This message was sent to ##Email## May 7, 2020       Home  |  Membership  |  Events  |  Advocacy  |  Careers  |  Academy Archive  |   Subscribe      ALAS EVENTS ALAS National is hiring! ALAS Apply for our current available careers: SLA Academic Administrator Business Development Services    SCHOOL LEADERS NEWS Latino superintendents: 'Going back to normal' not their goal after coronavirus crisis The 74 Richard Carranza, chancellor of New York City public schools, says he doesn't allow people to talk about "going back to normal." Normal, he said in a virtual convening hosted by the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, was a system in which social and economic privilege determined too much about the quality of a student's education — from funding to access to expectations. "Normal was never good enough for our kids," said Carranza, who oversees the nation's largest school district, with 1.1 million students.  READ MORE Will kids affected by the digital divide be ready for next school year? By Sheilamary Koch (commentary) A poll of California parents conducted from March 26 to April 1 showed that a majority fear major educational setbacks for their children due to school closures. As 39 states confirm that schools will stay closed for the rest of the academic year and some begin to discuss closures extending into summer and fall, educators are grappling with how to sufficiently prepare students for next school year. "We are bracing ourselves for an unprecedented, historic academic regression experienced by our most fragile population of students," Alberto Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, told USA Today.  READ MORE    SPONSORED CONTENT Benchmark Education Free Bilingual Online Library for Four Months District leaders can now arrange a free, four-month subscription to 3,500 e-books in English or Spanish. These leveled literacy and content-area e-books for K-8 students can be used at home or in school. Engaging formats and topics help students make more progress and avoid the summer slump. Click to Request Free Online Library or More Information.   Schools lean on staff who speak students' language to keep English learners connected Education Week For weeks, Alicia Araje-Van Dyk, a multilingual liaison in the Burlington, Vt., schools, has juggled late-night check-ins and predawn wakeup calls. There are the 1 a.m. calls with Swahili-speaking parents — many of them fresh off 4 p.m. to midnight shifts as essential workers — struggling to use internet hot spots and access online classes for their children in English, a language they barely understand. Hours later, Van Dyk is often back at it again, stirring pre-teens and teenagers out of bed for their morning classes with early morning texts and phone calls.  READ MORE What schools will look like when they reopen: Scheduled days home, more online learning, lots of hand-washing USA Today Imagine, for a moment, American children returning to school this fall. The school week looks vastly different, with most students attending school two or three days a week and doing the rest of their learning at home. At school, desks are spaced apart to discourage touching. Some classrooms extend into unused gymnasiums, libraries or art rooms — left vacant while schools put on hold activities that cram lots of children together.  READ MORE Make something good happen By: Debra Josephson Abrams (commentary) What kind of world do you want to be a part of? While the answer may seem at once easy to conceptualize and ridiculous in its impossibility to implement, there are public and private institutions and organizations accomplishing what too many others dismiss as too…too expensive, too time-consuming, too difficult…too whatever. We can be overwhelmed considering the Herculean tasks before us. However, we can learn that, as internationally acclaimed scholar, ethologist, and environmentalist Dr. Jane Goodall asserts, "Act locally first, see that you make a difference — then you dare to think globally."  READ MORE How to safely stay connected with students during COVID-19 eSchool News As COVID-19 continues to spread, educators worldwide are forced to reassess their lesson plans and adapt their curricula to accommodate e-Learning. Within the U.S. alone, statewide school closures will demand remote learning for the final months of the 2019-2020 school year. The implications for e-Learning, in a U.S. education culture still dominated by in-person classes (especially at the K-12 level), cannot be overstated.  READ MORE    TECHNOLOGY Teachers use high- and low-tech means to reach English language learners during coronavirus crisis The Hechinger Report Administrators at Dorchester School District Two in suburban Summerville, South Carolina, were well aware of the digital divide when they decided to give students both paper and online resources after shuttering schools because of coronavirus. But even their best efforts have some educators worried, especially those who teach English to speakers of other languages.  READ MORE Study: Hispanic students interested in STEM but underrepresented in classes, careers Education DIVE The report — produced in partnership with Hispanic Heritage Foundation, YWCA USA and Google.org — urges schools to continue supporting Hispanic students as they pursue STEM courses and careers, and to provide equitable access to high-quality STEM curriculum. It also suggests educators and other supportive adults should continue to encourage and mentor Hispanic students in the STEM fields, especially female ones.  READ MORE 'The differences between the haves and have-nots:' Hispanic students disproportionately lack internet access The Denver Post When Vanessa Baca wraps up her full-time housekeeping job, there are only a few hours left on the clock. But the work day has just begun. The Adams County single mother must cook, clean and tend to her children's needs, but emails from her kindergartener's teacher alerting her to which assignments the 6-year-old has yet to complete weigh on her. Baca was grateful Welby Community School provided her child with a tablet when school buildings were closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, freeing up the family computer for her college-aged son.  READ MORE Schools may need an extra $5 billion for online learning EdScoop Lawmakers have made additional funding available to ensure students have access to internet and online learning during the pandemic, but according an analysis by the education group Funds for Learning, schools are going to require more than $5 billion to ensure students can continue their educations at home for the foreseeable future.  READ MORE 4 tips to deliver distance learning effectively and efficiently eSchool News When everyone in our district received the message that school would be closing, many people's first reaction was to think we simply had a long spring break. But not us educators — teachers across our district immediately got to work, learning new technologies and adjusting curriculum for our new reality: distance learning.  READ MORE    POLICY CORNER $300M federal grants to states for distance learning Language Magazine U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has announced more than $300 million in discretionary grant funds will be made available for states to use to create adaptable, innovative learning opportunities for K-12 and postsecondary learners in response to the COVID-19 national emergency. The grants will be funded through the Education Stabilization Fund, authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.  