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Three AISD Teachers Nominated by
Local Council
for State Awards

Members of the Capital Area Council for the Social Studies [CACSS] met recently and selected three teachers, all from the Austin district, to be nominated for awards at the state level.

The Texas Council for the Social Studies' NOVA Award is designated for teachers who have completed their first year as a classroom teacher and are currently teaching in their second or third year. This award, regardless of K-12 level is to honor the outstanding new teacher who contributes to the advancement of social studies education within the school and community. Congratulations to International High School teacher Ian Grayson on his selection by the CACSS for the NOVA award nomination.

The Outstanding Teacher Awards honor one elementary, one middle or junior high, and one high school teacher for: - outstanding teaching - contribution to the advancement of social studies education within the school and community - and active participation in local, state, and national social studies councils. Nominated for the Outstanding Elementary Teacher of the Year by CACSS is Sally Hunter, 4th grade teacher at Highland Park Elementary. The CACSS selected Steve Ray, 8th grade teacher and department chair at Mendez Middle School as the nominee for the Outstanding Middle School Teacher of the Year.

Winners of the awards will be honored at the 57th Annual TCSS Conference, Oct 30 - Nov 1, in Dallas.

[Joe's Message ]

- TEKS Refinement update
- New proposed legislation
- Picturing America Grant resources
- History Day competition

[Meet the Social Studies team]

Social Studies in the News:

Law Related Education Honors Terry Loessin

Terry Loessin, Austin ISD Social Studies Curriculum Specialist for High Schools, is the recipient of the 2009 Honorary Leon Jaworski Award for Teaching Excellence in Law Focused Education.

Terry received the award at a luncheon meeting of the State Bar of Texas on June 25th at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas. (photos)

Read more...

Hunter, Olson Receive Humanities Texas Award

Two of our Social Studies colleagues recently received the good news from Humanities Texas that they have been selected for the 2009 Outstanding Teachers of the Humanities Award. The award recognizes exemplary K-12 humanities teachers. Each year eleven teachers are selected to receive a $5,000 cash award and an additional $500 for their respective schools to use in purchasing humanities-based instructional materials.

Sally Hunter, M.Ed., is currently a fourth grade teacher and the Social Studies Chair at Highland Park Elementary in Austin, Texas. She earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education at the University of Texas and is certified to teach Kindergarten through 8th Grade. Mrs. Hunter has over twenty-five years of classroom experience across the elementary grade levels and is a National Board Certified Teacher. Her teaching and curriculum writing expertise - most recently producing a tribute to the Texas Governor's Mansion (see,"This House Is Your House") - have received much recognition including a 3M Ingenuity Grant. Mrs. Hunter has been facilitating teacher trainings throughout Texas for more than twenty years.

Her experience includes presentations for No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools, Schools Attuned, The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, and both the Texas and National Councils for the Social Studies Conferences.

Kyle Olson teaches World History, AP Art History, and is the Social Studies Chair at the International High School on the Eastside Memorial campus. Kyle received his Bachelor's degree in International Studies from Southwestern University in Georgetown in 2003 and is certified in composite Social Studies and ESL. Mr. Olson is also the Head Coach for Boys Soccer at Eastside Memorial as well as the IHS campus AP coordinator/GT Advocate. The AP Art History course he teaches is the first-ever AP course in the nation specifically audited and created for ELLs. Olson is also an experienced trainer, having presented at both the Texas and National Councils for the Social Studies Conferences and most recently at the annual Preparate Conference (full story, click here) in Orlando, Florida.

Message from Joe:

Spring, 2009

Welcome to the Social Studies website!

Your Professional Organizations

Let me begin by extending my congratulations to the teachers we're highlighting in our lead story above. Over the years the Humanities Texas organization, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, has honored many of our Social Studies teachers with the Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award and this year we are delighted that two of our colleagues have been selected for this honor - Kyle Olson and Sally Hunter. We are also proud that three from the Austin district are being nominated for the Texas Council for the Social Studies awards by the local Capital Area Council for the Social Studies - Ian Grayson, Sally Hunter, and Steve Ray. Congratulate these teachers when you see them!

It’s not too early to start thinking about the social studies professional organization conferences for 2009. The 57th Annual TCSS Conference will be held from October 30 to November 1 at the Dallas Hyatt Regency while the 89th Annual NCSS Conference will be held in Atlanta from November 13 -15, 2009. Please refer to www.txcss.org and www.socialstudies.org for additional information on the exciting programs being planned for these two conferences.

Teachers, if you are not a member of CACSS / TCSS I hope you will consider joining. These Social Studies organizations provide excellent resources and other benefits on their websites and in their print publications to their member teachers. I encourage you to visit the Professional Organizations section of our website to learn more about these groups and join today!

By the way, the results of the recent TCSS survey about TEKS refinement suggestions were combined into documents by teams of social studies educators from around the state and are now available, listed by subject area, at txcss.org. Documents that reflect the opinions of TCSS members were written and were presented to the State Board of Education on January 22, 2009. Those documents were also shared with SBOE-appointed TEKS revision teams which began their work in early February. Click to access the testimony presented to the SBOE which explains both the process and the products of the survey, as well as the actual recommendation documents. Remember that these documents represent only the recommended refinements and are not officially adopted curriculum materials. Strike-throughs represent suggested deletions; red font represents suggested additions.

