Get the latest news from OSDE Science Director Jana Rowland! Included in this month’s issue is important information about a free webinar about keeping your chemical storage clean and safe and details about a program from the Target Corporation to provide money to teachers to attend staff development. PLUS MUCH, MUCH MORE! Get your September JanaGram here.
Here it is. The APRIL JanaGram. (Yes, Jana has been VERY busy)
The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) today released the first official public draft of the K-12 standards as part of the Common Core State Standards Initiative, a process being led by governors and state school superintendents in 48 states, 2 territories, and the District of Columbia. These draft standards, developed together with teachers, school administrators, curriculum content experts and others, seek to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce.
The public draft of the English language arts and mathematics standards can be accessed through the Oklahoma State Department of Education Web site, or at www.corestandards.org. The NGA Center and CCSSO encourage those interested in the standards to provide feedback by Friday, April 2, 2010, via an online survey at www.corestandards.org. The survey will allow for general responses as well as detailed responses regarding specific standards at any grade level.In addition, the Oklahoma State Department of Education would like to receive your comments, questions, and feedback. You may send an email to CommonCoreStandards@sde.state.ok.us and/or complete an online survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CommonCoreOK. The Oklahoma State Department of Education will also be hosting a videoconference on Wednesday, March 31, at 2:30 p.m. for anyone who would like to learn more about the Common Core State Standards Initiative and/or provide feedback directly to the Office of Standards and Curriculum. You may register online for the videoconference at http://sde.state.ok.us/Services/Videoconference/register.html.
The Common Core State Standards Initiative, which began officially in July 2009, will provide states choosing to adopt the standards with common language and common expectations for all students. Governor Brad Henry and State Superintendent Sandy Garrett were among the first to sign on to the state-led initiative, and educators across the state are looking forward to the opportunities that having common standards in English language arts and mathematics could provide to Oklahoma.
If you have any questions about this initiative or how to share your feedback, please email the Oklahoma Common Core Standards Team at CommonCoreStandards@sde.state.ok.us.
————– Additional note from Jana————————
Science common core standards have not yet been developed; however, committees are beginning the process organizing to begin work on science standards projected to be complete in 2011. Science teachers may want to examine the ELA standards (see link above) and make comments/recommendations as there is a section on Literacy in History/Social Studies and Science. You can download the ELA standards at www.corestandards.org, click the link for K-12 standards now available for comment, and click the link just below the introduction. The literacy for History, SS, and Science section is found on pages 53-60. This document is NOT common core science standards; it is a part of the common core ELA standards. You are welcome to provide comments in the manner listed in the message below.
Best wishes,
Jana Rowland, State Science Director, OSDE
Just in time for Spring Break and springing forward for Daylight Savings Time- the March JanaGram from OSDE Science Director Jana Rowland.
Direct from her windowless cubicle deep within the bowels of the Oklahoma State Department of Education comes the February Science News from our favorite bureaucrat, State Science Director Jana Rowland! Can’t you just picture her hunched over her computer keyboard, bathed in the dim light from a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling and the green glow from her cathode-ray tube monitor? ah, budget cuts!
The Oklahoma Legislative session began last week and it doesn’t take long to realize it’s an election year . Attached is a list of the bills that have something to do with education. The list contains the bill numbers, the author, and usually the words “An Act Related to Schools…” Some of the bills are funding measures for may state agencies that are necessary each year, others are “shell” bills that have very little other than a number ascribed to them as yet because there will be other measures rolled up into them or they are awaiting budgetary figures and conference reports.
And there are the others…
Some of the bills have already garnered public attention such as Tom Ivester’s sb1338 which is ” An Act relating to schools; authorizing independent school districts to offer elective courses on Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament to certain students; stating purposes; prohibiting a requirement that students use specific translation as text; requiring certain courses to follow applicable law and certain guidelines; prohibiting certain courses from promoting or disfavoring any religion or nonreligious faith or religious perspective; stating Legislative intent; directing State Board of Education to adopt certain curricular standards by certain date; requiring Attorney General to review standards and ensure compliance with certain provisions; prohibiting Board from adopting standards without approval of Attorney General; directing Board to approve certain teacher training materials and resources by certain date; directing State Superintendent of Public Instruction to distribute list of approved training materials and resources to districts by certain date; requiring certain districts to provide certain materials to teachers of certain courses; prohibiting certain construction; prohibiting requirement of additional funds for certain authority; providing for codification; and providing an effective date.; Effective Date: 11/01/2010″. By the way, Bible as Literature courses are already perfectly legal and have been for some time.
and
Brian Renegar’s HB3047 ” An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2001, Section 1210.513, which relates to participation in the National Assessment of Educational Progress; clarifying language; and providing an effective date.; Effective Date: 11/01/2010. ” Which proposes full state participation in NAEP and a audit of the state curriculum standards.
and
Gary Stanislawski’s, sb1391 “An Act relating to schools; amending 70 O.S. 2001, Section 1210.508, as last amended by Section 8, Chapter 456, O.S.L. 2009 (70 O.S. Supp. 2009, Section 1210.508), which relates to the Oklahoma School Testing Program Act; providing certain exemption for certain students; modifying required end-of-instruction tests for Geometry and Algebra II ; requiring students to take ACT assessment; directing State Board of Education to contract for administration of ACT assessment; limiting responsibility for certain fees or costs; modifying testing window dates; amending Section 6, Chapter 432, O.S.L. 2005, as last amended by Section 11, Chapter 456, O.S.L. 2009 (70 O.S. Supp. 2009, Section 1210.523), which relates to mastery of state academic content standards; modifying requirements for graduation from public high school; providing an effective date; and declaring an emergency.; Effective Date: 07/01/2010 Emergency. ” Which proposes elimination of all EOI test other than English II and Algebra I and substitute the ACT as the state graduation test (be careful what you ask for is all I can say…)
These may or may not be perfectly good ideas, but it’s easy to see why they might have an impact on schools and students across the state. To help you be a better informed Legislature watcher, I’ve attached a list of the prefiled measures that are directly related to education. That doesn’t mean something won’t get changed or amended over the next few months, but it is a starting point. If you wish to know more about each measure and follow it as it changes along the way, go to the Legislature’s web page at http://www.lsb.state.ok.us/. There you can read the text of each bill and follow it’s progress through the legislative process.
Click here to find more news about science teaching events and opportunities from OSDE Science Director Jana Rowland.
Hot off the press! Get your December JanaGram from OSDE Science Director Jana Rowland December Science News 2009.
The new JanaGram for November is here. 
There are several pages of information in this month’s edition and some of it is time-sensitive. Download it today!
By the way… did you see Jana at the recent OSTA Fall Staff Development Conference? Here she is at her presentation. Look for another JanaShow from OSDE State Science Director Jana Rowland at the next OSTA Staff Development event coming this Spring!
Read the latest JanaGram from OSDE Science Director Jana Rowland. This monthly newsletter is chock full of opportunities and programs that savvy science teachers use to their advantage.
Come to the OSTA Fall Staff Development Conference and meet Jana. Give her your email address and get added to one of the several listserves she maintains. Let her know you’ll work on one of the many committee’s she organizes each year. See her excellent presentation linking children’s stories with physical science in elementary grades.
