Transcript 2011 Summer Professional Development Conference “Preparing

Warren Craig Pouncey, Ed.D.
Deputy State Superintendent
Alabama State Department of Education
State Funding
FY2009: $3,822,035,900
FY2012: $3,813,380,486
Rolling Reserve Act
FY2013: $3,950,662,083 projected
Growth: $ 137,281,597
FY2009:
$19,311,200
FY2012:
$19,175,065
Carl D. Perkins Loss:($
Tech Prep Loss:
136,135)
($ 2,000,000)
All Certified
 FY 07-08:49,363.91
 FY10-11: 47,573.17
 Loss:
(1,790.24) 3.63%
Career Tech
 FY 07-08:
2,956
 FY10-11:
2,624
 Loss:
(332) 11.23%
Foundation Program
16-13-231
The total cost of the Foundation Program for any local
board of education shall be for teacher’s salaries,
fringe benefits, classroom instructional support and
OCE.
Foundation Program
16-13-231
The local board of education shall allocate state and
local Foundation Program funds to each school in an
equitable manner, based on the needs of the students
and the schools, as reflected in the current year’s
actual student populations, including at-risks
students, students receiving special education
services, and students enrolled in vocational/technical
educational programs.
Foundation Program
16-13-232
The grade level divisors for each fiscal year shall be
weighted for each grade to provide funding for special
education and vocational education. The grade level
divisors include for vocational/technical education
7.4% full time equivalent in grades 7-8 weighted 1.4
times the regular student weight and 16.5% full time
equivalent in grades 9-12 weighted 2.0 times the
regular student weight.
Foundation Program
16-6B-8
Each area vocational center shall earn a principal
(director) and shall continue to earn a counselor
should it have received a counselor unit in 1994-1995.
Further it is the intent of the Legislature that area
vocational centers that are serving more than one
school system continue to do so. No local boards shall
be permitted to spend fewer state dollars for
vocational/technical education than it did during the
1994-1995 school year.
Foundation Program
16-13-236
Funds provided by the state to local boards of
education for vocational/technical education shall be
spent only for its intended purposes.
Dr. Morton and the State Board have
requested that a task force be assembled to
examine a new direction for Career and
Technical Education in Alabama.
Over the next five months, business and
industry leaders, Career Technical educators,
students, and other participants will be
charged with redefining what and how we offer
career tech opportunities to our students.
“No New Taxes”
 Our challenge is not to exclusively produce more college
graduates with bachelor’s degrees
 Our challenge is to produce graduates with foundational
academic knowledge in math and language arts
necessary to pursue postsecondary education without
remediation. (College Readiness)
 Students will need to have the ability to apply academics
in context.
 Students will need to be able to apply academic
knowledge to authentic situations. (Career Readiness)
Critical Thinking
Creativity
Adaptability
Responsibility
Problem Solving
Professionalism
Collaboration
Ethics
Teamwork
Use of Technology
 Over 50% of the new jobs created in the next decade will
require a postsecondary education or some sort of
occupational certificate.
 Of these, 27% are projected to make more than the
average graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
 25% of our students drop out before graduating.
 Only 24% of our high school graduates who took the ACT
were college ready in all subject areas.
 28% of entering college freshmen enrolled in one or more
remedial courses.
 Only 56% of first time, full time bachelor’s degree-seeking
students earned a degree in six years.
Problem 1: Students are not performing adequately
because they and their teachers are not
working hard enough.
Reform 1: A get tough policy like “No Child Left Behind”
that mandates 100% of all students be
proficient in all area of measurement by 2014.
Problem 2: Improving student performance and closing the
achievement gap can only occur by
implementing rigorous content standards and a
core curriculum for all schools.
Reform 2: Use standardized tests to assess students
yearly to make sure they are succeeding;
punish them and the schools if they fail to
meet standards.
Problem 3: Standardized test scores provide an accurate
measure of student learning and should
be used to determine promotion and
graduation.
Reform 3: Test scores don’t provide an accurate picture of
what all students have learned; what it does
confirm is that our conventional schools are
not meeting the educational needs of a large
number of our students.
