2013 Fall Alabama School Boards Magazine

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10 Fall 2013 Vol. 34, No. 2

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ENGAGE YOUR COMMUNITY Need new ideas?

In this special edition, we talk to the experts and review case studies to learn why schools should engage their communities.

22 WHAT IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT? CASE STUDIES___________ 23 TRUST: The Principal’s Principle 24 SHARED OWNERSHIP: Start with a Conversation 25 CULTURE: Commitment to a Vision 27 INVEST: Connect School and Home

___________________ 26 HOW DOES THE PUBLIC PERCEIVE SCHOOLS? 29 SHOALS COMMUNITY SUPPORTS SCHOLARS

FEATURES 14 MEASURING UP

Alabama’s Teacher of the Year discusses accountability.

16 BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Boaz students learn about ethics, leadership and decision-making.

30 I TEACH ... WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER?

Alternate Teacher of the Year encourages development of strong teachers.

32 REGISTER FOR AASB’S ANNUAL CONVENTION

Seats are limited and sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Early registration ends Nov. 20. Convention is Dec. 5-7.

18 FACTS IN A FLASH Education facts you may not know about Alabama schools.

PUBLICATION POLICY Alabama School Boards is published by the Alabama Association of School Boards as a service to its members. The articles published in each issue represent the ideas or beliefs of the writers and are not necessarily the views of the Alabama Association of School Boards. Subscriptions sent to members of school boards are included in membership dues. Complimentary copies are available upon request to public school principals throughout the state. Additional annual subscriptions can be obtained for $30 by contacting AASB. Entered as third-class mail at Montgomery, AL. Permit No. 34.

Alabama School Boards is designed by Linda Tynan Creative Services, Pike Road, AL. Address all editorial and advertising inquiries to: Alabama School Boards, Editor, P.O. Drawer 230488, Montgomery, AL 36123-0488. Phone: 334/277-9700 or e-mail info@AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

IN EVERY ISSUE 4 8 9 13 34 35

UP FRONT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE HELP CALENDAR AT THE TABLE SUSTAINING MEMBERS

ON THE COVER: ©iStockphoto.com © xefstock.

Inside © iStockphoto photos by Victor Correia, Mark Herreid, Tolga_Tezcan, Andrew Rich, © DusanVulic, © ilyast, © graphic-bee, © olegganko, © ktaylorg, © Steven van Soldt, © pkruger, © digitalskillet, © Tuomas Kujansuu, © L_amica and © frentusha. Inside © Fotolia.com photos by © Rudie, © Perfect Vectors, © fotomek, © Guido Vrola, © Maria Bell, © Pixel Embargo, © Andres Rodriguez, © Maria Vazquez , © Timurock, © Anna, © Andres Rodriguez, © silent_47 and © ekostsov.

FUNDING INEQUITY

Many communities simply do not have the sales and property tax base to adequately support their schools.

OFFICERS

STATE BOARD LIAISON Dr. Yvette Richardson

PRESIDENT Steve Foster Lowndes County

STAFF

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Sally Brewer Howell, J.D.

PRESIDENT-ELECT Katy Smith Campbell Macon County

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Ken Roberts, CPA DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC RELATIONS Denise L. Berkhalter, APR

VICE PRESIDENT Pam Doyle Muscle Shoals IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Florence Bellamy Phenix City

BOARD OF DIRECTORS DISTRICT 1 James Woosley Satsuma

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Tammy Wright

DISTRICT 4 Gwen Harris-Brooks Lanett

BOOKKEEPER Morgan Hilliard

DISTRICT 5 Suzy Baker Alabama School of Fine Arts

DISTRICT 8 Karen Duke Decatur DISTRICT 9 Dr. Jennie Robinson Huntsville

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Sarah Cobb

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR Debora Hendricks

DISTRICT 3 Jimmy Rodgers Covington County

DISTRICT 7 Belinda Mc McRae Marion County

DIRECTOR OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Susan Salter

MEETING/MARKETING COORDINATOR Katie Schroeder

DISTRICT 2 Don Nichols Perry County

DISTRICT 6 Dr. Tony Bolton Oxford

DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS Lissa Astilla Tucker

TECHNOLOGY/LEGISLATIVE ASSISTANT Lashana Summerlin ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANTS Nancy Johnson Donna Norris Emily Maxwell CLERICAL ASSISTANT Sha’Wanda Franklin ALABAMA SCHOOL BOARDS EDITOR Linda Tynan OUR MISSION: To develop excellent school board leaders through quality training, advocacy and services.

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 3

Trends Research&Dates

UP FRONT

— Compiled by Denise L. Berkhalter

You should know: State boasts great high schools U.S. News & World Report’s 2013 Best High Schools ranking lists 90 Alabama high schools, 18 of which were ranked among the top-performing high schools in the country. Two Alabama high schools were awarded gold medals, 16 received silver medals and 72 were considered bronzemedal schools. Gold, silver or bronze medals are awarded based on state proficiency standards and how well the schools prepare students for college. Gold-medal honoree Loveless Academic Magnet Program High School in Montgomery County is ranked No. 7 among the nation’s top-performing high schools and topped the list of Alabama schools in the ranking. Mountain Brook High School in the Mountain Brook school system also received gold, ranking second in Alabama and No. 378 on the national list.

To view the list, go to http://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools.

Have you earned your school board member training hours?

According to requirements of Alabama’s School Board Governance Improvement Act of 2012, school board members must earn 6 training hours  two of which must be interactive whole board training hours  each training year [July 1-June 30]. School board members can earn no more than 2 total hours for attending eligible national training.

The law also requires school board members to take orientation training.

Once a newly elected or appointed school board member takes office, they have one year from the following July 1 to fulfill the orientation requirement.

Those who have taken the orientation previously do not have to retake it.

To help school board members earn 4 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

NEW SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS: HAVE YOU TAKEN ORIENTATION? Have you been newly elected or appointed or reelected or reappointed since January 2013? If you answered “yes” and haven’t taken the AASB School Board Member Academy orientation courses – Roles & Responsibilities and Effective Boards & Relationships – then you may be wondering how you can meet the state-mandated orientation requirement for new school board members before the deadline. AASB will offer its orientation courses Dec. 4 and 5 at The Hyatt Regency BirminghamThe Wynfrey Hotel. Register at www.

AlabamaSchoolBoards.org. [See pages 32 and 33 for AASB Convention info.]

2013 Green Ribbon Schools celebrated

their required training in ways convenient to them, the Alabama Association of School Boards offers School Board Member Academy conferences, customizable training for whole boards or clusters of boards, webinars, regional workshops and multiple opportunities to take the new board member orientation.

AASB has also begun making courses available on School Board U, a portal for on-demand, online courses.

Contact AASB at 800/562-0601 or training@AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

The Alabama State Board of Education recently passed resolutions lauding state winners of the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools national award and the inaugural District Sustainability Award.

The honored schools are Munford Middle and Munford High schools and Fayetteville High School of Talladega County and Harriet W. Gwin Elementary School of Hoover. The winning school system is Talladega County. The awardees were honored for their exemplary efforts to reduce environmental impact and utility costs, promote better health and ensure effective environmental education, including civics and green career pathways. To learn more, visit www. greenribbonschools.org.

Tuscaloosa school system receives national Magna Award Alabama’s Tuscaloosa City Schools has been selected as a first-place winner in the 19th annual Magna Awards program sponsored by the National School Boards Association’s American School Board Journal .

The school system was honored in the 5,000 to 20,000 enrollment category for its Parent Leadership Academy, a yearlong parent leadership development program to improve community engagement. Academy participants create an action team to design and implement a project that addresses parental involvement and academic achievement. In the 2012-2013 school year, the program resulted in more than 1,200 hours of parent involvement activities and creation or further development of 23 parent involvement/student achievement projects.

Almost 200 parents have graduated from the PLA program.

The Magna Awards, supported by Sodexo, recognize school systems across the country for outstanding programs that advance student learning and encourage community involvement in schools. This year’s three grand prize, 15 first place and 15 honorable mention winners were selected from three enrollment categories: under 5,000 students, 5,000 to 20,000 students and over 20,000 students.

“The Magna Awards showcase the great work going on in local school districts across the country to increase student achievement and success,” said Thomas J. Gentzel, executive director of NSBA.

Pictured from left to right at the 2013 Magna Awards Luncheon are Marie Bilik of the National School Boards Association; Dr. Latanza Harrison and Dr. Paul McKendrick of Tuscaloosa City Schools; Dr. Heather Pleasants of the University of Alabama; and Steve Dunmore of Sodexo.

(Submitted Photo / © Tim Stahl 2013)

To learn more about the Magna Awards, go to www.asbj. com/magna. Contact Public Relations Specialist Shirley Lollar, slollar@tusc.k12.al.us, to learn more about the Parent Leadership Academy. [See more about community engagement on pages 20-29.]

Trend: Schools getting healthier For the third consecutive year, Alabama leads the nation in the number of schools that are designated as Gold Award of Distinction winners by the HealthierUS School Challenge.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service recently announced 75 Alabama elementary and secondary schools received top honors for creating healthier school environments through the promotion of nutrition and physical activity.

This voluntary certification initiative was established in 2004 to recognize schools participating in the National School Lunch Program that have worked to become more compliant with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations for school meals and foods in schools. As of April, 179 Alabama public schools have earned the HealthierUS School designation.

By the Numbers

Two systems choose to appoint rather than elect superintendents

of the Education Trust Fund’s receipts for the 2012 fiscal year came from income tax. The Birmingham News, in a 2012 news report, ranked Alabama as the second lowest state for combined state and local tax collections per state resident for FY 2010 [at $2,779 per resident]. Idaho was the lowest with $2,769 per state resident for FY 2010. The report was based on the 2010 U.S. Census and the combined tax collections by state and local governments in the 2010 fiscal year.

