The State Board of Education's November 14 meeting began with the adoption of a resolution honoring longtime board member Ella B. Bell (District 5), who died Nov. 3. The resolution paid tribute to her nearly 20-year tenure of board service, having begun her first term in 2001, and offered condolences and sympathy to her family. Later, during a discussion at the board work session about reestablishing the Torchbearer Program, members suggested renaming the award in honor of Bell. She was a strong advocate for the program which recognized high-poverty schools across the state for academic success. By statute, Gov. Kay Ivey will name an appointee to serve the balance of Bell's term, and that appointment must be confirmed by the Senate when it convenes for the 2020 legislative session in February. 

In other meeting action, the board:

• Formally accepted the state Teacher Shortage Task Force report of strategies to improve teacher recruitment and retention;
• Approved the state textbook committee recommendations to adopt health textbooks;
• Adopted an emergency rule and intent to adopt a new administrative code rule pertaining to dyslexia therapist endorsement; and
• Adopted a resolution recognizing Erin Howard, a Huntsville City Schools student who was named co-champion of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee and received a $50,000 prize and the opportunity to make multiple national media appearances. 

In the superintendent’s report, Mackey:

• Announced that Dr. Tommy Glasscock, assistant superintendent for Career Technology Education, will retire Jan. 1, 2020;
• Commended the work of the STEM Council for work that will provide a STEM road map for the state’s efforts over the next several years; and
• Reported on an organizational/efficiency study of the ALSDE's certification process. The report and related recommendations, recently completed by Lean Frog education consultant services, will be available soon.

Board Work Session

The board worked through a brief agenda during Thursday's work session, including an update from Deputy State Superintendent Dr. Daniel Boyd about the Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools list. The list, required by the Alabama Accountability Act, identifies schools that place in the bottom six percent in reading and math assessments. Sixty-one schools are identified, and this year, 24 schools improved enough to get off the “failing schools” list. Boyd emphasized that 52 schools on the list had made improvements, some significantly. Some board members asked for clarification about the list, explaining that some of the schools included had received B’s and C’s on the recently released state report card. Boyd explained that the failing list relies only on the standardized state assessment, while the state report card uses six different indicators to compile letter grades. Gov. Ivey was met with a round of applause when she suggested the name “failing schools” be changed. The board strongly agreed and encouraged the pursuit of a name change, which must come by statute. Rep. A.J. McCampbell introduced legislation during the 2019 session to change the designation to “challenged schools,” but the bill did not move. For a deeper dive into the CSI data and state report card, see this AL.com story by Trish Crain.

Alabama's NAEP scores sparked significant discussion, with several board members expressing disappointment about performance in math and reading. Noting that Alabama lost ground since its last NAEP results, Dr. Wayne Reynolds (District 8) asked what would be done differently to produce different results. Mackey said a return to the successful model of coaching for teachers as professional development is essential now for both math and reading. Stephanie Bell (District 3) reminded the board that Alabama once had the strongest reading program in the country with the Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) and lost the significant gains it earned. Students in grades 4, 8 and 12 are randomly selected to take the NAEP assessment using a statistically valid sampling technique. According to the ALSDE, the test was administered to around 5,700 Alabama students per grade. Results are not shared with the individual students, schools or school systems. NAEP is administered nationally, and while not based on any state’s specific academic standards, the assessment is a gauge for overall academic performance by state.

Board members briefly discussed the revised mathematics course of study, which is expected to come up for a vote at the board's December meeting after action was delayed in March when the governor requested the math course of study committee reconvene to review the standards of states whose students have consistently performed well on the NAEP assessment. Mackey indicated changes may still be made and said public comments had been incorporated in the earlier version. Some changes from the original proposal impact middle school grades, and the intent is to ensure there are no gaps when a student transfers to advanced math courses. A new public comment period on the revised course of study is open now through December 2. Once approved, the standards will be voluntary for the 2020-21 school year and required for the 2021-22 school year. A math textbook committee is expected to be named in December.

In other work session news, the state will next work on new English and language arts standards which currently are a year behind schedule. A committee will be appointed in December to begin the work.

Local Board Members Attend State BOE Meeting, Work Session

Roughly 30 school board members were on hand for Thursday's board meeting and work session as part of AASB's State Board of Education Advocacy Day. The two-day event started Wednesday with a panel discussion at the AASB office featuring each of the state BOE members. Thursday, participants began the day with a training session on public education advocacy strategies before traveling to the Gordon Persons Building for an up-close view of the state board conducting business and discussing k-12 priorities at the meeting and work session. 

