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The Every Student Succeeds Act: The Highlights

It looks like Congress is set to replace the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). The new law, officially a part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), has been named the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Originally passed in 2002, NCLB was...
Posted On Nov 30 2015
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Alabama’s Federal Waiver Request – What Is Changing?

Monday is the deadline for public input on Alabama’s revisions to the waiver from the federal requirements under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), a.k.a., No Child Left Behind. The original waiver was renewed in 2014, and now it’s time for another...
Posted On May 10 2015
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Input Needed! Alabama’s Draft of ESEA Waiver Renewal Ready to Read

Alabama’s waiver from No Child Left Behind accountability measures is up for renewal. The Alabama State Department of Education has posted it online and given the public until March 31, 2015, to comment on the proposed changes. A 3-page document outlining the changes from...
Posted On Mar 17 2015
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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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School District Happenings: Learn What’s Going On

Change in public education continues to come at a fast and furious pace here in Alabama. From the new requirements for a high school diploma to Plan 2020 to the waiver from No Child Left Behind to the flexibility plans to the wave of technology many school districts are...
Posted On Sep 18 2013
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ACT with Writing Is Back On Again

Proving once again it’s who you know, the ACT with Writing has been un-uninstated, or re-instated, for the 2013-2014 school year. It will be administered to all Alabama public school 11th graders on April 23, 2014. Makeup tests will be administered on May 7, 2014. In a memo...
Posted On Aug 07 2013
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High School Student Achievement Tests Change Again – Blamed on Budget

Alabama’s high school students’ standardized tests just changed. Again. Appears money is to blame. The first change involves the ACT. Instead of requiring 11th graders to take the ACT plus writing in the spring of 2014, only the ACT will be given. No writing. (UPDATE:...
Posted On Jul 15 2013
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Notes from the State Board of Education Meeting and Work Session – July 9

Here is the full writeup on the Tales from the Meeting blog. We have a new head of the State Board of Education: Dr. Charles Elliott. Even though Governor Bentley is technically the President, he rarely attends. Ella Bell was re-elected as President pro Tem. Calhoun County got...
Posted On Jul 10 2013
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Alabama’s Not the Only One Implementing Achievement Measures by Subgroups

By now, you’ve most likely learned of the approval of Alabama’s waiver from simplistic pass/fail measures under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). You’ve probably also caught wind of the controversy surrounding setting performance measures and benchmarks, known as...
Posted On Jul 08 2013
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What You Need to Know About Alabama’s Waiver and How Student Achievement Will Now Be Measured

As the news spreads about Alabama’s Plan 2020 and the pieces contained within, it has become painfully obvious that very few Alabamians, even those in education, understood what was actually in the Plan and the details of how student achievement would be measured…the...
Posted On Jul 03 2013
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Math Standards and Other Tidbits from the State Board of Education Work Session

I must apologize, but there is just simply no way for me to write up all that transpired at the 3-hour-plus work session last Thursday. There is just too much to share. Check out the Tales from the Meeting blog for the Storify (all tweets compiled in one easy viewing) version of...
Posted On Jul 02 2013
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Alabama’s Waiver Part 3 – Rewarding, Supporting, and Grading Our Schools

[Click here to view as a printable PDF] This is the third and final installment in a series looking at the accountability provisions in Alabama’s waiver that rids us of the old way of calculating Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). In Part 1 and Part 2, we learned about various...
Posted On Jun 26 2013
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Alabama’s Waiver Part 2 – The Performance Index

[Click here to view as a printable PDF] This is Part 2 of a series about Alabama’s waiver (the “waiver”) from No Child Left Behind accountability requirements. Please review Part 1 if you have not done so. [Part 3 is here.] The waiver releases Alabama from the...
Posted On Jun 25 2013
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AYP As We Know It Is Over – Alabama’s Waiver Part 1

[Click here to view as a printable PDF] This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here (added links 3/9/14). The ALSDE announced on Friday that the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has granted its ESEA Flexibility Waiver Request (the...
Posted On Jun 24 2013
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Alabama’s High School Graduation Rates 2011-2012

Alabama’s overall graduation rate went up to 75% from 72% last year. While that is something to celebrate, it still means that 25%, or 1 in 4, students that enter high school do not graduate four years later. It is important to understand how the graduation rate is...
Posted On Jun 18 2013
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Standardized Testing Time Is Here – Why Do We Bother With Testing Anyway?

My children’s introduction to standardized testing was in the spring of 2002. I recall being asked by my youngsters why they had to take “those” (standardized) tests in elementary school. They didn’t receive any grades for the tests, so what was the point?...
Posted On May 07 2013
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New Tests for Our Children in Alabama’s K-12 Public Schools

UPDATE 9/6/14: Tests have been updated again. Go here to see the latest. UPDATE 3/9/14: Found the most recent updated list, revised November 15, 2013, of all standardized tests for Alabama’s children. Here’s a link to the PDF and the image is displayed below. Two new...
Posted On Apr 16 2013
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Alabama’s “Failing” Schools – What Does the List Look Like Right Now?

PSSST: This post was published in early April, prior to the release of the actual “failing” schools list on June 18 by the ALSDE. Click this link to read about the actual list. “Failing” is a strong term that truly has no place in this discussion, but...
Posted On Apr 02 2013
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Race-Based Performance Targets – It’s Happening Here in Alabama, Too

NBC News broadcast a story on Thursday, March 7, about the race-based performance targets that many states have moved to in search of a waiver from No Child Left Behind 100% proficiency targets.  Alabama has submitted performance targets based on race, socioeconomic, disability,...
Posted On Mar 18 2013
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League of Women Voters of Greater Tuscaloosa Presentation Materials Posted Here

I had the pleasure of sharing information about the changes that happened, and are happening, from the top-down in Alabama’s K-12 schools with the League of Women Voters of Greater Tuscaloosa on January 8.  Just wanted to share this powerpoint with y’all as well. The...
Posted On Jan 20 2013
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2012 Year in Review for Alabama’s K-12 Public Schools

It might be simpler to post what didn’t change in 2012.  Students, teachers, principals, curriculum….all have had major changes this year.  Many more changes are in the works, but have not yet been approved and/or implemented.  And while I know that many of these...
Posted On Jan 01 2013
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If Not AYP to Measure Progress, Then What?? Alabama’s ESEA Waiver Request

Let’s face it.  Schools and education officials never liked AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress). The pass/fail method placed what many believed was an unfair label on schools who failed to meet the benchmarks set under No Child Left Behind (NCLB).  As we inched toward the...
Posted On Dec 04 2012
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Video of Special Education Forum Now Online!

Last week, Alabama’s state school superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice spoke with families of children with special needs (and there were quite a few teachers and administrators in the audience as well!) about changes that have happened and will happen in special education in...
Posted On Oct 04 2012
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Notes from the August 23 State Board Work Session

Yes, August is over.  But the information that was shared at that work session was of vital importance to our state’s education system.  The Flexibility Waiver Request was presented in some detail for the state board.  This is a very important document, and much of it will...
Posted On Sep 12 2012
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