The State Board Thursday received data about some 29,000 K-3 students that participated in Summer Reading Camp after being identified as not reading on grade-level. The results this year come with high stakes. After years of delay, the third-grade retention provision under the Alabama Literacy Act will apply to the first cohort of third-grade students this school year.

The data included the number of enrolled students, average percentage of growth and attendance rate for each grade level. However, it does not include the number of students who remain reading below grade level. 

The percentage of growth decreased each grade from K to third grade reflecting the challenge to impact reading deficiencies as students age and move to the next grade. Board member Jackie Ziegler requested the department investigate and address the barriers for the 25 percent absence rate. A breakdown by region will be provided to each board member. The data was self-reported this year but will be part of PowerSchool moving forward.

Report Cards for Teacher Preparatory Programs

The board received an update on the 2023 Educator Preparation Institution report cards (not yet available online). The data tracks students who pass the Praxis and EdTPA exams and earn teaching certificates. It delineates for each program the number of students that passed and number of times the students took the test.

State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey noted that the SDE certifies teachers that pass the tests, no matter the number of attempts. He expressed concern about programs with fewer than five students where no data is available and would like to identify other measures to gauge the strength of those smaller programs. Mackey also said the department has no way of knowing the number of students who never pass the exams.

The report included survey results for first and second year teachers’ perceptions of their preparedness and teaching effectiveness. The new teachers felt confident about their performance while administrators’ responses were less positive. However, the administrator feedback trended in a positive direction from prior years. Board member Dr. Wayne Reynolds expressed concern because of the low compliance rate by principals completing the survey. Reynolds emphasized superintendents would want to know where administrators are not completing this task.

Additional Work Session Items:

• UAB Education Preparation Program – UAB presented its plan which includes launching a School Psychologist program next spring. The program is a step to address the multi-disciplinary approach to coordinate school psychologists with teachers in the classroom. The board recognized an urgent need as the recommended number of counselors is one per 500 students and Alabama currently has only one per 10,000 students.
• Courses of Study Updates: The Finance Course of Study will be realigned to allow students to be able to sit for Insurance Agent certification exams. Currently, students have only a one-half credit option for an Insurance courses. The course changes allow a full credit course for both Insurance 1 and Insurance 2. In addition, the Career Preparedness provision already required in CTE will be tweaked to meet new law requirements. The tweaks simply modify courses currently offered and are effective this year. Dr. Mackey said the Science Course of Study will be presented at the November work session with the goal of being approved at the December board meeting. Also in November, the board will be preview the list of nominees to serve on the Social Studies Course of Study.
• Guidance and Counselors: The board expressed interest in revisiting the regulations and policy for Guidance and Counseling. Dr. Yvette Richardson said local counselors need direction because those policies were last updated in 2003.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer and Data Science: Dr. Mackey said a one-day session will be provided in the next few months on AI due to high demand for information. Mackey said he has received requests statewide asking about the challenges as well as opportunities AI provides.
• State Report Cards: The department may consider changes to the state’s high school report card to put more weight on Career and College Readiness (CCR). CCR is currently the smallest component of the report card. The Legislature indicated the importance of CCR by enacting Act 23-365, the Alabama Credential Quality and Transparency Act. The act moved up the State board’s implementation date to require CCR indicators for graduates to 2026 instead of the original 2027 date. Mackey noted this does not impact the federal report card.
• Local Policy for Libraries – Dr. Mackey reported he advised school superintendents they must have a policy in place to provide challenges to library books at the recent School Superintendents conference and by memo. The board requested he coordinate with AASB to provide a model policy. Note: AASB is already working on providing guidance on this topic.

Board Meeting:

All state school board members wore red Thursday to acknowledge October as Dyslexia month as they set to work and approved the following:

FY25 Education Trust Fund Budget – As expected, the board approved the FY25 request. The budget proposal must be submitted to the governor by Nov. 1.

Alabama Accountability Act (AAA) – The board unanimously approved the adoption of amendments to reflect the Legislature’s changes to the 2013 AAA. “Priority schools” replace the verbiage “failing schools” with criteria to identify schools with D and F grades on the state report card instead of schools in the bottom 6% of assessments.

October Resolutions – Among state board approved resolutions were:

• Dyslexia Awareness Month – The board learned about the significant impact of Alabama’s rigorous law to identify and address dyslexia in schools. Since 2019, the Alabama Reading Initiative includes 150 hours of training for specialists and interventionists. Alabama has 80 Certified Academic Language Therapists (CALT) in place in 75 school systems.
• Principals Month – The board recognized distinguished principals, assistant principals and school counselors from across the state.
• 2023 History Teacher of the Year – Jennifer Broadhead of Edgewood Elementary School in Homewood City School System received $1,000 from the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History. · Science of Reading Spotlight Schools –See Trish Crain’s al.com article with details as the list is not yet available on the department website.
• National School Lunch Week – October 9-13, 2023
• School Bus Safety Week – October 16-20, 2023