[See more education facts on pages 18 and 19.]

Passage of local legislation in the 2013 Regular Legislative Session allowed the school systems in Crenshaw and Cullman counties to move from elected to appointed superintendents. These local school boards worked successfully with their legislative delegations to move to a selection method based on professional qualifications and leadership skills. The 2014 session begins Jan. 14.

57.82%

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 5

Trends Research & Dates

SAY WHAT?

“In the 2009-2010 school year, over 3 million children, K-12, were estimated to have lost instructional ‘seat time’ due to out-of-school suspension. Suspensions are also a predictor of students’ risk for dropping out. ... School boards must take the lead in ensuring that out-of-school suspension is used as a last resort in addressing violation of school code of conduct. This can be done through designing, developing and implementing comprehensive alternatives to the removal of students from school for disciplinary reasons. The comprehensive approach must be a districtwide vision, focused on student learning and behavioral needs, training and professional development for teachers and school administrators as well as parental and community engagement that provides the structure for academic success and excellence.”

— Thomas J. Gentzel, executive director National School Boards Association Addressing the Out-of-School Suspension Crisis Policy Guide, http://www.nsba.org/www.nsba.org/suspensions

Alabama secures data At its Oct. 10 meeting, the Alabama State Board of Education took a step officials called “proactive” in preventing student and staff data from falling into the wrong hands. The board approved a Data Use and Governance Policy in a 5-2 vote to ensure the collection and use of student data are done following strict privacy and confidentiality guidelines.

The policy prohibits federal or state reports from containing personally identifiable data; requires all data collected to be stored in a state-owned data warehouse; mandates data access to be restricted to pre-screened employees; and limits the disclosure of data collected through third-party testing organizations.

Correction: Torchbearer school Morris Slingluff Elementary School of the Dothan school system was recently celebrated as one of Alabama’s 2012-2013 Torchbearer Schools, chosen based on test scores from the 2011-2012 school year. The Torchbearer Schools program identifies schools in the state that show growth and success in the face of significant challenges. This year there are 20 Torchbearer schools. The other schools were listed in the Spring 2013 issue of Alabama School Boards magazine. Due to an oversight, Morris Slingluff wasn’t listed.

6 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

AASB welcomes new directors At the close of the Dec. 5-7 Alabama Association of School Boards Convention, four school board members will take their seats on the AASB Board of Directors. They are Donald Nichols of the Perry County school board for District 2, Gwendolyn HarrisBrooks of Lanett for District 4, Kathy Nichols Landers of Talladega County for District 6 and Karen Duke of Decatur for District 8.

It will be Nichols’ second two-year term, Landers’ first full term and the first full term for Harris-Brooks and Dukes, who are both completing unexpired terms caused by vacancies.

Two two-year terms for district directors are allowed under AASB bylaws. Neither candidate stood for election by AASB Harris-Brooks member boards since they had no opposition.

“Don, Gwen and Karen have proven they understand the value of our work to develop school board leaders who are committed to good governance, excellent boardmanship and student success,” said AASB President Steve Foster of the Lowndes County school board. “We welcome them back and are excited to have Kathy aboard, as well. Each brings skills, expertise and a passion for education that will be assets to this board.”

Landers Outgoing District 6 Director Dr. Tony Bolton of Oxford will be honored at the close of AASB’s Annual Convention.

Convention headquarters will be the Hyatt Regency-The Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, and the 2013 theme is The 3 R’s: Ready. Resilient. Responsible. Sessions will address student poverty, teacher accountability, education funding and more.

Registration is now open at www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

[See pages 32 and 33 for AASB Convention info.]

Duke

Join NSBA’s ‘army’ of education advocates

The Alabama Association of School Boards is seeking school board members to participate in the National School Boards Association’s Federal Relations Network. FRN involves local school board members like you from every congressional district in the country who are committed to grassroots advocacy for public education. FRN membership is open to all school board members and gives you an opportu-

nity to help make public education a top priority of the federal government. FRN members are invited to attend the National School Boards Advocacy Institute [formerly FRN Conference] in Washington, D.C. The next meeting will be Feb. 2-4.

The cost of the trip may be covered by your local board.

To join or for details, call AASB at 800/562-0601 or email advocacy@ AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 7

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE

By Sally Howell

SPEAKING WITH ONE VOICE Here is the dilemma: You are a member of the board, and the board, by majority vote, has made a decision with which you disagree. The decision has been implemented [site selected, person hired, curriculum adopted] and you still – strongly – disagree with the decision. What do you do?

A. Wo

r othe k with c over rs who ommu n s t thou urn th upport ity gro e u gh i y t ha board’s our vie ps or s be B. Co en i decisio w to mpl mpl n opp ain b eme , even ortu i tter nted dec ? isio nity ab ly at ev n? out e r y the C. Con boa rd’s t i mea nue to “ba d” s dec ure ev vote ag isio e ains n re n prot est? to sign motely t any al yo re D. Ac ur c lated t o ntin o the ce uing and pt the w f u i con lfill y ll of t t h o dec inue to ur resp e majo isio rity o i mp ns n pos sibl in the lement ibility t e? o best th man e ner

No doubt, the best answer is D. Unfortunately, that is not the most practiced answer. Answers A, B and C reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of a board member’s unique role. Only answer D reflects understanding of the difference between being a politician and being a statesman, as well as the duties of an “executive branch” body.

8 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

Of all the bad choices, answer A is the most offensive to the principles of good boardmanship. Board members, whether elected or appointed, are representatives of the people. But the board member’s duty is to the board and the system. A school board, state or local, is an executive branch agency. It is not a purely legislative body like the state Legislature or Congress.

Legislators can revisit issues as part of their legislative function, but boards, in their executive branch function, must also implement policies. Board members who work to overturn board decisions directly run afoul of the board’s executive branch duty.

Unless the majority of the board and superintendent want to change policy [decision], board members are bound to carry out the will of the board. Actively working against the board’s stated course of action violates the board member’s duty of loyalty.

Some board members operate under the mistaken belief that because they are representatives [elected/appointed] of the citizens, they are required to continue to voice their constituents’ views even though they may be contrary to the board’s decision.

This is a slippery slope for any board member to stand on. First, absent a reliable poll of constituents, it would be difficult for any representative to say they are representing the majority of their constituents. Even though school board members hear from interested parties, sometimes in large numbers, there usually is no empirical data on which to claim this is the people’s will.

Board members have a duty to do what is in the best interest of the system. Sometimes, what the public wants is not always in the best interest of the system or even the right thing to do. Rarely do citizens want to see jobs cut or schools closed, but it can be a financial imperative. Fifty years ago, most citizens opposed integration of schools. That didn’t make it right. Working against the will of the board shouldn’t be justified based on a misunderstood notion of representative governance.

Answer B is problematic because it turns the board table into a political forum. Continuing to debate an issue that has been decided when there clearly is not majority support for reversing the decision will quickly isolate a board member. That member then runs the risk of becoming alienated because of his or her inability to work toward consensus and focus on the business at hand. Such antics erode working relationships with both fellow board members and the focus of members on the team. If one member of a football team keeps talking about what happened last season during the huddle, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to keep the team focused on the play being called, let alone the game plan. The distraction causes resentment and leads to alienation.

Answer C combines elements of A and B. The board member who chooses this option is largely seen as counterproductive, choosing to put perceived political gain over the work of the board. More significantly, the board member who chooses this option disenfranchises his or her constituents by failing to participate in related decisions before the board. These constituents have no input when their representative votes in a way that is purely symbolic. For example, if a board member who opposed building a new school fails to participate in the decisions related

“For board members, once a decision is made the politics need to stop and the statesmanship begin.” to its construction and design, the board member deprives residents of that board district of the opportunity to shape a significant community investment.

For board members, once a decision is made the politics need to stop and the statesmanship begin. Board members should always vote their conscience, but to vote against or try to override board decisions when the majority is clearly content with the decision is not good boardmanship. Worse, it undermines public confidence and impacts staff morale.

No one ever said boardmanship was easy. Board members, when they chose this special form of community service, chose to subordinate their rights as citizens in exchange for a direct participation in the governance process. They let the board’s vote speak for them – and that is called “speaking with one voice.” n

Q

HELP

What does “whole board, interactive training” mean?

The School Board Governance Improvement Act of 2012 requires a certain amount of training for all school board members. Two of the required 6 hours of annual training must be earned as “whole board, interactive training.” This training should be attended by at least the majority of the members of a school board during which the trainer or facilitator interacts directly with the board and during which members discuss an issue or issues specifically as they pertain to the school board or school system. Webinars do not satisfy the whole board training requirement. Routine work sessions and other activities that are part of the board’s normal duties are not training, nor is a session in which the board merely receives and/or discusses information such as school system data. Anyone absent for the whole board training will not receive credit.

— Sources: Alabama State Department of Education & Alabama Association of School Boards

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 9

School funding inequity An issue Alabama should not ignore Jeff Newman provides a poignant illustration of poverty in certain Alabama school districts.

The state Board of Education representative said he saw a Lamar County principal drill holes through math books, then bind the pages with wire to keep them from falling apart.

Newman was quoted in a recent article by Daily Montgomery reporter Mary Sell about the inequity of funding in schools throughout Alabama.

Schools receive comparable amounts per student from state funding. The disparity involves local money.

Local funding ranges from $5,539 per pupil in Homewood to $197 in Washington County. Despite the vast difference, all schools are expected to meet the same standards and provide the same basic services.

Some communities choose not to provide enough local funding for their schools. But many others simply do not have the sales and property tax base to adequately support their schools.

Consider rural Coosa County, north of Montgomery, which has one of the lowest local sales tax revenues in the state. In 2012, the sales tax generated only $418,000 from the county’s three dollar stores, a Piggly Wiggly, two pharmacies and about a dozen gas stations. Often, land values and property tax collections are low in these rural counties, too.

