MONDAY SUPERINTENDENT E-MAIL – 11/28/11
The Monday E-mail contains information on the following KDE-related topics:
· Facility Condition and Educational Suitability Assessments Final Results To Be Announced
If you have questions about the specific items, please see the contact information for each item.
Items from KDE
Facility Condition and Educational Suitability Assessments Final Results To Be Announced
Parsons Commercial Technology Group, with its partner MGT of America, has completed the state reports for the Kentucky Facilities Inventory and Classification System (KFICS) project. KDE will provide these reports to the General Assembly, the Kentucky Board of Education, superintendents and principals on November 29, 2011. In addition, the final version of the individual School Reports also will be available.
v KFICS State Report – School List by Kentucky School Score.pdf
List of 485 instructional programs,
sorted low – high by Kentucky School Score
v KFICS State Report – School List by District School.pdf
List of 485 instructional programs,
sorted by district – school name
v KFICS State Report – School List by Kentucky School Score.xls
List of 485 instructional programs,
Excel format for sorting and filtering
v 2011 KFICS Annual Report.pdf
Overview and Executive Summary of the project and results
Please visit the KDE website on Nov. 29 to access these reports:
http://www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Administrative+Resources/Facilities/2011+Facilities+Assessment+Project.htm
For questions regarding this project, please contact Paige Patterson-Grant, paige.patterson@education.ky.gov, (502) 564-5279.
Items from Outside Agencies
PLEASE NOTE: Inclusion of items in this section does not constitute endorsement by the Kentucky Department of Education or the Commissioner of Education.
Interagency Research Task Force on the Arts and Human Development
The National Endowment for the Arts announces the first-ever federal Interagency Research Task Force on the Arts and Human Development.
A free webinar is scheduled on Wednesday, November 30 at 10 a.m. ET and will feature representatives from more than a dozen federal agencies for the release of the white paper and the announcement of a new interagency research task force on the role of the arts in human development across the lifespan.
The webinar is open to the public. Pre-registration is not required. To join the webinar:
Go to http://artsgov.adobeconnect.com/taskforce/ and check the "Enter as Guest" button. Type in your name and click "Enter Room" to join. You may listen using your computer's speakers or dial in to (877) 685-5350 and use participant code 942738.
An archive of the webinar will be available on December 1 at http://www.arts.gov/research/convenings.html.
A copy of the white paper will be available on www.arts.gov on November 30.
Deadline approaching for Ovation’s “One Dance, One Chance” competition
Ovation, the only network devoted to arts culture, has launched a national dance competition, “One Dance, One Chance.” The competition offers dance groups with students ages 13 and up a chance to win a $10,000 grant or scholarship for their school or ensemble PLUS a 30-second spot on Ovation. Five finalist groups also will receive $1,000 grants or scholarships for their school or ensemble.
To enter, dance groups with at least three members should submit a 1-3 minute video of a recent performance to www.ovationtv.com/dancecontest by December 1. A panel of accredited dance teachers will choose 25 semi-finalists. The semi-finalists will then be judged by an independent panel of professional dancers and choreographers, who will choose four finalists and the Grand Prize winner. The semi-finalists also will also be eligible for the Viewer’s Choice Award via online voting. The finalists, Viewer’s Choice winner and Grand Prize winner will be announced January 2012.
STEM education program opportunity
The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education, in partnership with NanoRacks, invites communities across the U.S. to participate in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) Fourth Flight Opportunity - SSEP Mission 2 to the International Space Station (ISS).
Each participating community will be provided all launch services to fly a real microgravity research mini-laboratory on ISS from September 28 to November 12, 2012, and a kit for assembly of their mini-lab. An eight-week experiment design competition in the community, held spring 2012, will allow grade 5-12 student teams to design real microgravity experiments vying for their community’s reserved mini-lab slot on ISS.
SSEP immerses a community of students in real scientific research of their own design (grade-level appropriate), using a highly captivating spaceflight opportunity on ISS - America’s newest National Laboratory – which will garner the community significant media attention.
SSEP is a true STEM education program. It addresses a wide range of biological and physical science disciplines (thus appropriate for all teachers of science), including: seed germination; crystal growth; physiology of microorganisms and life cycles (e.g., bacteria); cell biology and growth; food studies; and studies of micro-aquatic life. Students design experiments to the technology and engineering constraints imposed by a real research mini-lab and flight operations to and from Earth orbit.
Through the first two SSEP announcements of opportunity on the final flights of Space Shuttles Endeavour and Atlantis (STS-134 and STS-135), 27 communities joined the program, providing a combined 30,700 grade 5-14 students in 101 schools the opportunity to design and propose real spaceflight experiments; 1,027 student team proposals were received; and 27 experiments were selected and flown on the shuttles - one for each participating community.
For SSEP Mission 1 to ISS, the third flight opportunity, 12 communities are providing 41,200 students, across 92 schools, the opportunity to design and propose experiments. Mission 1 is ongoing.
The deadline to apply is February 27, 2012. More information is available at http://ssep.ncesse.org/?p=7954, or contact Center Director and SSEP Program Creator Dr. Jeff Goldstein at (301) 395-0770 or jeffgoldstein@ncesse.org.