Education News in Alabama

July 18 , 2007 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

MANY PARENTS WOULD NOT URGE THEIR KIDS TO BECOME TEACHERS
Forty-five percent said they would not encourage their child to become a teacher, according to a recent survey of adults in Mobile and Baldwin counties. That's bad news amid a national teacher shortage that is pinching Alabama.

Factors to consider … State colleges are producing fewer new teachers. Many new teachers leave classroom forever in the first few years. Baby boomers are beginning to retire.

What's being done … Alabama teachers have a 7 percent raise coming that will put starting pay over $36,000. Leaders are preparing to launch a statewide mentoring program that is designed to improve retention of new teachers. The Legislature also funded scholarships to boost recruitment. School systems routinely recruit out of state, and one system hired 16 teachers from the Philippines.

Innovation in higher ed … The University of South Alabama created two ways to speed students into the classroom. Check out http://snipurl.com/teachers10 and http://snipurl.com/teachers13.

Growing their own … Teaching is a career/tech option for some high school students. Frances Schofield heads up the one at Shelby County High School, and she just won a national teaching award for her efforts.

Find the Press-Register's three-day series about the teacher shortage and its impact in Mobile and Baldwin counties (including full poll results) at http://snipurl.com/pregister

WANT TO TEACH IN ALABAMA?
Find a free online application for any or all of Alabama's 131 public school systems at www.alsde.edu/TeachInAlabama.

RESEARCH FINDINGS:
'MUCH OF LEARNING GAP BLAMED ON SUMMER' aka 'THE HARRY POTTER DIVIDE'

Most of the achievement gap between high school freshmen is connected to summer vacation, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University. They studied reading achievement of Baltimore children with low and high socioeconomic status.

During the school year, the two groups of students made similar gains in reading. During summer vacation, children from low-income homes lost some ground but their classmates from high-income homes gained more than 20 times as much.

The answer is more school, according to Karl L. Alexander, sociologist and lead author.

Read more at EdWeek (free registration required), "Much of learning gap blamed on summer," http://snipurl.com/summergap.

FILLING THE SUMMER VOID 
Schools, churches and community groups provide ways to fill the summer void with fun and learning. Here are just a few examples, two of which maximize their impact by focusing on children with the greatest needs.

• Christian missionaries offer summer day camps plus after-school activities in Prichard's Alabama Village neighborhood. "A shining light: Children's ministry thrives in difficult place," http://snipurl.com/alvillage.
• In Andalusia, tuition for a park's summer enrichment program is $1 a day. The founder said it gives children a safe place to play and learn skills that will help them succeed in life. "Coleman Center's summer program focuses on constructive activities," http://snipurl.com/colemancenter.
• At Andalusia Elementary School, a summer camp makes learning fun with art, music, language arts and computer science. "AES summer camp gives students a chance to shine," http://snipurl.com/funinthesun.

WORTH REPEATING  
"If you do what I know you can do, you're about to transform Alabama."

-- Gov. Bob Riley to educators learning more effective ways to teach through the Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative, http://snipurl.com/rileyamsti.

1 IN 4 COLLEGE FRESHMEN NEED REMEDIATION
The Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) says many graduates of Alabama high schools are not ready for college-level courses.

In 2006, 28 percent of Alabama's high school graduates who enrolled at a state college needed remediation in math, English or both subjects. It's a shock to students, who think their diploma means they are ready to move forward. And remedial classes are costly for everyone involved.

National research shows that high school teachers believe they are preparing students for college classes, but most college professors disagree.

ACHE has a plan to solve the problem by connecting all levels of education, from pre-kindergarten through graduate school.

Here's a wire version of the Anniston Star's look at the issue: http://snipurl.com/remediate.

ACHE's report on remediation needed by Alabama's Class of 2006, organized by individual high school, is at http://snipurl.com/06ache (PDF 116 KB).

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE:
Board officers and teacher testing

The Alabama State Board of Education met July 10. All members were present.

The board voted 7-2 to elect David Byers vice president. Stephanie Bell and Betty Peters voted "no." Byers, who will preside in the governor's absence, succeeded Sandra Ray.

The board re-elected President Pro Tem Randy McKinney on an 8-1 vote. Ella Bell cast the dissenting vote.

The board named Dr. Barbara Larson employee of the quarter to recognize her work to help restore teacher testing in Alabama. Highlights of other board recognitions are listed in Examples of Excellence.

Also approved was a routine review of a teacher education program at the University of Alabama.

EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE  

• CITIZEN CAMPAIGN FOR B'HAM SCHOOLS: A grassroots group launched Yes We Can! Birmingham, a campaign to reform Birmingham City Schools through community engagement and accountability. The effort is modeled on a successful program of the Mobile Area Education Foundation. Read about it at http://snipurl.com/ywcbham and http://snipurl.com/ywcbham01.
• TUSCALOOSA CITIZENS ORGANIZE: The newly formed Tuscaloosa Education Network aims to bridge the gap between school leaders and the community. Read more at http://snipurl.com/ten01.
• BEST CIO IN U.S.: Derek Roh of Baldwin County Schools was named the national Public School Chief Information Officer of the Year at the EduStat Summit.
• AL's TOP CAREER/TECH PROGRAMS: These schools boast the top career/tech programs in the state for 2007, as determined by state education officials:
  • Fairhope Middle School, Baldwin County Schools
  • Mary G. Montgomery High School, Mobile County Schools (family and consumer sciences family life program)
  • G.W. Carver High School, Birmingham City Schools (animation program)
  • R.E. Lee High School, Montgomery County Schools (Jobs for Alabama's Graduates)
  • Pell City High School, Pell City Schools (agriscience)
  • Limestone County Career Technical Center, Limestone County Schools (health science)
  • Athens High School, Athens City Schools (business/marketing
• BROOKWOOD'S INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: Chasidy Miroff, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Brookwood Middle School (Tuscaloosa County Schools), earned spots in two prestigious national study abroad programs for teachers. Her travels to the Galapagos Islands, Vietnam and Thailand will enrich her students through pen-pal exchanges with Thai and Vietnamese students plus live online lessons from South America.

GOOD READS
"Collinsville (Ala.) K-12 expects Hispanic student majority," The Birmingham News, http://snipurl.com/collinsville.

"Teachers learn how technology has changed how students learn," Press-Register http://snipurl.com/pr0713

"Business leaders urged to bolster early education," The Huntsville Times http://snipurl.com/htimes0718

WHAT'S UP @ A+

• The Alabama Best Practice Center's 21st Century Learning Project was featured in the June issue of a Microsoft Corp. internal newsletter. Microsoft funded the project with a two-year grant.
• "These past two years of professional growth have been the greatest I have experienced in a long time," wrote one participant in the ABPC's 21st Century Learning Project. Read more from this passionate teacher at http://snipurl.com/abpcgreatest.
• The Press-Register quoted A+ President Caroline Novak in two articles about the teacher shortage: "Poll: Nearly half would not point kids into teaching" (http://snipurl.com/teachers01) and "New teachers are steered toward training programs" (http://snipurl.com/teachers09)

WE NEED YOU
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation. You can give online or mail your check to P.O. Box 4433, Montgomery, AL 36103.

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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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