| LINKS FROM WINTER 2009 ISSUE OF INSIGHTS: 1) Planning an Academic Review Excel Spreadsheet/Elementary Excel Spreadsheet/Middle Excel Spreadsheet/High 2) Links to assist your Academic Review 3) Top 20/2008 CATS |
|
PAST HEADLINES
Kentucky's new Commissioner of Education will deliver the keynote address at the KASC conference at the Louisville Marriott Downtown. He is expected to share his vision for Kentucky schools and the importance of school councils in achieving success for students. Additionally at the luncheon, KASC will reveal the winner of the 2009 Vision Award and the Danville High School academic team will challenge conference participants to a round of quick recall competition! Register on-line.
> NEW DREAM GRANT APPLICATIONS
KASC will be awarding three Dream Grants of $250 each to educators who attend the KASC conference, find inspiration there, and put that inspiration into action. The applications will be available at the conference in Louisville on September 22-23. More information.
> NEWS FOR PARENTS: J. Graham Brown Foundation grant to fund parent leadership institute with a STEM focus
A $275,000 grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation to the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence will fund creation and implementation over two years of the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Read more...
> 2009 US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT BEST HIGH SCHOOL AWARDS
U.S.News & World Report—in collaboration with School Evaluation Services, a K-12 education and data research and analysis business that provides parents with education data on schoolmatters.com —analyzed academic and enrollment data from more than 21,000 public high schools to find the very best across the country. These top schools were placed into gold, silver, bronze, or honorable mention categories.
The Kentucky Association of School Councils recognizes these member high schools for being among those named as 2009 award-winners:
(Silver Medals) Beechwood and Highlands
(Bronze Medals) Barbourville City School, Corbin, Dawson Springs, Harlan, Hancock County, Pineville, Russell County, Walton Verona, Whitley County, Williamstown, Hickman County, Jackson City, Magoffin County, Paintsville, Paris
> KASC MEMBERS SOAR AS 2009 KENTUCKY TEACHERS OF THE YEAR
Teacher of the Year
Karen Gill, Henry Clay High, Fayette Co.
Elementary School TOY
Lisa Wathen, Freedom Elementary, Bullitt Co.
High School TOY
Willow Hambrick, Royal Spring Middle, Scott Co.
> KASC ATTENDS GOVERNOR'S BUDGET BRIEFING
On June 3, 2009 KASC attended the Governor's budget briefing to hear his proposal for the upcoming special legislative session. The Governor made it clear that he is firmly committed to education and even though education funding accounts for the majority of the state general fund, he wants to protect the main education funding (SEEK). His plan would guarantee the same amount of per-pupil funding for SEEK as in 2009.
> IT'S NOT OVER 'TIL IT'S OVER: TEACHING UNTIL THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
>Amend your SBDM instructional policy to reflect your school's commitment to learning from the first day of the school year until the last. Sample policy
>Let your parents and wider community know that your school is committed to instruction through the last day of school. Find a sample parent letter and sample press release here.
> KCCT CHANGES FOR SPRING 2009
1. Posters and other classroom materials with content or strategies to solve problems must be removed or covered in areas of a school where the KCCT or Alternate Assessment Attainment Tasks are administered.
2. Schools must administer the KCCT in no more than 7 days of regular testing and 3 makeup days.
3. The testing of Arts and Humanities and Practical Living/Vocational Studies is a local district decision. Students will not answer in the KCCT booklets, but may take separate tests for A&H and PLVS provided to your district by KDE.
4. Writing Portfolio scores will not be collected by the state. Local district/schools will determine the policies and processes teachers will follow this spring.
>"Do these tests even matter?" What to tell parents this spring.
> GLASGOW INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS MAKE THE TOP 10; KASC'S LISA STONE MAKES NEWS
Administrators learned the district has been ranked No. 10 in performance out of 174 school districts in the state.
Lisa Stone, a representative of Kentucky Association of School Councils (KASC), in partnership with Kentucky School Boards Association (KSBA), also said the high school ranked 21st out of 214 high schools and the middle school ranked 24th of 222 middle schools. Highland and South Green elementaries performed in the top 25 percent of the 715 elementary schools in the state.
Read more.
>ESTIMATED PER PUPIL LOSSES IN BUYING POWER
House Bill 406, as approved by the House and Senate on April 2, has now been signed into law. Considering the recent high inflation rate and growing enrollments, Kentucky's state school funding will have less buying power to meet each child's needs in the 2007-2008 school year than in 2008-2009. This analysis shares an estimate of the impact per student. See the full article.
>TASK FORCE TO REVIEW STATE’S ASSESSMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM
(FRANKFORT, Ky.) - A statewide task force of policymakers and experts in the field will review Kentucky’s Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS), with the primary goals of providing a blueprint for the system’s progress in the future and ensuring that the system meets the best interests of public school students. See the full article.
>BLUE RIBBON PANEL TO MEET
The Commisioner's Blue Ribbon Panel on intervention strategies will hold its first meeting Monday, February 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. EST in the auditorium of the Capital Plaza Tower in Frankfort. See the full article.
