news@ADE

Link here to Dr. Kimbrell’s address this week in which he talks about improving the charter school application and monitoring process, getting ready for the Benchmarks and the state’s School Improvement Grants.
Posted by JJT.

If you haven’t already, check out the February 10 issue of Education Week. Conway School District and the state of Arkansas are highlighted in “State’s Fiscal Stability Allows for Long View,” an article included so far in special section looking at the impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Here’s a quote from the story, which was written by Education Week reporter Alyson Klein: “Instead of just filling budget holes as it did elsewhere, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed by Congress last February offered Arkansas — one of the few bright spots in a dismal national landscape for K-12 spending — a rare opportunity to make lasting investments in student outcomes.”
Posted by JJT.

State offices opening two hours late today. No word yet on plans for today’s ASBE meeting.

All of us who’ve worked here for more than a year know that parking gets tight during legislative sessions. Well, it’s time to strap on those figurative seatbelts and muster through the next few weeks. The 2010 session begins Monday.
Darrell S. Hedden with the Arkansas State Capitol Police alerts ADE staffers that “session parking” will be in place on the 8th and throughout the session.
Many assigned parking spaces may have been relocated from normal non-session parking to in- session parking. If any agency or employee, currently having an assigned parking place, needs assistance locating their parking place, contact the State Capitol Police at 682-5173 for assistance.
Posted by JJT.

In his latest video address, Education Commissioner Tom W. Kimbrell talks about the recent good news concerning Arkansas’s education data system as well as the remediation report released by the Arkansas Department of Education last month.

The Office of Communications is now responsible for the final posting of Commissioner’s Memos. We will do our best to look at these daily and post as quickly as possible. Please e-mail julie.thompson@arkansas.gov and hallie.hughes@arkansas.gov if you have any questions or concerns with your memo being posted.
Posted by JJT.

Click here to watch Dr. Kimbrell’s weekly address as he discusses the impact of the state’s budget cuts on education and ADE’s recent release of the grade inflation report.
Posted by JJT.

A winter storm may be on the horizon, but, as usual, looks like we won’t know for sure until Friday morning. Don’t forget, there’s a way to be notified when the State has made decisions about delayed openings or closings of offices. Just go to this Web site and fill out the form: http://www.arkansas.gov/notifications/index.php.
Closing are announced on local television stations as well.
Posted by JJT.

In a recent report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools entitled “How State Charter Laws Rank Against the New Model Public Charter School Law,” Arkansas placed 15th among the 40 states with charter school laws. The analysis ranked state’s according to a list of 20 major components, each of which contained sub-components. the componenents given the largest by the alliance were:
* Transparent Charter Application, Review, and Decision-making Processes
* Performance-based Charter Contracts Required
* Comprehensive Charter School Monitoring and Data Collection Processes
* Clear Processes for Renewal, Nonrenewal, and Revocation Decisions
The report states that, “Along with Massachusetts, Arkansas ranks the highest on our four ‘quality control’ components.”
Out of a possible 208 points, Minnesota scored the highest with 152 points. Arkansas had 109 points and the lowest scoring state, Maryland, had 41.
Posted by JJT.

ADE has a new organization chart to reflect changes in the agency made by Commissioner Kimbrell and Deputy Commissioner Julian. The goal is to create an agency structure that allows ADE to be as supportive to Arkansas schools as possible.
Posted by JJT.