- MTSS Educational Equity Brief
- Recorded Webinar: Accommodations and Modifications
- FIRST Robotics Mentor and Coach Training
- Shaping Educator Quality: Public Input Needed
- School Safety: What If Wednesday
- The Vermont AOE Case Study Learning Project
- National Radon Poster Contest
- Webinar: Agriculture Literacy in Libraries
- Courtesy Posts
MTSS Educational Equity Brief
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, Leadership Team Members
Welcome to the Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) Educational Equity Brief series. This is the initial brief, which provides context around the entire series. Six more briefs are forthcoming—one every other month. Each brief will contain, resources, research, and practical suggestions intended to support the comprehensive and systemic work of leadership teams around educational equity within the MTSS framework. The information, strategies, and conversation starters will be beneficial in helping to close educational equity gaps which can lead to closing academic achievement gaps. We hope that you find this information helpful and encourage your feedback on how we can make the briefs more applicable to your specific areas of interest. View the MTSS Educational Equity Brief, Vol. 1 Issue 1 online.
Contact: Emma Louie, Ed.D. at (802) 479-1336 or emma.louie@vermont.gov
Recorded Webinar: Accommodations and Modifications
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, Special Education Administrators, CTE Administrators, CTE Special Populations Coordinators
A supplemental non-regulatory guidance memo for special education teams and career technical education (CTE) was communicated in July. In an effort to provide additional supports to CTE centers and IEP teams, the Agency of Education’s CTE and special education monitoring teams have worked with WestEd to produce a recorded webinar that specifically addresses accommodations and modifications. The webinar is approximately one hour long. Viewers will need to provide their name and e-mail address prior to accessing the recording.
Contact: John Spinney at john.spinney@vermont.gov or (802) 479-1495, or Jay Ramsey at jay.ramsey@vermont.gov or (802) 479-1343
FIRST Robotics Mentor and Coach Training
Audience: Educators, Administrators and Parents
Registration is open for a FIRST Robotics Mentor and Coach Training Day, Saturday, September 8, 2018, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center. Trainers from For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) and FIRST Championship teams will be on hand to train existing and future coaches and mentors on the fundamentals of robotic design, coding, team management, collaboration, and cooperation. Stipends are available to trainees attending to develop robotics study units. The FIRST Robotics Training Day will also include this year’s FIRST Tech Challenge Launch - an event that is celebrated through video conferencing globally. FIRST Robotics is a Vermont Principals Association sanctioned activity.
Contact: Doug Webster at doug.webster@vermont.gov or (802) 578-7738
Shaping Educator Quality: Public Input Needed
Audience: Vermont Educators, Parents and Community Members
The Vermont Legislature has asked the Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators (VSBPE) to determine if educator licensing requirements are appropriate. We are seeking input from parents, educators and the public. Your anonymous responses will help us create a report for legislators to consider. Please complete the Educator Quality Survey by September 13, 2018.
Contact: Debi Price at debora.price@vermont.gov
School Safety: What if Wednesday
Audience: Superintendents, Principals, School Crisis Planning Team Members
This week's What if Wednesday for August 29, 2018, is designed to initiate a conversation about school safety. Please share this easy to use school safety training opportunity with all appropriate faculty, staff and school crisis planning team members.
Contact: Rob Evans, School Safety Liaison Officer, at revans@margolishealy.com
The Vermont AOE Case Study Learning Project
Audience: All secondary teachers (general and special education), principals, curriculum coordinators, career and technical education center staff, and personalized learning plan/Flexible Pathways coordinators/advisors
This resource is the result of several years of work aimed at answering questions educators have raised about the implications of personalized, proficiency-based education for students with disabilities. The goal of these case studies is to provide exemplars of the inter-relationship between a student’s personalized learning plan (PLP), IEP transition plan and the student’s flexible pathway to meeting proficiency-based graduation requirements (PBGRs). These case studies will provide examples of how our fictional Happy Valley High School executed the requirements and intent of Act 77, the VT Education Quality Standards, and IDEA. These case scenarios provide potential models that can be adapted to fit each school’s particular context. These models are not new requirements but rather tangible exemplars of how these plans might be developed to support rather than duplicate each other. Additionally, this resource showcases a strategy for making PBGRs accessible for students with disabilities. The case studies can be found on the agency website.
