Kentucky Teacher

The Kentucky Department of Education invites teachers, administrators, district staff, parents, students and other education stakeholders to submit questions for Commissioner Terry Holliday’s Twitter Town Hall Wednesday, June 20 from 4-5 p.m. ET.

Questions can be tweeted both before June 20 and during the live event from 4-5 p.m. ET. Use the hash tag #AskDocH to send questions.

If you don’t have a Twitter account and would like to sign up for one, visit www.twitter.com. It’s a free service and also offers apps for smartphones if you’d rather follow along off of a traditional computer desktop or laptop.

The Twitter Town Hall also will be webcast live. If you would like to follow the Twitter Town Hall via live webcast, click here. To listen and/or watch, you must have Windows Media Player installed on your workstation. Once Windows Media Player is installed, simply click on the appropriate link to hear audio-only or view the video with audio. Continue Reading

The Kentucky Art Education Association’s (KAEA’s) Perkins Scholarship deadline is July 15. This scholarship is available to undergraduate as well as graduate-level students pursuing degrees in visual arts education.

The Undergraduate Art Education Scholarship provides funding for an undergraduate art education major or post-baccalaureate student enrolled in a non-master’s art education certification program. The Graduate Art Education Scholarship provides funding for an art educator who is also a master’s or doctoral student in pursuit of an initial degree, working toward Rank I status or taking master’s-level coursework for continuing education.

See more details on the KAEA website: http://www.kyaea.org/Grants.html

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding a research project designed to learn how departments of education in five states, including Kentucky, communicate with the school districts they serve.

As part of the project, a survey instrument has been developed to gauge the Kentucky Department of Education’s effectiveness in communications.

Education Commissioner Terry Holliday is asking that superintendents take a moment to complete the survey, which will help assess the current state of communication efforts and develop recommendations for improvements as needed.

The survey is located at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JZ585ZB.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has received several questions about preschool funding and is clarifying that preschool funding was not cut by the General Assembly.

State preschool grant funding for school districts is calculated by the preschool funding formula, which has been in effect for several years under existing law.

702 KAR 3:250, which applies to the two educational programs established in KRS 157.226 and 157.3175 for children below primary school age, articulates the preschool grant allocation process. Under this regulation, which has been in place since 1992, KDE applies a negative adjustment, based on a decrease in enrollment for the current year, to the beginning of the next school year.

For example, a decrease in preschool enrollment in the current year (based on the difference in enrollment between Dec. 1, 2010 and Dec. 1, 2011) would negatively impact preschool grant funding for the next school year, which begins July 1, 2012. Continue Reading

Kimberly Shearer

When she was named the 2012 National Teacher of the Year by President Obama, California English teacher Rebecca Mieliwocki said, “I am not the best teacher in America — there isn’t one. All across the nation there are millions of teachers who do the work that I do, and many do it better.”

She’s right.

Those of us who have been recognized by our respective states as Teachers of the Year for 2012 know this fact all too well. We are surrounded by deserving colleagues who inspire us every day and who push us with their own instruction. In fact, those very colleagues were on our minds in April when we were invited to Washington, D.C., for a week of recognition. As we toured parts of the Smithsonian that most people never see, as we sipped tea at the Vice President’s home with Dr. Jill Biden, and as we met with President Obama in the Blue Room of the White House, we kept saying to one another, “every teacher should be able to experience this.” Continue Reading

Two Kentucky teachers were among 97 mathematics and science educators recently chosen to receive the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

The Kentucky recipients are: Andrea Higdon, a mathematics teacher from Crestwood, Ky., and Joshua Underwood, a science teacher from Mt. Olivet, Ky.

All of the chosen educators will receive their awards in Washington, DC later this month.

The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country. The winners are selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, mathematicians, and educators following an initial selection process done at the state level. Each year the award alternates between teachers teaching kindergarten through 6th grade and those teaching 7th through 12th grades.

Winners of this Presidential honor receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion. They also are invited Washington, DC, for an awards ceremony and several days of educational and celebratory events, including visits with members of Congress and the Administration.

The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) will offer the ACT Quality Core 5-Day Workshop for the 2012-13 school year.

The first three days of the training will be held in Frankfort July 25, 26 and 27, and the follow-up training will occur in the fall and winter.

Registrants will be committing to five days of training at a cost of $750 per attendee. Space is limited to 35 persons per session, and teachers and administrators in the five Excellence for All pilot districts will have preference. Subjects for training include mathematics, science, social studies and English. The registration deadline is June 21.

For register, click here.