In Today's Newsletter
1. Teacher of the Year Nominations
2. School Health ECHO Virtual Learning: Chronic Absenteeism
3. Alaska Library Association Scholarship
4. Coffee and Content
5. Out-of-School Time Conference
6. FY25 Capital Improvement Project Grant Rankings
7. Limited Teacher Certificate and Seal of Biliteracy
8. Code of Ethics (correction from last week)
9. Tsunami Bowl
10. Careers at DEED
11. RFP: Positive Behavioral Interventions
12. National Parent Involvement Day
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NOW OPEN: Teacher of the Year (TOY) Awards!
TOY is an excellent way to acknowledge the expertise, skills, accomplishments, and professionalism of teachers within your school. Nominations close on Jan. 31, 2024.
Any interested Alaska citizen may make nominations for the Alaska Teacher of the Year. Nominees should:
- Have five (5) or more years of experience in the field of education.
- Be a classroom teacher during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years.
The selected individual will serve as the Alaska State Teacher of the Year for the 2025 calendar year.
Click here for the Alaska Teacher of the Year Nomination Form.
Click here to read about our 2024 Teacher of the Year, Catherine Walker (pictured right).
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The School Health ECHO is a virtual learning network intended for professionals in the education setting (administrators, school-based nurses, etc.) to interface with a team of medical and education experts in Alaska. This series is focused on health considerations, answering questions related to educational and school settings, and establishing a safe school environment.
Each session will include public health announcements and updates, a brief presentation followed by Q&A, and guided discussion or case presentation as an integral part of the learning experience.
Next week, the topic will be Chronic Absenteeism. Students who are chronically absent are at serious risk of falling behind in school. The factors behind absenteeism are complex and require multiple solutions.
Join ECHO on November 20th from 3:00-4:00PM to discuss how Alaskan educators are responding to the issue of lower attendance and chronic absenteeism. This is the first of two sessions on the topic. The second session will be on December 7, 2023 and will include experts from AttendanceWorks providing resources for school districts and communities to address this problem.
AkLA has established a scholarship program to provide financial assistance to worthy students pursuing graduate studies leading to a Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies and to encourage graduates to return to Alaska to work in professional library positions. Scholarships may be awarded for both on-campus and/or distance education programs. Preference will be given to an individual meeting the federal definition of Alaska Native ethnicity.
Eligibility
An applicant must be an Alaskan resident who:
- is eligible for acceptance, is currently enrolled, or will be a student in a graduate school program during the academic year, semester, or academic quarter for which the scholarship is received.
- makes a commitment to work in an Alaska library for a minimum of one year after graduation as a paid employee or a volunteer, or for two semesters for one semester’s financial assistance. A scholarship recipient who fails to fulfill this commitment will be expected to repay the money received. Candidates awarded the scholarship must supply proof of admission to an accredited program before the scholarship is disbursed.
Amount
Amount for the next academic year will be $4,000.
Criteria for Selection
An individual will be selected by a Scholarship Committee of AkLA based on the following criteria:
- Financial need
- Demonstrated scholastic ability and writing skills
- Applicant’s response to an essay question regarding their professional goals and objectives in pursuing a library career
- Strength of references. Three Applicant Reference Evaluation Forms are required, at least one of which must be from a librarian. References may include additional comments or letters.
- For more information visit https://akla.org/scholarships/
A complete application packet must be postmarked by January 15 2023. The scholarship recipient will be announced in the spring.
DEED is hosting an amazing line up of Science of Reading speakers. Each month, a new reading leader will share a direct to classroom technique or strategy to add to your Science of Reading toolkit (curricular agnostic), followed by some casual educator chat.
Have questions about reading or choosing interventions? Perhaps you are a single teacher in a village school needing a collaboration partner, or maybe a student just has you stuck and you want a brainstorming partner? This will be an open time for conversation, sharing, and problem solving!
This month, Denise Eide will join us on November 20th.
The ninth annual Alaska Out-of-School Time (AK OST) Conference is the largest convening of afterschool and summer educators in the state and is designed to support the professional development of out-of-school time providers from across Alaska. Themed Together Toward Tomorrow, the conference aims to strengthen the out-of-school time workforce, link arms, and move forward towards change and growth. Past participants have included staff from 4-H, tribal programs, Boys and Girls Clubs, 21st CCLC programs, church youth groups, licensed school-aged childcare, summer camps, and school district afterschool and summer programs.
