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To view the ABEC newsletter using your web browser, click here. | ||
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Friday, October 30, 2009 | ||
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ABEC 2nd Annual Golf Tournament
Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sign up to play or become a sponsor! More information> |
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Dear friend of ABEC,
 Not long ago, the Arizona House and Senate Education Committees and various community members heard from former Florida Governor Jeb Bush as he touted Florida's Foundation for Excellence in Education and the successes they’ve experienced over the past ten years in improving educational attainment of Florida’s children. He stated that in 1998, their 4th and 8th graders scored at the bottom nationally, in reading and math – but by 2007, scored above the national average in reading. He further stated that their graduation rates increased more than 15% and their dropout rates declined by nearly 3% in that time. He described the five bullets in the cornerstone for reform: high expectations, measurement and reporting, rewards and consequences, parental choice, and funding for success. A few of the changes were modest, but with big payoff. For example, Florida moved away from labeling schools high performing, performing, low performing and critically low performing to giving “grades” for school performance, from “A to F.” This, Gov. Jeb Bush said, was much better understood by community members who fought together to raise that grade from one letter to the next. But most of the reforms are complex and one entire section of reform they consider “funding for success.” Schools receive $100 per student for improving a letter grade or earning and maintaining an “A” grade. Florida has spent more than $1.25 billion on school recognition rewards. They provide additional funding for struggling students, allowing flexibility in how those funds are spent. They incentivize rigor by giving (and paying for) all 10th graders to take the PSAT. They give teachers and schools bonuses for passing AP tests. So what? How many times do we hear, “It’s not an issue of money. Throwing more money at education will not fix it.” But at least a strong element in the successes of Florida do illustrate that how the money is used makes a difference. And, yes, they DID allocate the funding for success that their plan needed. The next several years will be critical for Arizona as our legislative leaders wrestle with a monstrous fiscal problem. We will emerge from this crisis. If not now, we must at least plan for our future and for funding for our own success. Best Always,  Susan Carlson
ABEC executive director
How a Malawian teenager harnessed the power of the wind.
 William Kamkwamba’s parents couldn’t afford the $80 yearly tuition for their son’s school. The boy sneaked into the classroom anyway, dodging administrators for a few weeks until they caught him. Still emaciated from the recent deadly famine that had killed friends and neighbors, he went back to work on his family’s corn and tobacco farm in rural Malawi, Africa. With no hope of getting the funds to go back to school, William continued his education by teaching himself, borrowing books from the small library at the elementary school in his village. One day, when William was 14, he went to the library searching for an English-Chichewa dictionary to find out what the English word “grapes” meant, and came across a fifth-grade science book called Using Energy. Describing this moment in his autobiography, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (co-written with Bryan Mealer), William wrote, “The book has since changed my life.” Read the rest of the story>> … ABEC seeks to hire an individual to serve as a part-time independent contractor/project manager to work on advancing the next phase of the Arizona Academic Scholars Program, an initiative of ABEC. Read more>
… The next ABEC Board of Directors Meeting will be held Tuesday, November 24, 2009 from 10AM – 2PM at the offices of the Arizona School Boards Association, 2100 N. Central Avenue, Suite 200, Phoenix, AZ 85004. ALL CURRENT members of ABEC are invited to attend. Registration for this meeting is required since seating is VERY LIMITED. Please contact Karen Kehlenbach at karen@azbec.org or (602) 261-6702 to register.  … ABEC 2nd Annual Golf Tournament will be held Saturday, November 14, 2009 at the Whirlwind Golf Club at Wild Horse Pass. If you are interested in playing or sponsorship opportunities, please contact Patrick Contrades at patrick@azbec.org calling (602) 261-6701. For more information, download the player/sponsor entry form. … ABEC’s “Shadow the Super” is an opportunity for legislators to spend time with a school superintendent in the school district. To date, 30 pairs are participating. If you have not yet contacted us, there is still time to get involved! Legislators will spend at least four hours interacting with a school superintendent, staff members and students, and will see how education policy plays out "on the ground"; superintendents will have an opportunity to learn first-hand about the legislator's views and concerns. Superintendents and legislators who are interested in participating in this ABEC program should contact Karen Kehlenbach at (602) 261-6702 or at karen@azbec.org. … Dr. Frank Davidson, superintendent at Casa Grande Elementary School District, on the opportunity to host US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on his first official visit to Arizona, as part of his “listening tour.”