Proposed Social Studies Legislation

The 81st session of the Texas Legislature is well underway. Several bills have been filed in the House and Senate that directly impact social studies instruction. I urge all teachers to follow the progress of these bills by tracking them online at
TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
News &
Recent Reports

Texas is proposing to use a growth model for determining whether schools, school districts and the state are making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2008-2009 year under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Click here for information regarding the proposed growth model.

The Commissioner's final decisions on the state accountability system for 2009 and beyond are now available.

About $2 billion in supplemental federal Title I and special education funds will soon be available to Texas school districts and charter schools. An additional $1 billion will be available to Texas districts in low-cost or no interest bonds through the federal Qualified School Construction Bond program.
Stimulus Tracking
Web Page Available

TEA's Student Assessment Division has posted newly updated Testing Calendars for 2009-10 and 2010-11. the Texas Legislature website.

Below is a list of bills already filed in the Legislature that affect social studies curriculum. These bills relate to the personal finance literacy component.

• HB 1153 (Solomons) Relating to expanding the public high school curriculum to promote personal financial literacy: Requires public school students to receive financial literacy in Grades 9 or 10. A one week intensive course in this subject must be offered to students who drop out of school or have not completed the PFL component. Public schools mustincorporate PFL into mathematics and economics coursework.
• SB 190 (Shapleigh) Relating to the expansion of the financial literacy pilot program in public schools: Expands the financial literacy pilot program from 25 districts to 100 districts and requires TEA to report back legislation by Jan. 1, 2011.
• SB 199 (Shapleigh) Relating to providing training in personal financial literacy instruction for public school teachers: Includes providing training in personal financial literacy as a core service to be maintained at each regional service center.
• SB 325 (Shapleigh) Relating to providing training in personal financial literacy instruction for public school teachers: Adds training in personal finance literacy as a core service of each regional service center. Seminars shall be offered and the institution providing the seminar will charge the district an amount equal to the cost of the institution.
  

Cen-Tex Regional / Texas State History Fair

I would like to extend congratulations to students at O. Henry and Fulmore Middle Schools along with their sponsors, Duane Devereaux and Dr. Mary Anne Wilkinson, for their participation in the Cen-Tex Regional History Fair that took place on February 14 at the Joe C. Thompson Center. It was a privilege to judge their high-quality entries. Over 50 students from these two schools participated and 12 students from O. Henry Middle School who either placed first or second in their respective divisions will be representing Austin ISD in the Texas History Day State Finals in May (see full story in our Middle School section). Special thanks also go to Marsha Sharp, Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum Education Coordinator, for her work in organizing the Cen-Tex Regional History Fair.

NEH Picturing America Grant

We're excited that the National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded Austin ISD a Picturing America grant. [Download FAQs & Resources flyer] Through this grant, every Austin ISD campus will receive a collection of 40 beautiful, high-quality reproductions of American art, along with a Teachers Resource Book.

The book includes information on all the images and suggestions for using them to enhance classroom and library learning in a wide range of subjects: including American history, social studies, writing, literature, art, and civics. Materials will be delivered to campus contacts in late March and early April.

During the 2009-2010 school year, the grant requires teachers to utilize the images in their classrooms. A report at the end of this school year will document how campuses implemented the Picturing America materials. Elementary Social Studies Advocates and Secondary Department Chairs, please remember to facilitate this necessary process on your individual campuses.

More information and resources on the Picturing America program
can be found at http://www.picturingamerica.neh.gov/.

AUSTIN ISD Social Studies Curriculum Department Wins AASA Award

Austin ISD Social Studies Curriculum Supervisor Joe Ramirez received the good news in January that his department had won the
2009 American Association of School Administrators award for outstanding leadership in voter education. (see AASA press release)

The award was presented during the Friday, February 20, General Session at the AASA convention in San Francisco.

(see photos from event)


"All of us at the National Student / Parent Mock Election are delighted with the leadership role Austin played and hope to share your exciting work with school districts all across the country," said the President of NSPME, Gloria Kirshner.
AASA Leadership in Voter Education Recognition

I am also thrilled to announce that Austin ISD was recently recognized by the National Student/Parent Mock Election and the American Association of School Administrators for outstanding leadership in voter education. Along with Terry Loessin, I had the privilege of attending the AASA National Conference on Education at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, where we were recognized for this achievement. (see right)

The historic nature of the 2008 Presidential election generated voter interest among our students, whichdefinitely helped social studies teachers at all grade levels engage students in learning about the electoral process. This recognition was a result of a collaborative effort between our department, Austin ISD social studies teachers, the Department of Instructional Technology, and partners in the community, including the Texas Young Lawyers’ Association, the Travis County Tax Assessor/Collector’s Office, the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, and the National Student/Parent Mock Election.

 

I will continue to keep you updated on legislation that has not yet been filed since the filing deadline for all bills does not occur until mid-March. I urge you to contact your state representatives to either express support or concerns regarding proposed legislation.

February 13 Social Studies District-Wide Staff Development a Huge Success!
Secondary teachers met at Crockett High School on February 13 for a district-wide professional development day that involved over 60 presentations from Austin ISD social studies teachers, university scholars, textbook publishers, and liaisons from local museums and community agencies. Participants received six hours of professional development credit, including a three-hour G/T component for attending. I would like to thank all teachers who attended for their participation and session presenters for developing engaging sessions that received extremely positive feedback from teachers.

On behalf of all of us on the Social Studies Curriculum team, let us know how we can best assist you. As always, don’t hesitate to contact us with questions and suggestions for the website. We look forward to our continued collaboration with each of you!

Joe

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