Teachers Sought for U.S. Dept. of Education’s Teaching Ambassador Fellowship Program

Since 2008, the Department has employed eighty outstanding teachers on a full- or part-time basis through the Teaching Ambassador Fellowship program. This highly selective program was created because in the belief that teachers should have meaningful opportunities to both contribute to and understand the policies that impact their students and school communities. When families, students and other teachers want information about education, it is most often to teachers that they turn.

The Teaching Ambassador Fellowship supports the Department’s mission by employing a diverse cadre of teachers to gain significant knowledge about the Department information and resources, share this information with other educators across the country and contribute their classroom expertise to the national dialogue.

Teaching Ambassador Fellows are outstanding teachers, with a record of leadership, strong communication skills and insights into educational policy based in classroom expertise. They come with networks of support from their professional communities and have participated in training or development programs that have prepared them to write and speak frequently about teaching, educational leadership and/or policy.

The Washington Fellowship is a full-time appointment based at the Department’s Headquarters in Washington. The Classroom Fellowship enables teachers to participate on a part-time basis for the Department, in addition to their regular school responsibilities, working in collaboration with the Department’s Regional Offices.

All Teaching Ambassador Fellows spend one year learning about key federal programs and policies; sharing their expertise with federal staff members; and providing outreach and communication about federal initiatives to other educators on behalf of the Department in order to help teachers understand and implement these efforts at the federal, state and local levels, to improve the likelihood of their success. For the Fellows, the program adds greater knowledge of educational policy and leadership to their toolkits to contribute to solutions at all levels for long intractable challenges in education.

Applications for the U.S. Department of Education’s fifth cohort of Teaching Ambassador Fellows are now open. The application period will close on January 29, 2013 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. For more information about the application process, visit the program page at www.ed.gov/programs/teacherfellowship or go directly to the applications for the Washington and Classroom Fellowships on www.usajobs.gov.

U.S. Dept. of Education Memo on Sequestration

Click here for a memo from the U.S. Department of Education regarding fund sequestration. The memo was e-mailed to area superintendents earlier this summer.

Draft Next Generation Science Standards - Ready for Review

The first public draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is available at www.nextgenscience.org from May 11 to June 1. They welcome and appreciate your feedback.

The NGSS have been written as student performance expectations grouped by topics, and can be viewed in the topical groupings or individually. The draft performance expectations are composed of the three dimensions from the NRC's Framework for K-12 Science Education. These draft performance expectations describe how students will demonstrate their understanding.

To review the draft standards, go to www.nextgenscience.org. When you are ready to provide comments, click on any of the links that say "Go to the NGSS Survey." Be sure to submit your survey by June 1. Feedback collected during the comment period will be organized and shared with the leading states and writing team members. After the feedback is considered, a feedback report will be issued that will explain how feedback was handled and why.

Feedback from across the nation will be used to fine tune the next generation science standards. The anticipated final standards will probably not occur until early 2013. At which time states may begin their adoption of the standards.

From the Desk of Kevin Jennings--Bullying: Setting a Clear Policy

The following message comes from the desk of Kevin Jennings, Assistant Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Education

This fall, a rash of student suicides linked with bullying has startled the nation and galvanized action. On December 15, in response to requests for assistance from state and local officials across the country to deal with bullying-related suicides, Secretary Duncan distributed a memo to state leaders outlining key components of strong state bullying laws and policies. The technical assistance memo is intended to serve as a reference for state and local officials developing or revising anti-bullying legislation or policies. You can access the memo at : http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-education-secretary-highlights-best-practices-bullying-policies

Some might say “a policy is not going to solve this problem.” And they’re right -- by itself, a policy won’t end bullying. But there can be no solution to this problem without a clear policy. When we put in place clear policies, we set expectations for student conduct and empower educators to uphold standards for good behavior. Without policies, that work becomes all that much harder if not impossible.

We know that a policy alone can’t solve the bullying problem, but it’s the foundation on which a solution can be built. We hope you will find this memo useful as you craft state and local policies to help reduce the number of tragedies we have experienced in the past year.

OJJDP Bulletin Provides Overview Of Gang Prevention Research

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has published Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs. The bulletin presents an overview of gang research and programs in the United States and examines how gangs form and why youth join them. It also describes how community members can start assessing their gang problems and enhance prevention and intervention activities to help prevent delinquency and gang violence. The author identifies promising and effective programs for gang prevention.

Resources: Gang Prevention: An Overview of Research and Programs (NCJ 231116) is available at www.ojjdp.gov/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=253165

Print copies can be ordered online from the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.

Final Version of National Technology Education Plan Available

The final version of the National Education Technology Plan (NETP) emphasizes “enhancing academic instruction through Internet-based learning, a decreased emphasis on ‘seat time’ and a preference for more flexibility.” The document also includes plans to fund the creation of open-source resources for schools and online professional learning communities for teachers, among other initiatives. The five goals include recommendations and one of the five essential components of learning powered by technology: learning, assessment, teaching, infrastructure and productivity. Go to the following link to view the plan. http://www.ed.gov/technology/netp-2010

Resource to Establish a Stop Bullying Campaign

Earlier this week, the Department of Education urged the nation’s educators to ensure that they are complying with their responsibilities to prevent bullying and harassment, as laid out in federal laws. Districts are encouraged to visit a practical website offered by the federal government's U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Located at http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/, the website contains ready-to-use materials for administrators at all levels and will even give you a wonderful jump on establishing a Stop Bullying Now Campaign for your schools. Check it out and use the materials to win approval of the campaign with your leadership team by going to Starting a Campaign at http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/adults/start-a-campaign.aspx. Hundreds of pages of downloadable materials and advice are available on the website.