Greetings!
August
is a month of potential and possibility. Teachers and students will begin
preparing for another school year and Chalkboard will continue to build
momentum going into the 2011 legislative session. The past month has included informative blog posts, our
first ever Teacher Advocacy Training, and the Chalkboard's Board of Directors'
support of the adoption of the Common Core Standards.
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 Adopt the Common Core!
This
week, our Board of Directors urged the State Board of Education to adopt the
Common Core Standards.
In their
letter to the Board, they wrote, "High,
rigorous standards are essential to ensuring that every Oregon student is
prepared for college, career and life. We cannot expect our students to compete in a global economy
if the standards they are held to are not on par with those of the most
advanced states and nations."
Read the full letter: http://bit.ly/9hRSez
A group of leading superintendents also endorsed the Common Core. Read their letter: http://bit.ly/d8XzSW
The
Common Core Initiative is coordinated by the Council of Chief State School Officials
and the National Governors Association's Center for Best Practices. Learn more
about the Common Core at: http://www.corestandards.org/
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Teacher Advocacy Training
 In
response to hearing from teachers that they do not understand or feel involved
with how state level policy decisions are made, Chalkboard put on its first
ever Teacher Advocacy Training. On August 11th, a small group of
educators gathered to learn about the legislative process, how to engage
legislators, preparing hearing testimony, and what issues they might expect to
see in the 2011 legislative session.
During
lunch the participants heard from Senator Mark Hass, chair of the Senate
Education Committee. Watch the video of Sen. Hass speaking to the group: http://bit.ly/bvNXLm
The
designer and instructor of the training was Todd Jones, a current high school
social studies teacher who spent ten years of work in state politics and public
relations, including four years with Secretary of State Phil Keisling and two
years with State Treasurer Randall Edwards.
We received
great feedback from the participants and plan to host more trainings in the
future. If you would like to be notified when another training is planned,
please e-mail Aimee Craig, craig@chalkboardproject.org.
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The Latest from ChalkBloggers
Over on
ChalkBloggers, we've had some great posts and conversations in the last month
about a wide range of issues including, charter schools, teaching standards,
creativity, accountability, student-centered reform, and news from DC.
Here
are a few highlights:
From Sandy Ludeman, "School Reform: Bottom Up"
 "I have
a mission: to inspire my students not to wait anxiously for the public display
of scores, rankings, percentages, correlations presented as causes, and then to
react. Instead, I want them to act. I want them and their fellow teachers to gather their own data on their own
students, analyze that data, and use the data to create a more
three-dimensional picture of teaching and learning."
From Heather Penner, "Replicating Student Achievement: Can we Bring Kipp to Portland?"
 "A number of years ago, I became very interested in the
idea of "chain" charter schools. I think it's an idea that is immediately
appealing to anyone who is focused on efficiency and process: Can you pick a system with great results, and
replicate it? Is there a magic formula?"
From Hilda Roselli, Dean of the Western Oregon School of Education, "The Power of One: Reacting to the Recent Launching of Model Core Teaching Standards by the Council of Chief State School Officials."
 "Every so often society witnesses an array of trends
and events that together create either the
perfect storm or a dramatic sea change,depending
on one's perspective. Such a set of factors
have collided in education to create far reaching changes in how
classroom teachers are
prepared, supported, and evaluated..."
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Our Voices, Our Schools
 Kyle Warren is a Senior at Forest Grove High School and the
State President of the Oregon Association of Student Councils (www.oasc.org).
As a student, what impact do the budget
cuts have on your experience in school?
Over my past 3
years in high school I have witnessed quite a few issues caused by the budget
cuts at my school. Fortunately, we have an amazing faculty in our school
district that has really persevered through the cuts to continue to better us
academically. However, because of the budget cuts we have -in past years- had
the amount of paper being used per teacher being put on a quota; this limits
how much material and informational packets the students receive. We have had
school days towards the end of the year cut in an attempt to curtail the
impacts of next year's budget; which immensely impacts the amount of teaching
time the teachers have, and also detracts from the student's education as they
have fewer days to learn the curriculum. ...
Do you feel students have a
voice in the budget conversation, or that there are ways they can become
involved?
Over
the past few years, schools have been hit very hard to find money to ensure
excellent education and opportunities for its students. However, students would be very foolish
if they thought they had no voice in this budget conversation. ... Over two years ago, they
discussed ending the music programs at the middle school level; however, the
high school students, realizing what a travesty this would have been, rallied
outside the middle school, bringing signs, making videos, holding conversations
with our district board to show how important of a program this was to keep.
... Students have a voice in
budget discussions, sometimes they are told "No" and leave it at that, but if
there is something truly worth fighting for then they can continue to voice
their concerns and they will be heard.
How have your experiences as a student leader
shaped your perspective of local and statewide policy issues?
... As a student leader at the
state level I am on a board consisting of other students and adults that meet 4
times a year. At these meetings -among other things - we go over budget,
upcoming events, and decide over policy issues that affect our
organization. Although I do
criticize some decisions that the politicians make, I have learned that as a
leader you are forced to make decisions that not everyone will agree with; and
that every policy, no matter what impact, large or small, is at the very least
commendable and beneficial to have come about.
Four-year graduation and dropout rates
have been a hot topic as of late. What, in your opinion, can districts and the
state do to lower the dropout rate?
Besides showing the results
between a high school diploma and no diploma - and even that won't have a large
effect-, there is no set course of action that will target every student and ensure
that they will not be another dropout.
However, this is not to say
that the districts and state cannot do anything.
... If districts and states really want to lower dropout rates
then they need survey the students and find what interests them so that way
every student has a vested interest in the school. They need to continue to offer programs that students
participate in and even offer more programs each year.
...
Read Kyle's full interview.
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Oregon Asks, "What Would it Take?"
Join
your friends, colleagues, and civic leaders for sixty minutes of inspiration
grounded in the realities of what it takes to break the cycle of poverty,
increase school success, and build healthy communities. Paul
Tough author of Whatever It Takes:
Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and AmericaWednesday,
Sept. 22, 2010
Doors
open at 11:30 a.m.
Presentation|Q&A
at noon The Governor HotelPortland, Oregon
The
event is sponsored by Children's Institute, Chalkboard Project, Literary Arts, and the Early Childhood Funders Learning Circle.
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Healthy Kids for a Healthy OregonWe wanted to share an update on Oregon Healthy Kids,
a newly expanded health
coverage program for uninsured children. The program
will help make sure every
child in the state has health insurance their families can afford. Healthy Kids provides
no-cost and low-cost health coverage for Oregon children and teens up to 19
years of age. Coverage lasts for
one full year and covers all health needs, including doctor visits, dental
care, vision, mental or behavioral health services, and prescriptions.
Children will not be turned away due to
preexisting conditions or be put on a waiting list.
No family makes too much
money for Healthy Kids. Family income will
determine whether a child is eligible for the free or low-cost coverage option.
Families can apply for the
program online or find local community partners to assist in the application
process on the Healthy Kids website at www.oregonhealthykids.gov. Families can also get more information
by calling: 1-877-314-5678. You
can find them on Facebook and Twitter too! |
What's Next for Chalkboard...
Sept 19-21
Representatives to National Center on Performance Incentives conference
Sept 22
Paul Tough Event
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