Warren Craig Pouncey, Ed.D. Deputy State Superintendent Alabama State Department of Education

2011 Summer Professional

Development Conference“Preparing College and Career Ready Students”

Warren Craig Pouncey, Ed.D.Deputy State SuperintendentAlabama State Department of Education

The New Normal…State Funding

FY2009: $3,822,035,900

FY2012: $3,813,380,486

Rolling Reserve Act

FY2013: $3,950,662,083 projected

Growth: $ 137,281,597

Carl D Perkins Federal FundsFY2009: $19,311,200

FY2012: $19,175,065

Carl D. Perkins Loss: ($ 136,135)

Tech Prep Loss: ($ 2,000,000)

Teaching UnitsAll Certified

FY 07-08: 49,363.91

FY10-11: 47,573.17

Loss: (1,790.24) 3.63%

Career Tech

FY 07-08: 2,956

FY10-11: 2,624

Loss: (332) 11.23%

What the Law RequiresFoundation Program16-13-231

The total cost of the Foundation Program for any local board of education shall be for teacher’s salaries, fringe benefits, classroom instructional support and OCE.


The local board of education shall allocate state and local Foundation Program funds to each school in an equitable manner, based on the needs of the students and the schools, as reflected in the current year’s actual student populations, including at-risks students, students receiving special education services, and students enrolled in vocational/technical educational programs.


The grade level divisors for each fiscal year shall be weighted for each grade to provide funding for special education and vocational education. The grade level divisors include for vocational/technical education 7.4% full time equivalent in grades 7-8 weighted 1.4 times the regular student weight and 16.5% full time equivalent in grades 9-12 weighted 2.0 times the regular student weight.

What the Law RequiresFoundation Program16-6B-8

Each area vocational center shall earn a principal (director) and shall continue to earn a counselor should it have received a counselor unit in 1994-1995. Further it is the intent of the Legislature that area vocational centers that are serving more than one school system continue to do so. No local boards shall be permitted to spend fewer state dollars for vocational/technical education than it did during the 1994-1995 school year.


Funds provided by the state to local boards of education for vocational/technical education shall be spent only for its intended purposes.

The Opportunities AheadDr. Morton and the State Board have requested that a task force be assembled to examine a new direction for Career and Technical Education in Alabama.

Over the next five months, business and industry leaders, Career Technical educators, students, and other participants will be charged with redefining what and how we offer career tech opportunities to our students.

“No New Taxes”

Alabama Must Face Reality! Our challenge is not to exclusively produce more

college graduates with bachelor’s degrees

Our challenge is to produce graduates with foundational academic knowledge in math and language arts necessary to pursue postsecondary education without remediation. (College Readiness)

Students will need to have the ability to apply academics in context.

Students will need to be able to apply academic knowledge to authentic situations. (Career Readiness)

We must all take responsibility for instilling employability skills: (Not just Career Tech)

Critical Thinking

Adaptability

Problem Solving

Collaboration

Teamwork

Creativity

Responsibility

Professionalism

Ethics

Use of Technology

Jobs Over 50% of the new jobs created in the next decade

will require a postsecondary education or some sort of occupational certificate.

Of these, 27% are projected to make more than the average graduate with a bachelor’s degree.

Important Facts to Remember 25% of our students drop out before graduating.

Only 24% of our high school graduates who took the ACT were college ready in all subject areas.

28% of entering college freshmen enrolled in one or more remedial courses.

Only 56% of first time, full time bachelor’s degree-seeking students earned a degree in six years.

Previous Reforms Have Yielded Limited Benefits

Problem 1: Students are not performing adequately because they and their teachers are not working hard enough.

Reform 1: A get tough policy like “No Child Left Behind” that mandates 100% of all students be proficient in all area of measurement by 2014.


Problem 2: Improving student performance and closing the achievement gap can only occur by

implementing rigorous content standards and a core curriculum for all schools.

Reform 2: Use standardized tests to assess students yearly to make sure they are

succeeding; punish them and the schools if they fail to meet standards.


Problem 3: Standardized test scores provide an accurate measure of student learning and should be used to determine promotion and graduation.

