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Arizona narrowly failed to qualify for funding in the federal "Race to the top" education grant competition's second round.
According to the U.S. Department Education's announcement Tuesday, Arizona placed 12th out of 35 states and the District of Columbia competing in the second round. Nine states and the district were awarded grants.
Arizona's second-round performance at 435 points out of a possible 500 points is a distinct improvement from the competition's first round when the state finished 40th out of 41.
Read more from the East Valley Tribune here....
Arizona K-12 schools interested in participating in the Beat the Odds program during the 2010-2011 academic year are encouraged to register no later than September.
The program, now entering its fourth year, is continuing to expand statewide, offering opportunities to additional schools and districts with low-income, high minority student populations. The program’s goal is to increase student performance in reading and math so the students' achievement compares favorably with the achievement of higher socio-economic students.
Read more...
State lawmaker John Huppenthal won the Republican nomination and longtime educator Penny Kotterman got the Democratic nod for Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction in the Aug. 24 primary election.
Both are looking to replace Tom Horne, the state’s schools chief since 2003. Horne ran for attorney general this year.
The concept of high-school graduates “being ready for college” has had many meanings over the years. In terms of preparedness for college reading and math courses, a growing percentage of Maricopa County graduates are not ready for those rigors when they move up to Maricopa County community colleges or Arizona universities, an Arizona Community Foundation report suggests.
That’s 59% of high school grads in the county. Among the class of 2008, an average 70 percent of county students were college-ready in English, 42 percent in math. Those figures are down from 77 percent and 51 percent in 2006. ...
Tolleson Union High School District's dropout-prevention program, Jobs for Arizona's Graduates, is undergoing major changes.
Student objections and grant funding for the program caused the district's five schools to reinstate the program, but it will look dramatically different this fall, said Dennis Dowling, Tolleson Union's executive director of curriculum and instruction.
Students will now participate in an after-school program and be eligible for an elective half-credit rather than receiving full credit and attending class during the school day, said Jason Moore, program and office administrator.
The after-school program begins in September. Dowling said he hopes to have former program teachers become the after-school coordinators, who will receive a $2,100 stipend plus benefits. ...
Read more from The Arizona Republic here...
PHOENIX - Arizonans will decide in November whether to reverse their 2006 decision to tax cigarettes an extra 80 cents a pack for early childhood health and education programs; lawmakers want that money to instead help remedy the state's continuing budget shortfall. A ballot measure would abolish the First Things First early childhood programs adopted by voters four years ago, which are funded by the tax, and redirect the tax to Arizona's general fund. Read more...
The 2010 Arizona Afterschool Conference will feature a keynote address by Fredi Lajvardi, co-founder of the Carl Hayden High School Falcon Robotics afterschool program. The Arizona Republic did a 4-page feature on the Falcon Robotics program in the Sunday paper yesterday - read more about this amazingly impactful afterschool program at HERE..
Focusing on the hours after school and their impact on a child’s overall development, the Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence and Valley of the Sun United Way is in the final stages of drafting an action plan to strengthen the out-of-school time system and its positive outcomes in Maricopa County. Read more about the project...
AzCASE Executive Director, Melanie McClintock's
My View column in Friday's
Phoenix Business Journal highlights the enormous impact a small amount of money can make on Arizona when invested in afterschool programs.
Read the article here...
Arizona parents should expect quality from afterschool programs, starting with the basic standards highlighted in this weekend's
Arizona Republic here...
In the aftermath of the City of Phoenix budget cuts for FY 2010, many parents are without afterschool programs for their children. As parents scramble to find alternative care for their children after the school bell rings, the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department begins a search for outside funding sources to keep the Phoenix Afterschool Center program afloat. Read the Phoenix Business Journal article here...
California District Attorney attributes increased student success and decreased juvenile crime to investments in afterschool programs as indicated by a new report from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, California's After-School Commitment: Keeping Kids on Track and Out of Trouble.
Read more...
AzCASE Executive Director's article in the Spring 2010 Arizona School Boards Association (ASBA) Journal calls attention to the drastic cuts to out-of-school time programming for Ariziona youth while the need for these programs is on the rise.
Read the article here...
Arizona ArtSpace Afterschool Program Shows Increased Academic Performance for Students...
Arizona higher education leaders issued a joint statement on Prop 100 this week...