Problem 4: The United States should require all students
to take Algebra in the 8th grade and higher
order math in high school largely to increase
the number of scientists and engineers and
thus making us more competitive in the global
economy.
Reform 4: Forcing students to take four years of math or
science without first instilling a passion for the
subject is a formula for failure.
California enrolls almost 60% of its 8th graders
in Algebra I, but has the nation’s lowest score
on NAEP.
Problem 5: We need to put a highly qualified teacher in
every classroom to deliver an excellent
education to every student and improve our
schools.
Reform 5: The law defines “highly qualified” as a teacher
who is certified by a state. Too many
universities still offer fragmented coursework
and haphazard clinical placements; Schools of
education prepare teachers to teach subjects
rather than students.
Problem 6: Having an effective principal in every school
would make a difference between a school that
works and one that doesn’t.
Reform 6: The many demands on principals are daunting.
They are expected to be the CEO, a skilled
organizational manager, a strong instructional
leader, an inspirational figure, a politician, and
a community relations expert.
Current limits restrain the power of principals
to be innovative and decisive. They are often
caught in the middle between high ranking
central office administrators, teachers, parents
and students.
Problem 7: The student dropout rate can be reduced by
dropout prevention programs and raising the
mandatory attendance age from 16 to 18.
Reform 7: The vast majority of schools are preoccupied
with standards, tests, core curricula and
rigorous courses. Their main concern is
academics and their main objective is for
students to get good grades and have a
shot at getting into college.
Problem 8: Making the school day and school year longer
will increase student learning.
Reform 8: More time in school will not improve
achievement if the time is not spent
productively.
Additional time must be tied to:
1. Core Academics
2. Enrichment Opportunities
3. Teacher Planning and Professional Development
Simply doing the same thing for a longer period
of time will not close the achievement gaps.
Problem 9: If we invest more money in public schools, we
will be able to provide every student with an
excellent education.
Reform 9: If we continue to spend money on a model that
doesn’t work instead of one that does, we will
continue to need even more funding and
continue to get mediocre results.
 How do we ensure the success of the 44% of the students
that won’t finish college in six years?
 How do we change the future of the better than 25% of
the students who will drop out before completing High
School?
 To help motivate children and maximize their abilities, we
must educate them one at a time and tailor their
education to their interests and needs.
 This means doing away with teaching all students the
same things on the same day in the same way.
 Students learn best when they are interested in the
material. Schools should focus on their interests and
use that as a foundation to build on.
 Help students find their passion and then individualize
core competencies around that passion.
 The more educational opportunities available to young
people, both in and out of school, the more likely they are
to find a pathway to success that is compatible with their
unique needs and talents.
 Future jobs - almost 50% will not require college degrees,
but will call for some postsecondary training and/or
credentialing.
 The skills that employers are looking for can be taught in
the first eight grades. From that point, students should
be able to choose an educational pathway that they
believe is compatible with their interests, aspirations,
and learning styles. It is time to stop delivering the same
education to every high school student.
 Students will learn more and remember more of what
they learned if they learn in real-world contexts, which
also reduces boredom and disciplinary problems,
stimulates more parental involvement, inspires self
confidence and responsibility in students and motivates
them to learn.
 Learning must become…
1.
2.
3.
4.
Watching
Thinking
Feeling
Doing
 Learning must begin to include some type of internship
program. This internship program serves as real world
experiences that creates relevance and should serve as
the basis for the core around which each student’s
personal curriculum is built.
 Real-life learning doesn’t always have to happen outside
of school; Good teachers can bring it into the classroom.
 Student assessments based on multiple measures,
focusing mainly on a students actual work, is a better
and fairer way to evaluate student performance than
standardized tests.
 Mastery of content knowledge must be measured by not
only formative assessments, but should also include
being judged on actual work samples, portfolios,
exhibitions, presentations, and internships.
 We are more likely to get effective teachers if we educate
teachers differently and modify their traditional role as
instructors.
 A teacher’s role needs to become one of an advisor.
These close relationships and open communication help
to create a sense of belonging in students. This
translates into better grades, higher motivation and
graduation rates.
 Teachers periodically should participate in real world
clinical experiences that will enable them to relate work
place expectations to their students.