Reform 3: Test scores don’t provide an accurate picture of what all students have learned; what it does confirm is that our conventional schools are not meeting the educational needs of a large number of our students.


Problem 4: The United States should require all students to take Algebra in the 8th grade and higher order math in high school largely to increase the number of scientists and engineers and thus making us more competitive in the global economy.

Reform 4: Forcing students to take four years of math or science without first instilling a passion for the subject is a formula for failure.

California enrolls almost 60% of its 8th graders in Algebra I, but has the nation’s lowest score on NAEP.


Problem 5: We need to put a highly qualified teacher in every classroom to deliver an excellent education to every student and improve our schools.

Reform 5: The law defines “highly qualified” as a teacher who is certified by a state. Too many

universities still offer fragmented coursework and haphazard clinical placements; Schools of education prepare teachers to teach subjects rather than students.


Problem 6: Having an effective principal in every school would make a difference between a school that works and one that doesn’t.

Reform 6: The many demands on principals are daunting. They are expected to be the CEO, a skilled organizational manager, a strong instructional leader, an inspirational figure, a politician, and a community relations expert.

Current limits restrain the power of principals to be innovative and decisive. They are often caught in the middle between high ranking central office administrators, teachers, parents and students.


Problem 7: The student dropout rate can be reduced by dropout prevention programs and raising

the mandatory attendance age from 16 to 18.

Reform 7: The vast majority of schools are preoccupied with standards, tests, core curricula and rigorous courses. Their main concern is academics and their main objective is for students to get good grades and have a shot at getting into college.


Problem 8: Making the school day and school year longer will increase student learning.

Reform 8: More time in school will not improve achievement if the time is not spent

productively.

Additional time must be tied to:1. Core Academics2. Enrichment Opportunities3. Teacher Planning and Professional Development

Simply doing the same thing for a longer period of time will not close the achievement gaps.


Problem 9: If we invest more money in public schools, we will be able to provide every student with an excellent education.

Reform 9: If we continue to spend money on a model that doesn’t work instead of one that does, we will continue to need even more funding and

continue to get mediocre results.

Going Forward… How do we ensure the success of the 44% of the

students that won’t finish college in six years?

How do we change the future of the better than 25% of the students who will drop out before completing High School?

One… To help motivate children and maximize their abilities,

we must educate them one at a time and tailor their education to their interests and needs.

This means doing away with teaching all students the same things on the same day in the same way.

Students learn best when they are interested in the material. Schools should focus on their interests and use that as a foundation to build on.

Help students find their passion and then individualize core competencies around that passion.

Two… The more educational opportunities available to young

people, both in and out of school, the more likely they are to find a pathway to success that is compatible with their unique needs and talents.

Future jobs - almost 50% will not require college degrees, but will call for some postsecondary training and/or credentialing.

The skills that employers are looking for can be taught in the first eight grades. From that point, students should be able to choose an educational pathway that they believe is compatible with their interests, aspirations, and learning styles. It is time to stop delivering the same education to every high school student.

Three… Students will learn more and remember more of what

they learned if they learn in real-world contexts, which also reduces boredom and disciplinary problems, stimulates more parental involvement, inspires self confidence and responsibility in students and motivates them to learn.

Learning must become…1. Watching2. Thinking3. Feeling4. Doing

Three Continued… Learning must begin to include some type of internship

program. This internship program serves as real world experiences that creates relevance and should serve as the basis for the core around which each student’s personal curriculum is built.

Real-life learning doesn’t always have to happen outside of school; Good teachers can bring it into the classroom.

Four… Student assessments based on multiple measures,

focusing mainly on a students actual work, is a better and fairer way to evaluate student performance than standardized tests.

Mastery of content knowledge must be measured by not only formative assessments, but should also include being judged on actual work samples, portfolios, exhibitions, presentations, and internships.

Five… We are more likely to get effective teachers if we

educate teachers differently and modify their traditional role as instructors.

A teacher’s role needs to become one of an advisor. These close relationships and open communication help to create a sense of belonging in students. This translates into better grades, higher motivation and graduation rates.

Teachers periodically should participate in real world clinical experiences that will enable them to relate work place expectations to their students.

Documents

Warren Craig Pouncey, Ed.D. Deputy State Superintendent Alabama State Department of Education