Fortunately, many communities in north Alabama are willing and able to provide more generous funding for local schools. Decatur’s school district ranks fifth in the state at $2,841 per student, followed by Athens, ranked 10th at $2,334; Morgan County, 22nd at $1,690; Limestone County, 38th at $1,345; and Hartselle, 40th at $1,308.

But some school districts are struggling when it comes to local funding. Lawrence County, for example, gives just $730.

10 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

“I don’t want to say that the system’s unfair, but I can’t think of another word,” Lawrence County Superintendent Heath Grimes said.

The inequity in school funding is not a new issue, partly because it is a complicated matter to address. Parents in Decatur City Schools, for example, do not want to see money taken from their students and given to students in districts with less funding. It would not be fair to punish communities that have made education a priority by giving some of their money to communities that choose to be less generous.

At the same time, however, some communities are severely restricted in what they can provide.

This issue should not go away, should not be hidden out of sight and should not be ignored.

A good starting point is for state officials to examine whether the minimum amount of locally generated taxes for education should be raised to a higher standard. That would push stingier communities into giving more but would not punish more generous districts.

Also, the state should look at ways to provide supplemental money to poor districts that are doing the best they can do. This, of course, would require the courage to reform Alabama’s tax system, which overburdens the poor through sales taxes and rewards wealthier residents through woefully low property taxes. n Oct. 31, 2013, “Inequity in school funding” editorial reprinted with permission from The Decatur Daily. © 2013 www.decaturdaily.com. All rights reserved.

Alabama Branch Office 2111 Parkway Office Cir Ste 250 • Birmingham, Al 35244

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 11

12 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Make Your Plans Today!

2013

2014

NOVEMBER

JANUARY

20

Seats are limited. Please register early.

DECEMBER 4

5

Board Member Recognition Month

AASB Convention Early Registration Deadline

Roles & Responsibilities Orientation core course (8 hours)*

Free resources at www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org

14

Legislature convenes in regular session

2-27

Winter District Meetings Measuring Performance: Alabama’s Accountability System (1 hour)

FEBRUARY

$120 early registration, $140 on-site 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

The Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel

2-4

AASB Delegate Assembly

13

Washington, D.C.

5:30 p.m. New delegate orientation 6 p.m. Assembly The Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel

5

Effective Boards & Relationships Orientation core course (6 hours)*

The Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel

5-7

Note: Every attempt will be made to follow this schedule. * AASB School Board Member Academy core course credit awarded only once.

Webinar: Lessons on Sexual Harassment Prevention in Schools (1.5 hours) $50 per individual code, $200 per group code 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

MARCH 7

Early bird workshop: Are You Looking at the Right Numbers? (2 hours) $69, members ($10 late fee); $99, nonmembers The Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel

AASB Annual Convention (8 hours)

$249, members ($20 late fee); $440, nonmembers The Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel

National School Boards Advocacy Institute

7&8

Leadership for Developing a Highly Effective Staff core course (6 hours)* $149, members ($10 late fee); $290, nonmembers The Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 13

Measuring | UP Teacher accountability that works

By Dr. Alison Grizzle

“

I believe that all teachers should be held accountable. I welcome measures of accountability as long as they are fair.”

Birmingham schools Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon and P.D. Jackson Olin High School Principal Dr. Janice Drake pose with 2013-2014 Alabama Teacher of the Year Dr. Alison Grizzle. ALSDE Photo/Charles V. Creel

C

urrent shifts in the expectations for K-12 education require boards of education, teacher leaders and administrators to examine ways to maximize teacher effectiveness. We must engage in professional conversations about teaching and learning and design the necessary support systems to ensure that each teacher is properly prepared to meet the rigors associated with the implementation of the Alabama College and Career Ready Standards.

As leaders, we must remember that instructional shifts can be gradual, and we should actively respond to the growing 14 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

pains associated with change. Just as we expect each teacher to create opportunities for students to be successful, we must create opportunities for each teacher to be successful. We must engage in conversations about academic accountability while remaining mindful of a teacher’s job to educate the whole child: mind, body and spirit.

Teacher accountability is one of the most important topics being discussed today. We must address teacher accountability with full understanding of its meaning and its challenges given the context in which it resides. Both educa-

tors and the public to whom they are responsible agree that teachers should be accountable for educating the students of the community. Inherent in the concept of accountability, however, are questions with which educators, politicians and stakeholders must grapple: How should we assess student learning? How should we measure the effectiveness of a school or of a teacher? Alabama’s current answer at the high school level seems to be endof-course assessments and ACT scores.

At first glance, end-of-course assessments and ACT scores appear to be fair measurements of students and teach-

ers. Since we hold teachers accountable for the Alabama Courses of Study at each level, theoretically, we should be able to test each child on the specific Alabama Courses of Study standards of the teacher’s course and measure the teacher’s effectiveness. However, to accurately understand the impact the teacher has had on a specific student, we must measure against baseline data from the previous year. Using a value-added system that measures a child’s growth from K-12 would better help to determine teacher effectiveness. It seems unfair to measure a teacher in ninth-grade Algebra I by a raw score alone. A score at the 40th percentile on the end-of-course assessment represents a major triumph if the child scored in the 20th percentile in mathematics the previous year. But the same score represents a gross failure on the part of the teacher if the child scored in the 70th percentile the previous year.

Developing a system to track students from the beginning seems like a more equitable process if we are going to use their achievement on tests to measure them and their teachers. In addition, ensuring student accountability at all levels could help to increase student achievement. Failure to do so has been a great downfall of the graduation exam, increasing both frustration and dropout rates for students who arrived at high school with no previous consequences for poor performance and suddenly had to pass a test to graduate. If students needed to pass the Alabama High School Graduation Exam to exit high school, they should have been required to attain a certain score on the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test+ to leave middle school and to attain certain scores on the ARMT+ and Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills to leave elementary school. We changed standardized assessments from being meaningful only to schools, and not to students, at the elementary and middle school levels to meaning everything to both students and schools at the high school level. The test became a gateway to students’ futures.

However, some lacked the foundational skills and never received the key to the

We must remember that the true measure of a child and the true measure of a teacher cannot be judged from a single score on a test. gate, requiring them to spend hours in tutoring and remediation trying to make up for the failures from the previous years.

Alabama is currently looking at a system that uses the end-of-course assessment as a tool to measure students and teacher performance. These tests could potentially have a significant effect on a student’s final grade, which has the power to fail students who are barely passing. Some students will not have the foundational skills. A student cannot wait until high school to decide that he or she should take learning seriously. However, had similar percentages and tests been implemented along the way for the students, then students would have had extra motivation to commit to the foundations prior to high school. Moreover, implementing these accountabilities at all levels helps to hold all teachers, not just high school teachers, accountable.

Right now, people are saying that ACT’s EXPLORE assessment will produce the baseline data for high school students, yet EXPLORE produces the baseline for ACT’s PLAN assessment and the ACT but not necessarily for end-of-course assessments. Using end-of-course assessments is only fair to students and teachers if we have been consistent throughout K-12 education.

I believe that all teachers should be held accountable. I welcome measures of accountability as long as they are fair.

I have helped a child move from a 0 to a 350 and a child from a 120 to a 460 on the mathematics section of the graduation exam, only to have these accomplishments overlooked in favor of reviewing the data of students who failed. The leadership team wanted to discuss the great gains, but the current system forced us to look only at the data of those who did not

pass and how these failures affected adequate yearly progress. I want to be held accountable, but I want to be measured based on the gains made since the previous year. I want to celebrate my students’ individual gains alongside them. I want to celebrate each child’s growth. I do not want to experience the feeling that comes with someone telling me and my children that we have failed to make certain goals when, together, we have progressed more than a grade level.

As we consider accountability, we must remember that the true measure of a child and the true measure of a teacher cannot be judged from a single score on a test. We must discuss other methods for assessing teacher and student development. And as we develop these systems, we must encourage administrators to nurture their teachers. Administrators must remember that nobody in their building woke up one day and said, “I do not like children; I think I will be a teacher.” Everybody began with a desire to mold children and impact their lives.

We must find ways to reignite the passion and give teachers access to highquality professional development. Often this professional development can be in the form of creating time for teachers to collaborate about contextually effective strategies — approaches to teaching that are working within their buildings and with their students. We need to help to create opportunities for teachers to build professional networks. These shifts are going to require collaboration across the state.

As I have spoken with teachers around the state, many feel overwhelmed and some feel fearful about how student data will be used to judge them as teachers. Teachers are worried that all of their efforts will be judged by a single number.

Teachers know that they are more than a number, and we must show teachers that we, as leaders, also know that we cannot measure a teacher by a single number.

Teachers serve as facilitators of learning, builders of character, dispensers of love, creators of hope and architects of inspi(See MEASURING UP on page 34) Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 15

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Boaz students learn about ethics, leadership & decision-making

By Geoffrey Melcher

B

oaz Superintendent Dr. Mark Isley’s Leadership Committee met for a follow-up meeting Monday, April 29, its second gathering since its inaugural kick-off session in March.

With a little help from the Snead State Community College administration, local educators shared what they knew on the topic of ethics with the students they’re charged with serving on a daily basis.

Snead President Dr. Robert Exley, who provided the 18 teens a venue for a forum in the school’s boardroom, hosted Isley’s hand-selected students with a catered steak lunch and discussion of how ethics is vital in their everyday lives, both in the professional and personal spheres. According to the superintendent, Exley proceeded to lecture on how ethics plays an important role in decision-making and was even able to get the students involved in some in-depth conversations about situational ethics and how different situations create different responses.

“I talked to them about the role of ethics, especially in social media, and how if you’re not careful about what you post you can damage your career and job prospects even before they’ve gotten off the ground,” Exley said. “My daughter, who has lived in Saudi Arabia, also came and spoke to them about the differences in culture and gave them perspective on how things like ethics can vary from country to country.”

