Kentucky Teacher

Education recovery specialists Rick Larson and Pebbles Lancaster and guidance counselor Angie McGee meet with other leadership members during their first meeting of the school year at Livingston Central High School (Livingston County).

Education recovery specialists (ERS) are expected to figuratively roll up their sleeves and get to work helping schools improve. But ERS Pebbles Lancaster will tell you they do that literally, too.

Arriving at a persistently low achieving (PLA) school, Lancaster and her state team noticed the school was in need of a physical makeover.

“As a team, we rolled up our sleeves, painted rooms, scrubbed lockers and cleaned gunk off stairs,” Lancaster said. “Our goal was to make our building inviting and to bring back that pride that had existed before.”

Just as important, the effort showed teachers and administrators that she was there to help.

“We were at their service,” she said, “willing to do anything to assist their school, even if it meant getting our hands dirty and paint everywhere.”

The effort helped Lancaster and her team – and their services – earn acceptance in the district, she said. Continue Reading

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

Teaching assistant Jessica Wood administers the kindergarten screener to Layla Nalley at West Point Elementary School (West Point Independent). Photo by Amy Wallot, Aug. 15, 2012

Tracy Creech, special education director and preschool coordinator for the Wolfe County school district, can remember a time not so long ago when many incoming kindergarteners didn’t know their colors.  

“We figured out that the parents in our community thought that kindergarten was still come in, take a nap and play when you come to school,” Creech said. “So we wanted to let them know that we learn to read in kindergarten, and they needed to come in knowing the alphabet. We were just trying to change our culture, change our thinking and get the word out that these are things they need to learn before they come to school.”

To do that, the  district created a two-day Jump Start program five or six years ago that focused on informing parents what their children needed to know the first day of kindergarten, Creech said.

The program has helped the community realize that parents play a big role in preparing students for school, and Creech said  more students arrive at school prepared for kindergarten. Continue Reading