PENNSYLVANIA: Act 45 Program: Quality School Leadership Identification (QSLID) Process

PENNSYLVANIA: Act 45 Program: Quality School Leadership Identification (QSLID) Process

The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) is offering a training opportunity to districts seeking a competency-based approach to hiring principals. Registrants may elect to learn 30 Act 45 hours for participation in the training.

Research tells us that hiring the right principal is critical to school improvement, particularly in the lowest performing schools.  With the right principal in place, student achievement can dramatically advance, and schools can retain effective teachers.  Principal leadership is the second most influential school-level factor impacting student learning; no school has ever turned around without a strong principal leading the way.  Securing the right principal lends itself to consistent leadership. The Quality School Leadership Identification (QSLID) process is an opportunity to create a hiring system that will retain effective school leaders.

PDE and the American Institutes for Research have developed a process for school districts seeking a competency-based approach to hiring principals in turnaround and non-turnaround school contexts. While QSLID was originally designed for the hiring of principals, a parallel process has been designed for the hiring of teachers.  Upon completion of the course, participants will walk away with a complete hiring process and district-specific documents and protocols for both teachers and principals.

This program includes one day of face-to-face training, pre-scheduled webinars, journal/feedback reflections, and documentation of QSLID implementation.

Note dates and locations below:

  • PaTTAN Malvern – March 13, 2018  (Snow date: March 19)
  • Baldwin-Whitehall School District – March 5, 2018  (Snow date: March 27)    

To register: Contact Melanie Novak at melnovak@pa.gov

Registration deadline: February 9, 2018

Questions? Contact Jean Dyszel at c-jdyszel@pa.gov

Secretary DeVos Convenes Higher Education Summit: Innovation Blends Technology and the Personal Touch

Secretary DeVos Convenes Higher Education Summit: Innovation Blends Technology and the Personal Touch

“We need to question everything; to look for ways in which we can improve, and embrace the imperative of change. At the end of the day, success shouldn’t be measured by how much ivy is on the wall,” said U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. “It should be determined by how you’re educating and preparing students for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.”

Setting this tone of innovation, Secretary DeVos welcomed over 20 education leaders from across the nation to the Education Innovation Summit on Higher Education, held recently at the U.S. Department of Education’s headquarters in Washington. The agenda included general discussion as well as several featured presentations.

Anant Agarwal, CEO of Boston-based edX, said that our society needs a system where universities and educators can work with learners throughout their careers, not just during the traditional college ages of 18 to 22.

Ben Nelson of the for-profit Minerva Project asked the group to consider what the purpose of higher education is. He submitted that today businesses across various fields want the same thing: employees who have a core skill but can also have the well-rounded education to learn skills in new areas.

Kathleen Plinske of Valencia College in Central Florida recommended simplification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for students with the greatest financial need and recommended that short-term training programs that have already been vetted and approved by another federal agency be eligible for U.S. Department of Education Title IV funding.

Jerry Davis, president of the College of the Ozarks in Missouri, said that his college is a work college. That is, all students are required to work at jobs, leading to the school’s nickname of “Hard Work U.” The school has a student-focused environment where the students’ personal needs are regularly met. For example, one student’s father was in the penitentiary, and the student’s mother had died. The college’s Helping Hand Fund paid $3,000 for the funeral costs of the student’s mother. The student went on to graduate and today is a teacher. “From my own family experience and in work colleges for over 40 years,” Davis said, “I can tell you that not everything can be solved with a computer. Sometimes it takes a personal touch to make sure students don’t fall through the cracks in our society.”

Mike Zeliff, dean of faculty and students at the Jack Welch Management Institute, said, “We treat our students like customers and rely on their willingness to recommend our program and our professors as a key performance measure.  The curriculum is designed to learn it today, apply it tomorrow, and return to the classroom to talk about their observations.”

At the end of the nearly four-hour summit, Secretary DeVos thanked the participants for creatively meeting the needs of the students that they serve. “I welcome your continued input to me and to the department on ways that the federal government can get out of the way on some of the things we need to get out of the way of,” she said. “And tell us the ways we can support meaningfully the things you are doing to serve students.”

Joe Barison is a public affairs specialist in the Office of Communications and Outreach

The Government Shutdown and K-12 Education: Your Guide

The Government Shutdown and K-12 Education: Your Guide

Education Week logoHere we go again: President Donald Trump and Congress were unable to reach agreement on temporary spending plan to keep the government open. So the U.S. Department of Education and other government agencies are on a partial shutdown, as of midnight Friday night. This is the first time this has happened in four years.