Isley said the committee ended its time together by touring the president’s office, meeting some of his team members and 16 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

even had the opportunity to ask Exley questions about decisions he has to make on a daily basis.

“This is our first year doing this, and we’ll always be adding things as we go along,” Isley said. “My hope is next year I’ll be able to take the committee to universities and colleges across the state, have them meet the president or provost, and have them tour the campus.”

“In this session, I shared with the group of students that ‘true ethics’ is what they do whenever no one else is around,” he said.

Though both Isley and Exley expressed great enthusiasm about the committee’s success and the viability of it being a mainstay program over the next few years, Boaz students who participated all agreed they appreciated being tutored by two “outstanding leaders” in their community.

“I learned from hearing the presentation that it’s not easy being a leader, and it’s important for you to pay attention to detail,” said Boaz Senior Committee member Katie Beth Riddle. “It gave me a new perspective about what my dad [John “Bubba” Riddle] goes through as a member of the city council, and I think living life [behaving in an ethical manner] — like how they were talking about — can really help with making a lot of tough decisions for a large group.”

Isley

Exley

“Dr. Isley is always trying to exceed our expectations. It’s always a surprise for us as to what we’ll be doing, and we never really know what is in store when we go to the meetings,” Riddle said.

While Riddle said she learned what it takes for businessmen and citizens alike to constantly progress and work toward achieving their “unlimited potential,” sophomore Riley Young expressed gratitude that an avenue to learn about essential “life skills” was opened to him.

“We’re not taught leadership in school, and in the end it has

Boaz High School students meet at Snead State Community College to learn about ethics in daily workplace situations. Courtesy Photo

made me evaluate myself and how I’ve been a leader and maybe how I haven’t and areas I need to improve in,” explained Young.

“We’re lucky to have a superintendent who is involved as much as Dr. Isley is with us and who is more concerned with what we think and what we want.

“For me, [the committee] helped solidify the fact the front office cares about students enough to take us aside and give us the tools we need to succeed,” she said. n Reprinted with permission from The Sand Mountain Reporter © 2013 sandmountainreporter.com. All rights reserved.

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 17

School meals 2011-2012

Percent of School Meals Served Lunches

Breakfasts

Alabama Education

Snacks 9%

13%

81%

What you may not know

31%

6%

Reduced Paid

62%

91%

7%

Free

English as a Second Language Total number of ESL Students 2011-2012 ................................19,468

Total Number of Meals Served, 2011-2012 37,250,539 Breakfasts | 94,678,425 Lunches | 1,770,441 Snacks

ty ibili Elig ee and e r ic f for ed- pr n c is a u d re eals r of m cato i ind verty. po

Most Common Languages Spoken:

Spanish

Arabic

Korean

Chinese

Vietnamese

15,520

475

473

400

378

Plan 2020

Infographic by Linda Tynan & Denise L. Berkhalter

The vision is “Every child a graduate — every graduate prepared for college, work and adulthood in the 21st century.

2012-13 public school enrollment

72%

$8,405

4-year cohort graduation rate

Expenditures per student (2011-12 fall enrollment)

34%

1,496

Of high school graduates required college remedial courses in reading & math

Public Schools (2012-13); 1,085 are elementary schools

11,706

Students received an industry credential upon graduation

70,824 Students ride the school bus (2012-13) 7,525 Buses on routes | 465,794 Daily route miles | Average of 49.3 students per bus

1,446 or 19% of route buses over 10 years old | 83,842,920 Annual route miles 18 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

Plan 2020

744,637

Goals under Alabama’s strategic plan for public education

Baseline data

2012

Numbers to know

Data sources: Quick Facts/Plan 2020, www.alsde.edu; Alabama Association of School Boards; and ACT’s The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2013, Alabama

90%

4-year cohort graduation rate

10% or less

High school graduates who require college remedial courses in reading & math

18,000

Students receive an industry credential upon graduation

2010-11

Closer look at the graduation rate 2007-08 cohort began with 62,962 first-time ninth-graders. Of those students, 45,221 (72%) graduated in 2010-11.

23,035 Males, 37% 22,186 Females, 35% 27,550 White, 44% 15,448 Black, 25% 1,165 Hispanic, 2% 1,058 Other race/ not specified, 2%

Facts & Plan 2020

about Alabama schools

Education Trust Fund Tax Sources, FY 2012 Receipts

78% of the Class of

28.48% Sales Tax 2.46% Other

2013 took the ACT

6.43% Utility Tax 57.82% Income Tax

20.4 average

4.81% Use Tax

composite ACT score

6.5% more ACT

Education Trust Fund tax sources FY 2012

Student Assessment

test-taking graduates (from 2009 to 2013)

28.48% Sales Tax

2.46% Other Percent of students by grade level who met or exceeded academic content standards in 6.43% Utility Tax reading and mathematics (Levels III and IV) on the state assessment, 2011-12.

57.82% Income Tax

Math

Reading

4.81% Use Tax

100

Boards & Personnel, 2012-13 • • • •

90 80

• • • •

70 60

G3

G4

G5

G6

G7

G8 In 2012-2013, Alabama had 134 operating boards of education. Of those school boards, 89 boards were elected and 37 had elected superintendents. There were 67 county and 67 city school boards.

ACCESS Distance Learning

The Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators & Students Statewide Initiative provides Alabama public school students in grades 1-8 equal access to high-quality instruction to improve student achievement. Credit enrollments have grown from Access Distance Learning 4,382 in 2006 to about 50,000.

Unique students using ACCESS grew from just over 11,000 in 2009-2010 to nearly 26,000 as of January 2013.

50,000

Growth of 0.5 credit enrollments

Closer look at teachers 9,485 21%

36,604 79%

40,000 30,000

2012-13

20,000

$48,003

10,000 0

1000 800

2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

46,089 - Teachers 35,480 - Support personnel 3,156 - Other personnel 2,531 - Principals and assistant principals 1,742 - Counselors 1,376 - Librarians 810 - School board members 134 - Superintendents

Average annual teacher salary 2011-12

Growth of active teachers, schools and courses taken.

Teachers

36,146 White, 78% 9,179 Black, 20% 317 Hispanic, 1% 346 Other race/not specified, 1% Education & certification levels 308 Doctorate 2,208 6-year 24,461 Master’s 18,781 Bachelor’s 331 Not specified Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 19

ENGAGE your COMMUNITY Spark new ideas

By Denise L. Berkhalter

W

hy did early man draw on cave walls?

He wanted to tell his story and help others make sense of his world. Perhaps he even wanted to draw others in, so they would be inspired to tell their stories, too.

There is a tendency in the public education world to isolate ourselves within the protective walls of our schools and offices, to use fancy jargon the average person doesn’t understand and to attach acronyms to practically everything. We sometimes feel inclined to solve our own problems without troubling our communities until it’s absolutely necessary.

20 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 20 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

Well, it is time for us to tear down those walls. It’s time to actively engage our communities. While we’re at it, we should begin telling our story and also taking the time to really listen to our communities. What are their aspirations for their schools, students and citizens?

Are there dreams and goals that our school systems share with the communities we serve? How can we connect our aspirations and goals

and work toward them, together?

A great place to begin is with understanding what community engagement is. In preparation for this special edition of Alabama School Boards, the Alabama Association of School Boards gathered together a panel of community engagement experts and of education professionals to discuss this very subject. We began by asking them to give us one word to describe community engagement.

The words they chose were rather interesting.

They said community engagement is hard and messy because hot button issues can sometimes be divisive and because you simply can’t force people to become engaged. They said building and maintaining relationships with the community and often having two-way conversations with the community can be difficult.

Panel members said community engagement can be frightening because sharing ownership of and responsibility for education is uncomfortable at first. Community engagement is ongoing and is not a one-time or annual project. That was a concept they were adamant about. In fact, some panelists implored the education community to accept community engagement as a way of doing business.

They all agreed that authentic, continuous, strategic community engagement is beneficial to the school system and to stakeholders. What community engagement boils down to, they summarized, is building a meaningful relationship with the community that focuses on shared aspirations. It’s that simple. Coalesce and rally folks behind common hopes, dreams and goals. People are more likely to advocate for their schools if they are truly being listened to, are empowered to participate in decision-making and are valued for their stake in public education.

The community has a voice – one that could give you a fresh perspective and lead to new ideas. Engage them, so they feel free to use it. n

Effective Boards Engage Their Communities The National School Boards Association touts the characteristics of effective school boards in its publication, The Key Work of School Boards: Student Achievement [http://www.nsba.org/keywork]. A key characteristic involves collaboration and community engagement:

“Effective school boards have a collaborative relationship with staff and the community and establish a strong communications structure to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district goals. In high-achieving districts, school board members could provide specific examples of how they connected and listened to the community.”

“A community is no better than its school system. A school system is no better than its community.

Each needs the other to grow healthy, educated and responsible children just as flowers need sunlight, earth and water.”

– Sally Howell, executive director Alabama Association of School Boards

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 21 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 21

What is

By Skip Tucker and Denise L. Berkhalter

Community engagement?

The Alabama Association of School Boards asked for input from five fine minds — those of Caroline Novak of the A+ Education Partnership, Elmore County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Langham, Montgomery Education Foundation Executive Director Ann Sikes and Montgomery Public Schools Senior Communication Officer Tom Salter — on what community engagement is and isn’t. Leading the discussion was AASB’s Public Relations Director Denise Berkhalter, APR. She opened the discussion with a bit of a curve ball.

Can you use one word to finish this sentence? When I think about community engagement, I think it’s ...

Q

Sikes: Hard. You can’t make people do things. You have to bring them to it. Things are far easier when you have authority and can dictate, but that’s not what community engagement is about.

Salter: Messy. There is no one way to get everyone involved. There are certain divisive, hot buttons that some people will jump all over and gladly become involved in. It’s more productive if you can find issues you can corral the community around and get them to focus on the solution rather than just the problem.