This ninth year, the AK OST Conference features more than 35 workshops, 3 preconference workshops, site visits, networking reception, and much more!
Join us on November 16-17, 2023 at the Hilton, Anchorage to learn, explore, and connect!
For more information on how to register, please visit www.akostconference.org
This conference is a partnership between the State of Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, the State of Alaska Department of Health, and the Alaska Afterschool Network.
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Lights On Afterschool Success!
Last month, the nation celebrated afterschool programs and their important role in the lives of children, families and communities. In Alaska, 71 programs participated in the Lights On Afterschool event! Wow!
Afterschool programs are vital, yet they don't fully meet demand; in Alaska, for every one child in an afterschool program, there are three more waiting to get into an afterschool program.
DEED’s initial Fiscal Year 2025 priority lists of district-submitted Capital Improvement Project (CIP) grant applications for school construction and major maintenance projects are now available. Priority lists are used by the Department, Governor, and Legislature to determine school construction and major maintenance projects for capital funding during the upcoming budget cycle.
Check out FY25's priority list (as well as previous years' lists) here: Capital Improvement Project Grant Priority Lists - Education and Early Development (alaska.gov)
DEED will hold a public hearing to receive oral and written comments regarding the priority rankings. The hearing will be held via teleconference and open to the public:
November 21, 2023
9:00AM - 4:30PM
Zoom link: us02web.zoom.us/j/81204521999
School districts that submitted a FY25 CIP grant application can request reconsideration of its eligibility determination, the priority ranking assigned to a project, its scope as approved by the department, or the project’s approved budget. Written requests are due by the close of the November 21st public hearing.
Read the full public notice and submit a comment here: Public Notice: Reconsideration of Dept. of Education & Early Development FY2025 CIP Grant Rankings - Alaska Online Public Notices (state.ak.us)
The Department of Education and Early Development proposes to supplement changes to limited teacher certificate regulations previously noticed on December 20, 2022 including adoption of material by reference and proposed amendments to the seal of biliteracy regulation.
You can read the full text here: SUPPLEMENTAL NOTICE OF PROPOSED CHANGES
Public comment closes on November 17, 2023.
PTPC has a Code of Ethics that is online and accessible to all educators. The most recently amended version, published in August 2018, should be utilized by all school districts and distributed to all certified educators. For school boards and other entities that have the Code of Ethics linked, please double check that the most recent version is the linked version, which can be found at the button below.
Mark your calendars! The 27th Annual National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) Alaska Region Tsunami Bowl will be held March 21-24, 2024 in Seward, Alaska.
Team registration is now open through November 19, 2023. Schools can register up to two teams.
Want to learn more about the competition? Check out their Facebook page or email them at: uaf-tsunamibowl@alaska.edu.
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Want to work with DEED? We have a variety of positions currently open, including positions at the new Children's Exploration Center at the Alaska State Museum in Juneau. More information and other job postings can be seen at: Workplace Alaska
The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development works to improve student outcomes utilizing the priorities outlined in Alaska’s Education Challenge. This initiative will provide districts/schools with the opportunity to review, refresh, and/or begin working with Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports through monthly training and coaching sessions.
For students to be able to learn effectively, they need to feel safe and respected, and they need to be responsive to their teachers and peers. PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) provides the routines and systems to provide this solid foundation. Alaska’s Education Challenge Priority 5 addresses the need for a safe and healthy school environment. This training exposes school teams to a behavioral framework that will support growth in positive behavior and school culture, leading to systemic change in schools. Districts/schools will receive support and guidance from PBIS trainers to help with the planning and implementation of their programs. Creating cohorts that are trained by DEED hosted trainers ensures that the goals of the PBIS initiative are successful. The goal of this project is to develop experts in each school who can guide their processes as they work toward positive behavioral routines and procedures.
Proposals are due by 3:00pm AK Standard Time on November 24, 2023.
November 16th is National Parent Involvement Day! The U.S. Department of Education will be hosting a live webinar for parents and families on that day to celebrate parental involvement in our children's education.
This high energy event will focus on the Department’s commitment to supporting parents and the success of their children and will feature the Secretary and other senior Department officials in conversation with Grace Bastidas of Parents Magazine.
Thursday, November 16 at 4pm AKST
Registration link: https://ed-gov.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_BNcAor3cSY2gn0XZs6jOBg
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