Following the work session, the board held the first part of a two-day retreat hosted at the office of School Superintendents of Alabama. Thursday's brief retreat session included a presentation by eBOARDsolutions on the Simbli web-based board management software; an update on the strategic plan process, including stakeholder input and next steps; and a report by Bell about the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) meeting and available resources. Part two of the retreat, held Friday, featured a lengthy agenda covering the following topics:

• State Assessment Tool
  Boyd discussed progress on the state's new computer-based reading and math assessment. The test, developed by Data Recognition Corp. with input from Alabama educators, will be administered to grades 2-8 for the first time this spring. Boyd explained the process that will be used to convert scores from the current Scantron assessment to the formula that will be used for the DRC test in order to measure growth, adding that a similar conversion was used to compare Scantron scores to the previous ASPIRE test. Mackey, in response to board member questions about technology resources in all of the state's public school systems, assured the board that all systems have the computer access, equipment and bandwidth required for the DRC assessment. 
• Office of School Improvement 
  Dr. Molly Killingsworth gave an update on how the Office of School Improvement (OSI) is working with the 61 schools listed on the Comprehensive Improvement and Support (CSI) list, explaining that while those schools are the priority, the office also works with schools identified on the Additional Targeted Support and Improvement list, which includes schools with low performance by one or more student subgroups. Killingsworth said OSI spends about 600 "boots-on-the-ground" hours in CSI schools and added that the state report card and related data have been helpful in knowing the specific areas of improvement required in these schools. She also described how OSI is working with regional inservice centers throughout the state to deliver quality professional development. 
  
• Alabama Literacy Act
  Assistant State Superintendent Dr. Elisabeth Davis shared how the ALSDE is working to implement the Alabama Literacy Act, particularly with regard to management of the various deadlines the Act requires. She provided board members a detailed timeline outlining the major components and milestones of the Act. She told the board a big piece of that work is ensuring the requirements of the Act mesh not only with goals the board has indicated, but also with those objectives the department has outlined. Davis also informed the board that the RFP for the state's new reading assessment for grades kindergarten through 3rd grade is available online, with a deadline of Nov. 22 for all proposals. 
• Educator Preparation
  Dr. Jayne Meyer led a discussion about how the department is working with colleges of education to strengthen educator preparation, including a continuous improvement model and on-site visits for those areas that cannot be addressed on paper. She explained that part of this work involves a "balancing act" between Alabama Administrative Code requirements, institutional requirements and accreditation requirements. She also told the board the EdTPA assessment is having a positive impact, as it drives faculty communication and collaboration across institutions. 
  
• Educator Certification
  Shavon Cummings, educator certification coordinator, shared details of the recent review of the Educator Certification Department conducted by Lean Frog. She said recommendations from the review include strategies to streamline processes and improve efficiency, particularly with regard to eliminating the number of manual processes that have a "taxing effect" on staff. She also discussed concerns regarding certification delays, explaining that the bulk of delays are the result of issues related to background checks. 
• Computer Science Act
  ALSDE Education Administrator Dawn Morrison announced that interviews have been completed and an offer made for the position of computer science specialist, which is required by the Computer Science Act passed during the 2019 legislative session. She also informed the board that courtesy appointment letters for the Computer Science Task Force have gone out from the governor's office and thanked the board for naming Dr. Cynthia McCarty to serve as the board's representative on that task force. In addition, Morrison told the board that language from the STEM Roadmap to Success will be included in the new state strategic plan for education. 
• Mental Health 
  ALSDE Education Specialist Shaundalyn Elliott of the Prevention & Support Services section delivered a presentation covering the department's efforts to provide mental health supports. She highlighted work taking place as part of the grant program, AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education), which involves a partnership between the ALSDE and the Alabama Department of Mental Health. The five-year program is based on a training model that builds capacity for school systems of similar demographics and within close proximity to share knowledge and resources related to mental health.

Other topics briefly discussed at Friday's retreat session included NAEP, the status of Common Core in Alabama and the latest information on college and career readiness. 

The next State BOE meeting will take place Dec. 12 at 10 a.m. in Montgomery, with a work session to follow.