Round Table - Networking Meeting Notes and Reminder

Build a Personal Learning Network

View notes from each meeting, including the February 2015, meeting held at Martins Mill ISD.

NETWORKING FOR CAMPUS LEADERSHIP
  for March 24th

*NOW scheduling for 15-16 - Let us know if you will host a meeting on your campus?

Dates to network with other campus leaders during the 2014-2015 school year.

• October 23, 2014

• Nov. 20, 2014
• Jan. 20, 2015

• March 24, 2015, hosted at West Rusk ISD in New London, TX

Times 

• 9:00 am - 12:00 noon 
• 3 hour credit

Register for the Network Session.

Each session will include different information.  Choose to come for part or all day.

Location for the meetings will be held either at the Region 7 ESC, or on a campus. Consider hosting a meeting at your campus.  Contact Vickie Echols, vechols@esc7.net. 

Summer Bilingual/ELL Institute: Aug. 11-12 Save the DATE!

SAVE THE DATE: 

Region 7ESC Bilingual/ELL Institute

The Region 7ESC 2015 Bilingual/ELL Summer Institute will be held August 11-12, 2015 at Region 7. This year’s theme is Treasure Quest: In Search of Excellence for Every Language Learner.

The keynote presenter is nationally known speaker Jo Gusman, who will share her experiences working with Newcomer ELL students and her own experience growing up as an ELL student. Read more about Jo Gusman.

Day 2 will consist of breakout sessions featuring a variety of engaging presenters, including John Seidlitz, Dr. Michelle Yzquierdo, Tonie Garza, and Jo Gusman, as well as technology break-out sessions presented by Region 7 Digital Learning specialists.

This year we will also include a strand of sessions specifically for Foreign Language Teachers, presented by Desiree Hanson from Austin ISD. Please share this information with any foreign language teachers you know.

Lunch will be provided both days. If you would be available to serve as a facilitator for any sessions on Day 2 (August 12), please contact Joseph Pino.

Registration is now open at the following link:
2015 Bilingual/ELL Summer Institute

MORE INFO:

Joseph Pino

Specialist, Federal Programs

Region 7 Education Service Center

jpino@esc7.net

Phone: (903) 988-6793

Free Online Pre-K Learning Platform Available

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have launched a new, innovative online platform, known as CLI Engage. This online platform is now available at no cost to all Texas public school districts, charter schools, and Head Start programs. 

School districts and Head Start programs that register for CLI Engage will be able to access Texas School Ready! child progress monitoring assessments that reliably identify children at risk for school failure. Based on the results of these assessments, participating prekindergarten and Head Start teachers will be directed to supplementary lessons that target improvement of children’s least developed skill areas. 

In addition, the platform houses professional development courses that feature expert commentary and video demonstrations filmed in real classrooms, as well as classroom observation tools to measure teacher interactions and the classroom environment. All of these resources are aimed at enhancing young children’s learning environment.

“The task of closing the achievement gap among our students begins early, but educators must have the tools in hand to accomplish that goal” said Commissioner of Education Michael Williams. “TEA is proud to partner with the Children’s Learning Institute to offer these valuable resources to early education teachers across our state.”
  
Funded by TEA, a pilot version of CLI Engage was launched in three major Texas independent school districts (Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston) in October 2014. The pilot program has a total enrollment of more than 2,450 teachers and 48,000 children and is currently assessing students in important developmental milestones such as language and literacy, mathematics, and social and emotional development. The first sets of assessments, administered in both English and Spanish, were completed in November. The results of these assessments are now being used to help shape specialized instruction and to improve student skills.

“We know that the best thing we can do for at-risk children is to provide quality early learning experiences that target their least-developed skills areas,” said Susan Landry, Ph.D., founder and director of the Children’s Learning Institute at UTHealth. “CLI Engage provides the tools for teachers to incorporate these instructional strategies in their classrooms. Our goal is to disseminate these resources in a way that is cost effective for the state and for local districts.” 

Since 2003, CLI has implemented the Texas School Ready! Project (TSR) in local communities across Texas. Through its partnership with TEA, the research-based resources developed to improve preschool instruction in TSR classrooms will soon be available for free to all preschool teachers at Texas public schools, charter schools, and Head Start programs on the CLI Engage platform. 

Texas school districts, charter schools and Head Start programs can begin registering for these free, validated, research-based resources. Teachers can receive access to the resources beginning in March 2015, including the online professional development and child progress monitoring tools. 

To sign up, visit www.cliengage.org and click on the button that says “Sign Up for Access.” Following the launch of the CLI Engage platform in public schools and Head Start programs, licensed child care programs participating in the Texas Rising Star program will gain access to these Texas School Ready! resources.

For more information on CLI Engage, visit http://cliengage.org or email cliengage@uth.tmc.edu. 

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

On April 10, 2015, all school staff members are encouraged to join the greater community and wear blue to show support for the awareness of preventing child abuse.  

