Kentucky Teacher

Kentucky college professors recently learned about new approaches to teaching public school students mathematics, literacy and writing skills at a conference organized by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

Faculty members from 25 state universities, private institutions and community colleges heard from Kentucky teachers from Kenton and Fayette counties who are working with the Mathematics Design Collaborative and Literacy Design Collaborative, piloting efforts to improve teaching and learning.

The Prichard Committee has worked to coordinate the districts piloting these new mathematics and literacy efforts in Kentucky, which were funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“These new strategies have shown great promise for giving students a deeper understanding of math concepts and connecting writing to challenging thinking in science, social studies and language arts classes,” said Stu Silberman, executive director of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

The seminar, funded by the Council on Postsecondary Education and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is part of a state-backed program to update postsecondary leaders and educators on the impact of overhauled academic standards that K-12 students are expected to learn as part of Senate Bill 1. Read the full story

Ten Kentucky schools were recognized for the working conditions, safety and student achievement in their buildings at the 17th Annual Safe Schools, Successful Students Conference in Louisville this week.

The schools were selected based on data from the Teaching, Educating, Leading and Learning (TELL) Kentucky survey, which was administered to all public school teachers and principals in March.

The selected schools included:

• North Jackson Elementary (Barren County)
• North Middletown Elementary (Bourbon County)
• South Heights Elementary (Henderson County)
• Lowe Elementary (Jefferson County)
• Adairville Elementary (Logan County)
• Benton Middle (Marshall County)
• North Oldham High (Oldham County)
• Bevins Elementary (Pike County)
• Pulaski County Area Technology Center
• Rockcastle County Middle Read the full story

Marion County school district educators Sara Brady, Tammy May and Haley Parman discuss learning targets during a Content Leadership Network meeting at the Central Kentucky Educational Cooperative. Leadership networks have been established to help build instructional and leadership capacity at the district level and disseminate information to all teachers regarding the new standards. Photo by Amy Wallot, June 27, 2011

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

With the start of the school year, Kentucky teachers will be using the new Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English/language arts and mathematics, adopted as the Kentucky Core Academic Standards, to guide students along the path to college- and career-readiness.

“Kentucky is the first in the nation to fully implement these new standards,” said Karen Kidwell project manager for the Office of Next-Generation Learners at the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). “We’ve worked an entire year to lay a foundation, so that makes it exciting for us to do this.”

With the new standards come new expectations. Read the full story

Rockcastle County school district Superintendent Larry Hammond received the 2011 F.I. Dupree Outstanding Superintendent Award, presented by the Kentucky School Boards Association. Hammond has served as district superintendent for 16 years. Photo by Amy Wallot; May 2011

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

When Larry Hammond was a young student in the Rockcastle County school district, his school had roughly 30 students, one room and one teacher – his mother.

Hammond spent grades 1-8 in that one-room school. He said this “wonderful” experience not only paved the way for his educational career, it later helped define his teaching and administrative career as well. Read the full story

Kentucky students were rewarded for their talents in history at the Kentucky Junior Historical Society (KJHS) 2011 Kentucky History Day (KHD) recently in Frankfort.

KHD is part of the National History Day program, which is an annual, year-long program designed to promote teaching and learning history in America’s schools. Students analyze the historical significance of their topics and present conclusions in dramatic performances, imaginative exhibits, multimedia documentaries, websites and research papers to audiences throughout the country. The theme for this year’s contest was “Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failures and Consequences.” Read the full story