Read the statement and the Arizona Daily Star article here...
Last week in Washington D.C., close to 50 municipal and business leaders came together for the 2010 National City Afterschool Summit. The Summit addressed issues of program quality and accessibility and the role that out-of-school time programs play in building a strong workforce.
Read today's article in The Arizona Republic addressing City of Phoenix Afterschool Center cuts and their direct effect on valley families.
A few corrections to the data in the article:
In 2007, there were 124 Phoenix Afterschool Center (PAC) sites serving over 9,000 children, this year, there were 55 sites serving less than 2,100 children, and the new budget leaves PAC with 26 sites serving less than 1,000 children.
Read The Arizona Republic article here...
The City of Scottsdale may cut 9 afterschool programs serving over 1,000 students to reduce city costs this year.
Read The Arizona Republic article here...
Arizona’s children will continue to be at risk if we, the voters, don’t make a concerted effort to elect public officials that understand and care about the needs of our children. The Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence knowing that this year’s legislative session would be heavily focused on the state’s budget problems, consciously decided to turn its attention to those candidates running for state offices in 2010 in hopes that we can raise their awareness to both the need for and value of quality afterschool programming. In the process, we also hope to identify and recruit future “afterschool champions” that we will be able to work with in the months and years ahead to protect Arizona’s children. Read more about the Candidate Awareness Campaign here...
Unprecedented cuts to after-school programs have law enforcement and other leaders struggling to preserve them with dwindling resources and worrying about the potential impact on communities and public safety.
Read the AOL News article here...
Out of 40 states that applied for Race to the Top funding this year, Arizona ranked 39th. A federal grant reviewer summarized by saying that Arizona's application "...lacks a theory of change."
Read the Arizona Republic article here...
Money out of your pocket could keep the lights on at Arizona schools. In a few weeks, voters will decide on a sales-tax increase.The extra money will pay for schools and public safety.
Supporters of the tax - including the governor - paint a bleak picture if it fails. If you haven't seen signs around town supporting the tax, in the coming weeks you will.
"We feel like the wheels are coming off the bus for education in our state," says Ann-Eve Pedersen with the Arizona Education Network.
Educators claim without the one cent sales tax, schools will be decimated: bigger classes, fewer after school activities, and fewer teachers... Read more here
The Boys & Girls Club of Kingman will get some much-needed renovation money after the City Council on Monday decided to include it in a bi-annual grant request.
Council had been tasked with figuring out which projects it would submit in its bi-annual application for the Arizona Department of Housing Community Development Block Grants, or CDBG. The city is eligible for up to $597,340 in grant money, and must submit its grant application no later than May 1. Read more...
On March 3, 2010, nearly 100 city, education, business and community leaders attending the first Arizona Mayoral Summit on Afterschool/Extended Learning identified priorities that will be the basis of a comprehensive strategic approach to sustaining and expanding afterschool programs across Arizona. Read more here...
After-school program leaders and supporters gathered at the U.S. Department of Education Tuesday to plead their case for dramatically expanding the number of after-school programs throughout the country.
Read more...
The Phoenix Afterschool Center (PAC) provides a safe place for for dozens of Ahwatukee Foothills children after each school day, but the program was in serious danger of being eliminated at two of five Kyrene schools this year until Councilman Sal DiCiccio appealed to Camelback Volkswagen for a last-minute donation.
Read more...
PEORIA, AZ -- Before you let your child stay home alone after school, Peoria police say there's one question to ask yourself.
"If I were looking for a babysitter, would I hire my child to watch my kids? If the answer is 'no', your child should not be home alone," said
Mike Tellef with the Peoria police department.
The Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence in collaboration with the Arizona statewide Youth Development Task Force is proud to announce the creation of the Arizona Afterschool Map, a web based, afterschool map and directory designed to be an invaluable tool for all Arizona afterschool providers.
New report cites seven strategies to improve Effectiveness of Extended Leanring Opportunities
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan supports out-of-school time programs.
Harvard Family Research Project is excited to share with you a new out-of-school time resource.
From the Washington Post on March 30, 2009
The House version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill passed this week with the following supports for afterschool programs:
The Study, Commissioned by The Wallace Foundation from The Finance Project and Public/Private Ventures, Offers New Knowledge and Tools for Policymakers to Use in...