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//Trisha Powell Crain
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Advanced Placement Courses in Alabama – See the Data Here

Alabama School Connection and BirminghamWatch recently collaborated to publish a package of articles about how Advanced Placement (AP) course-taking is on the rise, why that rise has occurred, and what impact that may have for students in Alabama. We pulled together a lot of data...
Posted On Jun 26 2016
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A Look Back at Early Integration Efforts, Post-Brown, Through the Eyes of the Southern School News

Reprinted from the first issue of the Southern School News, September 3, 1954: WITH this first issue of Southern School News, the Southern Education Reporting Service [SERS] undertakes a major new journalistic assignment —to tell the story, factually and objectively, of what...
Posted On Jun 22 2016
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How Charter Schools Can Open in Your Neighborhood

When state lawmakers passed a law in 2015 to allow public charter schools to operate in Alabama, they laid out two paths for potential charter school operators: (1) through the Alabama Public Charter School Commission and (2) through local boards of education who choose to become...
Posted On Jun 21 2016
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Governor’s ESSA Committee Moving Forward – Website Live Now

By December 1, Alabama’a Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) state implementation committee will recommend how to implement provisions of the law to the Alabama State Board of Education. The State Board of Education will then have a few months to tweak the plan as it deems...
Posted On Jun 20 2016
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Finding the Data

Data forms the foundation for a lot of what I write about here on the Alabama School Connection news site. I’ve been pondering how to get all the data in one place, and I realized that a lot of it is already in one place: on my profile at the Tableau Public site. So here it...
Posted On Jun 18 2016
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Alabama State Department of Education Confirms Review of Concerns in Special Education Services Division

The Alabama State Department of Education has confirmed it is conducting an inquiry into the state’s Special Education Services division due to concerns raised in an anonymous letter dated March 1 signed “Concerned Staff in Special Education Services”. In a statement to the...
Posted On Jun 16 2016
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Chronic Absenteeism a Serious Problem at Many Alabama Schools

Nearly 93,000 students in Alabama’s public schools missed 15 or more days of school during the 2013-2014 school year according to recently released data from the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE). While Alabama’s overall chronic absenteeism rate of 12.5% is lower...
Posted On Jun 08 2016
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From Tiger to Free-Range Parents – What Research Says about Pros and Cons of Popular Parenting Styles

Rebecca English, Queensland University of Technology Our politicians talk a lot about “families”, but what do they really mean when they use this term? What does a modern Australian family look like and how does it compare with ten, 20 or even 30 years ago? In this ten-part...
Posted On Jun 08 2016
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Special Education Advisory Panel Meeting Scheduled for June 15

Advocates, educators and parents of children with special needs will gather in Montgomery on Wednesday, June 15, at 9:30 a.m. for their twice-yearly meeting. Interpreter services for the hearing impaired and Spanish speaking individuals will be available. According to the Alabama...
Posted On Jun 07 2016
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Court Documents Reveal Turmoil within Hoover’s Trace Crossings Elementary Is Nothing New

Court documents and testimony in a federal sexual discrimination lawsuit are now providing an inside, public look at the dysfunction inside Hoover’s Trace Crossings elementary school during the years parents were leaving in droves for private- and home-school opportunities. Those...
Posted On Jun 05 2016
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Feeding Alabama’s School Children During the Summer – Sites Updated June 30

UPDATE: The map was updated June 30 to reflect additional sites.  Most of the 480,395 children in Alabama who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals during the school year don’t have access to those meals during the summer, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture...
Posted On Jun 01 2016
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Weigh In on the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

Sure, summer is (almost) here. But what could be better than reading through proposed rules for accountability provisions in the new federal education law and sharing your thoughts with the U.S. Department of Education through their online portal? On the one hand, the timing is...
Posted On May 26 2016
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Special Education Due Process Changes Rise Again

Those special education due process changes have arisen again and are back on the table for Round Three, though the most controversial change has been scrapped. The Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) had proposed cutting the time period within which parents coul...
Posted On May 25 2016
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Dyslexia Advocacy Group Asks for Input

If you are the parent of a child with dyslexia, Decoding Dyslexia of Alabama and other support groups want to hear from you. They’ve created a survey that will be open until May 25. Click here to start the survey. The survey asks parents of children with dyslexia what their...
Posted On May 20 2016
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The Alabama Reading Initiative Survives (Mostly) Intact

State lawmakers slashed $7.4 million from the historically successful Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) for the FY17 budget, and the cuts are hitting some schools harder than others. Though ARI was funded at a high of $64 million in FY08, that funding dropped to $40.8 million for...
Posted On May 19 2016
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Special Education Conference for Families & Educators June 3

Three hot topics in special education will be discussed at the fifth annual Raising the Standards half-day conference, hosted by the Alabama Parent Training and Information (AL PTI) Center. The conference will be held in three locations simultaneously to allow for statewide...
Posted On May 17 2016
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Guidance for Public Schools on Transgender Students Published

[Updated May 16 with reaction from Alabama officials.] There’ll be lots of reactionary news coverage about this, so our purpose is to aggregate today’s breaking news about the actual guidance to keep facts in front of our readers. First, read the blog post from the...
Posted On May 13 2016
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State Board of Education to Appoint Five Members to Charter School Commission

Five of the ten members of the Alabama Public Charter School Commission members are up for appointment after having served initial terms of one year. The five remaining commission members are serving initial appointments of two years. New appointments will serve a two-year term,...
Posted On May 11 2016
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Did Teacher Raises Get Eaten by Health Insurance Hikes?

Though education employees haven’t yet received a paycheck with that newly-approved raise, they’ve already been told they’ll pay more for health insurance beginning October 1. Raises also go into effect on October 1. Education employees making $75,000 o...
Posted On May 11 2016
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How State Lawmakers’ Decisions Impacted Money for Schools This Year

Education groups agree that the biggest victory of the 2016 legislative session is the increase in money flowing to Alabama’s schools and teachers for the 2017 fiscal year (October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017). State lawmakers passed the largest education budget...
Posted On May 11 2016
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Are We Pushing Children with Special Needs Out of Our Classrooms and Schools?

One of the foundations in educating children with disabilities is determining where a child spends the school day. For children with disabilities, the question is whether a child will learn, academically, behaviorally, and socially, better in an inclusive environment, i.e., in a...
Posted On Apr 28 2016
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Virtual School Expansion Proposal Removes Hard-Won Student Supports

Students enrolling in virtual schools could lose the support system they need to ensure academic success if a bill to expand virtual school access gains final passage before the legislative session ends, according to the Alabama Association of School Boards (AASB). AASB Executive...
Posted On Apr 26 2016
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Following the Money in State Lawmaking

Some say money buys influence. If there’s any truth to that, then it’s worth knowing who is buying how much influence over whom. Particularly when it comes to our state-level elected officials. As the 2016 Regular Session draws to a close, we continue to track nearly...
Posted On Apr 24 2016
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How Do States Choose the Chief State School Officer?

How chief state school officers are chosen across the country is a bit of a hodge-podge. According to information from the National Association of State Boards of Education, voters in 13 states elect their chief state school officer (CSSO). In 38 states, the CSSO is appointed by...
Posted On Apr 24 2016
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Please Help Us Keep Education News Coming!

Public education is at a crossroads in Alabama. The tug of war over what needs to change, how it changes, and who directs that change is real. Charter schools, tax-credit scholarships, and other forms of school choice have already changed the landscape of our education system...
Posted On Apr 21 2016
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