The GaDOE source [Oct. 2010]

Source TheGaDOE

FALL `10
ISSUE
Brad Bryant, State Superintendent of Schools

Race to the Top
What It Means for Georgia

INSIDE
PG 2 Implementing Race to the Top
PG 3 Georgia AP Exams Outpacing the Nation
PG 3 N ew Bullying Law State Resources Available
PG 3 State Superintendent's Advisory Councils
PG 4 Message from Superintendent Bryant

THE RACE TO THE TOP FUND is a $4 billion grant opportunity provided in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to support new approaches to improve schools. Grants are awarded through a competitive process that requires states to develop and submit a plan for innovative education reform in four specific areas. Georgia placed third in the first round of applications; only two states were awarded grants in that round. In the second round, Georgia was awarded a $400 million grant to implement its plan for education reform. Following are the four specific education reform areas:
Recruiting, preparing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace and to compete in the global economy Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how they can improve instruction Turning around our lowest-achieving schools
The following 25 school districts have partnered with the state to implement Georgia's Race to the Top plan: Atlanta, Ben Hill, Bibb, Burke, Carrollton, Chatham, Cherokee, Clayton, Dade, DeKalb, Dougherty, Gainesville, Gwinnett, Hall, Henry, Meriwether, Muscogee, Peach, Pulaski, Rabun, Richmond, Rockdale, Spalding, Valdosta, and White. These school districts range from small to very large and from urban to rural with wide representation across the state. They make up 40 percent of our public school students, 46 percent of our students in poverty, 53 percent of our African American students, 48 percent of our Hispanic students, and 68 percent of our lowest achieving schools.
Half of the awarded funds will remain at the state level, and half will go directly to the partnering school districts through their Title I funding formula. All funds will be used to implement Georgia's Race to the Top education reform plan, and the state will work closely with the districts to implement the ideas contained in the application. The state will study the effectiveness of these practices to identify and scale up those practices that prove to be effective.
Georgia's vision as set forth in the application is: "To equip all Georgia students, through effective teachers and leaders and through creating the right conditions in Georgia's schools and classrooms, with the knowledge and skills to empower them to 1) graduate from high school, 2) be successful in college and/or professional careers, and 3) be competitive with their peers throughout the United States and the world."

RESOURCES
Race to the Top www.gadoe.org/RT3.aspx Common Core Standards (CCGPS) www.gadoe.org/CCGPS.aspx Bullying Prevention tinyurl.com/bully-prevention State Curriculum Standards www.GeorgiaStandards.org State Test Preparation www.GeorgiaOAS.org Georgia Virtual School www.GaVirtualSchool.org State Board of Education tinyurl.com/eboardsolutions Media Specialist Newsletter www.GaDOE.org/sia_as_library.aspx GaDOE Publications tinyurl.com/GaDOE-Print-Materials
DID YOU KNOW...
...Nancy Rice, GaDOE School Nutrition Director, was elected President of the National School Nutrition Association for 2010-2011? tinyurl.com/nrice-nsna-pres

