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Headlines
Association & Related News
PBS Documentary Spotlights Importance of Leadership In Turning Around Low-Performing Schools
Advocacy in Action
House Expected to Pass Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act
Education Newsbriefs
"State School Board OKs Testing Overhaul" (AL)
"Indian Group Picks Juneau as Educator of the Year" (MT)
"Plan Adds Flexibility to Graduation Credits" (SD)
"New R.I. Mandates Aim to Make School Lunches More Healthful" (RI)
"West Virginia Has Raised Education Standards Higher" (WV)
"Progress or Promises?"
Association & Related News
PBS Documentary Spotlights Importance of Leadership In Turning Around Low-Performing Schools
A new documentary portraying the challenges principals face in turning around low-performing public schools and raising student achievement will have its national premiere Wednesday, September 15 at 10:00 p.m. ET, on the Public Broadcasting System’s acclaimed Point of View (P.O.V.) series.
The film, The Principal Story, documents a one-year journey through the eyes of two dynamic principals at low-performing public schools in Illinois. The film captures the heart, commitment, and skill that are required for successfully leading and improving schools whose majority of students are from low-income families. The film is part of The Wallace Foundation’s ten-year initiative to strengthen leadership to improve teaching and learning and, as a result, raise student achievement.
Additional video and print resources that build on the themes in the documentary are available for free online at The Principal Story website. For more information about CCSSO’s activities to strengthen education leadership, please contact Lois Adams-Rogers at loisar@ccsso.org or visit The Wallace Foundation’s website at www.wallacefoundation.org. Please check local listings for broadcast times.
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Advocacy in Action
House Expected to Pass Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act
In the coming days, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009. Introduced by Chairman George Miller (D-CA) earlier this summer, this Act is intended to provide a more reliable source of student aid as well as save approximately $87 billion over the next ten years. Instead of federal student loans going through lenders subsidized by taxpayers, the Act would have all new federal student loans originate through the Direct Loan program starting in 2010. Money saved through this program would go towards school modernization and the new Early Learning Challenge Fund. To find out more information regarding the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act, click here.
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Education Newsbriefs
State School Board OKs Testing Overhaul
Sand Mountain Reporter (AL) (09/12/09)
At the recommendation of Alabama Superintendent of Education Joe Morton, the State Board of Education has approved changes to student testing that will replace the high school graduation exam with end-of-course tests. Some tests will be combined or eliminated altogether, and new tests will be developed to help students assess their post-graduation options. Additionally, high school juniors will be required to take the ACT college entrance test, which will be paid for by the state. The senior class of 2014-2015 will be the first to take end-of-course exams instead of the high school graduation exam, which Morton says will better assess student progress and reduce the amount of days spent taking tests so teachers will have more instruction time. "It clearly sends us on a new path to have every young person in public education be on a pace to be career and college ready," Morton remarks.
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Indian Group Picks Juneau as Educator of the Year
Great Falls Tribune (MT) (09/12/09)
The National Indian Education Association has named Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau its Educator of the Year, and she will receive the award at the association's Annual Convention and Gala Banquet on Oct. 24. Juneau says, "I am humbled and honored to receive this award."
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Plan Adds Flexibility to Graduation Credits
Argus Leader (09/08/2009) Verges, Josh
With South Dakota lawmakers eliminating the standard pathway to graduation in its last session, a work group was assembled to propose minimum standards for graduation that could be enhanced by local school boards as they deem necessary. State Education Cabinet Secretary Tom Oster says the idea is to create flexibility with regard to classroom credits, and supporters say it would allow students to concentrate on their main interests. Most students take the advanced pathway, in which 17 of 22 credits for graduation involve mandatory classes, including Algebra II and chemistry or physics. While the proposed rules do not include such courses and reduce requirements to 13.5 credits, they do call for making three years of science, including biology and a physical science, mandatory. They also would give students classroom credit for playing football or participating in marching band, require students to take geometry, and eliminate mandatory health and gym classes. Oster says health education will be a focus for grades 8 and under, and biology and other high school courses could touch upon health topics.
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New R.I. Mandates Aim to Make School Lunches More Healthful
Providence Journal (RI) (09/13/09) Polichetti, Barbara
In Rhode Island, the Board of Regents recently approve more stringent nutrition requirements, which food service companies will implement with the help of affordable sources of whole-grain snacks and other specialty foods. Rhode Island Education Commissioner Deborah Gist says, "I'm thrilled with these. It's going to be a work in progress and there will be an adjustment period, but what won't change is our commitment to better nutrition for our students. Also to think that Rhode Island is leading the country in this area is exciting." As more vegetables make their way onto menus, service providers say teens will be the hardest to win over with the changes. The new regulations ban artificial sweeteners, place limits on sodium and sugars, and require fruit drinks to be 100-percent juice. Moreover, white breads and flour are being replaced with whole grains, milk cannot have more than 1 percent fat, flavored milk will be allowed only at lunch time, and the number of fruit and vegetable servings will increase. Gist notes that schools will receive help from the state government with money from a federal grant, which will enable Kids First to make chefs and other resources available to schools. For more information about Kids First, click here.
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West Virginia Has Raised Education Standards Higher
Morgan Messenger (09/09/09) Evans, Kate
West Virginia Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steve Paine says the state's public school curriculum is now in line with international learning standards. Global 21 learning, according to Paine, underscores critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills. "Our kids deserve chances like very other kid in the world," he says. Teachers are concentrating on teaching students through standards-based instruction and project management learning. "It's no longer acceptable to just hand out worksheets. We have an obligation to make learning come alive," Paine remarks. With the draw of the digital world and other distractions, he says teachers have to engage students more than ever and connect them with real world experiences. Learning teamwork, writing skills, and algebra are essential to the working world because businesses need employees that can analyze information and think for themselves. Areas that need greater improvement include providing teachers with appropriate resources and time and engaging more parents in the process, according to Paine, who has traveled to China, Singapore, and other nations assessing the different school systems.
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Progress or Promises?
Action for Healthy Kids (09/13/09)
Action for Healthy Kids' recent report, "Progress or Promises? What's Working For and Against Healthy Schools," assesses school wellness programs to determine if nutrition and physical activity in schools has improved in the last two years. For an executive summary of the report, click here. For the full report, go here.
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