From Extra to Essential: Family Engagement in Arkansas Schools

Today’s classrooms are filled with children of many ethnicities, cultures, and languages. To fully support our students, we must tap into the range of assets, experiences, and perspectives within our families and communities. Research shows us that when schools, families, and communities work together to support learning, children tend to do better in school, stay in school longer, and enjoy school more. What are we doing in Arkansas to co-create with parents, guardians, and invested community partners in our students’ development, wellness, and learning? 

In this course, host Alyson Courtney and Arkansas Department of Education’s Freddie Scott take us on a tour around the state and through the Essentials of engagement. These Essentials are: Communication, Equity, Safe and Friendly Schools, Innovation, Leadership and Support, and Partnerships and Relationships.

This course meets the family and community engagement requirements of ACA 6-15-1703.

My Child, My Student: Parents and Teachers Communicating - Reducing Chronic Absenteeism

This course features Jonathan Crossley, 2014 Arkansas Teacher of the Year. Mr. Crossley discusses chronic absenteeism and suggests strategies that teachers can use to help students be successful. In addition, Mr. Crossley addresses the underlying meaning of chronic absenteeism and why it matters. He also offers suggestions for teachers as they communicate with parents about the importance of regular school attendance among students. 

This professional development session was recorded on October 23, 2014 at the AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas.

The Six Components of Parental Involvement for Teachers

This course, which was recorded on January 15, 2015 at Western Yell County High School in Havana, Arkansas, features Dr. Beverley Romanin, former teacher and administrator and expert parent involvement consultant. The presentation features an overview of Dr. Joyce Epstein's Six Components of Parental Involvement, which include the concepts of parenting, communicating, volunteering, students learning at home, school decision-making, and collaborating with the community.

This course meets the family and community engagement requirements of ACA 6-15-1703.

The Six Components of Parental Involvement for Administrators

This course, which was recorded on January 20, 2015 at the AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas, features Dr. Beverley Romanin, former teacher and administrator and expert consultant on parental involvement programs. The presentation, which is geared toward administrators, features an overview of Dr. Joyce Epstein's Six Components of Parental Involvement, which include the concepts of parenting, communicating, volunteering, students learning at home, school decision-making, and collaborating with the community.

This course meets the family and community engagement requirements of ACA 6-15-1703.

Fostering Positive Educational Transitions for Children of Military Families

Throughout the state of Arkansas, there are an estimated 6,000-7,000 military-connected students in our public schools. These children face challenges unique to life in the military, and their educational careers are hardly unaffected by these difficulties. It is the mission of the 2022 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, Jessica Saum, to bring awareness to these matters. 

In this course, hosted by Cassandra Webb, you will hear from School Liaison Program Manager Terri Williams and Military Family Engagement Advisor Don Kaminar, both state-level experts on matters involving the education of military-connected children. These panelists, in addition to Ms. Saum, will begin by shedding light on the unique challenges faced by military-connected children. Mr. Kaminar will then share information about the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, also referred to the Military Interstate Children's Compact or simply the Compact. The Compact is administered by the Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission and was designed to help ease school transitions for military-connected students. Mr. Kaminar will help schools understand how the Compact should guide their decisions regarding military-connected students within their districts. He will also discuss the Purple Star Schools program and outline the steps schools can take to earn the Purple Star School designation. Lastly, Ms. Williams will discuss resources available to military-connected children, their families, and the schools serving them. 

The Arkansas Guide for Promoting Family Engagement Through Age Eight

Family engagement is more than simply inviting parents to school once or twice a year; it is a continual process of working together for the benefit of students. Jackie Govan (Director, Head Start State Collaboration) and Jamie Morrison Ward (Curricula Concepts) present the Arkansas Guide for Promoting Family Engagement, a resource educators can use to help promote parental involvement and explain the importance of childhood development to the caregivers in students' lives. The Guide also contains information about putting together action plans for getting families to play a role in their children's education.

This course was recorded at the AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas on June 14, 2016.

This course meets the family and community engagement requirement of ACA 6-15-1703.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the NGSS: A New Vision for Science Education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies the key scientific ideas and practices students in all grades should learn. Dr. Heidi Schweingruber, Director for the Board on Science Education, introduces the frameworks as a new vision for science learning. She reviews the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), details the three dimensions, and presents data in support of the need for implementing these standards in the classroom.

This course was taped during the AAMLE annual conference on March 30-31, 2015.  

Scientific and Engineering Practices in the Classroom

A Framework for K-12 Science Education presents three dimensions that are combined to form each standard with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The first dimension, Scientific and Engineering Practices, is the focus for this course. Heidi Schweingruber, Ph.D., Director for the Board on Science Education, discusses how these practices help support learning in the classroom. Referencing data from Achieve, she identifies the shifts in science education and suggested techniques for implementation. 

This course was taped during the AAMLE annual conference on March 30-31, 2015. 

Crosscutting Concepts

Crosscutting concepts are in place to help students make connections across the different disciplines. Dr. Heidi Schweingruber, Director of the Board on Science Education, explains how these concepts are more than just a way to categorize activities; they exist to support and deepen student learning. She identifies the guiding principles for how these concepts should be used in the classroom and looks at the progression of complexity and sophistication across the grades. Having prior knowledge of the NGSS framework before taking this course is strongly encouraged.

This course was taped during the AAMLE annual conference on March 30-31, 2015. 

Disciplinary Literacy: Science - K-12

In this course, Karen Ladd of the Nettleton School District discusses disciplinary literacy and how it is effectively applied in the science classroom. She begins with a thorough discussion of what disciplinary literacy means. Afterward, she introduces a science literacy lesson model and explains how it can be used as a template for designing science lessons that incorporate the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards.

This course was taped September 9, 2014 at the AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas. 

PLEASE NOTE: This course has been temporarily disabled while we look into a video issue.