Dear colleagues,
It's spring, and that means the Research and Curriculum Unit is gearing up for another busy summer!
We've facilitated numerous events already this year, and we're looking forward to helping Mississippi's teachers receive cutting-edge professional development that will transform their classrooms. Two big online events - the 2021 Innovative Institute in June and July's annual MS ACTE Summer Conference - are quickly approaching.
Registration is also open for this year's virtual MS ACTE conference, which is scheduled for July 26 and 27. Dr. Adolph Brown III, a noted career educator, mental health professional and motivational speaker, will deliver the event's keynote address. Our planning committee is currently working to schedule a variety of breakout sessions that will benefit career and technical educators. Our New Teacher Induction program is set to graduate its ninth cohort - approximately 60 participants - this June, and the program for professionals-turned-educators will begin its 10th class in July with a variety of Methods training programs across the state.
Looking back, I'd like to congratulate our staff for hosting two virtual conferences - our largest Innovative Institute Leadership Summit and a successful three-day conference for the Mississippi Department of Education's Office of School Improvement. Our project managers are revising several special education documents, and you can read about their progress below.
Our organization has also begun supporting two programs through the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund. When I say we've been hands on with this project, I really mean it: Our print shop shipped almost 30,000 Math Nation workbooks for the GEER project, and many of our staff came together to physically bind these collections in the last few weeks.
Over in curriculum, our pathways managers are continuing the revision process by meeting with writing teams and stakeholders. Specifically, our they are working on redesigns of automotive, collision, cosmetology and law and public safety courses, while another project that's underway is a redesign of Mississippi's agriculture and environmental science and technology curriculum that will be rebranded as diversified agriculture. Please visit our curriculum download page for updated resources and changes to the proposed revision cycles. Also, be sure to check out our updated staff listing to see who manages each specific pathway. As for assessment, the end of the academic year means testing. Our staff is continuing to work with districts during the April testing window and will finish national certification testing by mid-May. As always, stay up to date with our assessment team by subscribing to the MS-CPAS Minute. This monthly newsletter is the department's primary avenue of communication and includes helpful announcements and calendars. Be sure to check out the latest edition of School Focus. Published by our communication team this winter, the new edition includes stories on innovative partnerships and a new focus on prioritizing the social and emotional needs of our children, among other topics. Our team is busy working on the upcoming edition of Connections, and I am excited to see great stories about CTE programs from across the state come to life!
As always, our primary point of contact remains through the Help Desk. You can also call our office at 662.325.2510, but please continue to monitor our online channels of information distribution, including our website, newsletters, social media accounts - Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - and emails.
Our work touches so many areas of education, which means our staff performs a variety of tasks throughout the year. From those who planned events to those who helped physically put together math workbooks for students, I'd like to thank everyone for their dedication to education in the state.
Let's make this summer a productive one!
Sincerely,
Betsey Smith
Director
Research and Curriculum Unit
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RCU Begins Rollout of GEER Services
The RCU recently launched a pair of projects funded by the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund.
Of the $4.3 million Gov. Tate Reeves allocated to Mississippi State University during the second round of federal COVID-19 relief, the RCU will use $1.5 million to increase access to Math Nation content for all Mississippi students and will create a variety of high-quality online courses to meet graduation requirements.
The Math Nation project will expand student and teacher access to in-school and in-home math learning support for every school district in the state. Aside from online access, students in grades 6-8 will also receive almost 40,000 Math Nation workbooks by August.
Although many school districts have previously used Math Nation, formerly called Algebra Nation, GEER funding provided the opportunity to make these resources available to all students. To keep educators up to speed with the new content made available, the program also connects teachers with professional development to improve their instruction and overall student achievement.
"We are currently about 75% complete [with printing] right now," said RCU Associate Director Myra Pannell. "The Math Nation online resources and professional development are available now through the end of the grant."
The second project the funding is supporting is the creation of a variety of online courses in most subject areas required to graduate. Access to these required classes will provide students with continuity in learning.
To make this possible, the RCU is recruiting online content creation, online learning and special education experts to design courses. This project will also provide professional development resources for teachers to ensure they are prepared to use the online platform for teaching students.
The RCU plans to launch these online learning courses for school districts to use in the coming academic year.
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RCU Facilitating Access for All Update
An updated version of the Access for All Guide (AFAG) is in the final stages of development and is expected to be released in the coming months.
Staff with the Mississippi Department of Education and RCU began the process of updating the original 2019 document last fall with the goal of introducing new key terminology that will provide general education teachers with a better understanding of how the document can aid in providing quality classroom instruction for all students.
The updated version, called the AFAG 2.0, removes the words accommodations and modifications and instead uses adaptations.
The change of this language came about because accommodations and modifications are more commonly associated with special education. The intent of the AFAG was always to be a resource for teachers to meet the learning needs of all students, not just one group.
To facilitate further use of these research-based classroom adaptations by teachers for all students, not only those with Individualized Education Programs, the AFAG 2.0 provides educators with four specific types of adaptations that can be used and addresses four select student populations.
"There are many things you can do in your classroom that are available to every child," said RCU Project Manager Ginny Sanders. "By providing the four types of adaptations and four select student populations, we have been able to take the suggestions for instruction and align them with the specific classroom adaptations teachers can use."
The new guide will be a completely digital document. Although the handy section of tabs for deficit areas in the printed publication will no longer be part of the document, teachers will be excited about robust color-coding organization and the addition of resource links provided in the section containing suggestions for instruction.
RCU staff members hope to see the publication released in late May or early June.
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