November 2014 MCESA Link: Technology

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Every month, MCESA links you to solutions for some of education's toughest challenges throughout our newsletter. This month we are addressing technology. Questions or comments should be directed to laurie.king@mcesa.maricopa.gov.


IS YOUR WEBSITE ATTRACTING TOP TALENT?

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Does your website tell the story of your district? Does it attract and engage the first time visitor? Does it convey a culture and climate that attracts top talent? Let’s find out.

Studies show that the best educators look for the following factors:

  • School Leadership.
  • Working Conditions.
  • Professional Development.
  • Money.

Your website can address these areas in a way that is attractive to the kind of educator you want. Let’s take a brief look at how you might do that...

Blog Link

ARIZONA EDUCATION LEARNING & ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEM

MCESA is working with ADE to bring you two opportunities to learn about the Arizona Education Learning & Accountability System (AELAS). AELAS is ADE's comprehensive technology initiative. It is designed to provide all levels of the educational community unparalleled access to tools and data. 

School systems that implement AELAS will increase data access while dramatically reducing costs. 

Come to MCESA and find out from ADE what tools are included in AELAS, and how they will benefit your system.

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FREE LIVE STEM BROADCAST FOR ALL MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS

Students decide whether or not they would like to pursue a STEM career by the end of eighth grade. By supporting students in building a STEM identity, they are more likely to see themselves as persisting in STEM and striving to become a STEM professional. A crucial component to student STEM identity development is access to STEM Professional Mentors.

MCESA is inviting all middle school classrooms to tune in and meet one of our STEM Professional Mentors.

Thursday, November 13th at 9:00 am, an engineer from one of the most innovative companies in Phoenix will be telling her story and taking questions from students.

Requirements to participate are:

  • an internet connected computer with speakers &
  • a desire to expose students to STEM careers.
Register

TAX CREDIT PORTAL CAN INCREASE YOUR DONATIONS TO EXTRA-CURRICULARS

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Check out MCESA's Tax Credit Portal to be able to see a breakdown of school districts most in need of tax credit dollars and a simple way to donate to the school and program of your choice. Post the link to your website and through your social media outlets to spread the word of how people can help fund schools' extra-curricular activities and pay that much less on income taxes due to the Arizona Education Tax Credit.


MOMENTUM GROWING IN RE-ENGAGING DISCONNECTED YOUTH

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The Re-engaging Disconnected Youth Summit Wednesday, Oct. 15, brought together more than two hundred people invested in making disconnected or “opportunity” youth a priority, including Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, local youth agency leaders and others.

The morning included a roundtable discussion led by Paul Koehler and Phoenix Mayor, Greg Stanton about the economic impact of dropouts and disconnected youth.

“There is a collective economic devastation on our community if we don’t get our hearts and minds and public policies around this issue,” Stanton said.

Attendees discussing

“The work that’s being discussed here today, the planning that’s being done, bringing together the best minds on this issue, it’s really important work, not just for the young people that will have better opportunities in their lives and careers as a result, but also for the long-term economic impact on our community,” he continued. “This is a very, very important issue.”

After hearing from four youths currently working with MCESA's juvenile transitions and from multiple agencies from within the state and across the country during the morning, attendees divided into four breakout groups. Groups were aligned to research-based strategies for reconnecting youth:

  • re-engagement centers
  • educational momentum
  • career connections
  • positive youth development
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During the afternoon, each group heard directly from multiple agency leaders related to their topics and discussed ways to implement strategies in their own communities.

Summit attendees are choosing to be motivated and take on the work of re-engaging these youths.

Those four breakout groups of people will meet between now and the third Disconnected Youth Summit, Feb. 12, 2015, to continue developing a comprehensive plan to re-engage disconnected youth in Maricopa County. 

