Creating a Solid Foundation

Have you heard of Solid Foundation? Solid Foundation is a comprehensive parent engagement program developed by Academic Development Institute. Solid Foundation is a Evidence based program that helps: strengthen family-school connections; engage parents in children's learning; and improve student academic and social learning.

AL PIRC provides the free Path 1 web based process that guides a team through 10 efficient & effective steps to: assess the school community's strengths and areas for improvement; develop a two-year plan; and implement the plan with abundant resources. Over a dozen schools statewide in Alabama have begun using the Solid Foundation model. Great revisions of policies have been created to specifically meet the needs of parents & schools. Effective educational activites have been implemented to increase students performance on tests and report card grades. In addition, schools have established first time or restored true collaborative partnerships with families to help Alabama students compete across the world. To get your school involved or to learn more about this wonderful program please contact William Jones at 334-567-2252. Let's "GET SOLID"!

Happy Holidays from the Alabama PIRC

As the holiday season approaches, this is the time of year when we like to take some time to spend with our own families. Each of the staff members of the Alabama PIRC is a parent (or about to be a parent early next year!)

William has a young son and a new puppy to play with. Marilyn will be spending time with her children and grandchildren. Katrina will be preparing for her first child early next year. I will be spending time with both of my adult children who are taking leave from the military to come home for the holidays. Our office will be closed for the last two weeks in December to give our staff time with their own families and to recharge and prepare for the year to come. As we finish 2009, I wish for all of you good health and good times in the coming year.

Family Friendly Walk Through

Last week, the staff of the Alabama PIRC were trained on how to conduct Family Friendly Walk Throughs. The project, developed originally by the Arizona PIRC has been used successfully to help schools identify ways they can work with families to create a stronger learning environment for students. The research on family engagement has found that schools need to be the first to reach out to families and invite them to participate in their children's education. However, often schools have unintentionally created barriers to effective family engagement. Having a Family Friendly Walk Through helps the school understand how inviting it appears to the local community.

As a part of the walk through, the PIRC staff assess the school: customer service, school environment, school website, community partnerships, documents, and school to home communication. The walk through consists of a physical tour of the campus, surveys of parents and teachers, an interview with the principal, document reviews and website reviews. Once the assessment is complete, PIRC staff convert the data collected to a report, which is provided to the school as a reference tool for the purpose of creating a stronger learning environment. The report contains areas that were identified as either strengths, emerging practices, or areas for improvement along with specific research based recommendations for improvement.

If you are in a Title I school and you are interested in having a Family Friendly Walk Through, contact the Alabama PIRC today!

What is Public School Choice?

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, parents of children attending Title I schools that are not meeting state academic standards and are identified for improvement may be able to move their children to other public schools that are meeting the standards. This option gives parents the chance to ensure that their children are attending a school that is performing well, while, at the same time, allowing school officials to make improvements in their children’s neighborhood schools. Public School Choice is also an option for parents in the event their child is attending a school that is “persistently dangerous,” or the child has been the victim of a violent crime while on school grounds.

How can I find out if my child’s school has been identified as needing improvement? Yearly school report cards distributed through your child’s school contain detailed information on school performance and district academic performance including whether or not a school has been identified for school improvement. School districts are required to notify parents no later than the first day of school that follows the year the school was identified as needing improvement. This notification must also inform parents that their child is eligible to attend another public school, should identify two or more designated schools that parents may choose, and describe the performance and overall quality of those schools.

What can I do if my school or district does not offer school choice, when my child is eligible? Schools and districts receiving Title I funds must provide public school choice for eligible students as described above. If they do not, parents are encouraged to contact the Alabama Department of Education. (www.alsde.edu)

Does public school choice only include schools in the district where my child is enrolled? Usually. However, there may be situations where children in Title I schools have options to transfer outside their own district. For instance, a school district may enter into a cooperative agreement with another district. This may be necessary when all of the schools in a district have been identified as needing improvement.

Is transportation available for my child if we exercise our right to attend another school designated for choice? Yes, transportation services are available. Priority is given to the lowest achieving children from low- income families in schools required to provide choice.

Can I choose to keep my child in a school that is eligible for school choice? Yes. While the district must offer public school choice, this is an option for parents, not a requirement.

What can I do as a parent if I decide to keep my child at a school that has been identified for improvement?

• Help your child at home by setting high goals, reading together, and monitoring homework
• Make sure that your voice is heard at school
• Make sure the school’s improvement plan focuses on areas where the school is not doing well
• Get a copy of your school’s parent involvement policy from the principal, parent liaison or head of your school’s parent group
• Make sure your school has a school-parent compact that was developed with and approved by parents

For more information about Public School Choice or other issues related to your child’s education, please feel free to contact the Alabama Parent Information and Resource Center. The Alabama PIRC is a clearinghouse with training and information for parents, teachers and administrators with lots of information about educational laws and how effective family engagement can be used to raise student achievement. Contact our office at 334-567-2252 or see our website www.alabamaparentcenter.com.

Preparing Teachers to Work With Families

Recently, Secretary Duncan released a call for colleges of education to improve the way they prepare educators to teach students. Secretary Duncan noted that we will need to "hire up to 200,000 first-time teachers annually over the next five years." In his press release, he pointed out that currently colleges of education are not doing an adequate job of preparing teachers for "the realities of the 21st century classroom." Secreatry Duncan calls for the universities preparing our future teachers to "ensure that new teachers master the content of the subjects they’ll teach and they will have well-supported field-based experiences embedded throughout their preparation programs. Their ultimate goal should be to create a generation of teachers who are focused on improving student achievement and ready to deliver on that goal."

