Facts and Researcn

Facts & Research

• In Kansas, 35% (168,614) of K-12 youth are responsible for taking care of themselves after school.
  
• Of all Kansas children not currently enrolled in afterschool, 31% (132,036) would be likely to participate IF an afterschool program were available in their community.
• 95% of parents in Kansas are satisfied with the afterschool program their child attends.
• 13% (61,403) of Kansas's K-12 children participate in afterschool programs, including 7,154 kids in programs supported by the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, the only federal program dedicated to afterschool.

For afterschool participation and funding levels in Kansas, refer to the Afterschool in Kansas Fact Sheet.

Explore America After 3PM for even more research on afterschool programs in Kansas.

Today's visit to Hillsboro

Today's visit was worth a MILLION!!  The collaboration between Tabor College, Hillsboro's  Elem. and HMS,  Mike Moran, Micah Leake is the successful foundation of the current CHUMS program.   

The college's onsite director is key to the outstanding orchestration of the two day a week hour program.  The onsite administrator, Mike Moran, is also a vital stakeholder as well.  The classroom teacher has the opportunity to nominate up to 5 at risk students to be considered as a potential CHUM.   Parents are totally on board and fully supportive of the program.  Your child is only guaranteed a year at a time in the program.  This year's program is mentoring 35 elem. children and 15 6th graders.

Implementation of my project continues to require support from my stakeholders,  patience, willingness to handle problems,  seeing and hearing the positive outcome for the selected students, classroom teachers, entire school, parents and the community. 

I wonder how many children have benefited from this program during the past 17 years?  I bet Bill Romaine is smiling down from heaven knowing his trust funds are being used as he had hoped.

Comments, suggestions and questions are always welcomed.

Short and Sweet

I will be visiting the Hillsboro public school system tomorrow (May 7th) as an observer of their version of C.H.U.M.S. (Caring, Helping, Understanding, Mentoring, Students).  Tabor College provides the mentors/funding and the school system provides the selection of at risk students,  intervention needs, onsite administrator and transportation where needed.  I'm excited to see 45 college students mentoring 45 as risk students. 

I'll share comments in my next post.
  
Thanks!

Education Club

Tonight was our first organized Education Club get together.   We agreed our meeting would conclude in 45 minutes and plan to follow that time frame next fall as well.  We had 10 education members present and 4 others that had a prior commitment.  Officers were elected, time and place for our meetings decided and concluded with the discussion about my next step in moving forward with the CHUMS program.   The students are passionate about serving RES students and hope this is just a start for McPherson.

I received a text yesterday from one of our clinical teachers and she had just been offered a third grade teaching contract from Oakdale Elem. School in Salina.   She was so excited and the passion in her voice is exciting.  Let's hope she will be mentored and supported by highly effective peers and administration that put students first!

We'll see if this time around our club will be active and productive.


I'm thankful for all of you and appreciate your input and comments.

Vision

I'm looking into my crystal ball and it's hard to believe the great challenges and changes that have occurred in my professional journey since last May.   What an incredible/stressful 9 months (comparable to both of my pregnancies years ago) as I continue to strive for patience, active listening and reacting with appropriate choices and action for a successful outcome in my current education path and the completion of my masters' project.  Some days are so rewarding, overwhelming, demanding and highly frustrating, which reminds me of each change I have made during my teaching career.  I'm assuming with a year under my belt and no major set backs I'll be confident to handle the unknowns with poise and patience just as I have done during the past years.   

I appreciate the support from many individuals for believing that a CHUMS version of an after school pilot program is possible and,  though it may sound quite simple it has required a lot of time and effort to make positive progress.

The success of my vision is finding qualified consistent mentors, reliable yearly funding,  an onsite administrator, teacher partnership with student mentors, onsite director and support from the college administration.  

As time moves forward,  my vision would be to continue to collect data on the NEED for quality infant through age 3 childcare without competing or disrupting current childcare facilities, before and after school care, professional training and professional development center.  The vision is there, now the journey continues to find what our community does and doesn't need.

Please take a moment to watch the link below and picture 50 college students from one college campus twice a week making a lifetime difference as a mentor with our elem-middle school students.   This is currently happening at Tabor College in Hillsboro's public elem. and middle schools.  The funding for this 17 year long after school program for Hillsboro and Smoky Valley was made possible by Bill Romaine who never wanted any recognition from others, but had his heart set on giving to others.  He has since past away but his presence will be around for years and years to come.
  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_efz-kMu9A

"Leading Change in Your School"

"Leading Change in Your School" by Douglas B. Reeves is a must read for teachers wanting to move into a leadership role in the field of education.   It's a powerful read!

