Kentucky Teacher

Kentucky superintendents, principals and other school leaders who are helping shape schools to prepare students for a digital, global age have a new resource available to them.

The Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE) is moving to the University of Kentucky College of Education (pending approval by the UK Board of Trustees). The center partners with regional educational organizations and schools to facilitate the implementation of technologies that help improve teaching and student learning. At UK, CASTLE will work with the College of Education’s Kentucky P20 Innovation Lab.

Click here for more information.

Holliday

Having been a teacher, principal, superintendent and commissioner, I have experienced the evaluation process at every level. My two key principles for evaluation are that all instruments should be aligned and that all instruments should be growth instruments.

I realize that employment decisions must eventually be made; however, I have always adhered to W. Edwards Deming’s principle that up to 95 percent of an organization’s performance is related to the processes in the organization, and most people want to do a great job. I always push for continuous improvement and growth of individuals while also working to improve processes in the organization. Continue Reading

Grant County High School chemistry teacher Bob Anderson gives junior Gary Woods tips on being actively involved while studying during the recovery program at the school Feb. 24, 2011. "The program is helping me get my grades in check and get here on time," Woods said. Photo by Amy Wallot

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Al Poweleit tries to work with the families in the Grant County school district.

Recently, a kindergarten student at one of the schools had pink eye. School staff called phone numbers on file for the child, but none of them were current. Poweleit then took the child home. The boy’s parents were both home sleeping. They child’s mother told Poweleit they sent the child to school because he already had too many unexcused absences. The mother also informed him they were already scheduled to go to court.

“It’s sad that this child is being set up for failure by the parents,” Poweleit said. “We have to set the tone with the parents when students are younger. The boy depends on his parents, and we don’t want to take the parents to court, but this is what we will do to get that child in school.” Continue Reading

Children enjoy an unusually warm day during recess at Carr Creek Elementary School (Knott County) Feb. 17, 2011. The school's FRYSC raised money for the new playground. Photo by Amy Wallot

By Matthew Tungate
matthew.tungate@education.ky.gov

The playground at Carr Creek Elementary School (Knott County) was older than a lot of the students’ parents, having been built in 1972, and it was time to be replaced.

So the school’s Family Resource and Youth Services Center (FRYSC) raised $43,000 in cash and services. The new playground includes swing sets, a basketball court, walking track, outdoor stage area, baseball/t-ball area and play center.

FRYSC Director Debbie Joseph Smith said a coal company donated cash, hauled loads of fill dirt, used its bulldozers for landscaping and seeded the entire area. Volunteers landscaped and painted. Teachers and children spread mulch during recess with the school principal and FRYSC staff. Continue Reading

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, through the Kentucky Chamber Foundation, is working to create a Leadership Institute for School Principals to provide executive-level leadership training for public- and private-school principals.  The institute is available to principals who have at least one year of experience working at any school level. It will begin this summer with a pilot class of 48 principals (two groups of 24 each). Continue Reading

DuPont Manual High School (Jefferson County) teacher Merritt Robinson, left, receives the Kentucky Outstanding Civic Education Leadership Award from Kentucky Secretary of State Elaine Walker March 18, 2011 at Rupp Arena. Photo by Amy Wallot

Merritt Robinson, of DuPont Manual High School (Jefferson County), was recognized with the 2011 Kentucky Outstanding Civic Education Leadership Award during the 2011  PNC/Kentucky High School Athletic Assocation (KHSAA) Boys Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament March 18 at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

The award recognizes teachers and community leaders who have made notable contributions toward promoting or implementing civic learning to prepare students to be engaged and responsible. Honorees have demonstrated outstanding leadership in and out of the classroom by promoting and strengthening civic education and by encouraging students to become active and engaged in their communities. Continue Reading

Former Fayette County and Daviess County school superintendent Stu Silberman recently was named as executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

Silberman, who announced his retirement in February from Fayette County, is a three-time Kentucky Superintendent of the Year.

Silberman succeeds Robert Sexton, the committee’s founding executive director who died in August 2010. Silberman will assume the Prichard Committee position Sept. 1.

For more information, visit the Prichard Committee website.

The Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky wants to help school district leaders be proactive in building a positive school culture.

The group has scheduled a workshop, “Why Character: Building a Foundation for Success for School Administrators,” on April 5 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ET. The workshop will be held at the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, located at Rookwood Tower (3805 Edwards Rd., Suite 500) in Cincinnati. Continue Reading

This fall, graduate students in Georgetown College’s new online Teacher Leader Master’s (TLMA) Cohorts program will be able to take courses in their homes while receiving individualized faculty attention and access to a peer support network. This program provides the option of completing the program as a member of a small online professional community (cohort) with a maximum of 20 students. Continue Reading

First-grade student Jayce Riley speaks during the Sedalia Elementary School's (Graves County) Blue Ribbon School celebration Jan. 6, 2011. Photo by Amy Wallot

By Susan Riddell
susan.riddell@education.ky.gov

Some are singers. Some are sprinters. Some are science experts. All of them are students at Sedalia Elementary School (Graves County), which was named a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School award winner.

Sedalia Elementary was one of five Kentucky public schools to earn that distinction for 2010. The other schools and Sedalia Elementary all share several commonalities that teachers and administrators agreed are keys to the schools’ success.

These schools cited community, parental support and teacher collaboration as critical. Teachers accepted nothing short of students’ best efforts, and they reciprocated in kind. Extracurricular and arts activities were varied and vast. Continue Reading