To get involved or learn more, visit www.maricopa.gov/mcesa or contact veronica.brawner@mcesa.maricopa.gov


UPCOMING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT @ MCESA

Featured Math Course

Math Phase 2: 8th-11th Grade Content - Geometry

November 19 & 20; 8:00-3:30

Geometry is an area that students and teachers either love or struggle to understand. This is also an area that is rich in connections, applications, and relevance. The new standards changed the trajectory of Geometry in a few very significant ways, which can be overlooked. This class will dig into the significant changes resulting from the new standards, and we will look at the rich connections and applications that can uncover these changes. We will also look at a conceptual way to approach proofs that addresses and corrects many student misconceptions, while specifically targeting support for visual learners, students in special education, and English Language Learners. Register for this course.


Featured ELA Course

Writing Essays: Persuasion and Argument

November 12; 8:00-3:30

Let’s not argue over Argument writing.  For many, this is new, a shift from Persuasion, the kind of writing most teachers taught their students.  Argument demands critical thinking and evidence from text, but how do we teach this to our students.  Teachers in grades 5-9 will especially benefit from this class as they engage to interact and write all in order to impart their knowledge to students.  Argument will no longer be a mystery—or a subject of debate. Register for this course.


Nov. 7 Brain-Based Research and the Mathematics Lesson: AZCCRS Mathematics for Leaders

Nov. 12 Writing Essays: Persuasive and Argument: AZCCRS ELA Phase 2

Nov. 13 Words-The Building Blocks of Communication: AZCCRS ELA Phase 2

Nov. 19 8th-11th Grade Content Training in Geometry: AZCCRS Mathematics Phase 2

Nov. 20 Anchoring Reading Practices in AZCCRS: AZCCRS ELA Phase 2 


NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

Expect More Arizona

New Test for Arizona Students

Aim Higher

The State Board of Education selected AzMERIT (Arizona’s Measurement of Educational Readiness to Inform Teaching) as the new assessment to replace the AIMS test in reading, writing and math.  The test will be administered by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a private, not-for-profit test vendor, and will be overseen by Arizona. The new tests will be given this spring to students in third grade through high school.

The assessment will reflect what students are learning and teachers are teaching in our classrooms today – no changes are needed to our standards or curricula. The test  will be unique to Arizona and will engage Arizona educators and education experts will be involved in developing questions..

Now that the assessment has been selected, the Arizona Department of Education is going to begin working with public district and charter schools to determine the details of implementing the tests this year, including the testing window, whether the test will be delivered via paper/pencil or online, trainings for test administrators, and sharing sample tests and questions, among others.

There will also be opportunities for educators to weigh in on the development of the assessment. ADE has shared an application for educators who have an interest to be involved. Find out more here.

The State Board of Education will be discussing the potential of holding teachers, schools and students harmless for accountability measures while baseline data is collected from the new assessment at their December meeting. As these details are discussed, you will have an opportunity to be involved and to have your voice heard.

Read this short blog to learn more about the new assessment.


The Arizona STEM Network

STEM Network

The Arizona STEM Network, led by Science Foundation Arizona, is a collaboration of businesses, educators, government and philanthropy with a common agenda to graduate more Arizona students prepared for the global economy through STEM education. 
The STEM Network online community is the place to go to get access to all of the STEM Network online content.  This content includes vetted resources for teachers, business engagement opportunities and a rich collaboration environment.

  • Are you looking for STEM Resources for Programming and Implementation?  
  • Are you looking for STEM Content (lessons/units) and STEM Pedagogy (STEM teaching techniques)? 
  • Are you looking for the best in National, Arizona, and professional STEM connections?

Creating meaningful business engagement opportunities in education is one of the STEM Network’s primary goals. The STEM Business Advocates program, coordinated by the Arizona STEM Network, makes it easy for business volunteers to get involved. Through this program, business volunteers are matched with proven educational programs in their local schools. The Arizona STEM Network uses a robust evaluation process to ensure that business engagement is making a real and sustainable difference in student achievement. 

Tools4Teachers provides over two hundred STEM-specific resources, all peer reviewed and evaluated by a panel of experts from all sectors of education from K-12 to higher education.

Collaboration is a critical tool for the future of education. Join groups to communicate directly with other educators, or browse the variety of individual resources posted by our members via their profile pages.

The STEM Network online community can be found at stem.sfaz.org