August 8, 2012

We have a choice as educators in this state.  We can choose to see change as something that is happening to us, or we can seize the day and choose the tools that will serve our kids well for the future.  We can say that this is the year we are going to make even more of a difference and see even more improvement than we've already seen in Louisiana. 

As a teacher, I welcomed greater freedom in return for greater accountability.  I am confident that this combination of reforms will result in greater job satisfaction for you and rising achievement for your students.

I want to thank you for your work this summer and for your commitment to the work ahead. If you succeed (and I am confident you will), our children will succeed.

Have a great school year.

John

John White

Louisiana Department of Education

Twitter @LouisianaSupe

To view Superintendent White's Back to School Video Message, please click here. 

To read the academic vision for Louisiana, please click here.

The Louisiana Department of Education is identifying and sharing resources to help you successfully implement Common Core State Standards:

• Attention! K5 Reading Teachers
  
  Created by the Center on Instruction, Reading Foundational Skills Progression provides a sequence of sub-skills and instructional examples for teaching the foundational skills in reading in kindergarten through elementary school. The guide can be used for planning and individualizing reading instruction as well as for checking for alignment of the reading foundational skills in their basal series to the Common Core. The guide may be especially helpful to kindergarten and first grade teachers who are required to teach Common Core State Standards this year.
  
  Reading is the gateway to learning. Students must learn to read so they can read to learn.  Teaching foundational skills in reading is a key part of instruction, particularly in grades K-1, but it does not constitute the entirety of reading instruction. Teachers must balance instruction in reading foundational skills, using a sequence and strategies similar to what is included in this document, with comprehension instruction, using complex text that can be read aloud in interactive instruction.
   
• Attention! Grade 3-5 Reading Teachers
  
  Coordinated by Student Achievement Partners and the Council of Great City Schools, the Basal Alignment Project provides teachers in grades 3-5 with questions and tasks of several basal reading series that have been aligned to the Common Core.  Training materials for engaging teachers in the revision process are also available. To access the revisions and training materials, follow the directions provided in the link above.

For questions about these or other Common Core materials, please contact a network leader or team member. The Department will continue to share such resources throughout the course of the year.

The Department has released a Request for Applications (RFA) to identify partners from public schools and school districts, higher education, online education and industry to participate in Course Choice, a program offering innovative, individual courses to students in kindergarten through high school.  Beginning in the 2013-2014 school year, the Course Choice program will enable students and their families to choose courses that will keep them in school and on track for college and careers. 

The application process for Course Choice is a nurturing process designed to help all applicants put forward their best possible application. Educational entrepreneurs including teachers, former teachers, teams of teachers, and alliances of teachers with other organizations are strongly encouraged to apply.  Course Choice offers teachers a first-of-its-kind opportunity to extend the reach of their expertise to students statewide.

To learn more, visit www.louisianaschools.net/coursechoice, or email [email protected].  To get connected with Course Choice, register online to receive updates and the latest information about the initiative, including the dates, times and locations of outreach meetings, webinars and deadlines, and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LACourseChoice.

This summer, nearly 12,000 teachers, principals and school administrators participated in training on implementation of Common Core State Standards and Compass.  Teachers in every elementary, middle and high school - 6,000 statewide - have been trained with the instructional shifts that will ensure students are successful in these rigorous core courses. 

To support implementation of this new Compass evaluation system, 5,500 school leaders and administrators have learned how to accurately observe, evaluate and support teachers. An additional 100 educators participated in online training provided through the Human Capital Information System which supports Compass evaluations and reports.

Check out Raising the Bar: Increasing Expectations, Increasing Student Achievement, a comprehensive, easy to understand guide to Louisiana's new accountability system produced by Stand for Children.

Rayne Martin, Executive Director of Stand for Children Louisiana said, "We put this guide together so parents, educators, and others across Louisiana could have immediate access to the details of the system, how it works, and see for themselves how it focuses on setting high expectations based upon the belief that all children can learn. We're excited to have this great tool and to be able to make it available to the public."