computerdisc-l: Snips from Dr. Bounds' Monday Memo

["Teresa Jones" <TJones@mde.k12.ms.us>]

MDE offices will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 23 and 24 for
Thanksgiving. Best wishes to you and your staff, students and families
for a safe and happy holiday. 

On Friday, we held a press conference on the new method of calculating
graduation and dropout rates. The State Board approved to begin the
Administrative Procedures Act Process. The new method utilizes the
Mississippi Student Information System (MSIS) to provide the most
accurate graduation, completion and dropout statistics by tracking
individual students over time. Our ability to track individual students
will put us ahead of many states in addressing this important issue and
will help us in our goal of reducing the dropout rate by 50 percent in
five years. For dropout/completion/graduation data information go to the
Mississippi Assessment and Accountability Reporting System (MAARS) at
http://orsap.mde.k12.ms.us:8080/MAARS and select "Reports" from the
main menu. To read the news release that was sent to media on Friday go
to http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/extrel/news/06Graduation_Dropout.html.

Governor Haley Barbour has declared November "Tornado Awareness Month"
in Mississippi. The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), the
MDE and local emergency management officials are urging school leaders
to include a NOAA weather radio in their schools' disaster plan. MEMA
previously sponsored an initiative that provided a NOAA weather radio to
all public schools in the state. This is the time for school officials
to ensure that those radios are working properly and to purchase new
radios if necessary. Ideally, each building on a school campus should
have a weather radio. Mississippi ranks in the top 12 states for annual
numbers of tornados and many of our schools have suffered severe damage
from tornadoes in recent years. For more information about NOAA weather
radios, log on to the National Weather Service's Web site at
http://www.weather.gov/nwr. For more information on protection from
tornadoes, visit MEMA online at http://www.msema.org and click the
"Preparedness" link. 

The Governor's Commission on Physical Fitness and Sports in
collaboration with MDE's Office of Healthy Schools is proud to announce
the sixth Annual - Excellence in Physical Education Certification
Program. The Excellence in Physical Education Certification Program is
an annual award available to public and private schools to officially
recognize a school's commitment to a quality physical education program.
Those recognized will serve as examples to schools and school districts
throughout the state to inspire others to strive towards meeting basic
standards in quality physical education programs. Applications are due
December 21, 2006. For more information and an application go to the
Office of Healthy Schools Web site
http://www.healthyschoolsms.org/ohs_main/initiatives/excellence_in_pe_cert.htm
or contact Shane McNeill at 601-359-1737. 

Make Your Voice Count! Project CLEAR Voice, an online survey to assess
working conditions, will be available at
http://www.projectclearvoice.org from February 5 until March 5, 2007,
and may be completed from any Internet connection. Every licensed
employee (principals, teachers, counselors, social workers, etc.) will
be given an anonymous access code with online survey instructions.
Schools that have at least a 40% response rate will receive a customized
report which will identify strengths, challenges, and opportunities to
help administrators make data-driven decisions that will positively
impact student achievement and teacher retention. District Point of
Contact training will be held at the Mississippi Department of Education
on January 26, 2007. For more information, call the Mississippi Teacher
Center at 601-359-3631.

If you would like to read a copy of my weekly column go to
http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/Extrel/news/weekly.html.

                                     

Teresa P. Jones, Program Coordinator
Business and Computer Technology
Mississippi Department of Education 
Office of Vocational Education and Workforce Development
P.O. Box 771
Jackson, MS 39205
Phone: 601-359-3940
Fax: 601-359-6619
Email: tjones@mde.k12.ms.us