Association of Alaska School Boards

E-NEWS

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A weekly digest of education news for Alaska's School Board Members.

Association of Alaska School Boards, 1111 West 9^th St., Juneau, AK 99801. Tel.

907-586-1083, Fax 907-586-2995. Carl Rose, Executive Director,

crose@aasb.org: John Greely, Editor, jgreely@aasb.org. Review past issues of

the E-News on the AASB Website at <http://www.aasb.org>. To unsubscribe send an email stating the same to jgreely@aasb.org.

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AASB E-News

July 6, 2007

--ALASKA AWARDED TRANSITION TO TEACHING GRANT

--DOE AWARDS $3.5 MILLION FOR ALASKA ED PROGRAMS

--UA TRYING TO LURE STUDENTS FROM CLOSED SITKA COLLEGE

--$1 MILLION RENOVATION IN WORKS FOR OPENING GERMAN SCHOOL

--MAT-SU SALUTES ’07 TOP TEACHER

--NEWER PRESIDENTS SEE ROLE OF UNIONS CHANGING

--MANY TEACHERS DUBIOUS OF MERIT PAY

--EDUCATION TASK FORCE RESUMES WORK NEXT WEEK

ALASKA AWARDED TRANSITION TO TEACHING GRANT

Alaska will begin its first alternate route to teacher certification under a Transition to Teaching grant by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development was awarded the five-year grant, worth $3 million in total, for the Alaska Transition to Teaching program, known as AKT2.
“This grant will allow us to find, select and train Alaskans who have the skills to be good teachers but who didn’t follow the traditional route of preparing to be a teacher,” said Education Commissioner Roger Sampson. “To ensure quality, the new teachers will gain proficiency in the best teaching practices while they work side by side with experienced teachers. The ultimate goal, which is the mission of the State Board of Education & Early Development, is to improve the academic achievement of our students.”
In the AKT2 program, the department will recruit highly qualified mid-career professionals, education paraprofessionals with bachelor’s degrees, and recent college graduates; prepare them as teachers for Alaska’s high-needs schools with teacher shortages, including special education; and mentor the new teachers during their first two years in the classroom.
High-needs schools are those with a significant number of students from low-income families. Many of these schools also have a high rate of staff turnover.
Applicants for teacher certificates under the AKT2 program must meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act for highly qualified teachers. In addition, they must pass the Praxis I test of basic academic skills, which is a requirement for all certificated Alaska teachers.
AKT2 teachers will receive an individualized plan they must complete to move from their three-year initial teacher certificate to the professional certificate. For example, an AKT2 teacher might be required to take courses in classroom management.
The AKT2 teachers will receive significant structured support in their first years on the job. The department will work with high-needs school districts to transform several regular schools into Professional Development Schools, where the newly certificated teachers will work with experienced teachers before moving on to other schools.
In the Professional Development Schools, the entire staff will be a community of learners that, within the context of a systematic and continuous school-improvement effort, work cooperatively to define and employ the best practices to raise student achievement.
Teacher mentors and principal coaches from the existing Alaska Statewide Mentor Program, a joint effort of the department and the University of Alaska, will work with the entire staff at the Professional Development Schools.
In the first year of the grant, which is the 2007-2008 school year, the department will work with stakeholders such as school districts and teachers to develop the program, “so we all agree on what a person needs to know to be a teacher and to make sure they have that knowledge,” said Cynthia Curran, Administrator of Teacher Education & Certification for the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development.
For more information, contact Cynthia Curran at 907-465-2857.

For more information from the U.S. Department of Education, see: www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2007/06/06292007b.html <http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2007/06/06292007b.html> .

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DOE AWARDS $3.5 MILLION FOR ALASKA EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the award of $3.5 million in grants to eight Alaska organizations to help them support the unique educational needs of Alaska Native children and adults. The three-year Alaska Native Education Program grants will support a wide range of innovative projects – from parental involvement programs and dropout prevention to school construction and teacher training – designed to benefit Alaska Native populations through enhanced teaching and learning opportunities.

“Education is the stepping-stone to a world of much greater opportunity, and this program will help more Alaskan students realize that opportunity,” Secretary Spellings said. “Not only will these grants help develop and operate schools in rural Alaska, they also will help teachers better prepare their students to be successful in college or the workforce.”

Awards under the Alaska Native Education Program were made from among 51 applicants. The eight grantees and their awards included Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc., $424,100; Cook Inlet Tribal Council Inc. Educational Services System, $589,239; Alaska Pacific University, $441,868; Kashunamiut School District, $337,182; Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, $538,501; Chugach School District, $567,015; Lower Kuskokwim School District, $541,191; Yuut Elitnaurviat, $75.494.

For additional information on the Alaska Native Education Program, log onto:

http://www.ed.gov/programs/alaskanative/index.html

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UA TRYING TO LURE STUDENTS FROM CLOSED SITKA COLLEGE

Officials at the University of Alaska are hoping to attract as many former Sheldon Jackson students as possible following the announcement Friday that the college in Sitka would be effectively closing for at least the next year. See full story here:

http://newsminer.com/2007/07/04/7765

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$1 MILLION RENOVATION IN WORKS FOR OPENING GERMAN SCHOOL

The Anchorage School District’s newest charter school has secured a building and enrolled enough students to open this fall. The Rilke Schule German School of Arts and Sciences boats that its educational experience is “like sending your child to Germany every day.” See full story here:

http://www.adn.com/news/education/story/9109520p-9025802c.html

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MAT-SU SALUTES ’07 TOP TEACHER

Shelley Heiserman, a fifth-grade teacher at Cottonwood Creek Elementary School, has been selected as the 2007 Mat-Su Teacher of the Year. Heiserman earned the honor even though a battle with breast cancer kept her out of the classroom for most of the school year. See full story here:

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/9109482p-9025771c.html

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NEWER PRESIDENTS SEE ROLE OF UNIONS CHANGING

The term “teacher union leader” typically evokes a hard-charging labor activist who shares an adversarial relationship with the school district, is focused solely on protecting members’ bread –and-butter interests, and flees from phrases like “school reform.” But a new report based largely on interviews with 30 local union presidents who each have spent less than eight years in office paints an evolved picture of leaders who are often involved in collaborative relationships with their school superintendents; who have to work constantly to balance the needs of a new generation of teachers with the needs of older members, and who see the importance of framing arguments for improved salaries and working conditions within the context of improved schools and building a better teaching force. See full story here (may require registration):

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/06/29/43union_web.h26.html?tmp=370857164

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MANY TEACHERS DUBIOUS OF MERIT PAY

Merit pay tied to student test scores seems all the rage in some educational circles, but many teachers think it’s an idea whose time hasn’t come. See full story here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19610779/

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EDUCATION TASK FORCE RESUMES WORK NEXT WEEK

The Legislative Education Funding Task Force is scheduled to conduct two days of public hearings next week in Anchorage. The 11-member committee will take testimony from invited witnesses beginning on Wednesday, July 11, at 9 a.m. at the Legislative Information Office, 714 W. Fourth Avenue. The meeting continues on Thursday, July 12, beginning at 9 a.m. The task force website and links to an audio network to monitor the meetings can be reached by clicking here and following the links:

http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/home.htm

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