Part 1: Creating Conditions for Change

Part 2: Planning Change

Part 3: Implementing Change

Part 4: Sustaining Change

At this time, our group has discussed parts one and two.  Looking forward to our group discussion over parts 3 and 4 in the next few days.

I'm going to end with these direct words from part 3:

"Make the case for change compelling, and associate it with moral imperatives rather than compliance with external authority."
An announcement that "We have to do this to comply with state and federal requirements" will never arouse the emotional engagement of the school staff.  Instead of citing administrative requirements, inspire staff members with a call for their best: "Student literacy is a civil right.  Faculty collaboration is the foundation of fairness.  Learning communities are the essence of respect."

"You won't close the implementation gap with another set of three-ring binders or announcements about the latest initiative.  Close the gap with immediate wins, visible recognition of what works, a focus on effectiveness rather than popularity, and a direct appeal to the values that brought us all into this profession in the first place."

"Children's Minds don't close down at 3pm."

Public Schools are taking a leading role in developing successful after school programs.  In 2001 2/3 of principals reported having after school programs in place.
(National Assoc. of Elem. School Principals, 2001)

Programs have shifted to more academically focused activities.

More than 75% of principals think that it is "extremely" important for schools to maintain their extended-day programs.

Community Learning Centers:
40 million 1998 to 1 billion in fiscal 2002 grant program supports after-school programs in about 7,500 rural and inner-city public schools in more than 1,400 communities.  Funding supports "community schools" or schools that operate before and after their academic day and host a variety of activities for their towns and neighborhoods. 

Findings:
A strong and growing research demonstrates that a skilled, stable and educated staff is the key to quality after-school programs.  Strong educational credentials as well as extensive experience working with youth.

83% of staff in academic after-school programs had staff with some college level education. 




 

The U.S. Department of Ed. (successful after school programs)

"Quality after-school programs don't just happen",  however,  coordination among after-school and school-day personnel is essential, as is district support."

LA's "BEST" a school based after schoolprogram offered to 19,000 students in the LA USD public district showed that participation promotes school-day attendance and engagement, such as higher aspirations toward graduation. 

The U.S. Department of Ed. recently released a set of action tips for aligning an after-school program with the school day.
These include:
1. Share responsibility for student learning and development
2. Data driven decisions and communication about student progress
3. High qualify staff
4. Planning and preparation time
5. Partnerships at multiple levels in the school and district
6. Connections to family and community resources.

Key to success in achievement occurred when:
a. Preparation for the mentors
b. A long term commitment
c. Specific program goals

Failure and achievement losses occurred when:
a. A relationship is short term (from lack of commitment on the part of the mentor or tutor)
b. The management of the program is disorganized


Would like to hear your thoughts!

Instagrok

OMG Angela!  This site has been a HIT for myself and a few others that noticed my excitement today while I was researching on my computer.

We grow by learning from others and this is a perfect example of an extremely valuable website that is creative and user friendly with visuals to keep you engaged in your research!!

I discovered information on successful student teaching programs, Kansas Performance Teaching Portfolio, after school programs and a lot pertaining to Ed. Psyche and how our brains learn and develop.


Thanks again for sharing.
 

I'm happy to be reading "Leading Change in your School" written by Douglas Reeves.  It's such an eye opener and filled with great advice.

One section that caught my attention was the four imperatives of cultural change:

1. First, leaders must define what will not change.  Teachers need to hear the values, practices, traditions and relationships that will not be lost. (pg. 38)

2. Second, organizational culture will change with leadership actions; speeches and announcements are not enough. (pg. 38)

3. Third, use the right change tools for your system.  "Leaders must choose the appropriate change tools based on a combination of factors, including the extent to which staff members agree on what they want and their consensus on cause and effect. (pg. 39)

4. Fourth, change in culture requires relentless personal attention and "scut work" by the leader.  For example, the Superintendent of Murrieta Valley Unified School District in California has done, of taking a turn as a substitute teacher and spending time with bus drivers at five o'clock on a frosty morning.  (pg. 40)

This is a book worth reading!

Trust and Funding

Two things I continue to find of highest importance as I continue to move forward with the foundation of our CHUMS (caring, helping, understand, mentoring students) mentoring program is building a strong foundation built on trust between all involved and securing appropriate funding or a way to provide compensation to the personnel hired for these positions.

The other CHUMS programs that are currently functioning in the surrounding area have an onsite administrator at the school, trained mentors from the community's college and appropriate funding to cover the cost of the program.  Our philosophy with our program is to provide a positive relationship and a high level of engagement in needed academic subjects shared by the child's classroom teacher.

In the near future,  I will be visiting with our neighborhood school principal to listen to his expectations of his student's needs and design our program to fit what he recommends. 

Any ideas, positive or negative, please share. 

