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Connecticut Special Education Teacher to be Named National Teacher of the Year at White House Ceremony
Anthony Mullen will be named 2009 National Teacher of the Year by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony today, Tuesday, April 28, 2009. Mullen will be recognized because of his innovative approach, community focus, and teamwork with other teachers. The 2009 state teachers of the year will also be recognized at this event.
Mullen, the 59th National Teacher of the Year, is a ninth through twelfth grade special education teacher at The ARCH School, an alternative education branch of Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut. He will begin a year as a full-time national and international spokesperson for education on June 1, 2009. Mullen comes from a lifetime of service in the public sector, first as a New York City police officer and then, to further transform the fractured lives of young people in crisis, as a teacher and mentor of teenagers who truly need a second chance.
“Mullen is exactly the type of educator we want to acknowledge. He believes in and encourages collaboration between and among teachers and school leaders as he knows this brings the right focus on the student,” said CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit. “We at CCSSO are supportive and working toward creating a collaborative and student-centered 21st century educator development system and are pleased to have our National Teacher of the Year reflect our values and direction in this area of work.”
The National Teacher of the Year Program is a project of CCSSO, sponsored by the ING Foundation that focuses public attention on teaching excellence and is the oldest and most prestigious awards program for teachers. Additional information on the National Teacher of the Year Program can be accessed at www.ntoy.org, or by contacting Jon Quam at jonq@ccsso.org or 202-336-7047.
Headlines
Association & Related News
NCSA Early Registration Discount Ends Thursday, April 30
NAGB Releases The Nation's Report Card: NAEP 2008 Trends in Academic Progress
Chiefline available in iPhone and iPod touch Format
Advocacy in Action
Upcoming House Hearing on Common Academic Standards
CCSSO and NGA Engage States on Common Core Standards
Education Newsbriefs
"Illinois Trying to Grow, Keep Agriculture Teachers" (IL)
"Ed. Commissioner Suggests Longer School Year" (KS)
"Pilot Project Will Recycle School Lunchroom Trays Into Compost" (SC)
"Digital Lessons Could Soon Replace Books in W.Va." (WV)
"Pearson Helps Strapped School Districts Tap Into Stimulus Funding"
Association & Related News
NCSA Early Registration Discount Ends Thursday, April 30
By Carla Toye
Thursday, April 30, 2009, is the last chance to take advantage of the $450 discounted rate for the 2009 National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA), held June 21-24, 2009, in Los Angeles, CA.
The NCSA is the place to find new direction, new ideas, new technologies, and the very latest research in the assessment field. There will be opportunities to discuss current issues with colleagues, and to talk to leaders in the assessment community. The NCSA sessions will focus on what’s happening in the real world of assessment—what’s new, what’s changing, and what’s working and not working.
Click here to register for the 2009 National Conference on Student Assessment in Los Angeles, CA, at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, June 21-24. Register today for the discounted rate. For questions about registration, please contact studentassessconf@ccsso.org or 202-336-7074. On May 1, the conference registration costs will be the regular rate of $500.
NAGB Releases The Nation's Report Card: NAEP 2008 Trends in Academic Progress
Tuesday, April 28, 2009, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB) released a report charting the performance of students in reading and mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) since the early 1970s. Results are presented nationally for 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds. The new results for 2008 are compared to 2004, the last trend assessment, and to the first time the assessment was conducted almost 40 years ago. Results for assessments conducted in the intervening years are also provided.
The Nation's Report Card: NAEP 2008 Trends in Academic Progress and additional data collected from the 2008 long-term trends assessment are available online at http://nationsreportcard.gov.
For more information or to request hard copies of the report, please contact Stephaan Harris of the National Assessment Governing Board at Stephaan.Harris@ed.gov or 202-357-7504.
Chiefline available in iPhone and iPod touch Format
By Paul Ferrari
This week, CCSSO is launching Chiefline in an iPhone and iPod touch format. Those users who are accessing Chiefline content on an iPhone or iPod touch simply need to click the hyperlink at the top of the newsletter that says "BlackBerry/iPhone version."
Please email communications@ccsso.org with any Chiefline-related questions or comments. We welcome your feedback.
Advocacy in Action
Upcoming House Hearing on Common Academic Standards
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor is hosting a Full Committee Hearing on common standards this coming Wednesday, April 29 at 10 a.m. EST. The hearing is titled “Strengthening America’s Competitiveness through Common Academic Standards” and can be accessed by clicking here. CCSSO President and Arkansas Commissioner of Education, Ken James, will be testifying as a witness at this hearing. Other witnesses include: Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy; Greg Jones, chair, California Business for Excellence in Education (CBEE); Dave Levin, co-founder, KIPP: Knowledge Is Power Program; and Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers. CCSSO has been working closely with Commissioner James to prepare his testimony and will providing you with an update on the outcome of the hearing.