Source TheGaDOE

Implementing Georgia's Race to the Top Plan

By Each of the Four Education Reform Areas

1) Recruiting, Preparing, Rewarding, and Retaining Effective Teachers and Principals, Especially Where They Are Needed Most
TEACHER, LEADER, AND DISTRICT EFFECTIVENESS MEASURES Georgia will implement a common evaluation system that will allow the state to ensure consistency
and comparability across districts, based on a common definition of teacher/leader effectiveness. Georgia will also create a single Teacher Effectiveness Measure (TEM), Leader Effectiveness Measure (LEM), and a District Effectiveness Measure (DEM). The evaluation system will be piloted in the 25 participating districts and then rolled out to approximately 60 districts per year.
PERFORMANCE-BASED TALENT MANAGEMENT TEM/LEM will be used to inform all talent management decisions: professional development,
compensation, promotion, retention, re-certification, interventions, and dismissals. Effective teachers will have higher earning potential under this system.
ENSURING EQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF EFFECTIVE TEACHERS Georgia will provide incentives in the form of bonuses to encourage effective teachers to teach in
high needs schools. In addition, Georgia will enter into partnerships with external organizations with proven records of recruiting and training effective teachers in shortage areas to increase the pipeline of effective teachers in high needs schools and in hard-to-staff subject areas.
IMPROVING TEACHER AND LEADER PREPARATION The state will use TEMs and LEMs to guide broader policy decisions, tying results back to
teacher and leadership preparation programs to ensure the effectiveness of the state's educator preparation programs.
2) Adopting Standards and Assessments that Prepare Students to Succeed in College and the Workplace and to Compete in the Global Economy
The Common Core State Standards initiative (CCSS) is a state-led process to develop common standards in English language arts and mathematics for grades K-12 which are internationally benchmarked and aligned to college and work expectations. The Georgia State Board of Education adopted the CCSS in July and named Georgia's curriculum standards the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS).
Through the Race to the Top grant, the state will provide training to teachers on the CCGPS, develop new formative and benchmark assessments, and create proficiency-based pathways for Georgia students to waive seat-time requirements and advance upon mastery of subject material.
3) Building Data Systems that Measure Student Growth and Success, and Inform Teachers and Principals About How They Can Improve Instruction
Georgia's vision for its Longitudinal Data System (LDS) is one that provides seamless data access to all users: students, parents, teachers, administrators, and researchers. Race to the Top funds will be used to complete Georgia's LDS which will enable teachers to use real-time student-level performance data to inform and improve instruction.
4) Turning Around Our Lowest-Achieving Schools
Georgia will employ one of the following four intervention models, as prescribed through Race to the Top, in turning around the state's lowest achieving schools: Turnaround (replace principal and remove 50% of staff) Conversion to charter management or education management organization School closure Transformation (combination of aforementioned strategies)

Other Initiatives in Race to the Top
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
To ensure all Georgia students receive a strong STEM foundation, science will be required as a second Adequately Yearly Progress indicator for all elementary and middle schools. Ongoing partnerships with institutes of higher learning will continue to provide necessary support to enhance teacher quality for math and science teachers.
Innovation Fund
Georgia will establish an Innovation Fund which will be available for participating school districts to seed innovative partnerships with higher education, informal education and non-profit organizations, or businesses for the purpose of increasing student achievement.
Improving Early Learning Outcomes
Georgia will provide targeted technical assistance to specific Georgia Pre-K classrooms; assist with the transition to school, and participate in the Casey Foundation's Grade Level Reading Initiative.

FALL `10
ISSUE

Advanced Placement (AP) Results
Georgia Outpacing the Nation
THE GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION has worked to increase the number of students taking and succeeding in Advanced Placement (AP) classes. Many AP classes have been offered through the Georgia Virtual School, providing access to AP classes for students in schools that may not have otherwise been able to offer the class.
Since the 2004-2005 school year, Georgia has seen a 97 percent increase in students scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on AP exams, compared to a 52 percent increase nationwide. The six-year trend also shows Georgia has experienced a 106 percent increase in the number of AP public school test-takers, compared to a 56 percent increase nationwide.
From 2009 to 2010, Georgia increased the percentage of AP public school test-takers by 13.4 percent compared to 9.5 percent natiowide, according to information recently released by the College Board. Georgia's students also showed tremendous gains in the percentage of students scoring a 3, 4, or 5 on the AP exams (11.4 percent compared to 8.3 percent nationwide).
State Superintendent's Advisory Councils
Partnerships That Count
BELIEVING in the value of listening to and working with education stakeholders who are impacted by policies made by the Georgia Department of Education, State Superintendent Brad Bryant has established three statewide advisory councils: Teacher Advisory, Parent Advisory, and Student Advisory. Superintendent Bryant will work with these councils throughout the year, and feedback from this work will help shape the agency's future policies.
More information about these councils can be found at www.gadoe.org/sup.aspx.

