For too long, majority of parents have forgotten that the price of freedom is vigilance. A country that led the world in industrial advances, the land of so much opportunity, had what we thought as an excellent education system. We trusted that system for far too long. Unfortunately, we are now having to get informed rather quickly of how the education system has changed. Below are some points with links for you to consider whether or not it is time for you to Stand in the Gap and find out more. We hope you will as no one can defend your child better than you -- but without knowledge how can you?? Be sure to attend one of the Stand in the Gap Conferences On November 7-9th (7th In Mobile and 9th in Helena). Please check on www.StandintheGapNow.com
Hear interview with Professor Sandra Stotsky who was asked to be on Common Core's National Validation Committee but refused to validate them.
Hear interview with Linda Murphy, Oklahoma Educator, who helped get Oklahoma out of Common Core.
See link to pdf of SBOE September Work Session on Comprehensive Counseling Guidance Model For Alabama...Better hurry--vote by SBOE maybe coming soon...Get informed!
In an article from UCLA(click on right side under News Release article on New Directions for Student &
Learning Supports Initiative )-Tommy Bice is touted for leading the nation. Here are some key points:
Tommy Bice's unified program statewide: "Alabama's schools are off to a good start. I am very optimistic. If Alabama's schools are half as effective as we think they will be, Alabama will influence many other states."
Starting with 10 school districts, Alabama's Unified and Comprehensive System of Learning Supports places emphasis on addressing all the factors that interfere with students' success at school. Additional Alabama school districts will be phased in over the coming years.
Linda Felton-Smith, director of the Office of Learning Support in Alabama's department of education. "It unifies and moves student supports away from reacting to problems and toward system development, with a strong emphasis on prevention and early intervention."
"This new direction will help advance Alabama's PLAN 2020, which outlines four priorities, including the learners, the support systems, the school systems and the professionals," said Tommy Bice, Alabama's state superintendent of education. "Each of these four components of the plan has to function together like an 'eco-system' so that we can meet our objectives of improving student growth and achievement, closing the achievement gap, increasing the graduation rate and increasing the number of students that are college- and career-ready. Student support is a vital part of that total system."
Be sure to look at link to the pdf to the Alabama Comprehensive Learning Supports that is listed in article see http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/aladesign.pdf.
Here's Memo on which districts are in:
Thomas R. Bice, Ed.D.
Secretary and
Executive Officer
GORDON PERSONS BUILDING • P.O. BOX 302101 •MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA 36130-2101 • TELEPHONE (334) 242-9700 • FAX (334) 242-9708 •WEB SITE: www.alsde.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Communication
July 31, 2013 334-242-9950
comm@alsde.edu
ALABAMA STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MOVES TOWARD A
COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEM OF LEARNING SUPPORTS
Department Releases New Learning Supports Design Plan and First Districts to
Participate in Roll-Out
Montgomery, Ala. — As part of a steadfast commitment to ensure a world-class
education for all students, the Alabama State Department of Education is releasing a
Comprehensive System of Learning Supports design document and district roll-out plan.
ALSDE officials, area superintendents and representatives from Scholastic will discuss the
new design at 9:30 a.m., Aug. 2, 2013, in Room P104 of the Gordon Persons Building, 50
N. Ripley St., Montgomery, AL.
“We are so optimistic about the power of this new design that builds on previous efforts to
address the barriers to learning and teaching and re-engaging disconnected students,” said
Dr. Linda Felton-Smith, Director, Office of Learning Support. “It unifies and moves
student supports away from reacting to problems toward system development with a strong
emphasis on prevention and early intervention.”
The intent is to fully integrate the learning support system as a primary component of our
school improvement policy and practice and focus on:
• Reframing current student/learning supports programs.
• Re-deploying resources.
• Developing in-classroom and school-wide approaches, including learning
supports found effective in the state’s high-poverty/high-achieving schools.
• Developing the capacity to implement learning supports through leadership
training.
• Revamping infrastructures at the school, district, and state levels.
• Developing and implementing accountability indicators directly related to the
learning support system and fully integrating them into school improvement
accountability.
-moreTen
districts including Bessemer City, Chickasaw City, Etowah County, Butler County, Decatur City, Perry County, Calhoun County, Dothan City, Shelby County, and Lauderdale County will implement the design starting this fall. Other districts will be phased in over the coming years.
“This new direction will help advance Alabama’s PLAN 2020, which outlines four priorities, including the learners, the support systems, the school systems, and the professionals,” explains Dr. Tommy Bice, State Superintendent of Education. “Each of these four components of the plan has to function together like an ‘eco-system’ so that we can meet our objectives of improving student growth and achievement, closing the achievement gap, increasing the graduation rate, and increasing the number of students that are college- and career-ready. Student support is a vital part of that total system.”
Our work in Alabama to design and implement this exciting body of work is being supported by Scholastic Consultant Dr. Rhonda Neal-Waltman, former Assistant Superintendent with Mobile County Schools, and Drs. Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor from the UCLA Center for Mental Health.
The news conference will be available for LIVE viewing on the Alabama State Department of Education’s Ustream Channel at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/alabama-depart:ment-of-education. After the meeting, the archived video is available on the site. If you have comments or questions, please call Communications at 334-242-9950 or send an e-mail to comm@alsde.edu.
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Look up the ASCA National Model
http://www.ascanationalmodel.org/foundation
Read this from Linda Murphy:
Look at Out of Control Ed:
5 yr old forced to sign safety contract:
Middle school students who participated in a controversial sex education program in Hawaii were rewarded with gift cards from the University of Hawaii Center on Disability Studies. The gift cards, valued at between $10 and $20 each, were issued to 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds who participate in Pono Choices. About $52,200 of a $5 million grant from the U.S. Office of Adolescent Health was used to buy the cards.
Look at what you're hearing throughout the state and throughout the country and decide for yourself--can you afford to look the other way?
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.