Lawmakers will keep trying to hammer out a deal. But in the meantime, the department’s headquarters at 400 Maryland Ave. will be a much quieter place than usual, but most school districts aren’t going to be immediately affected if this turns out to be a short-term shutdown. A longer-term shutdown, however, could cause more headaches. Head Start, the federal preschool program, and Impact Aid to districts with a federal presence in their backyard will likely feel the pinch first. (See below for more).

Below are the answers to some frequently asked questions about what happens now:

How many people will still report to work at the Education Department? A lot fewer than usual. More than 90 percent of the department’s nearly 4,000 employees will be furloughed for the first week of the shutdown. Of course, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her top aides still come in. If the shutdown goes on for more than a week, more employees could return on a temporary basis, but it would not be more than 6 percent of the department’s staff.

Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.

 

Associate Editor Christina Samuels contributed to this post.

Source: Education Week Politics K-12

WISCONSIN: Madison East teacher named Global Educator of the Year

WISCONSIN: Madison East teacher named Global Educator of the Year

Contact: Tom McCarthy, DPI Communications Director, (608) 266-3559

MADISON — Claudine Clark, a world language teacher at Madison East High School, has found innovative ways to bring the world into her classroom, earning her the third annual Global Educator of the Year Award. Nomination letters cited the thousands of dollars in scholarship support Clark has secured so her students can see the world. She is noted for bringing international teachers to her school, promoting lifelong language learning, and sharing what she has learned with colleagues.

“Wisconsin graduates need to be able to communicate, collaborate, and compete with others across intersections of language and culture,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers in presenting the award today. “Ms. Clark prepares global scholars with these skills, ensuring that they are world-ready.”

A Wisconsin native, Clark earned a bachelor of science degree in secondary education, French, and English as a second language from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She has taught in Hortonville, Green Lake, Janesville, and for the past ten years, the Madison Metropolitan School District. Her international education travel experiences include time in Benin, Japan, France, Canada, and Egypt.

To qualify as the Wisconsin Global Educator of the Year, a teacher must cultivate students’ global awareness, promote growth of global competencies, model and engage colleagues in best practices for global learning, employ innovative approaches to building global knowledge and skills, and implement the Global Education Achievement Certificate program. There are currently 84 high schools that have implemented the Global Education Achievement Certificate program. The certificate is awarded to graduating high school students who have demonstrated a strong interest in global citizenship by successfully completing a global education curriculum and engaging in co-curricular activities and experiences that foster the development of global competencies. In 2017, 75 students were recognized as global scholars.

The Global Educator of the Year is selected by the State Superintendent’s International Education Council, chaired by Gilles Bousquet, University of Wisconsin-Madison French professor and department chair. The recognition includes a $1,000 cash honorarium from the Madison area Rotary Clubs. Evers and DPI World Languages and International Education Consultant Pam Delfosse presented the award to Clark on behalf of the DPI International Education Council at Friday’s General Session of the Wisconsin State Education Convention in Milwaukee.

NOTE: More information about global learning is available on the department’s International Education website.

Laney, West Side Baptist’s Pocket Houses for Homeless Students

Laney, West Side Baptist’s Pocket Houses for Homeless Students

OAKLAND POST — Laney College’s latest tiny home prototype will house two homeless students beginning this spring semester.

Laney College carpentry presents the Pocket House at Capitol Hill. Right to left: Digital fabrication instructor Marisha Farnsworth, Laney student Kim Gordon, Congressperson Barbara Lee, Laney students Daniel Ticket, Miguel Vega, and Rick Rothbart.

Laney College carpentry presents the Pocket House at Capitol Hill. Right to left: Digital fabrication instructor Marisha Farnsworth, Laney student Kim Gordon, Congressperson Barbara Lee, Laney students Daniel Ticket, Miguel Vega, and Rick Rothbart.

Laney’s carpentry department has achieved success building tiny homes. They won a contest hosted by Sacramento Municipal Utility District for a tiny home they built in 2016. Councilmember Abel Guillén spearheaded a collaboration between the City of Oakland and their department with an $80,000 grant to Laney carpentry to build a tiny home prototype for mass production.

The latest model of the Laney-made tiny homes is the Pocket House Model M. It was delivered to West Side Missionary Baptist Church by Martin Kauffman, a truck driver who donated his services.

Art Ramirez is an electrician who will also donate his services to get the tiny home’s water and electricity up and running.
Rev. Ken Chambers said the 200-member Interfaith Council of Alameda County supports this project, and has a goal to house 1,000 people this year.

