This message was sent to ##Email## May 14, 2020       Home  |  Membership  |  Events  |  Advocacy  |  Careers  |  Academy Archive  |   Subscribe      ALAS EVENTS ALAS Superintendents Leadership Academy Cohort IX Graduation ALAS On behalf of the Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents Board of Directors, Dr. Jose Leyba and Dr. Maria Armstrong, we wish to extend our heartfelt congratulations on the completion of the Superintendents Leadership Academy to the Divine 9! The graduation ceremony will be via virtual conference on May 16th, 2020.    SCHOOL LEADERS NEWS Fostering safety and confidence as employees return to schools District Administartion Magazine President Donald Trump has suggested that schools should resume in-person classes before fall, and some governors seem willing to comply in some form or another. While the question of when is still being debated, the bigger challenge is how. School districts across the country are already busy brainstorming about what the new classroom will look like and addressing logistical issues such as class size, cafeteria alternatives, and spacing of student desks. Signs will likely be posted throughout classrooms and hallways reminding students and teachers of the need to social distance, wash their hands regularly, and avoid touching their faces. But these changes only address the physical obstacles of restarting classrooms.  READ MORE School superintendent: Addressing the needs of multilingualism during distant learning San Francisco Examiner (commentary) Vincent Matthews, a contributor for San Francisco Examiner, writes: "I know I'm in good company when I say that one of the most lovable things about San Francisco is our diversity. People from all over the world call San Francisco home and our public schools benefit from this diversity. In fact, one of San Francisco Unified School District's five core values is that we are diversity-driven. Here in SFUSD we enroll students who speak dozens of different languages. Multilingualism and multiculturalism are assets we aim to develop and nurture in our students."  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.   CDC guidance for reopening schools, child care and summer camps is leaked NPR No field trips. No game rooms. No teddy bears. These are some of the CDC's guidelines for reopening schools, childcare centers and day camps safely in places where coronavirus cases are on the decline. The guidance, which also covers restaurants, churches and other public places, was obtained by The Associated Press, which reports that the White House tried to keep it from coming to light. The New York Times quoted Mark Meadows, the chief of staff, as being concerned that the guidelines were "overly prescriptive."  READ MORE 7 students in a class? Not practical, school operations officials say Education DIVE Thermal cameras that take students' and staff members' temperatures as they enter a school, flooring with one-way directions and "self-cleaning" windows that use UV light to clean the air inside a room are among the products school operations officials are considering as they begin preparing for schools to re-open — whenever that is. Some operations and plant managers recognize the coronavirus has changed the way they maintain buildings.  READ MORE A 3rd of teachers are at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19 Education Week As states begin to consider what reopening schools might look like, a new analysis of federal data warns that teachers could be more susceptible to severe illness from COVID-19. About 29% of teachers are aged 50 and older, federal data show. Older adults are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 — 92% of deaths related to the disease in the United States were of people aged 55 and older, and that age group also has higher rates of coronavirus-related hospitalizations than younger adults.  READ MORE 3 tips for creating effective PD Edutopia Just as teachers design lessons with student needs in mind, facilitators of professional development need to design learning experiences with adult needs in mind. Educators walk into our meetings with years of life experiences that have shaped their beliefs, mindset, and values. Much time and effort have gone into creating systems in classrooms that work for these teachers and their students, so asking a teacher to shift an aspect of their system without keeping their needs in mind can feel insulting or undoable. Teachers are also busy, their minds filled with to-do lists, which can result in a resistance to slowing down and reflecting during meetings.  READ MORE    TECHNOLOGY How to support English language learners during e-Learning EdTech Magazine For school districts implementing e-Learning plans, a key concern is ensuring equity and access to learning materials for all students. Some students may not have access to the devices needed to complete e-Learning activities, while others may not be able to connect to the internet from home. There's also the question of whether students have at-home support to guide them through technical difficulties, and whether the tools their district is using for remote learning meet their individual learning needs.  READ MORE COVID-19 and the cybersecurity risks of online K-12 learning By Bambi Majumdar (commentary) The COVID-19 pandemic meant that schools in the U.S. and all around the world had to switch to digital learning. As schools, teachers, and students rapidly acclimatized themselves to this new version of school, a new threat emerged: cybersecurity breaches. Two school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland and Berkeley, suffered recent cybersecurity breaches, and student privacy was severely compromised. Reports of such breaches of student privacy and digital security are surfacing across the country.  READ MORE Remote learning communication: How to best connect with students Tech&Learning (commentary) Carl Hooker, a contributor for Tech & Learning, writes: "Have you ever heard a song and not quite understood the lyrics? A couple of years ago I watched Tom Murray from Future Ready Schools give a keynote on the importance of communication. During his talk, he played some famous songs with misheard lyrics. Songs with lyrics like 'We built this city on sausage rolls' from Jefferson Starship, or 'Sweet dreams are made of cheese' by the Eurythmics are just a few examples of times when we might hear something different than what is being actually said."  READ MORE How can educators promote self-direction, independence during remote learning? By Brian Stack (commentary) Remote learning is not a new concept in education. For many years, it went by the terms "distance" or "correspondence" learning. With the increase of online technology options at the turn of the millennium, the terms "virtual" and "online" learning became more prevalent. Over the years, some students have thrived in these environments while others have not. My own 14-year-old son Brady is a great example. This past summer, he opted to take an online class at VLACS, an online school in New Hampshire.  