Assistant Principal at Lubbock High Receives Recognition

Article published in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal

The Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Board of Directors named Lubbock High School administrator Allyson Haveman as the high school assistant principal of the year.

Candidates are selected based on professional growth and development, collaborative leadership, instruction and assessment as well as professionalization, letters of recommendation and an interview with committee members.

TASSP Executive Director Archie McAfee said, “We are proud to have assistant principals such as Allyson Haveman be recognized for their service to students and are excited that she is the high school assistant principal of the year for Region 17.

Lubbock High Principal Doug Young said, “Allyson Haveman has done a tremendous job while serving as assistant principal at Lubbock High. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our leadership team. Her energy, enthusiasm and wit have been infectious among our staff. We love Allyson.”

Texas Legislature 84th Session Updates

The 84th session of the Texas Legislature convened Jan. 13, and now that committee assignments have been made in both the Senate and House, there’s a lot of education news and activity to track. The links below will keep you up-to-date as the session progresses.  The 84th session concludes June 1, 2015.  

Before the 84th session of the Texas Legislature convened on Jan. 13, the State Board for Educator  Certification adopted legislative recommendations to be considered by lawmakers this spring.

The three legislative recommendations, in priority order, are:

1. Clarify the minimum grade point average
requirements for eligibility for admission to
an educator preparation program in Section
21.0441 of the Texas Education Code.

2. Grant the Commissioner of Education the
administrative subpoena power to fully
investigate certified educator misconduct
cases.

3. Maintain the State Board for Educator
Certification (SBEC) as the policy-making
body to recognize public school educators as
professionals and preserving the authority of
educators to govern the standards of their
profession.

General links to the legislature:
www.capitol.state.tx.us/

Legislative calendar and agendas by date:
www.capitol.state.tx.us/MnuCalendars.aspx

House of Representatives:
www.house.state.tx.us/

Texas Senate: www.senate.state.tx.us/

House committee and chamber meetings:
www.capitol.state.tx.us/Committees/
MeetingsHouse.aspx

Senate committee and chamber meetings:
www.capitol.state.tx.us/Committees/
MeetingsSenate.aspx

Receive email alerts when a committee meeting
is posted: www.capitol.state.tx.

TEA Announces 2014-2015 Accreditation Statuses

According to a press release from the Texas Education Agency, dated Feb. 27, 2015,  accreditation statuses for school districts and charters across the state were released. Accreditation statuses are based on state academic accountability ratings (STAAR), the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (known commonly as School FIRST), data reporting, special program effectiveness, and compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.

Of 1,222 Texas school districts and charters, 1,161 (95 percent) received a status designation of Accredited for the 2014-2015 school year. An Accredited status recognizes districts and charters as a public school that meets specific academic and financial standards.

Under the Texas Education Code, the commissioner of education annually assigns one of four accreditation statuses to each school district. Accreditation statuses for the 2014-2015 school year include: Accredited (1,161); Accredited-Warned (34); Accredited-Probation (9); Not Accredited-Revoked (3); and Pending (15).

An Accredited-Warned status means a district or charter exhibits deficiencies in academic and/or financial performance that, if not addressed, could lead to probation or revocation of its accreditation status. For the 2014-2015 school year, 20 school districts and 14 charter schools received an Accredited-Warned accreditation status.

An Accredited-Probation status means a district or charter exhibits deficiencies in academic and/or financial performance over a three-year period that must be addressed to avoid revocation of its accreditation status. For the 2014-2015 school year, seven school districts and two charter schools received an Accredited-Probation accreditation status.

A Not Accredited-Revoked status means the Texas Education Agency does not recognize the district or charter as a Texas public school following multiple years of deficiencies in academic and/or financial performance. For the 2014-2015 school year, three school districts received a Not Accredited-Revoked accreditation status.

Note that the school districts assigned an initial Not Accredited-Revoked status will have the opportunity for a record review at the Texas Education Agency, and ultimately the opportunity for a review at the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

The accreditation statuses of 15 charter schools have been left pending due to revocation hearings currently under way, ongoing Texas Education Agency investigations, and/or pending litigation.

The 2014-2015 accreditation status for each school district and charter school can be found on the Texas Education Agency website at http://tea.texas.gov/accredstatus/.

A Pocket Edition of fast facts is also available in print and online from TEA.  Produced since 1991, the Pocket Edition reports a variety of state-level statistics on topics including:
• Students
• Accountability Ratings
• Personnel
• Finances
• Test Performance and Participation
• Graduates & College Admissions
• Attendance, Completion, and Dropouts.

The 2013-14 edition of the Pocket Edition may be found online at www.tea.texas.gov/
communications/pocket-edition. The Pocket Edition print edition is also available from the TEA Publications Office at a cost of $6.50 per 50 brochures. For an order form go
to: www.tea.texas.gov/publications/.

Also, the February edition of the Texas Education Today newsletter is posted. The issue contains information on the 2014-15 accreditation statuses, recent awards to high-performing teachers and schools, and the latest high school graduation rate rankings.