But the first step is to work with Laney coordinators to interview and select students in need of the home each semester. The parking lot the tiny home sits in is already a safe car park, and Chambers is taking steps toward being able to pay a stipend to the selected students for overseeing the lot. The church will also offer access to health and employment services.
Chambers hopes to create a system that can be replicated throughout Oakland and have a deep impact on the unsheltered communities it holds.

The post Laney, West Side Baptist’s Pocket Houses for Homeless Students appeared first on Oakland Post.

AC Transit to Oakland Hills  Schools Wins Reprieve

AC Transit to Oakland Hills  Schools Wins Reprieve

THE OAKLAND POST — The Oakland Unified School District and AC Transit have announced that bus transportation service to Montera Middle School, Skyline High School and Community Day School will be extended through June 2019.

“This extension gives our families assurance of both agencies’ commitment to support their transportation needs and to find solutions together,” said Board of Education Member Nina Senn.

Finding a longer-term solution will take time and an extension into 2019 gives us breathing room to do so,” she said.  “We are very grateful for AC Transit’s and our state legislators, Senator Nancy Skinner, Assemblymembers Rob Bonta and Tony Thurmond’s … partnership and collaboration as we work through this process.”

Said AC Transit Board President Elsa Ortiz, “AC Transit is proud of our decades-long partnership with OUSD and honored to know that our service will remain a passport for East Bay students.

“In collaboration with OUSD, we devoted the past year to developing cost savings that minimized changes to ‘school-tripper’ bus lines, while working with stakeholders on the financial commitments that now protect supplementary bus service through the close of next school year,” she aid.

For information about bus routes and schedules, visit AC Transit’s website at: http://www.actransit.org/caption

The post AC Transit to Oakland Hills  Schools Wins Reprieve appeared first on Oakland Post.

25 Black Atlanta students chosen for Harvard summer program

25 Black Atlanta students chosen for Harvard summer program

By Robin White Goode, blackenterprise.com

Twenty-five African American high school students from Atlanta are heading to Harvard this summer as part of the Harvard Debate Council’s residential summer program.

That’s according to the website Rolling Out.

The Art Institute of Atlanta, where the surprise announcement was made, awarded the students $10,500 in scholarship money to attend the prestigious program. An additional $88,000 needs to be raised to support the students’ tuition, room and board, and travel. Donate here.

Read more at http://www.blackenterprise.com/great-debaters-25-black-atlanta-students-head-harvard-summer/

Texas Appleseed’s LSAT Scholarship Kicks Off for 2018

Texas Appleseed’s LSAT Scholarship Kicks Off for 2018

DALLAS POST TRIBUNE — AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Appleseed, a public interest justice center, is accepting scholarship applications as part of its Diversity Legal Scholars program, aimed at diversifying the legal profession. The program helps low-income students of color expand their law school options through a scholarship that covers the full cost of a Kaplan (LSAT) preparation course, valued at about $1,299 per scholar.

The scholarship is offered three times a year, corresponding with LSAT test dates. Key dates are below:

Round 1: Accepting applications now. The application deadline is February 12, 2018. Scholarship recipients would take the LSAT on June 11, 2018.

Round 2: Accepting applications starting May 14, 2018. The application deadline is June 4, 2018. Scholarship recipients would take the LSAT September 8, 2018 or November 17, 2018.

Round 3: Accepting applications starting August 1, 2018. The application deadline is September 5, 2018. Scholarship recipients would take the LSAT January 26, 2019.

Scholarship recipients must be Texas residents and apply to take the LSAT on the designated date that corresponds to their application round. Additional requirements and details can be found at www.texasappleseed.org/diversity-legal-scholars.

According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 4.4 percent of all lawyers in 2016 were Black, 4.7 percent were Asian, and Latinos comprised 5.6 percent of all attorneys. Texas Appleseed has awarded hundreds of Diversity Legal Scholars scholarships since its inception to give applicants a better shot at fulfilling their dreams of law school and entering the legal profession.

Report: States Struggle With ESSA’s Requirements for Foster Children

Report: States Struggle With ESSA’s Requirements for Foster Children

Education Week logoAdvocates for children in foster care had good reason to cheer the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act two years ago. The new law requires schools to break out student achievement data for foster care students so that the public can see how they are doing relative to their peers.

And it calls for students in foster care to be able to stay in their “school of origin” (a term the law did not define) even if it’s no longer their neighborhood school. The state must work with school districts and local child welfare agencies to provide transportation. The transportation was supposed to be in place one year after the passage of ESSA.

So how are state agencies doing with that transportation requirement? The Chronicle of Social Change explored that question and found a mixed picture….

Read the full article here: May require an Education Week subscription.

Source: Education Week Politics K-12.