Education News in Alabama

October 18, 2007 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

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1. Hundreds of schools honored in second rewards phase
2. User-friendly data on Alabama schools
• Tell us what you think about the data tool.
3. A+ College Ready seeks AP Directors
4. Research Finding: 'The Proficiency Illusion'
• What does this mean for Alabama?
5. Worth Repeating
• An Alabama teacher reflects on her trip to the Microsoft Innovative Teacher Forum
6. State Board of Education update
7. Examples of Excellence
   • National teaching award
   • Alabama's best

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1. HUNDREDS OF SCHOOLS HONORED IN SECOND REWARDS PHASE

Last month more than 300 schools across the state earned financial rewards for their students' learning gains. And many more schools won notice in the second rewards phase.

Alabama's Rewards are designed to honor and motivate educators. Because of limited funding, financial rewards are restricted to Alabama's most challenging schools, those where at least 80 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

These Recognition Schools deserve the spotlight, even though they did not meet the poverty threshold. Each win means that teachers worked hard to help children make significant progress in their learning.

Find more information and a complete list of Recognition Schools at http://www.aplusala.org/media/index.asp .

2. USER-FRIENDLY DATA ON ALABAMA SCHOOLS

There's a new tool to help Alabamians understand how well schools are serving their students.

Jim Williams at the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama has analyzed test scores to highlight school systems that are significantly beating the state averages in math and reading. To make it easier to digest, the charts are color coded to indicate where a school system is significantly ahead or behind.

For example, let's look at Choctaw County's fourth-grade reading scores. The poverty students are bright green, because 52 percent of students qualifying for free and reduced-price meals scored at the highest level. Statewide, only 38 percent of poverty students scored that well.

Next, let's see how their classmates who pay full price for school meals scored. The chart shows that 55 percent scored at the highest level, but that spot on the chart is bright red. Statewide, 67 percent of nonpoverty students scored at the highest level.

The color coding also makes it easy to spot success. For example, both poverty and nonpoverty students in Mobile County are almost all coded green.

Williams writes in his introduction, "The key to school improvement in Alabama is for the successful practices of high-performing school systems to be transferred to those systems that need to improve."

He goes on to say that the first step is using data to identify high performers. "Our purpose is not to label any school system, but to assist those who want to improve and thereby to make a contribution toward raising the level of student performance throughout the state," he says.

At http://parca.samford.edu/armtscores.html you can download two PowerPoint presentations. One analyzes performance of poverty and nonpoverty students against Alabama averages for these groups, and another analyzes performance of black and white students against Alabama averages for these groups.

poverty vs. nonpoverty performance, and the other looks at white vs. black performance.

PARCA's Summer 2007 newsletter explains more about the tool. http://parca.samford.edu/Summer2007.pdf (PDF 292 KB)

Let us know what you think of this data tool. Send messages to comments@aplusala.org.

3. A+ COLLEGE READY SEEKS AP DIRECTORS

A+ College Ready is accepting applications for three directors to oversee implementation of an effective training and incentive program for Advanced Placement (AP) teachers across the state. The organization seeks a math director, a science director and an English director.

A+ College Ready is a new division of the A+ Education Foundation. Find qualifications and application details at http://www.aplusala.org/job_3directors.asp.

4. RESEARCH FINDING: 'THE PROFICIENCY ILLUSION'

There are weaknesses in the way that states measure academic progress under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), according to a new Thomas B. Fordham Institute report called "The Proficiency Illusion."

A few of the reports' key points:

• States were allowed to set their own standards of proficiency, and many states aimed low, especially for younger children.
• These low expectations can create a false impression of success.
• The central flaw in NCLB is that it allows states to set their own standards of proficiency.

Find the report (and a handy one-pager called "In a Nutshell") at http://snipurl.com/illusionreport.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR ALABAMA?

This report underscores why Alabama leaders have been so excited about recent results on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. Alabama's fourth-graders lead the nation in reading gains, picking up eight points in two years. (Have you seen the "We're No. 1" billboards?) NAEP has the same high expectations for all students in the United States.

5. WORTH REPEATING

"I never dreamed that after returning from the forum that I’d want to work ten times harder to win favor with myself. Now that’s the kind of professional experience I’d like to bottle and give to every teacher on the planet."

— Teacher Jennifer Barnett blogging about her trip with the Fayetteville School team to Microsoft's Innovative Teacher Forum. Fayetteville was one of 20 schools selected nationwide for this prestigious learning opportunity. Barnett is actively involved with the Alabama Best Practices Center, which is based at the A+ Education Foundation. Find her post "Pain is a Good Thing, Right?" at http://snipurl.com/barnettpost.

6. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION UPDATE

The Alabama State Board of Education met Oct. 11. All were present except Ethel Hall and David Byers.

The board honored several schools and individuals. The board accepted recommendations from a textbook committee and OK'd the review of a teacher education program at the U.S. Sports Academy.

7. EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE

• NATIONAL TEACHING AWARD: Melissa Hughey from Bob Jones High (Madison City Schools) won a Gold Apple Teaching Award in the 2007 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards because of the strength of her students' art.
• ALABAMA'S BEST: Mary Beth Pugh from Bluff Park Elementary (Hoover Schools) is Alabama's winner of the Preserve America History Teacher of the Year Award. Dr. Lilli Land from the Auburn Early Education Center (Auburn Schools) was named Alabama's Distinguished Principal of the Year by the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

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.

Past editions can be found at www.aplusala.org/ednews/index.asp

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