I commend Secretary Duncan for taking a bold stand for children by calling out the universities that leave our teachers unprepared. However, I believe he forgot the most important missing link, family engagement. Most colleges of education do not offer future teachers any preparation at all to work with families and engage them in their children's learning. We have more research on family engagement than ever before and the results only confirm what we already know. When families are engaged in their children's education students perform better, have fewer behavior problems, and graduate on time. What we also know is that the most effective type of family engagement is what happens in the home. To truly improve the educational outcomes of our students, Secretary Duncan should call on our colleges of education to better prepare teachers to work with families and give them the help that they need to be more engaged in their children's education.

For more information on Secretary Duncan's remarks, read them at www.ed.gov

A Letter from Michelle Obama

This is a busy time of year in the Obama household. Like so many parents all across this country, I watch with a mixture of pride and anxiety as my daughters stuff their backpacks, kiss me goodbye, and move ahead in another school year without so much as a backwards glance.

My girls are now making new friends, tackling challenging new subjects, and moving closer to becoming the strong, confident women I know they can be. But when I see them come home, bursting with excitement about something they have learned or someone they have met, I can't help but think that some of the most influential people in my daughters' lives won't be the ones they socialize with on the playground or read about in the pages of a book—they will be the people who stand up every day in front of their classrooms.

We all remember the impact a special teacher had on us—a teacher who refused to let us fall through the cracks; who pushed us and believed in us when we doubted ourselves; who sparked in us a lifelong curiosity and passion for learning. Decades later, we remember the way they made us feel and the things they inspired us to do—how they challenged us and changed our lives. So it's not surprising that studies show that the single most important factor affecting students' achievement is the caliber of their teachers. And when we think about the qualities that make an outstanding teacher—boundless energy and endless patience; vision and a sense of purpose; the creativity to help us see the world in a different way; commitment to helping us discover and fulfill our potential—we realize: These are also the qualities of a great leader.

Today, more than ever before, we need precisely this kind of leadership in our classrooms. As the president has frequently said, in a 21st-century global economy where jobs can be shipped to any place with an Internet connection and children here in America will be competing with children around the world for the same jobs, a good education is no longer just one road to opportunity—it is the only road. And good teachers aren't just critical for the success of our students. They are the key to the success of our economy.

But the reality is that with each passing year, we are losing more and more of our most experienced teachers. More than half of our nation's teachers and principals are baby boomers. And in the next four years, as many as one third of America's 3.2 million teachers could retire. The U.S. Department of Education projects that by 2014, just five short years from now, our nation's schools will hire as many as 1 million new teachers. And the challenge to our schools is not just an overall teacher shortage but a shortage of good teachers in the schools where they are most essential: high-need schools that face some of the most daunting obstacles but have students with so much potential. We also have a shortage of teachers in subjects like math and science that we know will be critical to our children's future.

Today, we need a new generation of leaders to take their place in our nation's schools. We need passionate, talented, committed men and women to step up and devote themselves to preparing our students to succeed in this new century.

We need universities to double down on their efforts to prepare teachers and to improve and expand effective alternative routes to certify teachers. We need to encourage more experienced professionals to consider teaching as the next chapter in their careers. And we need to treat teachers like the professionals they are by providing good salaries and high-quality professional development opportunities. We need parents to do their part as well to match that leadership in the classroom with leadership at home. We need to set limits and turn off the TV. We need to put away those video games and make sure that homework gets done. We need to reinforce the example that's being set and the lessons being taught at school and make sure that learning continues at home.

And we need government to support significant efforts to recruit and retain teachers and to reward high-performing teachers. Along those lines, President Obama is already investing more than $3 billion to turn around struggling schools. And he has proposed a nationwide Teacher Recruitment Program to attract more people to the profession, especially in high-need schools. I look forward to being involved with this program and encouraging people across America to put their leadership skills to work in our nation's schools.

Much work lies ahead, and it won't be easy. But I am confident that with a new generation of outstanding leaders in our classrooms, we can make a lasting difference in the lives of our young people and a lasting impact on the life of this nation.

This letter to the Editor was published in US News & World Report on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/2009/10/15/michelle-obama-teachers-are-key-to-a-successful-economy.html

Go Outside and Play!

Connecting to Nature Formal Partnership Established Among National, State, and Local Park Organizations Looking for a way to improve your child’s mental and physical health? Look no further than your nearest park or natural area. “Numerous studies conclude that time spent in outdoor settings decreases stress, inspires creativity, promotes social development, and encourages physical fitness,” said National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis. “A new partnership among the National Park Service, the National Association of State Park Directors, and the National Recreation and Park Association was recently formed to develop and promote programs and policies in parks and other areas that connect children with nature.” The partnership’s website, www.nps.gov/ChildrenInNature/BestPractices, contains a searchable database of approximately 450 outdoor activities compiled from hundreds of national, state, and local parks and program offices. “This easy-to-use website contains an extensive list of programs about a wide variety of subjects including archeology, art, prairies, pioneers, critters, and camping,” said Joe Elton, President of the National Association of State Park Directors. “Nature is an amazing classroom, and these creative programs make it fun for children to learn about and connect with the world around them.” “The way children understand and experience their natural world has changed radically over the past several decades,” said Lois Finkelman, chair of the National Recreation and Park Association Board of Trustees. “Our three groups will work together to expand recreational opportunities and natural resource education for children and families. In addition, we hope to engage other federal, state, local, tribal, and non-government partners in the effort.” Leaders of the three conservation organizations signed a partnership declaration which contains an action plan to increase public awareness of local and national natural resources. Contact Information Kathy Kupper | 202-208-6843 *This post is a press release from the National Park Service.