May 2010
Florida Educator Accomplished Practices Need Your Input
The Florida Department of Education is seeking input from teachers, parents, and education professionals from across the state to revise the Florida Educator Accomplished Practices which form the core basis for all Florida teacher preparation programs. The revisions will further refine the state’s standards for effective instructional practice and will establish the core practices for teacher appraisal systems under the state’s Race to the Top plan. Visit www.fldoe.org/profdev/FEAPSRevisions/ to view the draft and submit your feedback by June 15, 2010.
Summer Academy for Teachers of Health Education
Registration for the Department of Education’s Summer Academy for Teachers of Health Education (Academy) is now open through June 2, 2010, or until capacity is reached, whichever comes first. Prior to registering for sessions, please carefully read the Academy booklet at http://www.fldoe.org/BII/CSHP/pdf/SummerAcademyRegistrationBooklet.pdf. The registration link is included inside of the booklet and is an active or “hot” link. We are looking forward to a full house, so register as soon as possible. We are excited about the variety and richness of sessions. Teachers and health educators will receive great instructional and teaching strategies and activities that can be adapted for use with their students
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Antionette Meeks by telephone at (850) 245-0480, toll-free at (866) 312-6497, or via e-mail at antionette.meeks@fldoe.org. Prior to contacting Dr. Meeks, please read the Academy booklet as some of your questions may be answered within its pages.
Florida Teacher Standards for ESOL Endorsement
From BEESS WEEKLY
The Department of Education has issued the following memorandum regarding the Florida Teacher Standards for ESOL Endorsement. The memorandum may be viewed at: http://info.fldoe.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5758/dps-2010-78.pdf.
Featured RtI Q&A to Assist with Teacher/Parent Communications
Retrieved and adapted on May 18, 2010, from http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/103012/Learning_Difficulties_Response_to_ featuring the Q&A response of Dr. Mary Rosen, a school psychologist, licensed counselor, graduate school instructor, and parent.
Question: My 7-year-old child has had trouble learning to read all year. He’s seen a special reading teacher a few times a week, and I’m told that he’s made progress. However, he’s still behind and I’m wondering whether he needs more. Frankly, I’m worried he may have a learning disability. Kids with learning problems get special education help, don’t they?
Answer: I understand your concern and know how frustrating it may feel to have your child get extra help and still not be where he should be with his reading, and of course you want to be sure he’s getting the kind of help he needs. Nowadays, because of changes in various education laws, kids who struggle with reading or other subjects are given assistance earlier than they may have in the past, before they’re very behind and/or failing, and usually before they’re considered for special education services. This relatively new approach is universally referred to as Response to Intervention or RTI. In a nutshell, RTI is a process that looks at how kids in the regular classroom respond to different types of teaching approaches or interventions at differing levels of intensity. Under this model, all children are screened, usually at the start of school, to figure out who may have problems meeting the standards at their grade level.
- Under the RTI model, all kids in a given classroom are ideally provided with “scientifically based instruction,” or teaching methods that research has shown to be effective. This is referred to as the first level, or Tier 1. For reading, a Tier 1 instructional intervention might include daily guided reading groups, where students, in small groups according to their reading level, read along with their teacher who strategically stops at points in their book to discuss specific concepts or vocabulary. If a student, like your child, continues to struggle after receiving general classroom reading instruction, or if a student has been identified early on in the school year through the screening process as being “at risk,” he/she would then likely receive more intensive help, otherwise known as Tier 2 interventions.
- Tier 2 addresses the student’s challenges more aggressively. For instance, a Tier 2 intervention may also be in a guided reading format, but this time instruction may be with a specialized reading teacher, with a smaller group of children, and with a more structured program that’s given in addition to the regular class instruction. You may be wondering: How do we know for certain (besides what we as parents might observe at home while reading with our kids) which kids are struggling? A huge part of RTI involves progress monitoring. This is consistent monitoring or evaluation of the student’s skills for which he/she is getting help in order to know if the particular intervention is working. If a kid continues to make minimal progress at Tier 2, then they get even more intensive help.
- Tier 3 intervention is even more intensive; more “targeted” interventions are given. If little progress continues to be made after receiving Tier 3 interventions, the child is then usually considered for an evaluation to determine if he’s eligible for special education assistance. Back in the day, students weren’t routinely provided with systematic help until they were already far behind in their academics, and kids were being referred for special education for reasons other than true learning issues or other disabilities that would qualify them for those services. In addition, in the past, the way a child qualified as having a learning disability was to show a significant “discrepancy” between their cognitive abilities (aka intelligence) and their achievement skills. This has changed, and now RTI progress-monitoring information can be used as part of this evaluation process to show that a child isn’t learning at an expected rate.
