Greetings!

Chalkboard and OEA partner for survey

Teachers, it’s not too late to make your voice heard on your professional development needs. This month, Chalkboard Project and the Oregon Education Association partnered to conduct a survey about professional development for teachers. More than 1800 teachers responded. For those who haven't taken the survey the deadline is May 30th. Improving professional development is one of the most important goals that Chalkboard and OEA share. We can only do that if we have solid information about what’s happening now in Oregon schools. This survey is only for teachers.

Take the survey now, before the May 30th deadline. Email us at info@chalkboardproject.org to get the link.

Chalkboard joins with Black Parent Initiative to research African American students

This spring, Chalkboard is sponsoring a research project led by the Black Parent Initiative, a Portland-based non-profit that helps parents working to close the educational achievement gap between African American students and their white peers.

The research will help present a more complete portrait of African American student achievement in the Portland metro area. Researchers will delve into all of the characteristics of each metro area school – not just look at test scores – to find out which schools are doing the best job of closing the achievement gap. Chalkboard and BPI expect to see some patterns emerge that indicate what the high performers are doing differently. For example, does the amount of money spent per student seem to make a difference? The student-teacher ratio? The level of experience of teachers in each classroom? This kind of information will help BPI develop a roadmap for change to help not only their own children, but the region’s entire African American student population. We expect to have this research completed in October. To learn more about the Black Parent Initiative, visit www.thebpi.org.

CLASS Project momentum spreads to Forest Grove

The Chalkboard Project announced this month that it’s investing $76,200 in new and expanded career paths for teachers in the Forest Grove School District. The grant keeps momentum building for the CLASS Project (Creative Leadership Achieves Student Success), which is now transforming the teaching profession in three school districts. The aim is to enhance student achievement. Last month, the Chalkboard Project announced its largest grants to date in the Sherwood and Tillamook school districts.

Learn more about the CLASS Project

Visit the Forest Grove School District Web site

Hovering Gen X parents challenge new teachers

Managing a classroom of children is a big challenge for new teachers. But hovering helicopter parents also appear to be stressing out new teachers. A new article by the National Staff Development Council has tips to help teachers cope and advice for parents on what questions to ask at conferences with teachers. Both issues are important to the Chalkboard Project because we want parents to be involved in their schools, but we also want new teachers to get the help they need to stay in the profession.

Check out the article

Parent teacher conference tips

Kelley Family Foundation supports Chalkboard

Thanks to the Kelley Family Foundation, headquartered in Eugene, for its generous grant of $25,000 to support Chalkboard’s work in bringing quality, accountability, and stable and adequate funding to Oregon schools.

Join the Citizens' Corps now!

Transformational work in education can only happen with the active support of Oregonians like you! Thank you to all the new members who have joined our Citizens’ Corps in the last month. You are key to making our schools the best they can be.

If you have not become a Citizens' Corps member, you too can join the growing list of parents, educators, businesspeople, civic leaders, retirees, philanthropists and students who serve as ambassadors for Chalkboard’s proposals.

Learn more about the Citizens' Corps...

Send us an e-mail to join!

Chalkboard offers stipends for parent involvement training

Chalkboard has created a two-part toolkit called Running Start to help schools and families better communicate with each other. To help spread the use of these materials, we’re offering stipends of up to $400 to public schools and non-profit organizations that would like to conduct a training session on how to use the Running Start toolkit. This financial support is made possible by a generous grant from Bank of the West. For more information or to apply for a stipend, visit the Chalkboard Web site or contact Kristin Bryant.

In the News: Visit our "In the News" section to read news articles about Chalkboard initiatives from around the state.
www.chalkboardproject.org: Check out our website for more in-depth information on who we are and what we do.



	Greetings! Chalkboard and OEA partner for survey Teachers, it’s not too late to make your voice heard on your professional development needs. This month, Chalkboard Project and the Oregon Education Association partnered to conduct a survey about professional development for teachers. More than 1800 teachers responded. For those who haven't taken the survey the deadline is May 30th. Improving professional development is one of the most important goals that Chalkboard and OEA share. We can only do that if we have solid information about what’s happening now in Oregon schools. This survey is only for teachers. Take the survey now, before the May 30th deadline. Email us at info@chalkboardproject.org to get the link. Chalkboard joins with Black Parent Initiative to research African American students This spring, Chalkboard is sponsoring a research project led by the Black Parent Initiative, a Portland-based non-profit that helps parents working to close the educational achievement gap between African American students and their white peers. The research will help present a more complete portrait of African American student achievement in the Portland metro area. Researchers will delve into all of the characteristics of each metro area school – not just look at test scores – to find out which schools are doing the best job of closing the achievement gap. Chalkboard and BPI expect to see some patterns emerge that indicate what the high performers are doing differently. For example, does the amount of money spent per student seem to make a difference? The student-teacher ratio? The level of experience of teachers in each classroom? This kind of information will help BPI develop a roadmap for change to help not only their own children, but the region’s entire African American student population. We expect to have this research completed in October. To learn more about the Black Parent Initiative, visit www.thebpi.org. CLASS Project momentum spreads to Forest Grove The Chalkboard Project announced this month that it’s investing $76,200 in new and expanded career paths for teachers in the Forest Grove School District. The grant keeps momentum building for the CLASS Project (Creative Leadership Achieves Student Success), which is now transforming the teaching profession in three school districts. The aim is to enhance student achievement. Last month, the Chalkboard Project announced its largest grants to date in the Sherwood and Tillamook school districts. Learn more about the CLASS Project Visit the Forest Grove School District Web site Hovering Gen X parents challenge new teachers Managing a classroom of children is a big challenge for new teachers. But hovering helicopter parents also appear to be stressing out new teachers. A new article by the National Staff Development Council has tips to help teachers cope and advice for parents on what questions to ask at conferences with teachers. Both issues are important to the Chalkboard Project because we want parents to be involved in their schools, but we also want new teachers to get the help they need to stay in the profession. Check out the article Parent teacher conference tips					Kelley Family Foundation supports Chalkboard Thanks to the Kelley Family Foundation, headquartered in Eugene, for its generous grant of $25,000 to support Chalkboard’s work in bringing quality, accountability, and stable and adequate funding to Oregon schools. Join the Citizens' Corps now! Transformational work in education can only happen with the active support of Oregonians like you! Thank you to all the new members who have joined our Citizens’ Corps in the last month. You are key to making our schools the best they can be. If you have not become a Citizens' Corps member, you too can join the growing list of parents, educators, businesspeople, civic leaders, retirees, philanthropists and students who serve as ambassadors for Chalkboard’s proposals. Learn more about the Citizens' Corps... Send us an e-mail to join! Chalkboard offers stipends for parent involvement training Chalkboard has created a two-part toolkit called Running Start to help schools and families better communicate with each other. To help spread the use of these materials, we’re offering stipends of up to $400 to public schools and non-profit organizations that would like to conduct a training session on how to use the Running Start toolkit. This financial support is made possible by a generous grant from Bank of the West. For more information or to apply for a stipend, visit the Chalkboard Web site or contact Kristin Bryant.


	In the News: Visit our "In the News" section to read news articles about Chalkboard initiatives from around the state. www.chalkboardproject.org: Check out our website for more in-depth information on who we are and what we do.