South Lane School District’s decision to pursue a Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant from the U.S. Department of Education was really a “no brainer.” The district has anchored their key improvement efforts around the CLASS Project and the four blueprint areas.
Professional learning communities in schools, when run well, can profoundly enhance social capital and, thus student achievement. At PSU we are working with our P-12 school partners and other universities in the Metro area to find ways to build social capital among teacher candidates, P-12 teachers and administrators, and university faculty.
As parents and students settle into the new school year, K-12 public education advocates prepare for the new legislative session scheduled to begin only four months from now. A quick overview of Oregonians’ attitudes about K-12 public education may be valuable to these warriors as they gird for battle in Salem. Some of these considerations may not be news, but as I watch those advocating for a better K-12 public education system, I am often left wondering if it wouldn’t help to remind ourselves of some past lessons.
Sometimes seemingly small lessons enter our lives and change us forever. When I was a pre-service teacher, one of my professors showed a short film, “Cipher in the Snow.” The film depicts the story of a student of poverty who is neglected at school. He dies, and his teachers realize they don’t even know if he was in their classes. That film helped shape my goal of leaving no child behind.
For much of the last 15 years, Oregon K-12 educators have waited for additional revenue to boost school quality and achievement. A weak economy and growing medical and corrections costs have gotten in the way. And looking forward, the costs associated with an aging population, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and rising public pension costs will compete with classroom dollars. In short, K-12’s fight for sustained, significant increases in funding will be as tough in the next decade as it has been in the past.
Celebrating 20 years of social justice work this afternoon with #salemkeizercoalitionforequity thank you for all yo… https://t.co/HcTKxRrUCj
“This is about a mind shift from preschool as day care to preschool as early education. It’s an investment in child… https://t.co/K3MCmj1rUo
This is inspiring! A profile on seven new "Schools of Opportunity" high schools that work to close opportunity gaps… https://t.co/UEaL6J3GGV