Kentucky Teacher

Nine outstanding teachers from around the state – three elementary school teachers, three middle school teachers and three high school teachers – are semifinalists for the Kentucky Teacher of the Year award, the Kentucky Department of Education and Ashland Inc. announced today.

Winners of the Elementary, Middle and High School Teacher of the Year awards, as well as the overall 2013 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, will be announced at a ceremony in Frankfort at 10 a.m. ET on October 17, in the Rotunda of the Capitol Building.

Competing for Elementary Teacher of the Year are:

• Joyce Bowling, Manchester Elementary, Clay County
• Heidi Givens, Tamarack Elementary, Daviess County 
• Anita Winstead, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, Jefferson County Continue Reading

As part of Kentucky Department of Education’s ongoing Continuous Instructional Improvement Technology System (CIITS) Teacher Training, introductory and demonstration sessions and follow-up question and answer sessions for each learning module will be held. A certified CIITS trainer conducts each session via WebEx.

To ensure KDE has enough WebEx slots reserved, participants must RSVP for the session of their choice. If an inadequate number sign up, the session will be cancelled. Upcoming sessions focus on Classroom Assessments. Those interested can see the schedule and sign up for a session here.

In addition, educators can now access specific CIITS usage information for their school and district. The report is updated on a monthly basis.

After logging into CIITS, click on the link in the left column for the CIITS Training Opportunities page. Click on the About CIITS/Support tab. (Bookmark this page in your browser for future reference.) Near the bottom of the page, there is a link to the Detailed Usage Report. Continue Reading

Gregory Ross and Kern Alexander received the Dr. Samuel Robinson Award during the Kentucky Board of Education meeting. Photo by Susan Riddell, Oct. 9, 2012

At its meeting in Frankfort Monday, the Kentucky Board of Education presented the annual Dr. Samuel Robinson Award to Gregory Ross, Ed.D., principal of McNabb Elementary in the Paducah Independent school district, and Kern Alexander, Ed.D., excellence professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and former president of Murray State University and Western Kentucky University.

Since 2004, the Dr. Samuel Robinson Award has been conferred on an individual or groups in Kentucky for outstanding leadership, commitment and service in promoting equity and opportunity to learn at high levels for all Kentucky students. Robinson was a member of the Kentucky Board of Education for many years in the 1990s and 2000s.

Ross was nominated by Julie Gargus, a teacher at McNabb Elementary, who said he embodied the best qualities of teaching.

“He is a teacher in every aspect of the word,” Gargus said. “Although he has done many things, ranging from international athletics to directing group homes, the portion of his career he has found most rewarding is being an educator.” Continue Reading

The My Voice National Student Mock Election gives students across the country the opportunity to cast their votes for candidates in both the federal and state elections and to talk about the issues they care about this fall and beyond.

This program, a digital initiative of the Pearson Foundation, builds on the 30-year history of the National Student/Parent Mock Election and My Voice, the leading program in student voice. More than 50 million young voters have participated while learning about the importance of using their own voices to share their perspectives on important issues.

National student voting begins on Oct. 25 and culminates on the National Mock Election day, Nov. 1, in advance of the nation’s election. For the first time this year, the National Student Mock Election will take place entirely online, as will student polling on national topics, social issues, education and local communities.

Students, teachers and parents are encouraged to register their schools to take part at www.nationalmockelection.org/.

Teachers are encouraged to use the free materials and curriculum developed for the program to create thoughtful lessons leading up to and around the upcoming election of the president, U.S. senators and representatives and state governors.

The Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Appalachia is sponsoring a Kentucky Bridging event on Oct. 23 at Berea College.

Bridging Research to Practice: Helping Students Navigate the Path to College is a partnership between the REL Appalachia, Kentucky Department of Education, the Collaborative for Teaching and Learning (CTL), the CCR Alliance at Eastern Kentucky University, the Kentucky Association of School Administrators and GEAR Up at Berea College.

The event will explore recommendations in the IES Practice Guide Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do. Participants will compare practices in their schools to the recommendations and hear from Kentucky practitioners as they share their experiences preparing students for college. EILA credit is available.

For more information, contact CTL’s Deborah Walker.

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs offers Fulbright grants for U.S. primary and secondary classroom teachers, guidance counselors, curriculum specialists, curriculum heads, talented and gifted coordinators, special education coordinators and media specialists/librarians to participate in international exchanges during the 2013-14 academic year through the Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange Program (CTE) and the Distinguished Fulbright Awards in Teaching Program (DA).

By living, teaching or conducting research overseas, U.S. teachers gain new skills, learn new instruction and assessment methodologies and share best practices with international colleagues and students. Teachers also have the opportunity to expand their understanding of other cultures and international education systems that will enrich their U.S. home schools and local communities with global perspectives.

Teachers may apply for the CTE Program for one of six countries: the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, India, Mexico and the United Kingdom. Teachers may apply for the DA Program for one of eight countries: Argentina, Finland, India, Mexico, Continue Reading

Seven Kentucky public school districts were recognized Monday for achieving voluntary system accreditation through the AdvancED/Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) accreditation process.

The recognition ceremony occured in the State Board Room on the first floor of the Capital Plaza Tower in Frankfort.

Kentucky Commissioner of Education Terry Holliday; Kentucky Board of Education Chair David Karem; Randy McCallon, chair of the Kentucky AdvancED/SACS State Council; and Tom Jones, AdvancED Kentucky director presented plaques and banners to district superintendents and board members.

 The seven school districts are:

• Boone County (initial accreditation) 
• Elizabethtown Independent (initial accreditation)
• Graves County (initial accreditation) Continue Reading

Kimberly Shearer

So this is it — my last column as the 2012 Kentucky Teacher of the Year. I have to admit I delayed the writing of this last column as long as I possibly could, simply because I doubted my ability to squeeze all I’m feeling into words.

For starters, I’m overcome with gratitude. I’ve gotten to see and do things this past year that I never imagined possible.  Some highlights?

• serving as Grand Marshal for Governor Beshear’s inaugural parade
• being recognized with my family on the Kentucky House and Senate floors and by President Obama in the White House
• writing my own column for Kentucky Teacher and writing guest columns for numerous other publications
• meeting President Obama, Jill Biden, Secretary Arne Duncan, Bill Gates, Sandra Day O’Connor and countless other U.S. leaders and policy-makers
• traveling to Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta and New York City (not to mention many places in our own great state of Kentucky)
• attending International Space Camp
• receiving a full ride to the University of Phoenix to gift to one of my deserving students Continue Reading

The Kentucky ACT State Organization, a group of educators and business leaders throughout Kentucky, is sponsoring a one-day summit focusing on the academic preparation of high school students, and the programs and support needed to prepare them for success in college and the workplace.

The summit will take place Friday, Nov. 16, at the Marriott Louisville East.

For questions regarding registration, contact Randy Mims at randy.mims@act.org.

The Kentucky Department of Education is seeking stakeholder input, including that of local school board members and superintendents, on a series of recommendations by the agency’s Professional Learning Task Force. The recommendations already include ideas from Education Commissioner Terry Holliday’s Teacher Advisory Council.

Included among the 14 state policy recommendations are the following:

• Replace Kentucky’s existing definition of professional learning.
• Revise KRS 158.070 to expand professional learning requirements to mandate an additional 50 hours of job-embedded, collaborative professional learning.

The draft document here includes state policy and guidance recommendations, not specific operational guidelines. By Oct. 18, please take a few moments to review the draft and then answer the questions on the survey.

The electronic survey seeks feedback on the 14 policy recommendations and the 27 guidance recommendations and can be found here.