"A teacher's ability to offer clarity on the student's condition and offer a strategy to become successful could be life changing for so many dyslexics.

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/4-things-about-dyslexic-brain-patrick-wilson

Please take time to read the four key characteristics of the dyslexic brain that are critical for educators to understand by clicking on the link above.

As we look at the development of the CHUMS project the Central Christian education majors are aware of the vital importance of foundations, emerging literacy and advanced literacy methods classes and Ed. Psyche/How the Brain Works as a critical part of their academic success as a future mentor and teacher. 

Our program requires rigorous application and engagement of each student knowledge of a child's reading ability and what an instructor needs to understand to provide the literacy instruction each child deserves. 

In conclusion, our education majors apply what is taught in the college classroom and learn best when having the opportunity to observe and be directly involved in area schools.  The students journal extensively about their experience in the classroom and what they learn from the professionals.

Thanks to all administrators,  professionals and partnership schools that provide modeling and mentoring to our future teachers. 

Learning from the past to make a make a brighter future for our community children

I was intrigued when one of my students shared about her involvement with the CHUMS program beginning her freshmen year in Marquette, Kansas.   They started their program 7 years ago and it's still going strong.  This year it has expanded and includes grades first through fifth.

Excitement is beginning to brew as Bayle has agreed to share her personal experiences with the many positives that have resulted for the selected children that attend and the appreciation parents share as well in their evaluation.  She's also willing to share her point of view about some changes that could make the program even better.  

CCC's education students are excited to be involved in the REAL world of constructing a gap that could have a powerful positive impact for some of our local students.

We'll be posting our progress as we build our version of CHUMS.

Finding a project of engagement to help local children

A well organized and engaging after school program is a current need at RES in McPherson.  The name of the program Central Christian College preservice teachers is considering as a  pilot in the future is called C.H.U.M.S.  This program was developed by Tabor College and is operating successfully in Lindsborg and Marquette the last few years.

I have a student in my Ed. Psyche class who started working this program while attending high school at Marquette and is currently the director of this after school program for Marquette Elem. as well as a full time Central Christian College student.  My first item on my agenda is to visit Marquette and watch the program in action in the near future.

Our goal is to pilot with next fall with preservice CCC's teachers to direct and plan and implement lessons as part of their methods experience.

I'll be posting additional details soon.  

Changing Paradigms

Sir Ken Robinson's comments of our past education structure made so much sense, and was driven for a few to highly succeed, while the majority of the students were educated to fit the needs of our economic growth.

Public education should connect to the child's strengths and needs.

Interesting comment about no literacy growth even with smaller class sizes.

Population growth was interesting going from 6 billion in 1970, but by 2000 we had increased 30 million. 

The comment pertaining to ADHD needs to be taken seriously and we as educators and specialists need to be educated and aware of the needs of different learning styles and how to better engage our students. 

The redefining comment about a child's capacity of engagement is at 98% for kindergartener and  declines to 2% by age 25 +.

We need to develop vitality, creativity and diversity when teaching our students.

101 top websites for elem. instructors

http://www.goedonline.com/101-websites-for-elementary-teachers

This appears to be a well organized exemplary list of websites for elem. instructors.  Hopefully,  the hard work is done and many of these sites will be of value to the students.
Let me know which specific ones you find helpful to enhance your instruction. 

"Ten Great Meeting Kickoff Videos on Education"

Please take the time to either view "Ten Great Meeting Kickoff Videos on Education" found on the Edutopia site or try and type the above title on youtube.  You can view all ten at the above site or you are able just to view the ones of interest to you.  I found value in each one,  but #'s 8, 9 and 10 stood out. 

This is my first experience being a part of the higher ed. of our teaching department @ CCC in placing students in their practicum experience.  It's been an eye opener, exciting and challenging experience.  Also during this month we are having 4 professional development sessions and all ten of these videos would provide a great opener for these meetings.  I'm thankful for the technology that has made it possible for educators to share and influence higher level learning for the enhancement of all students.  That has certainly been an area of concentration and frustration for myself.

I have found that higher level teacher ed. instructors and students need to be proactive and involved extensively with the community and school system so together our future teachers will have the  experiences and skills needed to be prepared for the 21st Century Pre-K-12  instructor.  About half of our students are in the outlining county schools so that is exciting as well and others want to experience Christian and private experiences, too.

Hope you find the time to view one or more of the videos.

ASCD Express 8.06 - Teaching Reading Comprehension Through Content Areas

ASCD Express 8.06 - Teaching Reading Comprehension Through Content Areas

The above youtube video shared a mini inservice training about what this research proved about expository (science) reading in this study, which reflected improved students' comprehension reading skills.  We know 3rd-5th graders struggle most with comprehension skills and need explicit instruction how to comprehend a variety of text.