Thanks for the quick and helpful response.

I have two more questions:‎

‎1. Is there an itemized FY09 budget available online that details the C21 Curriculum ‎expenditures?‎ If so, could you please provide a link?

‎2. It sounds like the C21 program is an ongoing process; yet the “C21 Curriculum” ‎category is not listed in the FY10 budget. Is the district planning on continuing with ‎these ongoing, comprehensive changes? Or does the district believe the FY09 ‎expenditure has sufficiently met its goals?‎

Capital equipment funding was also approved. New collaborative virtual workspaces are being designed and there will be pilot classrooms that use unique technologies identified at every grade level, including special education. An Internet2 link with the University will provide visualization tools for upper grades and opportunities for global interactivity for all grade levels.

New assessments for students and data analysis tools for teachers are being designed. Classroom learning walks are being designed to help principals and vice principals identify best practices in the classroom and focus on academic leadership. This is a comprehensive program. You can keep up with it here:
http://www.fayar.net/community/project21c.html

These pages are updated frequently to show progress.
The project has been underway for less than a year but has a comprehensive PreK-12 focus.

The National School Board Association Technology Learning Network has selected Fayetteville Public Schools for one of 4 international site visits because of our emphasis on our comprehensive curriculum update, focus on 21st century skills, and technology integration.

We didn’t pay $2.4 million to bring in Tony Wagner and get some books… or did we?‎

(Again, the document can be found at http://www.fayar.net/imagesBoard/Agenda_9-24-09.pdf)

The proposal for Prism Education Center requests a waiver for “Qualified Teachers in Every Public School Classroom” as well as a waiver for “Employment of Certified Personnel”. On page eight of the Prism Education Center proposal, Kati Haycock’s work is represented in a chart that shows the cumulative effects over three years between students with least effective versus most effective teachers. Having an ineffective teacher for three years can have a devastating cumulative effect on student success. By asking for a waiver of the very baseline level of teacher quality…certification…Prism is putting the future of students who are already at risk at even more risk.

It’s true that lots of research supports having highly effective teachers in the classroom, but there is no evidence for claiming that certification is the “baseline” for measuring teacher quality. No valid research study has found much of any difference between certified and uncertified teachers.

Check out the excellent studies by Dan Goldhaber, the recent Mathematica study, or the Gordon/Kane/Staiger study. (NOTE: You can’t tell, because our site isn’t showing visible links for some reason, but there are three links in the above sentence.)

Check out this chart to see that there are basically no differences between uncertified and certified teachers:
http://jaypgreene.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/gordon-1-739885.jpg

6. 21st Century Skills
While the Total Instructional Alignment documents provide basic alignment of academic content to the Arkansas Frameworks, they do not incorporate the 21st
Century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and the other habits of mind that will be required for students to be successful in our global
society.

http://www.fayar.net/imagesBoard/Agenda_9-24-09.pdf

I am not here to dispute your opinions, but I will try to provide the information you seem to be unable to locate.