Greetings!
Brrrrr! The temperatures are chilly across Oregon, but we
hope we can keep you fired up about strengthening education in our state. Read
on to hear about the CLASS trip to D.C. and the recommendations the Youth
Advisory Team presented to Superintendent Castillo. Help us spread the news
and the passion for making Oregon's schools among the best in the nation.
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Youth Advisers Focus
on Teacher  Effectiveness
Four times a year, the Oregon Department of Education brings
together the Youth Advisory Team, made up of high school students from across
Oregon, to give recommendations to Superintendent Castillo. This month, the
Chalkboard Project helped facilitate a discussion around teacher effectiveness.
The students spent the first part of the day discussing the
qualities of a "good" teacher. The second part of the day was spent discussing teacher evaluations and
how the state could support teachers to do their best work and make sure that
all students have access to effective teachers.
At the end of the day, the students' recommendations to Superintendent
Castillo included:
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Including student surveys in teacher evaluations
- Providing teachers with more time to collaborate
and share lesson plans
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Providing mentors for new teachers
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CLASS Project goes to
DC
In the first week of December, a team from the Sherwood
School District traveled to Washington, D.C. to share their district's model
for supporting effective teachers and raising student achievement. Superintendent Dan Jamison, Union
President Terrel Smith, and School Board Member Connie Hansen, along with
Chalkboard's Sue Hildick and Kate Dickson, spoke to representatives of the
Oregon legislative delegation, National Governors Association, National
Education Association, House Committee on Education and Labor, Center for
American Progress, and the U.S. Department of Education about the CLASS
Project.
Many of representatives in the meetings were impressed with
the sincere collaboration between teachers, union leaders, and administrators in the district planning
process. As many across the nation and in Washington, D.C. think about the
sorts of programs that meet the requirements of the competitive federal grant
programs, they may look to CLASS as a locally-developed,
collaboratively-created model to follow.
If you haven't already, check out the latest CLASS videos:
http://bit.ly/lYMBZ
Last week, OPB reporter Rob Manning profiled Sherwood's CLASS model as
one that could meet the Race to the Top requirements around supporting
effective educators. Read the article: http://bit.ly/56klmW
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Our Voices, Our Schools
Eduardo Angulo is the Executive Director for the Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equality and served on a Race to the Top working groups.
You have been working with other advocates to make sure parent involvement is included in Oregon's Race to the Top application. In your experience, why is parent involvement so important?
Parents are the main stakeholders in the success of their
children and public education. They are the most influential people in the
lives of their children. Teachers and parents must work together in a
collaborative way. If teachers can give parents clear expectations, information
on how to track their student's progress, and the knowledge of what their
student should be learning, parents can take control of the outcome. If they have this knowledge, parents can
commit to the progress, development, and success of their students.
When parents are outsiders, as has traditionally been the
case in communities of color, we end up with a huge achievement gap and
horrendous results. Parents have to be welcomed, appreciated, and taken into
consideration so we can get a different outcome for children who are English
Language Learners and for children of color.
If Oregon were to win
some of the federal Race to the Top dollars, what kind of impact do you think
that money would have on education in our state?
Winning the Race to the Top dollars would put a spotlight on
the issue and make sure all Oregonians are aware that we are attempting to
transform the worse schools. The public would be following the process and they
would see the worst schools being transformed into the best schools. This process would create a blueprint
for all of the mediocre or failing schools to follow. This is an incredible challenge, but it will give us the
opportunity to try a new approach and think outside of a system that is broken.
The Salem-Keizer
Coalition for Equality has a new home. What kinds of opportunities will the new
space provide?
This space is fulfilling an incredible dream and vision of
having a parent education center in Oregon. We are creating a space for
low-income parents, parents of color, and immigrant parents to come in and get
help, knowledge, and have private conversations with the other low-income or
immigrant parents. Together the parents can come up with ideas and strategies
for dealing with children's challenges- behavioral, emotional, and academic. It
is their space.
We have twelve parent facilitators working with the
Spanish-speaking parents to talk about their common dreams for their children.
There is no parent on earth that doesn't want their kids ready to graduate from
high and enter college. We see this community center as a tool and are hoping
that others around Oregon will start creating their own parent information
centers in their communities as well.
Read more about the upcoming Salem-Keizer Coalition for Equality workshops: http://www.chalkboardproject.org/images/PDF/SKWorkshops09.pdf
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Two CLASS Coaches needed
Chalkboard is hiring two CLASS coaches. One coach would work primarily with Salem-Keizer Public Schools, the other would work with Sherwood, Tillamook, and Forest Grove.
Learn more about the position:
CLASS Coach Job Description |
Investing in success in our classrooms
Last month, Sue Hildick's Op-Ed in The Oregonian called for an investment in Oregon's teachers.
Read the full Op-ed:
http://www.chalkboardproject.org/
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What's Next for Chalkboard...
Dec 23-27
Chalkboard Offices Closed
Dec 30- Jan 3
Chalkboard Offices Closed
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