News from 2009
Alliance evaluators present at the American Evaluation Association Conference >> Alliance evaluators shared recent study results in five different sessions at the annual conference of the American Evaluation Association in Orlando, Florida between November 9 and 14, 2009. (posted: November 5, 2009)
October 28 webinar, "Effective Professional Development for Teachers of ELLs: District and School Readiness" >> Many districts request professional development to help teachers build knowledge and skills to teach English language learners. How can we maximize the effectiveness of this professional development? New England Equity Assistance Center staff presented processes and tools they have found helpful in gauging the readiness of districts and schools to offer effective professional development within a comprehensive program that fully addresses the academic, linguistic, and cultural needs of English language learners. (posted: July 6, 2009)
October 14 webinar, "Evaluation: A Key Resource in Planning for and Pursuing Program Funding Opportunities" >> As state and district leaders seek funds to improve teaching and learning or to turn around low performing schools, they need to clearly define their needs, specify the data that establishes the parameters of their needs, and develop a viable approach for mobilizing local resources, data and partners to address their goals. Evaluators can serve as critical allies during the program design effort as well as the subsequent assessment of program success. Specifically, evaluators bring valuable expertise, tools, methods and approaches to determining the alignment between the interventions or strategies employed and the ultimate goals of a program as funded. (posted: July 6, 2009)
June 10 webinar, "Ensure That Your Improvement Efforts Are Systemic, Strategic, and Sustainable: The Strategic Mapping Process" >> You have a district improvement plan, your schools have school improvement plans, and there is a district strategic plan. However, how confident are you that those plans directly and systemically address the issues and challenges that might be impeding student achievement? Through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, The Education Alliance has developed a process for ensuring that district and school improvement efforts are: systemic, strategic, inclusive, and sustainable. (posted: May 20, 2009)
May 20 webinar, "Adolescent Literacy—Key to Raising Student Achievement in the Content Areas" >> Students cannot meet standards in the content areas without strong literacy skills. Yet, content area educators traditionally have not been trained to teach literacy. A number of schools have found success in meeting this challenge. Join us for this one-hour, online briefing about what's working, why, and resources available to you. (posted: May 12, 2009)
The Alliance announces a series of webinars to inform education leaders >> A new webinar series, hosted by The Education Alliance, is designed to bring information, solutions and resources to busy education leaders and provide a platform for professional sharing and problem-solving. This series of one-hour, online sessions features current, timely, and practical information on a range of priority topics in a convenient format. (posted: April 29, 2009)
New funding for education from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 >> The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), signed into law by President Obama, promises substantial new funding for education over the next two to three years. This is welcome news for states and local school districts that are facing daunting local budget deficits. Read more about how The Education Alliance can help. (posted: March 9, 2009)
Adolescent Literacy Collaboratory seeking district partners >> The Collaboratory, a long-term, job-embedded professional development program for interdisciplinary teams of middle and high school teachers, is identifying districts to join its 2009–2010 cohort. The program blends online and face-to-face activities to help teachers improve their students' performance in science, math, social studies, and English/language arts by developing their literacy skills. (posted: February 18, 2009)
Northeast Superintendents' Leadership Institute >> The 21st Annual Northeast Superintendents' Leadership Institute was held at the Marriott Hotel in Newport, Rhode Island on April 29, April 30 and May 1, 2009. This year's Institute was a 3-day intensive program conducted by Richard Lemons, Ed.D. Richard is the Director of the Institute for Urban School Improvement. (posted: February 18, 2009)
New lesson plans demonstrate content-area literacy strategies >> How can middle school and high school math, science, social studies, and English teachers use literacy instruction strategies to improve their students' achievement? The Knowledge Loom—the professional learning website developed by The Education Alliance—now features new lessons that give a window into how four successful teachers in New Hampshire and Maine have done it. (posted: February 18, 2009)
Alliance evaluators study innovative tool used for teaching math >> The Education Alliance recently completed a Phase I evaluation study of the software application FluidMath, which is being developed by Fluidity Software Inc. and a Brown University Computer Science research team. The study was conducted as part of a Small Business Innovation research grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. (posted: February 18, 2009)
