robot’s performance and the marketing plan. (http://snipurl.com/robots ) Eastwood Christian School of Montgomery placed third in that category.

On robot performance alone, Southside Middle School (Tallassee City schools) won fourth place. http://snipurl.com/robots2

These Alabama schools (with system name in parentheses) also qualified for the December regional competition: Austin High (Decatur City), Bob Jones High (Madison City), Davidson High (Mobile County), Lee-Scott Academy of Auburn, Minor High (Jefferson County), Praise Christian of Mobile, St. Vincent de Paul of Mobile, Stanhope-Elmore High (Elmore County), and Wetumpka High (Elmore County).

GIPSON LEADS REGIONAL PANEL

State Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, is the new chairman of the Southern Regional Education Board’s Legislative Advisory Council. Gipson has served on the council since 2000, and his election marks the first time an Alabamian has chaired the council.

Gipson focuses on school issues in the Legislature, and he serves as the ranking minority member on the Alabama House of Representatives’ education budget committee.

The Southern Regional Education Board (http://www.sreb.org) provides a wealth of research on key issues to leaders in 16 southern states. SREB publications and conferences are designed to help states develop policy proposals and long-range plans to improve student achievement.

SOME GRADS NOT READY FOR COLLEGE

One out of every four college freshman needed remedial study in math or English or both, reported The Birmingham News in “Graduated, but not ready.” The article looked at the 2005 graduates from Alabama’s public high schools who went on to one of the state’s public two- or four-year colleges. The story, available here http://snipurl.com/ready1, highlights important issues such as the cost of remediation, who should provide remedial classes and whether high school is tough enough. A companion story, available here http://snipurl.com/ready2, lists what state education leaders are doing so future graduates will be better equipped for college classes.

The story has already prompted the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper to examine data on graduates from Walker County. Forty-five percent or more of last year’s graduates from four Walker County high schools needed remediation, the paper reports here http://snipurl.com/ready3.

DOTHAN EXPLORES CAREER ACADEMIES

Leaders from Dothan City Schools traveled to Chattanooga to see how one high school reform strategy is working. They visited schools that are organized into career academies with teachers who show how academic content is relevant in the everyday world and to technical courses such as carpentry. The approach is designed to improve learning for high school students whether they are headed to work or to college. To read more, visit http://snipurl.com/careeracad.

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE

The Alabama State Board of Education met Dec. 14. Because of the upcoming Christmas holiday, board members conducted both a formal meeting and work session on the same day. All members except Gov. Bob Riley were present

Board members unanimously voted to give a raise and contract extension to State Superintendent of Education Dr. Joseph Morton. Board member David Byers said Morton had just received a “very, very good evaluation” from his bosses. The raise was designed to reward his performance and more closely align the salary with state superintendents in the southeast and higher-paid local superintendents in Alabama.

Morton will get a 3.5 percent raise on Jan. 1 for an annual salary of $179,000. He will get another 3.5 percent raise a year later, boosting his pay to $185,000.

When Morton was named interim state superintendent, he opted to retain his previous salary as a top deputy superintendent. The education budget was cash-strapped when he was hired as state superintendent in July 2004, and he accepted a modest raise that left him earning less than the previous state superintendent.  

During the meeting, the school board honored Dr. Wayne Ray, superintendent of Russellville City Schools who was recently named Alabama’s superintendent of the year by his peers. Under his leadership, Russellville was the first system in the state to have 100 percent of its teachers meet the highly qualified standard of the No Child Left Behind Act. Russellville was also among the first systems in the state where every school met the adequate yearly progress performance standard.

The panel also honored Dr. Mabrey Whetstone for becoming president-elect of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. Whetstone directs special education services for the Alabama State Department of Education, and he was worked hard to improve teaching and learning for these students.

Later in a work session, board members were briefed on the Governor’s Commission on Quality Teaching’s initial report. Work sessions are designed to prepare for upcoming meetings, and no votes are taken.

Board members also heard about new report cards being developed for teacher preparation programs in the state. Alabama was one of the first states in the nation to issue report cards on colleges and universities that train teachers, and the state Department of Education plans to expand the format. The additional indicators are factors that have been shown to improve student performance.

As proposed, a college’s teacher prep program would receive letter grades on four things: how much future teachers work in schools, how deeply the program collaborates with local school systems, how future teachers score on tests, and on-the-job performance of graduates.

Colleges would also receive an overall letter grade. Officials said they hope the new report cards would help track improvement at the state’s colleges and universities, provide accountability and inform the public about reforms.

WORTH REPEATING

“Think of the race of life as a 100-yard sprint in which some of the runners must start 10 yards behind the others. At the race's end, the winners are determined by where they finished, no matter where they started.”

Editorial Writer Eddie Lard of The Birmingham News,
 explaining why Alabama should make sure every child starts school ready to learn
http://snipurl.com/14m21

EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE

*Makaila Eicher, a student at U.S. Jones Elementary in Demopolis, has been selected to attend the weeklong 2007 People to People World Leadership Forum in Washington, D.C. Makaila was nominated by her fifth-grade teacher Dana Hill, and she will join other students from around the world who have exhibited high achievement in the classroom and leadership abilities. To read more about Makaila, please visit http://snipurl.com/14vse.

*Two Alabama high school students won free weeklong trips to our nation’s capital through the William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s U.S. Senate Youth Program. Central High School (Phenix City schools) student Logan Copley and Oak Mountain High School (Shelby County schools) student Scott Gray were selected for their academic achievements, leadership abilities and commitment to volunteer service.

*Data management by the Alabama State Department of Education improved in the last year, according to the Data Quality Campaign. Alabama now has 7 of 10 pieces needed to use data (such as grades, test scores, high school and college graduation dates) to improve student achievement. Longitudinal data – how each child is doing over time – is the most meaningful way to measure school performance.

*Another Alabama Math, Science & Technology Initiative site has opened at the University of Montevallo. AMSTI, a project of the Alabama State Department of Education, provides extensive professional development for teachers; kits packed with equipment, supplies and materials for different projects; and support visits to individual schools. The first AMSTI site opened in 2002, and test scores show students in AMSTI schools improved in across all subjects. Want to know more? Check out http://www.amsti.org . Officials hope to have AMSTI operating statewide in 2008. New schools are being incorporated into the program as funding allows.

EDITOR'S NOTE
A+ will publish only one issue of Education News in Alabama this month.

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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.

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