Novak: Ambiguous. The foundational belief for what we mean when we talk about community engagement is best captured in the book Community: The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block. We often go at this engagement work by bringing people

Sikes

Salter

22 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

together to address a problem, define a problem and look for solutions, and — what Block argues and what we’ve seen in successful community engagement efforts — there is a commitment to listening. Being listened to is an empowering experience.

Q

So, let’s go for it. How would you define community engagement?

Sikes: You have to be clear about what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish as a community, and that’s what is going to define it. The dynamics and nuances of each community really have to drive the expected outcomes. There are some basics, and I think, without a doubt, one of those is true and authentic listening. We do way too much telling and selling.

Novak: It’s not an event. Engagement is a way of doing business. It’s a process that you incorporate in your culture. The event approach isn’t going to move anything. When you have gotten there, an engaged community feels genuinely listened to, is empowered, feels ownership and has developed a sense of responsibility for the schools and the outcomes for students because they help shape what happens. They are not just observers and commentators. This engagement is about aspirations. It may uncover challenges and problems. You’re not trying to hide the negative, but the main focus of the conversation is: What do you want your community to be like? What do you want your schools to be like? What role does education play in shaping our com-

Novak

munity? Asking people aspirational questions serves to bring people together in a forward looking way.

Q

That could be scary for some.

Wouldn’t you lose control to negative influences?

Salter: There are boards who may say they know 98 percent of what the community may say. Boards may ask, ‘Why do we want to raise that and make it public?’

The point of community engagement is to give the community the opportunity to say it. It’s about ownership.

Langham: And about empowerment, validation and respect.

Novak: There could be a public engagement process that a school board generates, but it won’t have the same kind of value and potential if driven by the board. One of the things it might take is the courage on the part of the board and superintendent to reach out to an external partner to do this, so that it can really be about community-generated community engagement. There are a lot of people who have not trusted these processes because it is natural to want to control your enterprise. If you’re controlling the enterprise of education, you’re making it harder to make this important connection with the community.

Langham: We in the inside world of education can sometimes be like a department store. We lock the doors and sell the goods to each other, and then we’re confounded when no one really gets

Berkhalter

(See Q&A on page 28)

Langham

Community Engagement CASE STUDIES

Community engagement is not a one-time activity. To truly engage their communities, schools and school systems must commit to the hard work it takes to gain community trust. Consider these case studies.

CASE STUDY: TRUST

The Principal’s Principle Trust is built through a purposeful, ongoing relationship between the school and its community.

By Skip Tucker Terri Tomlinson took over historically black, historically failing George Hall Elementary School outside Mobile 10 years ago. She retired recently from the school, which is now a nationally recognized School of Excellence.

As can be expected, the transition from a failing school with little community engagement to a nationally recognized school that gained the community’s trust was dramatic and, at times, traumatic. She and her staff accomplished it through an exercise in attitude.

“We never aimed for that honor,” she said. “It was not a

goal, it was a result.”

It was the result of planning, grinding and dogged determination.

It is a result of team building, presenting a united and ambitious program, giving a community way more than it expected, and hurdling obstacles taller than trees.

First, 80 percent of Tomlinson’s team was white. The schoolchildren Tomlinson were black – all of them. To say she and her staff were unwelcome is to call Hurricane Katrina a whirlwind.

“At first there was anger and intimidation,” she said. “Dead cats hung from trees, fish guts and eggs smeared on the windows. Angry people came in every day who just did not like us and who did not like the school staff going from all black to all white. Change is very, very difficult in an impoverished neighborhood.”

Not just poverty but mean poverty. Fifty percent of the children lived in federal housing projects, another 30 percent in substandard houses. At least 80 percent were from single-parent homes. The community was crime-ridden. But Tomlinson started with a handhold. The school had 541 students. The first year, she and her team made 456 home visits. Every teacher had to have a face-to-face visit with every parent before the first semester started.

“Some were not sure about us but were willing to give us a chance,” she said. “Once they realized we were serious, that we were there for the students and that we were going to stay – once they understood us, they began to embrace us.”

Hope can be a scary thing for those wholly unfamiliar with it. They had little in the way of expectations.

“I was given leeway to build a team,” she said. “I interviewed 150, and my criteria were that they had to share the vision. I knew that student achievement was not the problem.

I had been principal at an all-black school two miles down the road that did not have the problems George Hall had.”

“What our kids needed was a safe, orderly environment in which to learn and a consistent response from their teachers.

(See TRUST on page 26) Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 23

CASE STUDY: SHARED OWNERSHIP

Start with a Conversation Help the ‘reluctant willing’ believe in the work by allowing them to co-own challenges and decisions.

By Skip Tucker Ann Sikes of the Montgomery Education Foundation provides a breathing example of successful community engagement.

The foundation’s ambitious “I Believe” outreach project could serve as a tutorial for a resourced, well-planned, well-executed program to spark community involvement. It probably will.

In its third year, the project has completed Phase I [information gathering] and was well into its community meetings to discuss results at the time of this Alabama School Boards interview.

Sikes and company had successfully engaged the second-tier community they called the “reluctant willing.”

The reluctant willing are the folks who are concerned about their schools and care about them but do not know how to get involved or even if they should. They wonder if their opinions even matter. This is a key target group for community engagement.

“You cannot rush the process,” said Sikes. “The planning process is so important. You have to make sure your core group is well-informed.”

The “I Believe” program put together people from all walks of life, multicultural and multidimensional. The steering committee spent a year planning approaches, tactics and targets. The program’s approach was precise, and, at the end of the day, it came down to people, push and work equity.

“We went to churches, community centers and front porches,” Sikes said. “We wanted 25 people or fewer in each group. It has to be personal.” People want to be listened to and to talk rather than always listen.

“While you will hear a lot that you expect to hear, it is important to pay attention to how people express themselves and the nuances in the responses.” Sikes said. “True and authentic listening defines the effort. We have to gain trust in order to build a relationship, and relationships and gaining trust are the main goals.

“If people know you are listening, they know they are being invited to ownership. Ownership means accountability and participation. And sometimes, you have to listen to hard truths.”

It took a year of listening to gather information from those porches, churches and community centers. The foundation built another bridge, this time to Auburn University Montgomery.

24 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

“We had all this great conversation information, and we wanted to make sure we got the absolute maximum from it. We brought in AUM and asked it to do a quantitative analysis. There were surprises,” Sikes said.

“We heard a lot about safety and thought it would be at the top of the list,” she said, “but we learned that the top two things most wanted were student achievement and quality teachers.”

The Montgomery County community also wanted equitable resources and for the schools to make parental and community involvement priorities.

With information collected and analyzed, the foundation began having community meetings “to discuss the results and to get ideas on how to work on the problems that were identified,” Sikes said. “The shared work is just starting, and we need the public to stay involved. The schools must be accountable to the community, and the community must be accountable to the schools.”

The Montgomery County school system faces a continuing process with ongoing community conversations and communication of data and information.

“This is only the first step for the school system,” Sikes said.

“We will continue to talk about progress and goals to better serve the community, the parents and the children.” n

The “I Believe” Process o Offer a series of community briefings seeking feedback and ideas around identified priorities. o Partner with the school system to review the system and community data in regard to the priorities. o Use the data and community input to establish agreed-upon, attainable and measurable goals around the priorities with the school system and the community. o Create a framework for the community and the school system to accomplish goals. o Create a community call to action to fulfill community goals in support of schools as they work on the priorities. o Conduct an annual education summit to celebrate accomplishments and share ongoing work and challenges.

Elements of the community goals discussion o Share ideas about the kind of community we want to live in. o Consider the connection between quality public education and the quality of community life. o Focus on the kind of relationships we want between our schools and community. o Begin working together in a new way to determine the future of our community and public schools.

The goals are updated each year, and the community plays a large role in helping the Shelby County school system assess its strengths and determine areas of focus.

“The community engagement model is also utilized for continuous school improvement with parents, business and community leaders serving on each school’s CSI team,” said Warner.

The teams meet throughout the year to analyze school culture surveys, test score data and other criteria in order to develop goals for school improvement plans.

“We also recently developed a three-tiered marketing plan that includes the district, each high school zone and its feeder schools, and each individual school,” she said.

CASE STUDY: CULTURE

Commitment to a vision Make community engagement part of the organizational strategy

By Skip Tucker Shelby County Schools Superintendent Randy Fuller has an organizational vision for the school system that is comprised of four main components – continuous school improvement, strategic planning, leadership development and instruction. Many of those components rely on the successful implementation of a community engagement model or allowing the community to be actively involved in the decision-making process.

Community engagement, therefore, is being embedded in the school system’s culture.

“We have a strong focus on strategic planning,” said Cindy Warner, public relations supervisor for the system. “Our strategic planning process involves many members of the community who serve on leadership teams and goal action plan teams.

These members play an active role in meeting to plan and evaluate goals and strategies for the district’s 12 strategic areas.”

Those areas are: at risk; communication; community partnerships; continuous school improvement; curriculum, instruction and assessment; facilities; finance; governance and leadership; human resources; professional learning; safety and discipline; and support operations.

Each school selected a marketing team comprised of school leaders, parents and business/ community leaders to develop specific messages about their school and school zone to share with select target markets.

Each school was responsible for meeting with its teams throughout the year to develop a comprehensive marketing plan that detailed not only messages each community needs to know about its school, but also the strategies and marketing methods that would be used to share those messages.

Shelby County also has a Key Leaders Network to keep the community informed. This email list is comprised of key leaders in the community, including elected city, county and state officials, business and community leaders, parent leaders and others.

The school system provides periodic information to this group to keep them informed about important issues.

Shelby County, one of the top school systems in Alabama both in funding and in performance, also uses technology and social media to keep the community informed and engaged.

