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Partners and Friends,
Welcome to the Education Almanac, rural updates from the U.S. Department of Education. Each month, the U.S. Department of Education highlights opportunities, events, news, and other information relevant to rural schools and communities. We will also feature schools and leaders who are rethinking education in order to make a positive difference in rural students’ lives. We welcome your feedback and questions. Please feel free to share them to rural@ed.gov.
Thank you, Michael Chamberlain U.S. Department of Education
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 Secretary DeVos and four other senior Department officials traveled to 18 states last month as part of the Department’s annual back to school tour. This year’s tour focused specifically on how the Secretary’s Education Freedom Scholarships proposal will help supplement state and local initiatives to expand education options for all students. The Secretary began her visit at St. Marcus Lutheran School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“I’ve come to Milwaukee -- the birthplace of education freedom -- to stand on the shoulders of giants and say: Now is the time to ignite a new birth of freedom for all of America’s students,” the Secretary declared in her Back to School address, which was live-streamed. “We have a bold plan to do just that -- an American education freedom agenda. The freedom to learn. The freedom to grow. The freedom to advance. The freedom to pursue the education that works for you. Students in control of their pathway to a successful education, career, and life. Families in control of how, when, and where their students will learn best. Teachers in control of their classrooms and their careers. States and communities -- not Washington, D.C. -- in control of local decisions.”
The Secretary, who also visited Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, recaps her Back to School Tour through the Midwest in a new video. Other senior officials visited schools across the country:
- Deputy Secretary Mitchell Zais visited Idaho, Montana (including the Crow Indian Reservation), South Dakota (including the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation), and North Dakota (including with Minot Air Force Base-connected students);
- Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Frank Brogan visited Georgia and Mississippi;
- Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services Johnny Collett visited Kansas and Missouri; and
- Assistant Secretary for Career, Technical, and Adult Education Scott Stump visited Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and West Virginia.
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Back to School Tour Highlights Rural Innovation |
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U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF EDUCATION MITCHELL ZAIS VISITS RURAL SCHOOLS DURING 2019 BACK TO SCHOOL TOUR
U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Mitchell Zais visited several rural schools that are rethinking education and preparing students for success as part of the U.S. Department of Education 2019 Back to School Tour. Throughout the tour in Idaho, Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota, Dr. Zais discussed how certain policies and regulations from Washington often do not make sense at the local level, particularly in rural communities. He said that the Department is trying to remove certain policies and regulations that inhibit creativity and innovation and let states and local communities run their schools. He also said that students in rural and tribal schools deserve the same kinds of modern facilities, technology, and quality teachers as the schools in the larger metropolitan areas.
Pryor School District, Montana, Arrow Creek Elementary and Plenty Coups High School
Deputy Secretary Zais participated in a traditional round dance with students. He observed kindergarten students working on designing a playground and singing in their native Crow language. The student council also displayed blankets and handmade items to Dr. Zais and State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen and Dr. Zais discussed improvements needed for the school building with Pryor Superintendent Coul Hill.
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South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Dr. Zais toured the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology with South Dakota Board of Regents Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Paul B. Beran. The South Dakota School of Mines and Technology has highly ranked natural science, mathematics, and engineering programs and is preparing students for in-demand, high-skilled jobs.
The Center of Excellence for Advanced Multidisciplinary Projects, often abbreviated as CAMP, provides a unique opportunity to participate in a hands-on engineering program.
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T.F. Riggs High School, Pierre, South Dakota
Deputy Secretary Zais visited T.F. Riggs High School with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Secretary of Education Ben Jones, and Deputy Secretary of Education Mary Stadick Smith. They visited career and technical education classrooms focused on vehicle maintenance and culinary arts. Gov. Noem discussed the Week of Work pilot program aimed at introducing 10th grade students to career opportunities in their communities and Dr. Zais discussed how Secretary DeVos’ Education Freedom Scholarship proposal could expand CTE programs like this one to meet students' needs. At T.F. Riggs students with an interest in hands-on classes have a variety of courses to choose from in the area of CTE, including welding, automotive, youth internship, computers, cabinetry, culinary arts, and drafting as well as agriculture and wildlife and fisheries.
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Oglala Lakota College, Kyle, South Dakota
Dr. Zais also visited Oglala Lakota College, the largest tribal college in the state, where he held a roundtable discussion with students, faculty, staff, and department chairs at their administrative headquarters and learned about the history of the Lakota People with College President Thomas Shortbull.
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HILL CITY ELEMENTARY WELCOMES ASSISTANT SECRETARY BROGAN
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Frank Brogan received a “hero’s welcome” when he arrived at Hill City Elementary School nestled in the mountains of picturesque Jasper, Georgia. He was greeted by parents, students, teachers and staff, and dozens of local, state and regional education officials, community leaders and elected officials. Hill City Elementary was the second stop on Brogan’s back-to-school tour, which is part of the Secretary’s 2019 Back-to-School Tour. He met with students, toured their agriculture building and gardens, and held a roundtable with school officials, and community and elected leaders to discuss the benefits of the Secretary’s Education Freedom Scholarship proposal.