>DISTRICTS TO RECEIVE FEDERAL IMPROVEMENT FUNDS
The U.S. Department of Education has approved Kentucky's application for School Improvement Funds authorized under Section 1003(g) of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This is the first year that Congress has appropriated funds under Section 1003(g) to assist schools that are not making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
See the full article.
>US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
America's Best High Schools
The November 29 issue of US News & World Report provided a listing of the publication's first-ever selections for the best public high schools in the country. The listing included rankings and “medals” to the top contenders out of the more than 18,000 public high schools in the U.S. The 100 schools that did the best in the magazine's analysis were awarded gold medals. The next 405 schools earned silver medals, and more than 1,000 additional schools earned bronze medals. No schools in Kentucky received gold medals, but there were several silver and bronze recipients. See the full article.
>EMERSON SELECTED AS 2008 TEACHER OF THE YEAR
Chandra Holloway Emerson, a teacher at Oldham County Middle School, has been named 2008 Kentucky Teacher of the Year. See the full article.
>PARENT ADVISORY COUNCIL ISSUES RECOMMENDATIONS
The Commissioner's Parents Advisory Council (CPAC), a group formed to advise the state commissioner of education on policy issues, has issued a set of recommendations to improve family and community involvement in Kentucky's public schools. See the full article.
>STATEWIDE HIGH ATTENDANCE DAY
(August 20, 2007) The Kentucky Directors of Pupil Personnel (KDPP) is once again sponsoring the 2nd Annual High Attendance Day held through out the state on Tuesday, September 11. The event is meant to encourage and stress the importance school attendance. Attendance is directly correlated with the students’ opportunity to succeed, and this event is meant to foster positive attitudes about the importance of school. See the full article.
>CONGRESS PASSES NEW 'COMPETITIVENESS' BILL
Congress approved legislation August 3, 2007 that would establish several new federal math and science programs and expand existing ones. The competitiveness bill seeks to bolster mathematics and science education through improved teacher recruitment and training and promote successful classroom practices. See the full article.
>NEW WORKSHOPS SET FOR COUNCILS, PD
KASC is now booking two all-new workshops for experienced school council members. The association is also offering three new professional development sessions for teachers.
The new sessions for council members cover areas vital to school success:
> Budget Basics focuses on ways that schools can use financial and other resources to help students succeed. The workshop looks at the council’s role in budget issues, what money the council controls, and other important resources that come into play. The training includes policy guidelines and answers to frequently asked questions. Practices from successful Kentucky schools are also shared and discussed.
> Steps to Student Proficiency hones in on student achievement. The council is accountable for making sure all students are learning and reaching proficiency. This session focuses on the council leading a school by setting high expectations and implementing a system for assessing students regularly through the year. The workshop also looks at using resources to help students reach proficiency and supporting the school staff as they work to meet the needs of individual students. Practices from successful Kentucky schools will be shared and discussed.
New professional development sessions for 2007-08 are available for individuals, groups, or participants who will share the information in their own school or district professional meetings:
> All-Star Strategies pulls together key strategies from 10 of the most-used school-improvement books and presents them in a way for participants to see how they can be used in schools and classrooms.
> Multiple-Choice and Depth of Knowledge helps teachers learn how to develop quality multiple-choice questions and strategies for students to use in answering this kind of question, which will determine at least 50 percent of school’s scores on each subject on Kentucky’s Core Content Tests, except writing.
> Continuous Assessment to Change Instruction explores ways to use classroom assessment to monitor progress toward academic goals and meet student needs.
For more information on the full catalog of KASC training titles or to schedule sessions, call (859) 238-2188 or e-mail our training staff at training@kasc.net.
> RESPONSE TO COUNCIL AUTHORITY ISSUE
(DEC. 8, 2006) School-based decision making councils exist to improve student achievement. If a school's students aren't meeting state standards, a 2004 Kentucky law allows the school council's authority to be removed.
Here's how the law works: Schools subject to a scholastic audit (based on low CATS scores) receive a review of council effectiveness. After that audit, plans will be made to strengthen the council. Two years later, schools that haven't met testing goals for four years total are subject to a second audit. If the council is again found to be ineffective in meeting its CATS goals, either the superintendent or a highly skilled educator can be recommended to take over the council's work.
The audit team must also recommend whether the school council will continue to act in an advisory capacity until its authority is restored when the school meets its goal for a two-year accountability cycle. The school council can ask the Kentucky Board of Education to reconsider a take-over and present supporting materials to make its case.
When a school's performance leads to the school council having its authority removed, it doesn't mean the council is the cause of the problems; it means the council hasn't been able to find solutions. The parents, the teachers, and the principal on the councils at these schools care deeply about their students, as do all the council members across the state.
KASC wants to help build the capacity for these school councils to lead the school to success in the future. We hope the councils facing this situation will support new efforts to turn around their schools. This is an opportunity to learn and grow, not give up. Councils need to embrace all the help available, because making sure their students learn is what matters most. See the full law