CCSSO and NGA Engage States on Common Core Standards
On April 17, CCSSO and NGA hosted a meeting in Chicago to discuss common standards at which representatives from forty-one states were in attendance. This meeting marked the beginning of a state-led process leading to the development of common core standards and a historic opportunity to collectively improve the education of America's children. States had an opportunity to raise issues throughout the day as they were asked to consider a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), which would commit them to this state-led process.
On April 27, CCSSO released the final MOA to states for their consideration. CCSSO continues to work closely with states to engage them in the process of developing the common core and will provide more information on this initiative forthcoming.
Education Newsbriefs
Illinois Trying to Grow, Keep Agriculture Teachers
WREX-TV 13 News (04/21/09)
The Illinois State Board of Education will provide $350,000 to seven state universities and community colleges--University of Illinois, Illinois State University, Western Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, Black Hawk College, Land Lake College, and Joliet Junior College--to develop programs to recruit and retain future high school agriculture teachers. Illinois Superintendent of Education Christopher Koch says, "Agriculture is the backbone of industry in Illinois. Having qualified instructors specialize in this field is essential to our standing in the world marketplace." Education officials are expected to use the grant money to create student opportunities for paid internships and other agriculture-science, career-related activities.
Ed. Commissioner Suggests Longer School Year
KMBC 9 News (MO) (04/20/09)
Kansas Commissioner of Education Alexa Posny recently recommended that the school year be extended for certain students, particularly those in special education classes, at schools receiving Title I funding, and those in English as a second language courses. The state will receive $488 million from the $44 billion set aside by the federal government for public education. The state will use $100 million for each of the next two years to fund special education and $92 million for Kansas' Title I programs; special education funding had been removed from the state budget. Posny says providing additional summer school to "the students who are disadvantaged, or students who may not have English as their main language" will help. "They (students) need to have the continuing instruction through the summer months as well," she says.
Pilot Project Will Recycle School Lunchroom Trays Into Compost
WSPA (04/27/09)
The first pilot program to turn school lunchroom trays into compost has been launched in South Carolina at Hand Middle School in Richland District One. Rather than use disposable polystyrene trays, the six-week program involves the use of trays comprised of bamboo and sugar cane, which will be delivered to the compost station in Columbia to be broken down and included in yard waste compost mix. State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex says the program could be expanded to include other schools if it is deemed successful by its sponsors, including Columbia's Sustainability Team, Sonoco Recycling, the State Department of Education's food service office, the State Department of Health and Environmental Control, and the State Department of Commerce. "We hope we'll see less waste, more saved energy, and more conservation of our natural resources," remarks Rex. "Interactions between people and nature can bring harmony or conflict. To help reduce the possibility of conflict, our schools develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills that promote environmental literacy and teach young people about environmental stewardship and good citizenship. Those are things that are vital to South Carolina's future."
Digital Lessons Could Soon Replace Books in W.Va.
Charleston Daily Mail (WV) (04/24/09) Rivard, Ry
West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Steve Paine says public schools across the state could move from textbooks to digital lessons on handheld electronic devices or laptops beginning in five years. Such a move would lower learning materials costs and put local educators in control over what students are taught. The state spends approximately $150 million on textbooks every six years when every subject's books are examined by state officials, who are in charge of approving the materials. "Textbooks will be a thing of the past," says Paine. However, Paine says strategies must be developed to ensure children whose families cannot afford computers have access to learning technologies. He believes textbooks are not in perfect alignment with state standards, and teachers could use state education objectives to develop lesson plans and digital content to achieve those goals. Paine is looking to create a Wikipedia-like portal for teachers, professors, experts, and students.
Pearson Helps Strapped School Districts Tap Into Stimulus Funding
PRWeb (04/14/09)
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan says federal stimulus funds provide an opportunity for schools nationwide to reform the education system, and Pearson is offering several resources to facilitate these reforms. The education and technology company says it will make frequent updates to its Web site to provide information about the stimulus funding to educators, and it also is offering grant writing assistance, funding and grant webinars, an email hotline for questions about the stimulus funds, and informational videos. According to Grace Stopani, grants and funding manager at Pearson, "It can be overwhelming to try to figure out which money--IDEA, Title I, Title II-D, Title III, Head Start, Stabilization Funds--can be used for which types of education solutions. Our team of certified grants and funding experts works with these funding categories every day, and we have initiated this campaign to share our expertise with districts so they can understand and access these dollars quickly." For more information, visit Pearson's Web site here.
Education Newsbriefs © Copyright 2009 INFORMATION, INC.
Please email communications@ccsso.org with Chiefline-related questions or comments. We welcome your feedback.