“Our schools utilize parent email to share daily announcements, and we put a lot of information on our award-winning website,” Warner said. “We have also started to use Twitter as a means to share information with the community. Our schools are using Edmodo as a tool to encourage interaction between teachers and students. Edmodo is very similar to Facebook, but was actually designed by educators to be used for educational purposes.”

Another way the system encourages community involvement is through its annual Parent Teacher Organization forum.

Warner said the annual event allows system leaders the opportunity to share important information about initiatives or areas of focus for that year.

“For example, two years ago we shared information about the district’s upcoming tax renewal referendum,” she said. “Last year we shared the details of our marketing plan. Parents are then asked to give input and share their ideas with us.”

In Shelby County, community engagement is a priority. n Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 25

(TRUST, continued from page 23)

Our primary goal was and is to teach our kids and the community to respect and recognize the possibility they can be successful.”

Tomlinson and the team took it up. Before school opened, they cleaned and painted. A local artist painted murals on the wall. George Hall was about to become a very different place.

Imagine the looks on the faces of schoolchildren who walked into a new, different and better school world.

“We had to let them know right away things were going to be different. It didn’t take long to learn they wanted no more fights in the halls and people sleeping at their desks in the classroom. The previous school focus had not been on the institution.

“Afternoon dismissal had been chaos. Children threw rocks at windows and other children. It was not what we taught.

We began to walk the children across the street and to a safe neighborhood. We kept them under control and the community loved it.

“Little things are important. We don’t overdress. We are neat and casual. We let the community know we are not better than they are. One thing that might sound small but was huge is that we stopped parents from just walking into school and interrupting class to talk to a teacher. We don’t let anything interfere with teaching time. Now parents make appointments.

“We do not have nearly the issues we had in the beginning, but if a student gets unruly to the point that teaching time is interrupted, the student is sent to a lower-grade classroom and takes their work with them. If they act like little children, they sit with little children. They hate that.”

She said fifth grade is where students often act out. They think they are big kids now and they get unruly.

“It used to be when one got unruly, others would join in,” she said. “Now they start to move away from them.”

Tomlinson and company’s next step was to raise expectations in the classroom. During the team-building phase, when Tomlinson talked to the new teachers about a consistent approach, she asked them to raise their own expectations and those of their students.

“Whatever your expectations are at the present time,” she told them, “triple them.”

They did bridge-building. A local minister helped ease educators’ way into homes and has been instrumental in bringing about change at the school.

“My school board is wonderful. Lines of communication with the board are perpetually open,” she said.

“There is tremendous community support for us and for the school. We do handouts on general subjects like everyone does, and we follow up on everything. We try to get parents into the school as often as possible.”

Now Tomlinson, the retiree, has sage advice for those still on the front lines of public education in Alabama.

“We need to do better as a concept for our children to get them to ‘dream up’ and stop self-limiting. We want to give them dreams for more than a high school level education. We are working to break the poverty cycle. Our kids come from homes where education is not the norm and now, more than ever, we need to step in. We want these kids to know they can be college material.

“My best advice is to get your staff onboard. Set expectations not just high, but very high. You have to love coming to work every day.” And, she said, never, never give up. [See related case study, “Invest,” on page 27.]n

How does the public perceive Alabama’s public schools?

By Skip Tucker

There is a disconnect in the minds of many when it comes to confidence in public schools and public opinion on the school system.

Opinion leaders such as Press-Register opinion columnist Frances Coleman and WSFA.com columnist Ken Hare agree with researcher and expert Gerald Johnson of the Capital Survey Research Center and Dave White, capital correspondent for the Birmingham News.

All of them, in one form or another, echoed Hare. “It’s a mixed bag. People mostly admire and have confidence in their local public school but often are skeptical of other public schools,” said the former editorial page editor of the Montgomery Advertiser.

White went even further. “People talk about having no confidence in the state Legislature but send their own legislator 26 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

back time and again. It’s like the fact that, by and large, people trust their own doctor but distrust the medical profession.”

Perhaps a prime example would be Alabama’s Black Belt, so named for its black soil. The region’s population also happens to be largely African American.

“There might be a gap between educational outcome in the region and some other parts of the state,” said Johnson, “but numbers show people there trust their teachers and have confidence in their schools.”

Money makes a big difference.

“There is a direct correlation between performance at rich schools and at poor schools,” said Dr. Joe Adams, research coordinator for the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama. “It cannot be overstated. Yet there are pockets where (See PUBLIC PERCEPTION on page 34)

Administrators, counselors and teachers take time to visit families at home. A bus is available to help students and parents meet medical appointments.

A washer and dryer cleans clothes or dries rain-soaked items while students wear spare uniforms and are still able to attend class. Donated funds put a shower in the building where students without running water are able to get clean. Teachers purchase extra backpacks or keep a few snacks for those students in need.

CASE STUDY: INVEST

Connect school & home Invest time in building relationships and trust.

Communities want to connect with their schools.

By Meghan Everette Schools have evolved beyond just reading, writing and arithmetic. They are now nurturing centers for the whole child, and nowhere is this more necessary and apparent than in areas where students’ unmet needs are basic – shelter, food and love.

Bridging the home and school connection is more important than ever when schools are called upon to meet basic, academic, social and cultural needs of students. It starts with doing what is best for the child, no matter what.

Eight years ago, George Hall Elementary School took on a transformation that included this home and school connection.

Students were throwing rocks and being unsafe on the walk home. No busses run to the school and only a few students are picked up by day care vans or parents. A walking system was devised to help alleviate issues on the way home and get students through the neighborhood and across a major intersection safely.

At the end of each day, a long line of each grade level is accompanied single-file through the neighborhood. Students in kindergarten and pre-K are picked up by older siblings for the walk.

The end of the walk is where you see the payoff from years of making a small sacrifice for our students. Middle and high school students greet their previous teachers and tell of their successes. Parents have impromptu chats with teachers. Hugs are given as teachers head back to school. The students arrive safely, but what’s more, parents and the community see that the teachers are dedicated to their children and willing to, quite literally, go the extra mile for them.

These relatively small gestures show immense love and dedication. Our school is there for the students first. And staff will get them anything and everything they need to be successful. How many of us could work through the day dirty, with no socks and worried that we would be picked on while we traveled home. Would any of us feel comfortable reading and speaking when we hadn’t brushed our teeth in weeks because there was no toothpaste, or worse, water?

Parents and families recognize the change in the school and, in turn, are more likely to seek help that is needed. They trust the school as a loving place, not a place out to get them. They know when they are called because of behavior or grades that it is out of a desire to do the best for their child. That change means families that support the school, a community behind our mission, and students who hold their heads high as they walk home.

Making a change like this in schools doesn’t require tons of money or even that much time. The main thing is to show an unasked-for dedication to the lives of your students in and outside of school. Ask teachers to show up to the local Boys Club and Girls Club football games one Saturday of the year.

Think about how your students are dismissed and if you are really just turning them out to the wolves. Ask yourself if there is a better way.

Make non-threatening contact with parents repeatedly.

We’ve hosted math and reading nights that are themed for just a couple hours after school. Students get excited about coming, and free spaghetti or ice cream is given away. Parents come for a positive experience, and they are more likely to keep coming back. Our school has positive postcards with a checklist of accolades to send out randomly to families. I try to send one a week highlighting a different student. Start a uniform closet, make your face known in the neighborhood and contact families routinely. Find out why they didn’t pick up the report card and, if necessary, grab some colleagues and go to them.

We walk about a half-mile each afternoon to serve our students. That investment of an extra 10 minutes gives us a solid home connection with parents more than willing to meet us half way, both on the street and in the classroom. What other investment in your students could yield a more powerful return than that? [See related case study, “Trust,” on page 23.] n Meghan Everette teaches at George Hall Elementary School in Mobile County and was Alabama’s 2012-2013 Elementary Teacher of the Year and the Alternate Alabama Teacher of the Year.

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 27

(Q&A, continued from page 22)

excited when we start talking about generating revenue. As for whether or not to engage critics, I always think about what Stephen Covey [author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People] says. One of your most valuable assets would be your critics. You need to listen to them, but that is a relationship to be managed because you wouldn’t want to deplete your optimism and energy trying to win over those naysayers. Still, you can gain some pretty valuable data and insights from those, at times, unpleasant relationships.

Novak: That leads us to what the definition of community is.

Q

Sure! What is your definition of community?

I am always concerned when folks target the innocuous ‘general public’ as if that’s their community.

Sikes: It is just as much about those who have children in school as it is about those who don’t — currently or who ever will.

We need everybody to be that advocate, to be engaged. They are all taxpayers. It’s easy to always think about engagement around our parents, our students and our teachers, which is critical. Often, that’s who schools can access easily. The other, messier, piece is engaging those whom you can’t easily access.

Novak: People sometimes think, ‘How do we get to the grass tops or the obvious pockets of people?’ Well, then you are going to leave out the people who are always left out. The power of community engagement is enhanced if you really are systematically thinking about how you get to the community, to the people who don’t often have a chance to voice anything. ... Brainstorm ways to really get across the community. If you’re trying to reach the community, then you want your invitations and participation to reflect the makeup of the community. Think about geographic, economic and other kinds of diversity. Figure out how you go to where people live, where they work, where they worship, where they play. Then you are going to have a broad enough reach that you might actually reflect the community.

Sikes: People get frustrated. ‘We sent out emails, had a press release, and it’s on our website. Why aren’t we getting them?’

Novak: You have to go out and get them.

Sikes: You do that through people who actually live in those communities and who have connections and are willing to hand deliver fliers. It’s who personally invites you that counts.

Langham: It’s a willingness to go a level deeper rather than saying, ‘Oh, we tried.’

Salter: Any group can statistically, almost, be divided into thirds.

A third get it. They are involved and do the right thing. The third on the bottom, it’s almost impossible ever to get all of them to buy in. It’s the third in the middle that we really have to work with. They are not sure whether they like us or not. If we can get that third involved, then we win because we have two-thirds to pass a referendum or whatever. Doesn’t mean you don’t try to get that bottom third. It’s just that if you spend all your resources working on that bottom third, then you don’t have what you need to get to those in the middle.