Brogan visited Hill City to see firsthand how the elementary school is helping young students understand the connection between agriculture and their everyday lives. The new agriculture curriculum is part of a three-year pilot being taught at Hill City and 19 other elementary schools in Georgia. While there were no funds delegated to the program, the community backed it 100 percent.
Brogan toured Hill City’s AgriCenter building, which houses chickens and their baby chicks, and rabbits. Inside the AgriCenter building is an incubator that allows students to watch the chickens’ eggs hatch, in real time. Outside in the building’s enclosed yard is Ace, the goat. There is a vegetable garden for which students are totally responsible. They plant, water, weed, and harvest their crops. And the students love it!
Sonia Chapman, a 20-year Hill City kindergarten teacher who teaches the agriculture program, says students love learning about agriculture, and many have told her that they like coming to her class better than going to physical education. “When they tell me that,” she says, “I feel like I am accomplishing something.”
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE: NEXT GENERATION YOUTH DEVELOPMENT CLUBHOUSE
When Kyshawn came to the Next Generation Youth Development Clubhouse (NxTG) in Dawsonville, Georgia, he was shy, timid, and stressed. Today, he beams talking about joining the school’s chorus and making new friends. He’s a youth leader at the clubhouse, which opened in 2013 and offers an innovative drug-prevention curriculum to students ages 12 to 17. Nuriyah enjoys coming to a place where people are genuinely interested in her and what she enjoys doing. Kyshawn and Nuriyah were among the students who met with Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education Frank Brogan when he visited the clubhouse on his back-to-school tour. Brogan, who serves on the federal Interagency Council on Opioid Addiction and leads the Department’s Opioid Work Group, was joined at NxTG by Saibatu Mansaray, Assistant Director - Public Health, Education and Treatment at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. They held a group chat with students and Brogan asked them, by a show of hands, if the clubhouse was making a difference in their lives. Every student’s hand went up—immediately and enthusiastically!
Eighty-eight percent of students at the clubhouse live in poverty, and 44 percent have a family history of substance abuse. Yet, these students are beating the odds, and Brogan told them they make him proud.
Brogan and Mansaray, joined by staff, education leaders, and community officials, were given a tour of NxTG. Students shared with them the various creative projects they work on at the clubhouse and they also told students about the Administration’s efforts and commitment to fighting the opioid epidemic.
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SECRETARY DEVOS, COUNSELOR CONWAY AND EDUCATION REFORMERS HIGHLIGHT THE NEED FOR EDUCATION FREEDOM SCHOLARSHIPS |
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U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos joined education reformers at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), including Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, to discuss how students, parents, and educators would benefit from the administration’s Education Freedom Scholarships (EFS) proposal. This proposal would provide a $5 billion annual federal tax credit for voluntary donations to state-based scholarship programs that empower families to choose the learning environment and style that best meets their students’ unique needs.
“Our Education Freedom Scholarships proposal,” the Secretary explained in prepared remarks, “doesn’t grow the government bureaucracy one tiny bit…It doesn’t impose any new requirements on states or on families. It doesn’t take a single dollar from public school students, and it doesn’t spend a single dollar of government money. And it doesn’t entangle schools with federal strings or stifling red tape. In fact, it can’t. And that’s by design.”
Counselor Conway stated that the President was ready to sign EFS legislation and encouraged Congress to act.
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SECRETARY ANNOUNCES NEW GRANT AWARDS TO ENCOURAGE RETHINKING EDUCATION |
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Secretary DeVos recently announced 41 new grant awards totaling $123 million to school districts, nonprofit organizations and state educational agencies across the United States who are rethinking education as part of the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) program. The EIR program provides funding to create, implement, or take to scale an evidence-based innovation to improve academic achievement for high-need students, and for a rigorous evaluation so that others may learn from its results. More than $30 million was awarded to eight grantees serving rural areas. The Secretary stated, “I’m excited to see states, school districts and nonprofits proposing more creativity, innovation and personalization on behalf of students.”
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2019 NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON SCHOOLS RECOGNIZED |
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The Secretary recently announced the 362 schools comprising the 2019 National Blue Ribbon Schools. 90 National Blue Ribbon Schools, which are recognized based on a school’s overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps, are located in rural/small city or town locales. More than 9,000 schools have been recognized by the National Blue Ribbon Schools program in its 37-year history. The Secretary and the Department of Education will celebrate the 312 public and 50 non-public school honorees at an awards ceremony Nov. 14-15 in Washington, DC.
