Education News in Alabama

January 15, 2010 (archive)

By Sallie Owen Gowan

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Thank you, contributors!
Many thanks to our friends old and new who responded to our December fundraising appeal.

Your dollars make a difference for Alabama's children and our future.

Thank you for investing in A+!

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Getting stuck in "Either/Or" mode can slow progress

Want to join Cathy's "Both/And" club?
Cathy Gassenheimer inaugurates the new A+ Education Partnership blog with this thought-provoking observation:

It's easy to get stuck in an "Either/Or" frame of mind, and miss important truths on both sides of a debate.

Cathy thinks a "Both/And" approach is better, and cites examples from the National Reading Panel and a new report on 21st Century skills as examples. "Both/And Club – Want to join?"

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STATE SCHOOL BOARD HIGHLIGHTS
Charter schools backed unanimously
In a bipartisan move, the State Board of Education unanimously voted to back charter schools on Thursday. During discussion, the governor cleared up misconceptions about funding, saying that the federal Race to the Top funds are for helping all schools–not for funding new charter schools. He said that opening the door to charter schools just improves Alabama's chance for these funds. Alabama will apply for $200 million in Race to the Top funds next week.

All members were present. In other business, Mobile's George Hall Elementary was honored for winning a national Dispelling the Myth Award, which recognizes high-achieving schools that serve mostly children from poor families.
Charter school info (PDF)

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State school board podcasts
Listen to meetings of the State Board of Education.

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New web site for Alabama Best Practices Center
ABPC's new site went live yesterday, and we are eager to hear if it is meeting the needs of readers. Highlights include:

1. Opportunities for two-way conversations
2. More user-friendly design
3. Book lists and reviews at What We're Reading and Goodreads

Many thanks to the readers who completed surveys – your input drove the design. Let us know how we can refine things by emailing abpc@aplusala.org

www.bestpracticescenter.org

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Webinar: Economic impact of small improvements in student achievement
Achievable gains in educational performance yield tens of trillions of dollars in GDP gains, says a report to be presented later this month.

One of the report's author's will do a briefing on findings contained in "The High Cost of Low Educational Performance: An Estimation of the Long-Running Economic Impact of Improvements in PISA Outcomes. Sponsored by the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Tuesday, Jan. 19
1-2 p.m., CST
Webinar registration

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RESEARCH FINDING
NYC charter students outpace others
"Students in New York City’s charter elementary and middle schools make bigger learning gains than their regular public school counterparts in math and reading, according to the second report in five months to find good results for the independently run public schools in the nation’s largest school system," writes Debra Viadero.
"Second study gives thumbs up to NYC charters," EducationWeek

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