28 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

Novak: Passing a referendum or something like that is a byproduct of community engagement.

Salter: Right! I was thinking more in terms of spending resources wisely. When engaging the whole community, part of that is finding the people you can engage and bring in. It’s not just trying to convince your critics. Some of them will never be convinced.

Novak: That goes back to the how. You’re simply inviting people in. People, some of them critics, will self-select into or out of the process. The value of community engagement is learning things that you need to reflect upon and really bringing people into the process of improving schools.

Sikes: Human nature is, if I’m invited to the table, I’m a lot more likely to be a part of the team in a productive way — even if I never agree with you — because I’ve been invited into ownership and into the perceived inner sanctum.

Langham: There is an element of respect there. And it’s as simple as a small group being in the same room around a table talking about the welfare of the schools and the community.

Sikes: People really want to come and experience something that they feel they are normally not allowed to access or experience. The power of them coming and sitting down in a circle and having a conversation is so amazing versus standing up and being talked at and talked to. Even with your biggest cynics — that you may never convert — it’s not that you’ll neutralize them, but boy they are different in how they interact with you.

Langham: Now, I can’t help but be struck by the irony when you think about this disconnect from community engagement.

Think about public schools and what a boon they are for your community and how they can shape the entire core of your community. Yet there is still that part we struggle with. There just is not that natural synergy.

Q

Exactly. That disconnect is a real problem. As we think about how to remedy that, where do we start?

Novak: Some of the successful engagement processes start from that place of getting people to think about their community and what they want their community to be. Then think about what role does education have in that. Encourage folks to spend lots of time thinking about the whole; our future as a city, a county, a region; and what things really matter.

Sikes: The schools have to be clear about its lack of agenda other than the obvious one of engaging the community. Otherwise, people think you’re up to something. ‘Oh, this is just a cover to raise taxes for education or get charter schools.’ Whether there is an agenda or not, one will be assumed. So, you had better be real sure there aren’t any agendas.

Q

Community engagement is a process that never stops. Why? Is community engagement about building lasting relationships?

Salter: Ideally. In order for it to be true engagement, there has to be a relationship between not only individuals but also groups.

Sikes: That relationship is the magic goal. n

SHOALS COMMUNITY SUPPORTS SHINING SCHOLARS

By Dr. Randy Pettus

A

labama’s Shoals area is shining brightly as the scholarship program called Shoals Scholar Dollars is about to kick off. Beginning with the class of 2014, this program will provide two-year scholarships to Northwest Shoals Community College to all students who graduate from any of the 17 schools in Lauderdale and Colbert counties and who maintained a 2.5 GPA and 95 percent attendance rate, had no expulsions or major disciplinary infractions and are U.S. citizens.

I am executive director of the Shoals Scholar Dollars program. This scholarship program is a community workforce improvement strategy for all businesses in the Shoals and a powerful educational tool for youth who likely would never have had the chance to attend college for either a two-year technical degree or a four-year degree.

We estimate that we will award 240 scholarships in the first year of the program. Our donor base includes more than 6,000 people in the Shoals and around the state. These individuals believe that tomorrow will be better thanks to providing educational opportunities for all of our youth.

Two years ago, I created the Shoals Student of the Year Banquet to raise money for the scholarship program. For this project, applications were given to all 17 high schools in Lauderdale and Colbert counties. Each school was given criteria to follow in allowing students to apply for their school’s nomination as Shoals Student of the Year. The 17 nominees were interviewed by a district panel. Those interviews and the students’ community service were to be used for selecting a winner.

The banquet was held at the Marriott Conference Center, which is a partner in this project. Students were

allowed to decorate their tables in any way they chose using their school colors. Corporate sponsors helped to underwrite the project to keep the cost at a minimum for the students. Tickets were sold to the public and businesses sponsored tables.

Large ads were published in the Times Daily, also a partner, and on billboards in the Shoals area. Each student was interviewed by the videographer and crew from Northwest Shoals. Their videos were played on the megatron screens as they were introduced. The winner was kept a secret until the end of the banquet when a portrait was unveiled and the Shoals Student of the Year was revealed.

The winner received a twoyear scholarship to Northwest Shoals Community College, a two-year scholarship to the University of North Alabama, $500 cash and a new iPad. The evening culminated with the winner receiving the keys to a new car from Bishop Automotive Group, also a partner.

Through the efforts of local businesses and partners, the banquet has raised almost $40,000 toward the Shoals Scholar Dollars program.

The Shoals Student of the Year for 2013 was Maggie Killen of Lexington High School. Maggie is an extraordinary young woman with a glowing future ahead of her. She totally impressed the judging team with her dedicated community service as well as her entrepreneurial talents. She not only maintained an outstanding GPA but was involved in over 22 clubs and organizations at Lexington High School. She is a state and nationally recognized leader in 4-H and raises her own herd of cattle. Additionally, she has initiated her own clothing and jewelry

Maggie Killen receives the 2013 Shoals Student of the Year plaque from Shoals Scholar Dollars Executive Director Dr. Randy Pettus. Courtesy photo

line. She will be a tremendous asset to the Shoals area.

Maggie has said about our program, “I am happy to say that this organization has completely changed my future for the better. This scholarship gives me the opportunity to further my education while staying in the beautiful Shoals area.

It opens more doors for me. A good education is something that no one can ever take away from you.”

We in the Shoals area believe that helping our young people gain access to education is the key to a better life for each of us and for our community as a whole. That is the driving force behind the communitywide Shoals Scholar Dollars project. n Dr. Randy Pettus is executive director of the Shoals Scholar Dollars program and the former director of federal programs and transportation for Florence City Schools. For more, visit shoalsscholardollars.com.

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 29

I TEACH… WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER?

By Tracy Pruitt elpful, caring, fun, generous, smart, loving, energetic, encouraging, kind and determined are all words my students used to describe me when asked to share why they think I was named Alabama’s 2013-2014 Elementary Teacher of the Year. My favorite response was, “She believes in me.” Is there any greater compliment? Rita Pierson, a professional educator, says, “Every child deserves a champion — an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be.” For 23 years, I have had the privilege of being a teacher, a champion for children, in Dothan City Schools.

H

career, I’ve had the pleasure of watching advanced learners soar and the slowest learner beat the educational odds. The common denominator is hard work by the teacher and the students.

My most basic belief drives me every single day, and I hope it drives school board members, too. All students can learn. The truth is they all do learn, but how do you teach students on so many levels with so many diverse backgrounds in one classroom?

Well, you work hard and never give up on any child. During my

After a year of implementing the Common Core State Standards in my third-grade classroom, I have learned there is no need to underestimate the abilities of our students to master real-world problem solving. After 174 days with the Common Core State Standards, my students can do more than ever before.

30 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

I am passionate about providing a classroom experience that is engaging and challenging for all students. If you were to peek in my classroom door, you would see students actively engaged in small groups, working with partners, talking to each other and eagerly participating in activities. My classroom reflects the natural instinct of students to socialize and learn from one another.

It reflects my belief that hard work leads to success. I expect my students’ very best.

I have seen remarkBeyond reading and math, able changes in my students’ ability to break down a multiother subjects ignite step word problem tackle it head on. curiosity about the world. and My students’ ability to reason problems with It is our responsibility to fractions is astoundI’ve enthusiastikeep other subject areas ing. cally watched students explain problems to alive in our classrooms. each other in a variety of ways. I work with some amazing women, and we were committed to leaving the “tricks” packed up. This past year was hard. We studied, discussed and learned from each other and our students. I sent a group of students to fourth grade loaded with new math skills but, more importantly, with confidence and determination to tackle and solve real-world math problems.

Alabama has made great strides in reading with the Alabama Reading Initiative and in math and language arts with the recent implementation of the Common Core State Standards, known as the Alabama College and Career Ready Standards. With all the focus on these two major areas, our curriculum can quickly become too narrow. I believe students need to develop in all subject areas. I believe in educating the whole child. My students need to make sense of their world. Beyond reading and math, other subjects ignite curiosity about the world. It is our responsibility to keep other subject areas alive in our classrooms.

When our students remember school, they don’t often talk about math or reading lessons. They remember the learning opportunities disguised as special activities. They remember the treasure hunt around our school that assessed their mapping skills. They remember the Living History Museum that helped them understand life in the late 1800s. They remember the trip to the park to see how force and motion work when you play with your friends.

They remember painting with their friends as they practiced making lines and shapes, and they recall learning how cooperation can create a masterpiece just like the artist James Rizzi created.

Children learn by doing. It is easy to get lost in all the objectives

1983 to 2013 - Celebrating 30 Years

Ward Scott Architecture renews our commitment to passionately create quality built environments for our community

and standards, but it is never acceptable to forget that we are teaching young minds eager to learn.

I encourage school board members to embrace this digital age. Let’s face it, kids like bells and whistles. We are raising kids in the age of technology, and schools have to be onboard. After a few years of grant writing and persistent requests for professional development, I have a classroom rich in technology and full of actively engaged learners, including the teacher. The addition of an interactive white board has created many learning opportunities for the students and me. Good old-fashioned teaching is essential. But, I can’t imagine a day without technology. It makes teaching so much better.

Being selected as Alabama’s Elementary Teacher of the Year and Alternate Teacher of the Year is an incredible honor. Like most of the nearly 50,000 educators in our great state, I love children and love teaching. As an educator, I have a simple message that I ask school board members to pass along to my colleagues.

Start STRONG! Finish STRONG! It is a simple belief that all teachers — young and old, new and veteran — are important to the success of our children. Believe! Believe in the power that one human being has to change the life of a child.

