Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) remains one of many important issues facing educators and our schools. In addition, other national topics such as: standards, assessments, waivers, early childhood, teacher education need to be incorporated into the rewriting of ESEA. This session will examine how these elements will be incorporated into the conversation between the Administration and Congress.
The New Hampshire presentation will share our success story of multi-state agency and rural school district collaboration to build an infrastructure of early learning support.
New Hampshire does not offer public preschool, outside of Special Education and Head Start, and was last in the nation to require Kindergarten. In recent years our rate for children in poverty has grown. Using data, a research based module parent training program from The Children’s Reading Foundation, New Hampshire has fortified numerous rural communities
that need support in early learning. Using "Annual Growth", "Catch-Up Growth" we established the data to support an early learning initiative. Through the use of data we identified target audiences, a research based method of success to serve children early, the pathway through schools to reach parents and then leveraged funds to create the means.
High-quality preschool programs supported with Title I funds can help ensure that children have the foundation they need to achieve success throughout elementary and secondary school, and beyond. Using the revised Title I Non-regulatory guidance, this session will highlight successful programs and provide clarity regarding the use of Title I funds to implement high-quality preschool programs.
Everyone loves family engagement. But far fewer people believe that quality family engagement can lead to increased student learning. In this session, we will talk first about how we define and think about "family engagement” in our schools and districts. And we’ll tackle the research: What kinds of family engagement programs work? What kinds don’t? We’ll then talk about districts that successfully engage low-income parents in academics (with success defined as improved student outcomes) and how they do that. Last, we’ll cover some promising practices from nonprofits that have proven to better involve families in their children’s schools.
Participants will learn to adapt classroom lessons for a diverse group of learners in grades 3-8. The speakers will share evidence-based strategies from the IES Practice Guide (Gersten et al., 2009) such as concrete-semi-concrete-abstract (CSA) and others that emphasize developing a balanced understanding of both concepts and skills. Participants will experience classroom-tested tasks that create more robust learning and focus on ways in which to question students to promote learning and to assess in a formative way. This session will also discuss the use of assessments such as: 1) diagnostic interviews to carefully tailor instruction for students who struggle with learning mathematics and; 2) progress monitoring tools that emphasize conceptual understanding. By sharing a variety of classroom-tested activities, the presenters will show how to link Common Core State Standards to engaging and motivating mathematics instruction.
Ensuring compliance with Title I requirements requires state and local educational agencies to navigate a complex network of rules and regulations, especially in light of ESEA Flex. This presentation will focus on the internal control systems needed to effectively manage Title I programs.
Topics include: core principles for effective grants management; internal control standards; common audit or monitoring findings; practical strategies for strengthening grants management systems; and reducing audit or monitoring risks.
Developing robust internal control systems to manage federal funds can facilitate compliance and help to reduce the risk of audit or monitoring findings in the future.
This is a presentation for educational professionals to make the overwhelming topic of bullying more manageable. It is designed to give educators tangible actions they can implement to be proactive to school bullying. Unlike traditional presentations on bullying, this presentation focuses on educating the educators about their role in bullying episodes and bystanderism.
The learning goals for this presentation are:
•to develop a deeper understanding of bystanderism in educators through framing the ideas in the larger realm of social sciences and research
•to create a paradigm shift in thinking regarding the role of educators in bullying episodes
•to provide the participants with tangible, research based actions which are designed to address the seven stages of the bystander decision making cycle for schools.
•to broaden thinking and apply knowledge to real life examples through action activities, case studies and self –reflection prompts on the topic of bullying
This session will highlight a variety of approaches that the U.S. Department of Education (ED), State education agencies, and local educational agencies (LEAs) are using to build partnerships that support effective ESEA flexibility implementation.
Over an eleven year period, the National Educator Program (NEP) and Lake County Schools in Florida have worked together to create a culture and expectation of peer coaching for classroom teachers. This has required work with all segments of the school district, including teachers, administrators, and district personnel.
This culminated in 2012 with the launch of the ambitious Master Coaches program; an initiative where "every teacher has a coach and every teacher is a coach" district-wide. Participants will examine the structure and implementation process, as well as quantitative and anecdotal data from the latest implementation phases of this innovative project to support teachers, improve instructional practices and raise student achievement.
This session will focus on how the budget process, deficit reduction, and appropriations are going to unfold for the upcoming year. Questions about sequestration, how other program funding sources fit into Title I (Head Start, IDEA)as well as other programs will be presented.