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DEPARTMENT HONORS GREEN RIBBON SCHOOLS, DISTRICTS, AND POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTIONS |
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At least five rural schools and districts were among the 53 schools, districts, and postsecondary institutions recognized in the 2019 U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon Schools, District Sustainability Awardees, and Postsecondary Sustainability Awardees. The honorees were named from a pool of candidates nominated by 28 states. Among the selectees are 25 public schools, including three magnet schools and two charter schools, as well as 10 nonpublic schools. Approximately 36 percent of the 2019 honorees serve a disadvantaged student body. Those selected were honored in a ceremony at the U.S. Commerce Department in Washington, DC.
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BRIDGING THE SKILLS GAP: CTE DATA STORY |
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The Department recently released an interactive data story that illustrates career and technical education (CTE) in U.S. high schools and outcomes for students who participate in these programs. The data shows that CTE participation -- especially focusing one’s studies by taking two or more CTE classes within the same career cluster -- is positively correlated with both future employment and future earnings. Yet, while 77% of students take at least one CTE class while in high school, only 37% of participants focus their studies on a single career cluster.
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ED IMPROVES CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AS 2020-21 FAFSA LAUNCHES |
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OESE UNVEILS REDESIGNED WEBSITE
The Department’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) has a redesigned web site, offering new resources, streamlined navigation, trending content, and improved access to funding opportunities and timelines.
SECRETARY DEVOS TAKES STEPS TO ENSURE STATE REPORT CARDS PROVIDE ACCESSIBLE, ACCURATE, TRANSPARENT INFORMATION
On September 24, Secretary DeVos released important information on how local education leaders can make sure parents and caregivers have accurate and accessible information on the performance of schools in their state. The guide, “Opportunities and Responsibilities for State and Local Report Cards,” is aimed at assisting educators with the design and implementation of state and local report cards, as required by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). It follows the release of a special “Parent Guide to State and Local Report Cards” issued by the Department in 2018.
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APPALACHIAN LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL CLASS |
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The Appalachian Regional Commission announced 40 Fellows as members of the inaugural class of the Appalachian Leadership Institute. These Fellows include public policy, community development, education, investment, and other professionals who live and/or work in every one of the Region’s 13 states.
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NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE TRAINING GRANTS |
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 To help develop an industry ready workforce within the food and agricultural sciences, the US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) offers Agriculture Workforce Training Grants. Projects should develop curriculum for workforce training in the food and agricultural sciences at community, junior, and technical colleges/institutes. Eligible Applicants include colleges and universities (including community colleges offering associate degrees or higher); university research foundations; other research institutions and organizations; Federal agencies, national laboratories; private organizations or corporations. The FY 2020 application deadline is May 26, 2020.
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YOU’RE INVITED: NATIONAL #GOOPEN SUMMIT FOR DISTRICTS USING OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
The U.S. Department of Education invites you to join us for the National #GoOpen Summit: Leading with Pedagogy on Thursday and Friday, November 7-8, 2019 at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, DC. The Summit will provide an opportunity for educators and district, state, and organization leaders to connect, collaborate, and share strategies for engaging students and shifting instructional practice through the implementation of OER. Whether you’re from a committed #GoOpen District or State, or from a state or district just beginning to explore OER – we hope you will join us! Learn more about the event and register!
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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION WEEK 2019
Planning is underway for the 20th annual International Education Week (November 18-22). The week, a joint initiative of the Departments of Education and State, gives schools, colleges and universities, and communities an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.
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SHARED VISION DRIVES THIS NATIONAL BLUE RIBBON SCHOOL |
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What makes Ash Fork Elementary in Ash Fork, Arizona, a National Blue Ribbon School? The answer lies within our collective vision of building students to become college and career ready. This vision is shared by administration, teachers, students, and community. We have created a culture based on a growth mindset that has no constraints to our goals and our path to achieving them. Our teachers and administration are constantly exploring research based best practices and programs that both drive our instruction and win the hearts of our students. We take great pride in the fact that our Title I School, with eighty percent free and reduced lunch and a forty percent mobility rate, consistently ranks among the top schools in the state of Arizona. Our "whatever it takes" attitude has not only enriched the lives of our students, but has changed educators' lives as well.
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Find more information and updates on rural education at the Department’s Rural Education Resource Center.
Do you know of a rural school or school leader whose innovative approach would be a great fit for our Rethinking School feature? Do you have a story to share? Do you have friends or colleagues who would be interested in receiving the Education Almanac? You can connect with us at rural@ed.gov.
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All the Best, Michael Chamberlain U.S. Department of Education
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Education Almanac is a product of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Communications and Outreach |
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This newsletter contains hypertext links to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this outside information. Furthermore, the inclusion of links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed, or products or services offered, on these sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites. |
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