Contact: John Spinney at john.spinney@vermont.gov
Call for Submissions: National Radon Poster Contest
Audience: Principals, Nurses, Science Teachers, Art Teachers, Health Teachers
Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas present in soil and bedrock that enters and accumulates in buildings. It is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. The National Radon Poster Contest promotes the artist’s education about radon and raises awareness among those who see their poster about radon testing and the danger of radon in their homes. This is a great activity for a science, art or health class for students ages 9 to 14. Artwork from winning posters will be used to promote radon testing in Vermont over the coming year. The deadline for submission to the Vermont Radon Program is November 2, 2018. Selected posters will be submitted to the National Radon Poster Contest. For more information visit the Vermont Health Department Website.
Contact: Vermont Radon Program at radon@vermont.gov
Webinar: Agriculture Literacy in Libraries
Audience: Librarians, history teachers, farm to school coordinators, child nutrition professionals
Registration is open for Agriculture Literacy in Libraries on Thursday, August 30, 2018, from 2 to 3 p.m. Using Everybody Wins Vermont, Rooted in Vermont, and Agricultural Literacy Week as examples, this will highlight how libraries and other community organizations can collaborate and partner on programming that increases outreach to new audiences, enhances the visibility of all partners and celebrates community.
Contact: Joy Worland at joy.worland@vermont.gov or (802) 636-0027
Courtesy Posts
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.
Research Project by, for and about LGBTQ+ Teachers in Vermont
Teachers in Vermont who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum are invited to join a new participatory action research project starting this fall, led by Dr. Hannah Miller (Northern Vermont University – Johnson). The goal of the research is to make Vermont’s K-12 schools more inclusive and supportive of LGBTQ+ teachers. The time commitment is 10 hours this fall, with an opportunity to present at the TIC Conference on November 3, 2018. Meetings will take place at NVU-Johnson. Interested teachers should contact Hannah on or before September 1, 2018.
Contact: Hannah Miller at hannah.miller@northernvermont.edu or (802) 635-1322
VSAC Seeking Two Outreach Counselors
The Vermont Student Assistance Corporation needs outreach counselors in the Northeast Kingdom and Rutland areas to support middle and high school students who are participants in Vermont state GEAR UP grant. GEAR UP is a grant provided to VSAC through the U.S. Department of Education, designed to increase the high school graduation and college enrollment rates for low-income and/or first-generation students. Learn more and apply online at the VSAC Website. The position is open until filled.
Contact: Randi Brevik at brevik@vsac.org or (802) 654-3770
Three Credit Academy for New and Aspiring Curriculum Leaders
The Champlain Valley Educator Development Center is hosting a year-long, three graduate credit Curriculum Academy: Launching the Learning Year, facilitated by Stuart Weiss and Linda P. Keating, beginning October 5, 2018. The five sessions will be hosted at CVEDC's classroom in Colchester and will be designed to align with Michael Fullan's four components of the Coherence Framework. Experts in the field will be at each session to provide guidance in curriculum improvement cycles, contemporary approaches to curriculum, grant development and management, instruction and assessments, communication, and more. Participants will develop a strong cohort of curriculum leaders to network with moving forward.
Contact: Lauren Wooden at lauren@cvedcvt.org or (802) 497-1642
Ping Chong and Company Teacher Workshop
Schools attending the October 24, 2018, Flynn Student Matinee Series performance by Ping Chong and Company, "Voices of Muslim Identity," are encouraged to participate in a unique opportunity to engage their students in devising an original theatrical presentation inspired by the performance and guided by expert members of the company. This session prepares teachers to collaborate with Flynn teaching artists in participating in this project. Registration costs $20.
Contact: Lauren Genta at schoolprograms@flynncenter.org or (802) 652-4508