Kentucky Teacher

The FY2012 Promise Neighborhoods Grants support cradle-to-career services designed to improve educational and developmental outcomes for students in our nation’s most distressed urban and rural neighborhoods.

The U.S. Department of Education (USED) encourages potential applicants to review the documents on the Promise Neighborhoods Web page to learn more about the planning and implementation competitions. The deadline for submitting a notice of intent to apply is June 8, and applications are due by July 27 at 4:30 p.m. ET.

Eligible organizations for both Promise Neighborhoods planning and implementation grants include: nonprofit organizations, which may include faith-based nonprofit organizations; institutions of higher education; and Indian tribes.

USED also has invited people from various backgrounds and professions with content expertise to apply to be peer reviewers for the FY2012 Promise Neighborhoods Planning and Implementation Competitions. Anyone interested in being considered to be a peer reviewer must submit a completed application no later than June 8.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) invites school districts to volunteer to use the BRIGANCE Kindergarten Screen for the 2012-13 school year.

Starting in the 2013-14 school year, kindergarten classrooms in Kentucky’s public schools will use a readiness screener to ensure that all children receive the support they need to be successful in school. KDE has contracted with Curriculum Associates, LLC and will be using the BRIGANCE® Kindergarten Screen as the common kindergarten readiness screener.

There is no cost to school districts for materials to implement the screener; those are paid for by state funds.

Volunteer districts may choose to participate as an entire district or only volunteer specific schools. Volunteer districts will agree to comply with the expectations set forth in proposed state regulation 704 KAR 5:070, including the timeframe for implementing the screener no more than 15 calendar days prior to school starting and no later than the 30th instructional day of the 2012-13 school year. Continue Reading

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) will present the 25th Annual Academically Proficient High School Junior and Senior Diversity Conference June 15-16 at Western Kentucky University.

The primary purpose of the conference is to give Kentucky’s public, private and independent colleges and universities an opportunity to recruit academically promising or proficient students early in their junior and senior years. Approximately 300 students and parents from across the state attended the conference in previous years.

For more information, contact Rana Johnson at (502) 573-1652, ext. 243, or Michael Dailey at (502) 564-1479.

Seventeen Kentucky school districts recently received the SchoolMatch “What Parents Want” awards for 2012.

The districts are:

Beechwood Ind.

Daviess Co.

Elizabethtown Ind.

Erlanger-Elsmere Ind.

Fayette Co.

Ft. Thomas Ind.

Hardin Co.

Jefferson Co. Continue Reading

Four Eastern Kentuckians have earned regional recognition for making significant contributions to advance education in their home communities.

Receiving Forward in the Fifth’s 2012 Appalachian Leaders in Education (AppLE) Awards for going “above and beyond” in their efforts to support education were Kelly Bell, principal at Metcalfe County High School; Rob Lester, pharmacist/proprietor of Pike County; parent volunteer Michelle Combs of Perry County; and Estill County student Abbey Alexandra Witt.

The awards were presented recently at Education Leadership Day at The Center for Rural Development in Somerset.

Forward in the Fifth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing low educational attainment levels in the region, also presented U.S. Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers (KY-05) with the 2012 AppLE Visionary Award in recognition of his creation in 1986 of the organization, also an affiliate of The Center for Rural Development. Continue Reading

The Kentucky Hybrid Diesel/Electric School Buses (Cycle 5) RFA has posted on the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) website. 

The deadline to submit an application is 4 p.m. (EDT), Wednesday, July 11.

KDE has received approximately $12.98 million that will allow school districts to purchase about 213 diesel/electric hybrid school buses. Projects funded through this grant will assist in documenting the effectiveness of this technology for increasing fuel economy without increasing downtime for maintenance.

The Kentucky High School Athletics Association (KHSAA) has recently updated the GE4-Consent, Permission, Physical Exam form required for student athlete participation for the 2012-13 school year.

To access the updated, May 2012 KHSAA GE4-Consent, Permission, Physical Exam form, visit www.khsaa.org/forms/general.html.

KDE will no longer post the KHSAA physical form on the agency’s Web page. Direct communication with KHSAA by school districts will ensure that the current physical form is always available to physicians and school districts.

Please contact KHSAA directly at (859) 299-5472 for more information.

Starting in the 2013-14 school year, kindergarten classrooms in Kentucky’s public schools will use a readiness screener to ensure that all children receive the support they need to be successful in school.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has contracted with Curriculum Associates, LLC and will be using the BRIGANCE® Kindergarten Screen as the common kindergarten readiness screener.

The screener will be used in all Kentucky kindergarten classrooms to provide information and support children’s learning. Schools and districts also may use this data to collaborate with families and communities to ensure all children are receiving developmentally appropriate educational instruction leading to success.

The kindergarten screener will not be used to determine eligibility for kindergarten. State law provides that all children who are age 5 by October 1 of the school year are eligible to attend kindergarten. (NOTE: Senate Bill 24, passed in the 2012 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly, revises the October 1 date to August 1, beginning in the 2017-18 school year.) Continue Reading

The Renaissance Theatre in downtown Mansfield, Ohio, will host the Mid-West Regionals for the Youth Silent Film Festival April 5-7, 2013.

The festival challenges filmmakers 20 years old and younger to create a three-minute silent movie using original musical compositions provided by the festival organizers. Filmmakers log onto the Youth Silent Film Festival website, listen to the various musical themes, and then choose one from which to make their movie. The musical choices are romance, horror, mystery, comedy and slapstick.

There is no entry fee, and filmmakers are free to create their film in any style or fashion, from live action to animation, from black and white to color. Films should be family-friendly and contain no copyrighted material. See Submission Guidelines at http://www.makesilentfilm.com/.

Cash prizes are offered, but more important to our filmmakers is the chance to see their film on the big screen with a live audience, accompanied by live theatre organ.

For more information, go here or contact the organizers at inofo@makesilentfilm.com.

The University of Kentucky’s  College of Education Department will offer a professional learning opportunity this summer that includes a week-long “compressed” graduate level course designed specifically for K-8 reading and language arts teachers.

It course will  focus on improving professional practice in reading instruction, intervention and assessment. It will concentrate on developing skills to effectively use assessment to drive all phases of instruction.

The course will be taught by D. Ray Reutzel, Utah State University, who is recognized nationally for his work in literacy.

Teachers who are not currently enrolled in the UK Graduate School should contact Parker Fawson at parker.fawson@uky.edu, for assistance with post-bach admission. Arrangement for parking on the UK Campus should also be directed to Fawson.