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Volume 11, Issue 29

July 19, 2017

Statbook 2017 Data Collection Now Available

Audience: Superintendents, Business Managers
The 2017 Statbook application is now available on the AOE website. Business managers should have received username and password information to login to our secure server to upload their completed files.
Contact: Help Desk at (802) 479-1044 for application issues, and Sean Cousino at sean.cousino@vermont.gov or Alena Marand at alena.marand@vermont.gov for data questions and issues

Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K Introductory Training

Audience: Pre-K Teachers, Administrators
Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) is an assessment tool and professional development system that measures the interactions in classrooms and helps teachers improve those interactions. It is recommended by the Vermont Agency of Education and is used as part of the Vermont Step Ahead Recognition System (STARS). This free, one-day workshop will give you an overview of what CLASS measures and how it helps teachers improve interactions in ten different dimensions, including Behavior Management, Concept Development, and Language Modeling. The training is at the AOE offices in Barre on September 5, 2017. Register for the CLASS Pre-K Introductory Training.
Contact: Ellen Cairns at (802) 479-1443 or ellen.cairns@vermont.gov

BEST/Act 230 Funding Opportunities

Audience: Superintendents, BEST/Act 230 Coordinators, Directors of Special Education, Curriculum Coordinators, Principals
For the 2017-2018 school year, supervisory unions may apply for BEST/ Act 230 funds and/or a BEST/Act 230 Innovation Grant to support implementation of evidence-based practices that support positive school climate, student proficiency, and personalization within a tiered system of academic and behavioral supports to assist all students in working toward attainment of the standards. Additional information and specifics will be found with the BEST grant application
Contact: Debbie Lesure at (802) 479-1424 or debbie.lesure@vermont.gov or Sabine Baldwin at (802) 479-1393 or sabine.baldwin@vermont.gov

Funding Opportunity - Upgrade Your Diesel Fleet

Audience: Facility and Transportation Directors, Maintenance Directors, Superintendents, Business Managers, School Board Chairs
The Department of Environmental Conservation is offering an incentive to accelerate the replacement or retrofit of older school buses (even if you contract out transportation services), tractors and other diesel vehicles/equipment. Funds available through the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) are making it possible for up to 25 percent of the costs to be reimbursed for the early replacement of diesel vehicles and equipment, up to 100 percent of the costs to retrofit diesel vehicles with exhaust controls, or up to 25 percent of the costs to be reimbursed for retrofitting diesel vehicles with idle reduction technologies. The objective of the program is to help reduce diesel emissions and children's exposure to diesel exhaust. The deadline to apply for DERA grant funds is August 14, 2017. Learn about the benefits of retrofitting school buses.
Contact: Maria Davies at (802) 622-4022 or maria.davies@vermont.gov


Courtesy Postings

The views, opinions, and resources shared in this section of the WFM are solely those of the original contributors. The Agency of Education does not endorse the views expressed by these contributors and reserves the right to refuse submissions. Questions related to any of these resources should be directed to the organizations, people and opportunities as shared.

TIME for Teachers Foundational Literacy Skills

The TIME for Teachers interactive course provides a conceptual understanding of how children learn to read and the elements of effective reading and spelling instruction. Topics covered include current research, developmental models, and practical teaching strategies and activities to help teachers understand students' evolving insights into the workings of our alphabetic system. Participants will gain an awareness of the power and usefulness of explicit, systematic instruction in phonemic awareness, phonology, phonics, and morphology. Participants will also leave this course understanding how the English language works and how teachers can foster literacy for all learners. Knowing how our language works is the key to delivering quality reading and spelling instruction. This course is available for three graduate credits. Held at the Stern Center for Language and Learning in Williston, VT from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with dates from Monday, October 9, 2017 to Monday, January 22, 2018. 
Contact: Caitlin Niland, intake coordinator for professional learning, at (802) 878-2332 or proflearning@sterncenter.org

One-Day Summer Science Training with the Vermont Energy Education Program

This August learn how to use the Vermont Energy Education Program's (VEEP) Next Generation Science Standards-aligned kits and curricula in your K-12 classroom. Topics include climate change, the electricity grid, circuits and solar PVs, the Solar Challenge (building solar collectors), and solar and wind fundamentals for young students. Training is $175/day; includes lunch, snacks, and a voucher for free use of a VEEP kit in the 2017/18 school year. Learn more and register for the VEEP Science Trainings.
Contact: Dana Dwinell-Yardley at dana.dwinell-yardley@veep.org

Integrate Technology and Social Media Into Your Upcoming School Year

Come learn how tech tools can help you become more organized, efficient and effective as an educator through this course from the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative (VT-HEC). Technology tools can help you be more efficient and effective no matter the age of your students, the content you teach or the setting in which you work. Integrating Technology to Maximize Learning is a three-credit graduate course, instructed by Chris CichoskiKelly and Mike Berry, August 7-11, 2017 (plus one day in the fall: October 28, 2017) in Waterbury, VT. Mike and Chris will provide individual consultation for designing and completing final projects that incorporate these tools into your work this fall.  This course got rave reviews last year, so don't wait to register.
Contact: Julie Medose at (802) 498-3350 or julie.medose@vthec.org

Mosaic Learning Center Presents Student Summit Facilitator Training

The Mosaic Student Summit is a planning tool designed to help teams engage in long-range planning for students, focused on amplifying strengths and supporting areas of challenge. The Mosaic Learning Center is offering a Student Summit Facilitator Certification Training for anyone interested in learning how to coordinate a Student Summit. The Mosaic Student Summit is founded on the premise that we excel by amplifying strengths not by simply fixing weaknesses. Stories that highlight students’ moments of greatest success and joy in learning, whether academically or socially, offer invaluable insight for creating effective and meaningful instruction. Inevitably the images that arise from these stories are impactful, memorable and help us personally connect to a more focused purpose. By entering the design of students programs through a gateway of strength, we are able to more holistically support areas of challenge.
Contact: Michelle Irish, director of innovation development and schools, at (802) 658-9176 or michelle@mosaiclearningcenter.com

Family Engagement in Windham County

This conference for educators, community service and healthcare providers, families and community leaders will be held September 19, 2017 in Brattleboro. The conference is free to those who work or live in Windham County. Learn more and register for Family Engagement in Windham County.
Contact: Catherine Diduk at catherine@healthandlearning.org


Subscribe Online

The field memo has time-sensitive and relevant information designed for students, teachers, and staff. The agency encourages principals, headmasters, and superintendents to share the memo with their education community. Additionally, individuals can subscribe or unsubscribe online.

Questions? Email Ted Fisher at ted.fisher@vermont.gov.