|
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with Scholastic, recently published a report titled "America's Teachers on Teaching in an Era of Change." The report validates Arizona's teachers committment to their students and their profession. The teachers polled also spoke to the specific professional challenges they experience. The following infographic summarizes the big ideas from that report.
Education is filled with both amazing opportunities to positively impact children's lives, as well as some challenges holding us back from meeting our full potential. MCESA is committed to addressing these challenges and providing effective solutions. In this issue of the MCESA Link, you will learn about MCESA's solutions to supporting educators through ongoing instructional changes, such as new standard implementation, relevant personalized professional learning, and foundational system supports.
 Read the full report that inspired the infographic | Download a copy of the infographic
It is clear that higher standards and a new assessment are critical steps towards providing world-class education to all Arizona children. Implementation of Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards is difficult and takes time. Our teachers deserve top-notch preparation and support as they continue putting these rigorous and relevant standards into practice. MCESA has developed multiple professional learning opportunities to support teachers in developing a deeper understanding of the standards:
Learn more about supporting the transition to higher standards @ www.expectmorearizona.org/arizona-aims-higher
 Many educators grapple with how to engage students in authentic problem-solving to develop a deep conceptual understanding of mathematics. This is a difficult task, especially for those of us who were taught differently. As we embark on this new era of mathematics instruction driven by Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards, it’s time for professional learning to catch up and provide the education community with the knowledge, skills, and resources to meet this challenge. We cannot rely on textbook companies to support us. High quality materials are great, but without the foundational understanding of mathematics and research-based pedagogy, our teachers and students will continue to struggle through this standards transition.
The Rodel Charitable Foundation offers a mathematics professional learning series to address this issue. Math 20/20: A New Lens for Teaching & Learning has been in use for the last few years in a number of schools in Arizona. Teachers, principals, and instructional support staff have banded together to learn this very rigorous style of mathematics instruction, and it has paid off. The research emerging from these pilot districts is promising. Good teachers are being transformed into great teachers. Grade levels are focusing on developing deep mathematical understandings in their students, and students are becoming stronger problem solvers and mathematical thinkers.
Math 20/20 is now available to all interested Maricopa County school districts through a partnership with MCESA. To hear and see a little bit more about Math 20/20, we invite you to participate in a short informational webinar. Two webinars have been scheduled to give you an idea how Math 20/20 will be your solution for effective implementation of Arizona's College and Career Ready Standards. Choose the time that best suits your schedule:
|
 The United States Department of Education hosted a webinar on differentiation of teacher evaluation ratings. In this webinar, MCESA's Learning Observation Instrument (LOI) was held up as a model and cited as "one of the best."
The LOI is currently being used in 13 school districts in Maricopa County to increase effective teaching and student learning. The instrument is the foundation of a comprehensive personalized professional learning plan which includes: multiple observations conducted by Certified Evaluators, tightly aligned learning modules focused on pedagogy, and a robust video bank that illustrates each instructional element and proficiency level on the instrument. For a limited time, these videos are freely available for public viewing on the MCESA website (direct link). The Learning Observation Instrument, along with the Leader and Coach Observation Instruments, are are available for download (direct link).
MCESA's observation instruments and comprehensive personalized professional learning are available to any interested school district through MCESA's REIL Extend program. To learn more about REIL Extend, contact Shona.Miranda@mcesa.maricopa.gov.
|
The school budget is foundational to an effective educational system. MCESA's Financial Systems Support team is committed to supporting school finance and payroll personnel. Courses designed for business office employees are customized for this very unique work and are designed to improve financial systems and positively impact budgets.
As we enter the era of online assessments, it is imperative that policy makers understand how much bandwidth is currently available to our classrooms. In order to do this quickly and easily, Arizona has partnered with Education Super Highway to complete "speed tests". This data will support network planning, demonstrate the need for increased funding, and support your district's readiness for online assessments. To participate, complete the quick and easy speed test at http://partners.schoolspeedtest.org/arizona.html.
 PBS Learning Media
PBS LearningMedia is a free web-based system with over 35,000 videos, images, interactives, lesson plans, web sites and audio files. Districts or schools interested in effectively implementing this system can receive free professional learning by contacting Mark Becker at mark.becker@asu.edu.
|
 Yavapai County 2014 Digital Learning Showcase
The Yavapai County Educational Technology Consortium has set the ambitious goal of creating “real world classroom scenarios” for the 2014 YCETC Digital Learning Showcase.
Presentations will show 21st Century Technology Integration aligned with the Arizona College and Career Ready Standards. The event will kick-off with Keynote Speaker, Jamie Casap, from Google!
June 16-17, 2014 at the Prescott Resort & Conference Center in beautiful Prescott, Arizona.
Early Bird pricing is $100.00 for the two day event and includes breakfast and lunch.
|
 Discounted hotel rooms available. Call Toll Free: 1-855-493-4152 and ask for group code G6388.
|