... APS and the staff at its Printing Services division for their in-kind donation of the design and printing of the ABEC 2008-2009 Year In Review.
... Oakwood Elementary School (Peoria Unified School District) Principal Paul Bower was named Arizona's 2009 National Distinguished Principals by the National Association of Elementary School Principals…CONGRATULATIONS on this national recognition! EDUCATION NEWS:
 Tuition aid for Arizona kids in need not doled out – The Arizona Republic, October 29, 2009 NCES Finds States Lowered 'Proficiency' Bar – Education Week, October 29, 2009 Study Finds Growing Workload for School Counselors – The New York Times, October 20, 2009
Method challenges some education myths – The Los Angeles Times, October 18, 2009 New column to focus on challenges in education – The Arizona Republic, October 18, 2009 Online students find problems with credit transfer policy – The Arizona Republic, October 16, 2009 Myriad questions await 2011 redistricting commission (subscription required) – Arizona Capitol Times, October 4, 2009 Override elections looming at 28 Valley school districts – The Arizona Republic, October 4, 2009 SPECIAL REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS: Pre-K Funding Up, Despite State Budget Woes – The Pew Center on the States, October 2009
Succeeding With English Language Learners: Lessons Learned From the Great City Schools – The Council of the Great City Schools, October 2009 Strengthening Community Colleges' Influence on Economic Mobility – Economic Mobility Project, October 2009 Teaching for a Living: How Teachers See the Profession Today – Public Agenda, October 19, 2009 Managing Online Education – National survey by WCET and The Campus Computing, October 2009 Trends in Higher Education Series 2009: College Pricing and Student Aid – The College Board  As I am constantly "looking out" for appropriate content for the ABEC monthly eNewsletter, I occasionally stumble upon websites that "pique my curiosity." This is in addition to the education-related stories, special reports and books. Some of these websites are new to me, others I'm already familiar with but have been recently updated. Nonetheless, it's been suggested that I share these websites with our ABEC friends, as they may be of interest to you as well. Below are a few of these websites that I hope you find to be of value:
School Data Direct – An online service of the State Education Data Center (SEDC), a new service of the Council of Chief State School Officers, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Council's National Education Data Partnership. The Arizona We Want - A realistic and contemporary picture of what citizens think about life in Arizona communities, what they want for the future, and how we can work together to achieve a common set of goals (a project of the Center for the Future of Arizona)
Arizona Indicators - A one-stop resource of measurements that tell how we are doing as a State (a project managed by Morrison Institute for Public Policy)
Governor Brewer's P-20 Coordinating Council - updated listing of task force members, meeting agendas/notes, minutes and supporting presentation material, and information on Arizona's "Race To The Top Fund" application; also provides a link to recent education legislation (e.g., HB 2011).
[Patrick Contrades is the director of projects and committees for ABEC as well as the editor of the ABEC monthly newsletter. If you have websites you wish to share with ABEC, or have suggestions on how to improve the newsletter, please contact Patrick Contrades at patrick@azbec.org.]
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The Arizona Business & Education Coalition (ABEC) is a 501(c)3 organization providing a balanced forum for business and education leaders to collaborate and improve K-12 education policy, with linkages to pre-kindergarten and postsecondary education. Guiding principles include: increasing public awareness about the relationship between Arizona’s future workforce and the quality of the K-12 system; actively and effectively influencing education policy; and sharing responsibility for the growth of student achievement in Arizona. For more information, visit www.azbec.org. You are receiving this e-mail because you are a member of ABEC, have signed up to receive our eNewsletter, attended an ABEC or ABEC-related event, or have made direct contact with ABEC.
Copyright 2009. Arizona Business & Education Coalition. All Rights Reserved. |
