CEC Policy Insider

Apply Now: Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation Seeks Volunteers for Governance Committees

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) is seeking volunteers to serve on its first governance bodies. This is an opportunity to help shape accrediting standards for educator preparation through a new accrediting body. The application process will be open to self-recommendation, as well as to those recommended by CAEP members or affiliate organizations. Volunteers will be solicited from various sectors such as P-12 practitioners, policymakers, postsecondary faculty and administrators, employers, parents, school board members, and the public at-large for positions on the following committees: International, Nominating, Research, Standards, and State Partnerships and Content Areas Committees.

All application materials are due by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern), on Sunday June 16, 2013. For more information, please click here.

So Much to Celebrate This Week: Exceptional Children, Teacher Appreciation & Children’s Mental Health!

This week marks Exceptional Children’s Week, Teacher Appreciation Week and Children’s Mental Health Week.  Whew – that’s a lot to celebrate in one week!  Luckily, here at CEC – while we love the public attention of this week – we are appreciative every day! 

Check out these resources to celebrate children with exceptionalities, educators and children’s mental health:

• CEC’s Exceptional Children Week website includes tips to prevent/address bullying, promoting positive behavior interventions and supports, and ways to celebrate (do you have your yellow star bracelet?!). 
• Teacher Appreciation Week:  Today, 20 CEC members will visit the U.S. Department of Education to meet with officials to discuss teacher evaluation, college and career ready standards, and other school reform issues.  Look for more info in a blog post tomorrow!
• Children’s Mental Health Week: As a partner with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, CEC hopes this week will raise awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding mental health.  Also, check out these resources from the Speak Up for Kids campaign.

Thank you educators for working tirelessly on behalf of children every day!  Tell us how you are celebrating this week in the comments section!  

House Education Committee Holds Hearing on Federal Role in School Accountability

Yesterday, the House Education and the Workforce Committee convened a hearing to discuss the appropriate role of the federal government in the educational accountability system, as it prepares for the reauthorization – rewrite – of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act/No Child Left Behind.

Raising the Bar: Exploring State and Local Efforts to Improve Accountability, featured four witnesses who all highlighted the need for the federal government to issue accountability parameters that maintain a key tenant of NCLB:  the public reporting of student achievement by subgroup.  Since NCLB, this requirement has allowed the public to know how students who have been historically disadvantaged, including students with disabilities, are performing.   Many members of Congress echoed keeping this requirement in the next version of ESEA, a position CEC supports. 

Yesterday’s hearing featured testimony from:

• Mr. John White, Louisiana State Superintendent
• Dr. Chris Richardson , superintendent of the Northfield Public Schools, Minnesota
• Mr. Eric S. Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Ohio
• Mr. Matthew Given, Chief Development Officer, EdisonLearning, Inc.

The witnesses also spoke about the importance of recruiting and retaining effective teachers, which led some members of Congress to question what elements should comprise a teacher evaluation system.  John White, Louisiana State Superintendent, called for observations and evidence of student progress, and emphasized the need to have greater accountability for teacher preparation programs through reporting of entry requirements, measurable outcomes for programs, and performance of program graduates.

For the last six years, Congress has been working to reauthorize ESEA, a process which has had bursts of activity  followed by stalled gridlock.  Throughout this time, CEC has been working to ensure that as legislation is drafted, the needs of children and youth with disabilities and the professionals who work on their behalf are considered.  Read CEC’s ESEA Recommendations.  

Read or Watch an Archive of the Hearing

CEC Member’s Leadership Recognized in Newsweek … Again!

This week Newsweek released its top 100 high schools across the country.  Topping this list – for the second year in a row – is the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky, a public high school located on the campus of Western Kentucky University and led by CEC member, Dr. Julia Link Roberts!

As the Executive Director of the Gatton Academy and through her leadership within The Association for the Gifted, World Council for Gifted and Talented Children and the National Association for Gifted Children, Dr. Roberts has committed her professional career to advancing the lives of high ability children. 

Newsweek’s list,  America’s Best High Schools 2013, recognized 2,000 high schools from across the United States. The Gatton Academy was ranked fifth in 2011 and first in 2012. 
 
International Baccalaureate School at Bartow High (Florida), BASIS Scottsdale (Arizona), School of Science and Engineering Magnet (Dallas, Texas), and The School for the Talented and Gifted Magnet High School (Dallas, Texas) complete Newsweek’s top 5 schools. 
 
Newsweek’s methodology for their rankings highlights schools that prepare students for college. Each school’s score comprises of six components: four-year, on-time graduation rate (25 percent), college matriculation rate (25 percent), Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) tests per student (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP or IB scores (10 percent), and percent of student enrolled in an AP course (5 percent). 

CEC congratulates Dr. Roberts and the staff and students of the Gatton Academy for their impressive accomplishment! 

Calling all Stories about the Impact of Sequestration!

CEC is looking for stories about the impact of sequestration – not just the amount of education money cut from the budgets of districts, schools and states, but about the consequences of those budget cuts – layoffs, reduction or changes in services, fewer children/students served, etc. As many of you know, the sequestration cuts came about as part of Congress’s approach to the deficit, and include a 5% across-the-board cut to all education funding, including IDEA. Your district will see this cut in July. For more information on sequestration, you can read our one-pager here.

If you have any stories from your own schools, please send them our way! Reach out to other schools and districts as well. The more stories we have the better we’ll be able to demonstrate to Congress the detrimental consequences of sequestration. We would like to receive a first batch of stories by Tuesday, May 7. You can email them to pubpol@cec.sped.org. Please include your name, your school district, city and state, your role, and a contact phone number.

Help us continue to advocate for children and youth with disabilities, their families and the professionals who work with them. Send us your stories, and then, send a letter to Congress via CEC’s Legislative Action Center telling Congress to protect education funding. We need your help today – make your voice heard!