This message is as much for education leaders as those new and young educators. Start STRONG! Believe in yourself. Believe in this profession you have chosen or been called to by a greater power. Believe you have the power to change a life by expecting the very best of every child. School boards should encourage Alabama’s strong veteran teachers to help new teachers overcome the challenges they will experience in their first year. For new teachers, starting strong means facing the challenges of a new teacher, a new classroom and a new set of students with an expectation of success.

Then, an important message to seasoned and veteran teachers: Finish STRONG! Help your veteran teachers believe in themselves. There are people who believe that veteran teachers have lost their fire. Passion is defined as an ardent affection or devotion to an activity. Join me in asking our veteran teachers to be as passionate about education today as they were the day they started and to let their passion be fueled by the hundreds of students they have taught.

Start STRONG! Finish STRONG! It’s a simple message that drives teachers to be the very best education has to offer. A few years ago one of my parents gave me a sign for my classroom: “I teach. What’s your superpower?” Some days it feels like we need superpowers to be successful in our classrooms. Alabama teachers are doing amazing things, and we teach remarkable children.

People may call us superheroes or champions because of what we do. Dedicated and hard working teachers are both to the students of Alabama. n Tracy Pruitt teaches at Montana Street Magnet School in Dothan and is Alabama’s 2013-2014 Elementary Teacher of the Year and the Alternate Alabama Teacher of the Year.

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 31

Alabama Association of School Boards 2013 CONVENTION, Dec. 5-7 The Hyatt Regency Birimingham-The Wynfrey Hotel REGISTER: www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org

Ready Resilient Responsible

Online registration is open for AASB’s

Dec. 5-7 Annual Convention. The theme is The 3 R’s: Ready. Resilient. Responsible.

Hear from nationally acclaimed speakers, including Dr. Ruby Payne on A Framework for Understanding Poverty; Valorie Burton on Resilient & Ready: How to Thrive Through Challenge & Change; and Dr. Alison Grizzle on Teacher Accountability: Ensuring We Reach All Children.

This fantastic program will be attended by more Earn up to 8 hours in the AASB School Board Member Academy.

than 500 school board members from across the state.

AASB’s orientation for new school board members and the association’s annual business meeting, the Delegate Assembly, will precede convention. Details are posted online at www.AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

Convention headquarters are at The Hyatt Regency Birmingham-The Wynfrey Hotel. AASB has also secured nearby overflow space for a reasonable rate at Hyatt Place Birmingham/Hoover, 2980 John Hawkins Parkway, 205/988-8444 for reservations made by Nov. 25. Mention “AASB” for the group discount. Though the Hyatt Place is only 1 mile from the host hotel, complimentary shuttle service will be available.

SCHEDULE Wednesday, Dec. 4 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

(8 credit hours)

Thursday, Dec. 5

32 32

Roles & Responsibilities Orientation

7 a.m.-3:15 p.m. Effective Boards & (6 credit hours) Relationships Orientation 1 p.m.

Convention Registration 2 p.m.

Exhibits 3:30 p.m. Bylaws Committee Hearing 4 p.m.

Resolutions Committee Hearing Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 5 p.m.

Welcome Reception Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

5:30 p.m.

6 p.m.

New Delegate Orientation Delegate Assembly/Exhibits Close

Friday, Dec. 6 7:30 a.m.

8:30 a.m.

10:15 a.m.

10:45 a.m.

Noon 1:45 p.m.

3 p.m.

Hurry!

Early, discounted registration ends Nov. 20.

Registration/Exhibits/Breakfast General Session: Dr. Ruby Payne Visit Exhibits Clinic Sessions Academy Awards Luncheon Clinic Sessions Break

Speaker Highlights Author & Life Coach Valorie Burton Resilient & Ready: How to Thrive Through Challenging Times Author & Career Educator Dr. Ruby Payne A Framework for Understanding Poverty Alabama Legislative Fiscal Officer Norris Green, State Rep. Bill Poole and Sen. Jabo Waggoner Alabama’s Fiscal Forecast Teacher of the Year Dr. Alison Grizzle Teacher Accountability: Ensuring We Reach All Children

New school board member orientation (required by state law) will be taught Dec. 4 & 5.

Questions?

800/562-0601 events@AlabamaSchoolBoards.org SCHEDULE (continued) 3:30 p.m.

5:30 p.m.

General Session: Dr. Alison Grizzle/ Norris Green, Rep. Bill Poole & Sen. Jabo Waggoner/Exhibits Close Evening on Your Own

Saturday, Dec. 7

Alabama Caucus of Black School Board Members Meeting 7:30 a.m. Registration/Breakfast 8:30 a.m. General Session: Valorie Burton 10:30 a.m. Convention Adjourns 7 a.m.

SHARED RESOURCES By pooling resources through its membe membership, the Alabama Association of School Boards provides services that one school board could not economically provide alone.

Though the association was founded in 1949, AASB adjusts to meet the changing and expanding needs of today’s school boards. The association provides training, advocacy and a variety of member services covered by dues, and it charges modest fees for custom services.

LEGACY OF SERVICE T he Alabama Association of School Boards was founded June 16, 1949. From the outset, cost-effective services that target the unique needs of Alabama’s school boards have been a mainstay of the association. Members today choose from an array of specialized programs, resources and services that are informed by real boa boards’ experiences and best practices.

* *

Risk management

* *

Superintendent searches

Medicaid claiming and direct billing

Chief school financial searches SHAREDofficer RESOURCES By pooling resources through its membe membership, the Alabama Association of School Boards provides services that one school board could not economically provide alone.

Though the association was founded in 1949, AASB adjusts to meet the changing and expanding needs of today’s school boards. The association provides training, advocacy and a variety of member services covered by dues, and it charges modest fees for custom services.

* *

Registry for superintendent LEGACY OF SERVICE and CSFO candidates

T he Alabama Association of School Boards was founded June 16, 1949. From the outset, cost-effective services that target the unique needs of Alabama’s school boards have been a mainstay of the association. Members today choose from an array of specialized programs, resources and services that are informed by real boa boards’ experiences and best practices.

Policy review, analysis and updates

AlabamaSchoolBoards.org

* 800.562.0601

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 33

Risk management

Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 33

AT THE TABLE

Tracy Roberts

School Board Alabama State Board of Education, District 1 [Baldwin, Butler, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Escambia, Mobile counties] Hometown Spanish Fort, Baldwin County How long have you been a board member?

Elected in January 2013 Books at Bedside Multiple summer “beach” reads that can be read in a couple of days, so the titles all run together.

Inspiration The teachers [especially my daughter], students, administrators and school boards at home who count on me to advocate for them.

Motto as a Board Member Measure what we do against whether or not it affects student achievement.

Walter Mitty Fantasy We would all work together for the good of the children.

Greatest Accomplishment as a Board Member Making it through the 2013 legislative session.

Pet Peeve as a Board Member Decision-makers who don’t listen to or even ask the education experts.

Reason I Like Being an AASB Member Hands down, the relationships and friendships I’ve made with people who can help me along this education journey  sometimes holding hands and other times dragging me along.

My Epitaph Mourn not my death, but celebrate my life. n 34 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013

(MEASURING UP, continued from page 15)

ration. Teachers are the primary gateway to the future of some students. These students rely on them to help build a path from their current situation to the hope they see in tomorrow.

We cannot afford for teachers to feel defeated. They are our foundation. Teachers must understand that they are valued and supported. We must help them to push forward with a steady pace as they teach with zeal and passion. We need teachers to stay strong, so they can fight for our children. The children need their teachers to be their advocates. They depend on teachers to be their voices. Since we need teachers to help provide students with a foundation for the future, we must provide our teachers with support at the school and school system levels. n

Dr. Alison Grizzle is a mathematics teacher at P.D. Jackson Olin High School in the Birmingham school system and has been awarded the honor of 2013-2014 Alabama Teacher of the Year and Alabama Secondary Teacher of the Year.

(PUBLIC PERCEPTION, continued from page 26)

poorly funded schools perform as well as any. Big systems also have big challenges.

“It is all about what happens in the classroom,” Adams said.

“School administrators have to be accountable for the classroom and for school performance. The tougher the school, the tougher must be the teacher. Some have to be drill sergeants.”

Johnson believes Alabama schools are often unfairly scorned.

“It is a gross oversimplification to say Alabama public schools are bad,” he said. “There are many excellent schools across the state. Most of our doctors, lawyers and business leaders were educated at public schools.

“Teachers are second only to churches in public confidence in Alabama. This state has made more progress in education the past few years than many other states.”

“Our schools are adequate,” said Coleman of Mobile.

“Many are not stellar but are better than some and have great potential.”

She and Hare feel Alabama’s tax system is unfair and that it hurts education.

“Many public leaders say the right things but fail to follow through,” Coleman said.

Dr. Keivan Deravi at Auburn University Montgomery School of Business, said, “Public perception is that the public schools do not want public input. The public cannot participate in what is being delivered. We need inclusion, connection, buyin, accountability.” n

Alabama Association of School Boards

Professional Sustaining Members

A Partnership That Works!

APartnershipThatWorks!

AASB appreciates these professional members for supporting association activities and you all year long.

To learn more about becoming a Professional Sustaining Member of the Alabama Association of School Boards and to enjoy special opportunities, services and valuable information, contact us at 800/562-0601 or info@AlabamaSchoolBoards.org.

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• TCU Consulting Services LLC

Montgomery, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334/420-1500

Birmingham, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205/252-8353 Hoover, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205/988-9112 Birmingham, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205/999-1013 Montgomery, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334/265-8781

• Ra-Lin and Associates Inc.

Carrollton, GA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770/834-4884

• Terracon

Birmingham, AL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205/942-1289

• Union Springs Professional, LLC

Ft. Mitchell, KY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 877/462-5967 Alabama School Boards • Fall 2013 35

Alabama Association of School Boards Post Office Drawer 230488 Montgomery, Alabama 36123-0488

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Montgomery, AL Permit No. 34