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Aloha HE'E Members and Participants,
HE'E has had a busy September as a member of the SCR79 workgroup. At the September 18 BOE Student Achievement Committee meeting, the group presented committee members with the recommendation to revise Board Policy #2403 to an updated "Family-School Partnership Policy" as well as recommendations on Indicators for the DOE Strategic Plan Goal 1, Objective 1c, targets iii and iv. Please see links for Revised BOE Policy #2403 and Rationale and Strategic Plan Indicators and Rationale. The DOE will need to vet the recommendations before the BOE can take action, so we are continuing to advocate and encourage the DOE to consider our recommendations.
In October, HE'E will start preparing for policy advocacy for the 2013 Legislative Session. At our first meeting on October 9, we will get a preview of education policy for the upcoming session from distinguished guests Senator Jill Tokuda, Representative Roy Takumi and Governor Abercrombie's Senior Analyst Kate Stanley. We will follow up on this discussion at the HE'E Policy Meeting on Wednesday, October 17, from 9-11am, where we will decide on prospective education policies/legislation to recommend to the full Coalition. We would like to ask the Social Justice Workgroup to join that meeting to help decide on recommendations for the Coalition.
Upcoming HE'E Meetings
October 9, 2012 10:00am-12:00pm at The Learning Coalition Office-HE'E Meeting with Policy Makers: We are pleased to have Senator Jill Tokuda, Representative Roy Takumi and Governor Abercrombie's Senior Analyst Kate Stanley present their views on the upcoming session to the Coalition. This will also be an opportunity for HE'E members to share our views with policy makers. The Learning Coalition Office is at 841 Bishop Street Suite 301. Validated parking available at Ali'i Place at 1099 Alakea Street.
October 15, 2012, 10:30am-12:00pm at The Learning Coalition Office-Guest Speaker Dr. Malbert Smith of MetaMetrics: Dr. Smith will be speaking about the Lexile Scale, a measure that represents a student's level of reading ability on a developmental scale. We often hear that parents/families and community are not familiar with technical concepts in education. This is a great opportunity for the community to become familiar with the Lexile Scale to gain an understanding that can help families better support their children in reading. A special thank you to HIDOE for their generous support of this presentation. We have changed the venue from the Japanese Cultural Center to the The Learning Coalition Office at 841 Bishop Street Suite 301. Validated parking available at Ali'i Place at 1099 Alakea Street.
October 17, 2012, 9:00am-11:00am at The Learning Coalition Office-HE'E Policy and Social Justice Workgroup Meeting: Please join us to discuss policy recommendations to be presented to the full Coalition for the upcoming legislative session. The Learning Coalition Office is at 841 Bishop Street Suite 301. Validated parking available at Ali'i Place at 1099 Alakea Street.
November 7, 2012, 4:00pm-6:00pm at the Japanese Cultural Center-Large Group Meeting:
At our quarterly meeting we would like to have our members speak for a few minutes about their organization's latest news. It will be another opportunity to share the great work of the Coalition. Please save the date! Japanese Cultural Center is at 2454 S. Beretania Street. Refreshments and validated parking will be provided.
Please send RSVP's to all meetings to cheri@heecoalition.org as soon as possible! Conference call capability is also available for all meetings; if you would like to participate remotely please let us know.
HE'E Member News
Governor Abercrombie established the Executive Office on Early Learning in July 2012, appointing Terry Lock as the Director. The Office is responsible for providing leadership and coordination of early learning and development policies and programs for Hawaii's youngest keiki. The Office is currently engaging public and private partners to develop a state Action Strategy designed to ensure all children, prenatal through age 8, are healthy, safe and thriving in order to be ready for school and life. This strategy will include plans for a new state-funded Preschool Program. A series of community forums are being planned this fall to share and discuss the work of this new Executive Office on Early Learning -- details will be forthcoming.
Hawai'i Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice (LEJ) is excited to join HE'E and looks forward to collaborating with the coalition on pressing education issues. LEJ is continuing work on a pilot program to expand school breakfast programs in three low-income elementary schools on Oahu, with an emphasis on breakfast in the classroom. In addition, LEJ is working to investigate school disciplinary practices in the state and how to improve school environments.
Join McREL for the 1st Annual REL Pacific Conference on Data Use
Please join us on Monday, October 22, 2012, at the Sheraton Princess Ka'iulani Hotel in Honolulu, Hawai'i, for the First Annual REL Pacific Conference on Data Use. This event will provide Research Alliance members and stakeholders the opportunity to come together to develop connections between and within Research Alliances and to discuss the use of data to make informed decisions. Register HERE. Conference is from 9:00am-4:00pm and there is no tuition cost to attend the the event. For more information please contact Beth Siegfried at bsiegfried@mcrel.org or at 808-664-8176.
Hawaii Schools in Initiative for Military Families Report Record Results
HE'E was pleased to be invited to the National Math and Science Initiative Celebration on Thursday, September 27, 2012, at the Mililani High School Gymnasium to recognize the outstanding results of the four public high schools that are participating in the initiative. The four Initiative for Military Family (IMF) schools in Hawaii (Radford, Campbell, Leilehua, Mililani) accounted for 82% of the entire state's gains in passing Math, Science, and English (MSE) scores last year and had a 68% increase in the number of passing AP MSE scores. One of the four schools ranks 1st in 10 of the 12 MSE subjects for the most students passed. The four schools ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th in the increase in the number of passing MSE scores in the state last year. Congratulations to the students, teachers and administrators for their hard work! Please see more information in the press release at this link.
Upcoming Events
We would like to continue to share upcoming events, great news, accomplishments or acknowledgements of the Coalition so please feel free to update me with the great work that is going on in the community!
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