READ MORE From triage to recovery: Issues states will address in school reopening plans Education Week As nearly every state commits to keeping its schools closed for the remainder of the current school year, a group representing state education officials nationwide has taken inventory of all of the issues they must address when they eventually reopen buildings and welcome students back for in-person learning.  READ MORE Ed Department IDEA waiver requests create need for 'clarity and certainty' Education DIVE As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos this week submitted to Congress waiver requests that, among other changes, include flexibilities for transition timelines under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. But the flexibilities called for by the U.S. Department of Education don't completely align with what education leaders had conveyed were necessary.  READ MORE    EDUCATION HEADLINES Survey: Teachers favor moving on to next year's content in the fall Education DIVE 65% of teachers in a new nationwide poll favor starting next year with "regularly scheduled instruction" over other options, such as revisiting concepts from the end of this semester, extending next school year or offering students the chance to repeat a grade. Conducted by the Collaborative for Student Success, the results show administrators — who made up about 12% of the 5,555 respondents — think beginning the next year with April 2020 concepts is the best strategy for addressing learning loss due to school closures. Advocates and policymakers, about 250 respondents in the sample, agreed with administrators.  READ MORE A strategy for giving corrective feedback to ELLs Edutopia Using sentence frames and explicit feedback thoughtfully can provide the right balance of structure and scaffolding for English language learners.  READ MORE Returning to school buildings in the fall will be complicated. In some places, it's far from clear it will happen Chalkbeat When school buildings started to close due to the coronavirus, many teachers and parents thought the disruption would last a few weeks. As the school closures extended, many have clung to the idea that if they made it to fall, life would return to normal. That's not looking so certain right now. Teachers unions are warning that sending educators into crowded buildings without widespread testing for coronavirus will amount to an unacceptable risk. Officials in big city districts are finding that some ideas for keeping students further apart, like running extra bus routes and reducing class sizes, could be expensive at a time when budgets are tight.  READ MORE How teachers are fighting to make meaningful connections with students The New York Times Teachers are the original gatherers. They're in charge of bringing a group together and of thinking about how to create an experience for the whole, every single day. And teachers are in the transformation business. At the end of every school year, young people are supposed to leave changed. That's a tall order — particularly now, when we're forced to limit what we can do together and we're teaching on Zoom.  READ MORE Langevin seeks more funding for English language learners amid remote schooling WPRI More help could soon be on the way for English language learners struggling with distance learning, thanks to a letter co-written by Rep. Jim Langevin. Langevin, D-Rhode Island, and Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-New York, sent a letter to House leadership asking for additional support for English learners in future COVID-19 relief legislation.  READ MORE How to help students navigate this social-emotional rollercoaster EdSurge Schools across the country have moved at different paces in efforts to maintain a semblance of normalcy during the final months of the 2019-2020 school year. In the past month, we've heard countless stories from school administrators, teachers and parents about the stress caused by the shift to remote learning.  READ MORE How to leverage digital tools for class discussions District Administration Magazine Consider these options to engage learners and give them a voice when schedules won't permit connections for Zoom, or similar platform, meetings.  READ MORE Report: US reading, math scores drop after Common Core implementation Education DIVE The report will likely strengthen the argument of policymakers pushing to move away from the standards. Florida, for example, recently dropped Common Core State Standards with an executive order from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The state has released new academic standards, expected to be implemented in the 2021-2022 school year, that include changes to English and math instruction, emphasize civics education and streamline testing. Florida stakeholders drew inspiration from Minnesota, which developed its own math standards rather than using Common Core, and is a top-performing state in math.  READ MORE Survey: Some parents concerned their children won't be ready for next year Education Week While most parents of K-12 students seem pleased with the communication and educational activities being provided by schools during the COVID-19 shutdowns, some are still concerned about how prepared their children will be for the next school year, according to the latest findings from a nationwide survey by the University of Southern California.  READ MORE     CAREERS New Postings Every Week on ALAS Website! 04/27/20 — Business Development Services Consultant, Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), Remote 04/24/20 — Assistant Director III (2 Openings) — Early Childhood Special Education and Special Education, School District of Springfield R-12, Springfield, MO 04/22/20 — Superintendent, Escambia County School District, Escambia County, FL 04/21/20 — Academy Principal (Independent Study), Visions in Education, CA 04/21/20 — Chief Executive Officer, High Tech High, San Diego, CA 04/21/20 — Director of Instruction, Visions in Education, Sacramento, CA 04/21/20 — Special Education Manager, Visions in Education, Sacramento, CA 04/21/20 — Superintendent, Millcreek Township School District, Erie, PA 04/16/20 — SLA Academic Administrator, Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS), Remote 04/15/20 — Director V- Special Services, School District of Springfield R-12, Springfield, MO 04/02/20 — Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education, Cambridge Public Schools, Cambridge, MA 04/02/20 — Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Education, Cambridge Public Schools, Cambridge, MA 04/02/20 — Chief Talent Officer, Cambridge Public Schools, Cambridge, MA 04/02/20 — Dean of Academics and Equity, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, IL 04/02/20 — Dean of Student Support and Equity, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, IL 04/02/20 — Principal, School District of Springfield R-12, Springfield, MO 04/01/20 — Superintendent, Hickman Mills C-1 School District, Kansas City, MO 03/06/20 — Private: Superintendent, Summit Public Schools, Summit, NJ 03/06/20 — Superintendent, Balsz School District, Phoenix, AZ VISIT ALAS WEBSITE FOR MORE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES & INFORMATION! 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