A 'broken promise' for Teachers

Amanda Burbank joined colleagues Denise Shaleen and Sarah Hintz in earning national board teacher recognition. All three say their chief motivation for going through the rigorous process was to grow professionally. But they also say they were looking forward to a reward for their efforts. Now that financial incentive could fall prey to Washington’s budget woes.

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/14/1501698/a-broken-promise-for-teachers.html#ixzz1B1gAyjDE

College Readiness Retreat

COLLEGE READINESS RETREAT

Co-sponsored by

the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education and the

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

February 10-11, 2011
Dumas Bay Centre, Federal Way

The 2011 Winter College Readiness Retreat is just around the corner.

Please register as soon as possible.

Registration form

The college readiness retreats are designed for faculty

who teach pre-college (Adult Basic Education or Developmental Education) courses.

We encourage participants to attend with a  teaching partner or team.

I-BEST teams are encouraged to attend.

Registration fee is just $55 – the remainder of the cost is subsidized by the SBCTC.

Join us to:

·         Share successful strategies

·         Share possible solutions to struggles

·         Learn more about coaching students to think analytically and take charge of their own learning

·         Learn from successful team-teachers – what works when collaboratively designing and delivering curriculum

·         Use facilitators and peers as your resources, as you and your campus team members work together on integrative assignments, assessments, or other curricular work.

A detailed agenda will be posted soon, on the Assessment, Teaching and Learning pages.

Washington Post Article: We know what students learn. But what do they feel?

In the Washington DC area, they measure schools in many ways. They know their average SAT scores, their percentage of students passing state reading and math tests, their sizes, their racial mixes, their graduation rates and, of course, their football teams' win-loss records. But what don't they really know? 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/11/AR2011011106551.html

Universal Design Workshop at Olympic College with Terrill Thompson

Terrill Thompson from the UW DO-IT program will be at Olympic College in Bremerton January 24^th from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. to discuss Universal Design and how it applies directly to creating accessible documents and online resources.  Terrill is a respected expert in this field and we are lucky to have him come to the Olympic College campus.

We would like to extend the invitation for faculty, or staff to come to this great session.  If you have anyone interested please contact Tom Jacobs at tjacobs@olympic.edu 

Gov. Brown Eliminating Calif. Secretary of Education Post

In his first week in office, California Gov. Jerry Brown's approach to education has emerged as one reminiscent of an earlier era, when the governor didn't have an education secretary and the State Board of Education was the chief executive's primary vehicle for setting school policy.

Brown announced Friday he is eliminating the secretary of education post, saving $1.9 million a year. The position was created in 1990 by then-Gov. Pete Wilson following years of acrimony between a prior Republican governor, George Deukmejian, and the elected superintendent of public instruction, who was then Bill Honig, a Democrat.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/07/3308477/brown-eliminating-calif-secretary.html#

Save the Date - 2011 PESB Conference

The 2011 PESB Conference, formerly known as the Assessment Conference, will be held April 14-15 in Spokane. 

 2011 PESB Spring Institute Strands

Teacher Programs:

·         Focusing on the impact of data collection on program changes

·         Implementing the TPA, including a focus on academic language acquisition

·         Collecting and evaluating quality evidence for Standard V, including ELL and aesthetic reasoning

·         Developing effective strategies and materials for training mentor and cooperating teachers

·         Promising practices and effective design of year long clinically based internship models, including Alternative Routes

·         Pathways and partnerships designed to recruit and retain candidates from underrepresented populations in  teacher preparation programs

For more information contact Coleen Putaansuu ,  coleen.putaansuu@k12.wa.us 

Feds Make ELLs a Priority for Tests Based on Common-Core Standards

The federal government intends to provide grants for the development of English-language-proficiency assessments that are aligned with the national common-core standards. A notice of the U.S. Department of Education's new priority to support the creation of new English-proficiency tests for English-language learners appeared this morning in theFederal Register. The deadline for comments on the notice is Feb. 7.

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/learning-the-language/2011/01/feds_make_ell_tests_based_on_c.html