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Alabama’s A-F School Grading System Is Almost Ready

This December, Alabamians will finally see letter grades linked to accountability measures for each of our nearly 1,400 public schools. Plans are being finalized for the A-F school grading system, and the most recent draft, assumed to be final, was presented at September’s state...
Posted On Sep 14 2016
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How Alabama Compares in the Latest ACT College and Career Readiness Report

Numbers are hard sometimes. Particularly in education, particularly in Alabama. So many easy (and often unflattering) comparisons to make. A quick scan of where Alabama’s graduates stand in ACT’s newly-released College and Career Readiness Report for 2016 might get...
Posted On Aug 24 2016
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ACT Aspire: Interactive Tables

NOTE: The ALSDE published an updated spreadsheet on February 17, 2015. None of the data points changed except that those districts with zero or less than one percent of students scoring at a particular level (I, II, III, or IV) are now represented with “<1%”. We...
Posted On Jan 21 2015
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The Principal, the Test Scores, and the Investigation That Wasn’t

What happens when a principal pushes for answers to questions about an unprecedented drop in high-stakes standardized test scores? Wouldn’t you think that district officials would take every measure possible to ensure the scores reflected valid measurements of students learning...
Posted On Aug 12 2014
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Staying Informed: Board of Education Notice and Agenda

A central tenet of engagement is being informed. How do you stay informed without knowing what your board of education is up to? And how do you know what your board is up to if you don’t receive the proper notification and an idea of what will be discussed in advance of...
Posted On Jun 15 2014
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The June 3rd Primary Matters – VOTE!

Most folks don’t pay much attention to primaries. They believe the real race is run in November. But in Alabama, in many places, the real race is the primary, particularly where one party dominates the district. This is particularly true in three of the four State Board of...
Posted On May 22 2014
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Nonpublic K-12 Schools No Longer Regulated by State Department of Education

Nonpublic schools, which include private, church and home schools, are no longer subject to licensing or other regulations by the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) effective July 1, 2014. Unless they intend to enroll students eligible to transfer from public schools...
Posted On May 18 2014
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Not Just the Problems of Other People’s Children

This provocative new study from Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance and Education Next debunks the myth that “other people’s children” are the ones who are lagging behind where achievement measures are concerned. That myth is pervasive and one...
Posted On May 14 2014
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Multiple Pathways Lead to One Alabama High School Diploma

It is that time again. Time for high school students to choose courses for the 2014-2015 school year. And with the changes implemented for this year’s ninth graders, it appears that everybody wants to read about graduation requirements under the Alabama High Schoo...
Posted On May 11 2014
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Course-Related User Fees: The Hidden Cost of Public Education, Part 3

This is the third in an ongoing series examining the hidden costs of public education in Alabama. Click to view Part 1 and Part 2. Course-related user fees. You know what those are, right? Anyone who has registered a student in a public Alabama middle or high school has seen that...
Posted On Apr 30 2014
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Opting Out of Standardized Tests – What You Need to Know

I continue to be asked how children can opt out from standardized testing. Here’s what I found: If you don’t want your child to take state-mandated standardized tests, your only guaranteed method is to keep them home from school during testing. I am not advocating for...
Posted On Apr 23 2014
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ACT Assessments – What You Need to Know

Annual standardized testing season is here. The ACT Aspire and ACT Plus Writing will be administered to Alabama’s public school students later this month. Here’s what you need to know. ACT has a full suite of tests to assess where a student’s achievement is in...
Posted On Apr 09 2014
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What Are the Real Options for Alabama Students in “Failing” Schools?

During the 2013 legislative session, the Alabama Accountability Act (AAA) became law, with the authors and proponents stating that the AAA would give children stuck in failing schools real options for transferring out of those public schools. Alabama now has a year under its belt...
Posted On Apr 07 2014
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Accountability Reports: Who Has Those Online?

As Sunshine Week 2014 comes to an end, I want to share the results of one more search for reports on Alabama’s school district web sites: the set of reports known as the “Accountability Reports”. Each year, pursuant to Alabama Act 1995-313, every Alabama school...
Posted On Mar 21 2014
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Who Isn’t Posting Required Financial Statements on Time?

The simple answer to that question is: about one of every five school districts. This month. In continued celebration of Sunshine Week 2014, I reviewed all 135 school district web sites on Sunday, March 16, and Monday, March 17, looking for a few specific pieces of information....
Posted On Mar 19 2014
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Check Register Table with Links

I should have known that the post about check registers would be no fun without the table. Sorry. Below is a table depicting which of Alabama’s 135 school districts were in compliance with the ALSDE’s requirement to post check registers online as of 8:00 p.m. March...
Posted On Mar 18 2014
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Sunshine Week is HERE! Check Registers Online? Find Out.

OK. It’s Sunshine Week. 2014. I celebrated first by broadcasting, live, the Hoover Board of Education meeting on Monday, March 17. [No decision yet on charging fees to students who rely upon buses to transport them to and from school.] Now it’s time to share some...
Posted On Mar 17 2014
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Remediation Rates by District and School – Class of 2012

All this talk of College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) made me stop to remember why somebody decided creating new standards was necessary in the first place. Every source consulted agrees that one reason was to produce high school...
Posted On Mar 12 2014
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Testing – How Much and What’s It Used For?

Much of the criticism of Alabama’s College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) and the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which are contained within the CCRS, has centered around standardized testing: how much testing and how the results will be used. So let’s look at...
Posted On Mar 10 2014
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So Who Is Sponsoring the Senate Takeover of K-12 Public Education?

Three bills have been introduced to usurp the power granted to the State Board of Education (SBOE) and State Superintendent: SB380 – Provides for termination of English Language Arts and Math courses of study and revert to prior courses of study. SB438 – Calls for...
Posted On Mar 09 2014
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Senate’s Attempt to Takeover K-12 Education: Public Hearing Tuesday, March 11

Thirteen members of the Alabama Senate have come together to attempt what can only be called a takeover of K-12 public education. They all are sponsors of SB443. A public hearing has been called for Tuesday, March 11, at 10:00 a.m. in Montgomery in Room 304 (which does not have...
Posted On Mar 06 2014
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High School Graduates: Reflective of the Population Living There?

After reviewing the 4-year high school graduation rates for the class of 2013, the question came to mind: what is the percentage of students that graduated in 2013 compared with the population living within the school district’s geographic boundaries? In other words: are...
Posted On Feb 26 2014
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Graduation Rates Across Alabama – The Class of 2013

Graduating from high school results in a lifetime of higher pay. 80% of Alabama’s students who entered high school in the fall of 2009 graduated in the spring of 2013. State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice shared the good news about Alabama’s graduation rate, the...
Posted On Feb 25 2014
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Sovereign Immunity and a Student’s Bill of Rights

Sovereign immunity, simply stated, is a doctrine preventing the government or its agents from being sued. Case law currently exists protecting teachers and other public school employees from civil lawsuits when the alleged wrongdoing (the reason for the lawsuit) was done while...
Posted On Feb 18 2014
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Sovereign Immunity Bill – Public Hearing – Wednesday, February 12 – 1:00 p.m.

[UPDATE: I was unable to testify at the hearing. Just as I arrived in Montgomery, friends from Birmingham began urging me to return home due to impending sleet and snow. I left the meeting at 2:20. Senator Ward later told me that the bill received a favorable report from the...
Posted On Feb 12 2014
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