November Update
The following can be managed at this link: AELS (Arkansas Educator Licensure System)
- View current license information
- Renew my current license
- Update profile information
- Apply for a lifetime license
- Add a degree only
- Add and area by testing only
- Change name/correct license
ArkansasIDEAS is now providing access to Lynda.com to all public
school teachers and administrators through the ArkansasIDEAS portal.
RtI (Response to Intervention)
-RTI Arkansas Intervention Handbook for Grades K-5
-RTI Arkansas Multi-Tiered System of Support for High School
-RTI Arkansas for Leadership
-Dr. McCook’s Handouts
ACSIPWork Session dates have changed. January and February have been canceled by
ADE but will resume on March 7 and again on April 11. Registration will be posted later.
AR Leadership Quest; 10:00-2:00
December 5—ESC Works Session ID 291628
February 6—ESC Works Session ID 300803
Attendance Works; Reducing Chronic Absence Comm. Memo LS-17-031
Date: December 8, 9:00-2:00
Audience: School team is suggested for this workshop consisting of an administrator,and possibly counselor, social worker, secretary, etc.
Outcome: Develop a school plan for addressing absenteeism for 2017-18 school year.
*Please register on ESC Works304622
-More information can be found at Attendance Works
-Education Week Article: New Report Examines Chronic Absenteeism in K-3 Arkansas Students
Resources:
My School Info found on the Data Center; Commissioner’s Memo RT-17-009
Computer Science Fact Sheet and FAQs
ADE’s Course Code Management System
Periodic Assessment Webinar (Nov. 16 @ 2 p.m.)
PowerPoint taken from APSRC: Assessing the Effect of Exclusionary Discipline on Student Academic Outcomes
To stay informed by ADE go to the Communications page and on the right side click on Stay Informed and fill in your info.
ADE November Newsletter
The following was taken from AAEA “The Administrator,” Volume 42, No. 5, November, 2016 Issue.
Danny Brackett, AAEA Board President
Principal, Har-ber High School
Springdale School District
I often say, “It is the work we do” meaning we are constantly applying real world learning and application to the curriculum standards and assessments in which we are committed. With all the “busy” with which we are involved, I encourage you not to neglect the most important aspect, student learning. Many of you have lead your schools in Response to Intervention, Tier I & II instructional initiatives, Advisory programs, and Smaller Learning Communities or Academy initiatives. It is the work we do! The purpose? To meet the learning needs of each and every student in which we are entrusted. With this in mind, we must first attend to Tier I instruction. It must be our focus. Tier I instruction is what takes place in our classrooms every day! Mike Mattos stated, “If you have 800 students in Tier 2, you don’t have an intervention problem, you have a Tier 1 problem.” The most important aspect of our Tier I work is what our classrooms look like every day. What should it look like? For our work to count for TAGG and NonTAGG, for ELL and Non-ELL, for poverty and Non-poverty, and for all ethnicities, we must make sure our classrooms look like the following:
1. Questioning techniques to enhance cognitive engagement.
2. Creating lessons to encourage student choice and voice (releasing control of learning process).
3. Practice writing processes with use of sentence frames and/or structures.
Domain 3 of TESS has two indicators or components which address what classrooms should look like for all students to learn: 3b, Questioning and Discussion; and 3c, Student Engagement. Questioning and Discussion for proficiency is described as - Most of the teacher's questions elicit a thoughtful response, and the teacher allows sufficient time for students to answer. All students participate in the discussion, with the teacher stepping aside when appropriate. Student Engagement for proficiency is described as - Activities and assignments, materials, and groupings of students are fully appropriate for the instructional outcomes and students' cultures and levels of understanding. All students are engaged in work of a high level of rigor. The lesson's structure is coherent, with appropriate pace. It is the work we do! In our professional conversations with individual teachers, professional learning communities, or any meeting with educational professionals we should be asking the questions regarding Questioning and Discussion: What does “a thoughtful response” entail? The response is based on the question and for a thoughtful response, the question must be a higher Depth of Knowledge (DOK). How do we get students to have academic discussions? How do we encourage students to ask questions? I know of one way not to accomplish engagement. If a teacher is doing the talking the majority of the time, what evidence can be seen to know if students are engaged? How are we preparing “activities and assignments, materials, and groupings of students” that are “fully appropriate for instructional outcomes” (standards/objectives)? What is “work of high level of rigor?” Rigor does not equal harder or more. High rigor is simply students thinking on a higher level.