I suggest asking your child’s teachers if they’re using an RTI approach (RTI is also called “problem solving,” or your child’s school may have their own term) and if they are, how do they decide when a student’s interventions should be modified. You may also want to ask about interventions and how they’re monitoring his progress. Parent involvement is considered an essential component of RTI, so your school should readily share this information with you. It’s another example where partnering with the school is the best way to go.
More Research Showing Early Years to be Crucial
New results from a study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development show that low-quality care in the first few years of life can have a small but persistent impact on a child’s learning and behavior, The Washington Post reports. The study is the largest assessment of child rearing in the United States to date and has been tracking more than 1,300 children of various ethnicities, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds since 1991. Researchers found that obedience and academic problems among those who received low-quality care in their first 4 1/2 years of life continued through their 15th birthdays, unimpacted by the influence of other factors such as peers, teachers, and maturation. Teenagers who had received higher-quality childcare were less likely to engage in problem behaviors such as arguing, being mean to others, and getting into fights. Those who spent more hours in childcare of any kind were more likely to engage in impulsive and risky behaviors, and those who received moderately high- or high-quality care scored higher on tests gauging cognitive and academic achievement. “What was the surprise for us was that the effects at age 15 were the same size as we had seen in elementary school and just prior to school entry,” said Deborah Lowe Vandell of the University of California at Irvine, who led the analysis. Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR2010051400043.html. See the report: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123440074/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0.
Helen & Edward Brancati Teacher Development Scholarship
The Helen & Edward Brancati Teacher Development Scholarship begun with the feeling that education was the door to the future and that a good teacher was the key. One scholarship between $750.00 to $1,000.00 is awarded annually to the teacher who best exemplifies the dedication to the principles and high professional standards of Helen and Edward Brancati. Application must be received between September 1 and October 31, 2010. All submissions must be postmarked by October 31, 2010. Applications are available online at the Cape Coral Community Foundation website: http://www.capecoralcf.planyourlegacy.org/scholarship.php.
Robert J. Stevenson Scholarship
Association of Teacher Educators provides this scholarship to assist a classroom teacher working towards an advanced degree to enhance teacher leadership skills through the study of teaching. Applicants taking coursework leading to National Board of Professional Teaching Standards certification are encouraged to apply, as are those engaged in the study of curriculum and instruction and/or supervision. Those applying for the scholarship are required to be ATE members, be full or part-time graduate students, and have a GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. This is an unrestricted award. The award may be used for tuition, books or other education expenses. There is an expectation that the recipient will report back to the LFTE Council on how the award was used. The current award is $1,200. Application Deadline: July 15, 2010. For more information or to apple, please refer to the program website: http://www.ate1.org/pubs/Stevenson_Scholars.cfm.
Adonis Autism Florida: Richard Bashaw Grant
The Richard Bashaw Grant offers a grant for any type of program that is of special interest to the applicant. We will take applications throughout the regular calendar year (Jan.-Dec.), issuing up to but not to exceed $5,000 per year for all applicants combined. Grants will awarded within ten (10) days of Adonis receiving the completed application. To be eligible, the applicant must be age 16 or older with autism, living in Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Hendry or Glades counties, and who is applying for a program not currently covered under any government assistance programs. Previous recipients of grant money must wait one full year before re-applying again. For more information go to http://adonisautismflorida.com/ or email bethbcam@comcast.net.
Adopt-A-Classroom Educational Grants
Teachers who register at the Adopt-a-Classroom Website can be adopted by an individual, a business, or a foundation. Once adopted, teachers will receive up to $500 worth of credit to purchase items that enrich the learning environment, including classroom technology. Program Areas: General Education, Math, Reading, Science/Environment, Social Studies, Technology. Recipients: Public School, Private School. Average Amount: $500.00. For more information please refer to http://www.adoptaclassroom.com.
National Teacher Registry
To address this growing problem the National Teacher Registry announces a new No Cost service for teachers and schools, public and private, pre-school through college. On the National Teacher Registry website a teacher or school can create a list of the items that they need and want for their classroom. There are currently over 40,000 items from multiple suppliers on the site and many more products are in the process of being added. Once a registry is created, a direct link to the registry can be sent by the teacher or school to parents and friends. Parents and friends can access the list on the Internet, purchase items from the list, and have the items delivered directly to the teacher or school. In many cases this is a charitable donation which can be deducted on the purchaser’s tax return. You can review the website at: www.nationalteacherregistry.com.