READ MORE    POLICY CORNER Education groups crank up pressure on Congress with $250 billion request Education Week Dozens of groups sent a new request to Congress, calling for at least $250 billion in new federal aid for K-12 schools and higher education, as part of a broader push to shore up state and local government funding. The request for schools also says congressional relief should focus on students from low-income households and special education, as well as efforts to help students connect to the internet. And the groups say it should support key programs under laws like the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Every Student Succeeds Act.  READ MORE    EDUCATION HEADLINES 7 tips for teaching language during COVID-19 Language Magazine For Stephen Krashen, the disruption to traditional education during Covid-19 may reveal some unexpected benefits. Krashen is a leading world scholar, emeritus professor of Education at the University of Southern California, and author of several books on language acquisition. In a recent conversation, Krashen discussed how teachers and parents can harness the opportunity to teach language — including heritage languages — during remote learning.  READ MORE English language learning is tough when bilingual students don't see their teachers WBEZ Beatriz Morales, who only speaks Spanish, has been trying to teach her first grade daughter how to read in English ever since schools closed and Chicago Public Schools rolled out remote learning "My English is upside down, but I try to be there for my little girl," Morales said in Spanish. Her two children go to Seward Elementary on the South Side and are also learning English. "We try to figure out the pronunciation together."  READ MORE Should we start next school year early, and make it longer? District Administration Magazine Starting the 2020-2021 school year early and lengthening the calendar into next summer may be the best way to provide equity for students and narrow achievement gaps that have widened during coronavirus closures, according to a Duke University education expert. During a typical summer, almost all students lose some degree of math learning. But when it comes to reading, middle-class students generally maintain their skills while their lower-income classmates tend to fall behind, said Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience who researches homework, summer school and after-school programs.  READ MORE Parenting, teaching and working from home? Here are a few things that might help By John Baker (commentary) Working from home can be challenging in and of itself. WFH with kids calls for Herculean levels of mental — and, at times, physical — fortitude. We totally get it. Family comes first. This, however, doesn't erase the fact that we still need to get stuff done. The way we go about balancing all of it becomes a decidedly intricate task. Fortunately, we have the world at our fingertips and the well of resources to draw from is vast.  READ MORE Educators: English language learners getting caught in digital divide Newsday Long Island educators are concerned that English language learners will fall further behind, especially now that schools are closed for the rest of the school term and some districts still lack the resources to provide remote instruction. While many Island districts were able to issue Chromebooks to children after school closed in March, several in low-wealth communities, including Brentwood, could not. There have been issues with accessing Wi-Fi in some communities, and some parents are still working outside the home and unable to help guide online learning.  READ MORE Multiplying divisions Language Magazine The sudden closure of schools across the U.S. is resulting in very different experiences for students depending on their ages, languages, zip codes, needs and incomes. For some, the transition to online schooling has been an exciting, albeit occasionally frustrating, experiment, full of its own learning challenges but a workable solution to the edict of #shelterathome. For others, online school just doesn't work.  READ MORE     CAREERS New Postings Every Week on ALAS Website! 05/13/20 — .5 Spanish Bilingual Title I Literacy Interventionist, Urbana School District #116, Urbana, IL 05/13/20 — Assistant Superintendent, Lower Merion School District, Montgomery County, PA 05/13/20 — Elementary Dual Language Teacher – Spanish, Urbana School District #116, Urbana, IL 05/12/20 — School Designer, West, EL Education, CA 05/11/20 — Chief Performance Officer, Hartford Public Schools, Hartford, CT 05/11/20 — Principal, Alfred E. Burr Middle School (Grades 6-8), Hartford Public Schools, Hartford, CT 05/11/20 — Principal, Global Communications Academy (Grades Kindergarten-8), Hartford Public Schools, Hartford, CT 05/11/20 — Principal, Thomas J. McDonough Middle School (Grades 6-8), Hartford Public Schools, Hartford, CT 05/11/20 — Regional Assistant Instructional Superintendent, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/08/20 — Assistant Director of Early Childhood and Exceptional Student Programs, Pendergast School District, Phoenix, AZ 05/07/20 — Executive Director, Assessment, Reporting and Data, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/07/20 — Liaison, Board of Education, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/07/20 — School Monitor, Hempstead Union Free School District, Hempstead, NY 05/07/20 — Senior Manager, Academic Programs & Planning, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/06/20 — Coach/Mentor, Puerto Rico Education Foundation, Puerto Rico 05/06/20 — Director of Curriculum and Innovation, Pendergast School District, Phoenix, AZ 05/06/20 — Elementary School Assistant Principal, Spring Independent School District, Houston, TX 05/06/20 — Elementary School Principal, Spring Independent School District, Houston, TX 05/06/20 — High School Assistant Principal, Spring Independent School District, Houston, TX 05/06/20 — High School Associate Principal, Spring Independent School District, Houston, TX 05/06/20 — High School Principal, Spring Independent School District, Houston, TX 05/06/20 — Middle School Assistant Principal, Spring Independent School District, Houston, TX 05/06/20 — Middle School Principal, Spring Independent School District, Houston, TX 05/06/20 — Superintendent, Proviso Township High School District 209, Forest Park, IL 05/06/20 — Teacher, Pendergast School District, Phoenix, AZ 05/05/20 — Executive Director, Curriculum and Instruction, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/05/20 — Regional Instructional Superintendent, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/05/20 — Senior Manager, Culture and Engagement, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/05/20 — Senior Manager, Strategic Human Resources Support, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/05/20 — Senior Program Initiatives Manager, AR&D, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO 05/04/20 — Principal, Madison Metropolitan School District, Madison, WI 05/04/20 — Superintendent, Madison Metropolitan School District, Madison, WI VISIT ALAS WEBSITE FOR MORE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES & INFORMATION! 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