New Bullying Law in Effect
State Resources Available
2009-2010 Georgia Student Health Survey II

24% 17%
11% 8%
Been Bullied*

42% 35% 27% 20%
Chronically Picked On*

6th Grade 8th Grade 10th Grade 12th Grade

*Based on responses from 230,438 Georgia students.
BULLYING is sometimes regarded as a "rite of passage" and an unavoidable part of childhood and adolescence. For this reason, bullying behaviors may be ignored or go unnoticed by teachers, parents, and school administrators. The consequences for not recognizing certain behaviors as "bullying" and the failure to respond accordingly are serious. Student achievement will not reach the levels that truly reflect the potential of Georgia's students unless proper attention is given to the relationship between school climate and academic achievement.
Almost 30 percent of youth in the United States are estimated to be involved in bullying as either a bully, a target of bullying, or both. Results from the Georgia Student Health Survey II (administered to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 for the 2009-2010 school year) indicate that 16 percent of students reported being bullied at school in the last 30 days; 33 percent of students reported being picked on or teased at school in the last 30 days; and 25 percent of students reported that they do not feel safe at school.
In 1999, the Georgia General Assembly enacted bullying legislation that: (1) defined bullying; (2) required each school district to adopt policies that prohibit bullying for grades six through twelve; and (3) required such prohibition to be included in the student code of conduct. Policies were also required to assign students to an alternative school for committing the offense of bullying after the third offense in the same school year.

In 2010, the Georgia General Assembly modified the existing law (O.C.G.A. 20-2-751.4) by expanding the definition of bullying and requiring local school districts to notify parents/ guardians when their child has committed an offense of bullying or has been a victim of bully-
ing. In addition, the law was modified to require school districts to adopt policies that prohibit bullying for all schools, not just for grades six through twelve and to have age appropriate consequences and interventions available for all schools. The law requires that, upon a finding by the disciplinary hearing officer, panel, or tribunal, students in grades six through twelve shall be assigned to alternative schools when such students have committed an offense of bullying for the third time in a school year. School districts must implement these new requirements by August 1, 2011. The law also requires the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) to develop a model bullying policy and to make it available on the GaDOE website.
The GaDOE created a "Bullying Prevention Toolkit" and also provides training to school systems to help them deal with bullying issues. More information about our agency's school safety initiatives and a copy of the state's model bullying policy can be found on our website at tinyurl.com/bully-prevention.

Source TheGaDOE

Message from State Superintendent Brad Bryant

It's All About the Kids

BEING APPOINTED by Governor Perdue to lead the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) for the last few months has been a tremendous honor and an exciting opportunity to serve this great state. Throughout my years of service as a member of a local school board, the Georgia State Board of Education, the National Association of State Boards of Education, and the National School Boards Association, it has always been "all about the kids." Accordingly, my time at the helm of GaDOE has been focused on working collaboratively with GaDOE leadership, the State Board of Education, legislators, educators, parents, business and community leaders, and external education partners to increase our state's graduation rate and to chart a path that will ensure academic success for all of Georgia's students. This work includes

national initiatives (such as Race to the Top and Common Core State Standards), as well as state initiatives (such as secondary assessment transition, mathematics options, and college and career readiness).
Georgia has a solid reputation at the national level for being an innovative leader in school reform. One of the latest initiatives gaining national attention is the development of local school board governance standards. The standards are currently under review, and are expected to be approved by our State Board of Education at its January 2011 meeting. With these new standards, local school boards will have an operational "road map" to guide them as they make critical decisions affecting their students and communities. In addition to standards, the State Board of Education has also developed a model code of ethics for all local school board members.

During these last few months, I have endeavored to keep our state's momentum for education reform energized and moving forward in a direction that will improve conditions in our schools and enhance educational opportunities for Georgia's students. By framing our work around that goal, I believe we are ensuring a healthy transition to the new GaDOE leadership taking office in January 2011. When my term of office ends, I want to leave knowing that Georgia can continue moving forward in transforming public education so that our students will be provided an opportunity for nothing less than a world-class education. After all, it's still "all about the kids."
Sincerely,
Brad Bryant

Georgia Department of Education
Communications
2062 Twin Towers East 205 Jesse Hill Jr., Drive SE Atlanta, GA 30334 (404) 651-7358 communications@GaDOE.org

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