The State Education Data Center (SEDC)

The State Education Data Center (SEDC), SchoolDataDirect.org, is a new online service providing current and historical data as well as the tools needed to inform decisions, drive reform, and conduct quality research on public schools and districts from a single website!

With information for all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia, educators, researchers and policymakers can access and download comprehensive data on: Student Performance, District Spending, Revenue and Taxes, College Prep, School Environment and Community Demographics. For more information, click here.

First Monday Series
Live, Online Professional Development Opportunities

June 2, 2008

Faith and Philanthropy: The Hidden Resources to Be Found In Our Spiritual Institutions

This session offers an introduction to the enormous philanthropic potential in every community. Participants will learn how an individual’s participation in a spiritual community drives their charitable behavior to secular organizations. Participants will also engage in some reflective activities that will provide a framework for targeting spiritual communities in their region. The session will be held on June 2, 2008 at 9:00 AM.

Michael Brand, Family Support & Community Development Coordinator from the Center for Schools and Communities, will be the presenter.

This online learning opportunity is for 21st Century Community Learning Center Grantees.

REGISTER NOW

To register for this session, go to:
http://www.center-school.org/online/

There is no cost to participate, but seating is limited for this live event.
All registrants will receive an e-mail confirmation regarding the status of their participation and instructions on how to access the meeting room in order to participate in the event.
Downloading the necessary software to participate in this live, online session is easy and can be obtained for free

Act 48 Credits

The Center for Schools and Communities, as a division of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, offers Act 48 professional development credit for those with Pennsylvania teaching or administrative certificates. Participants must attend the online workshop from beginning to end to receive credit and provide their Professional ID numbers to receive credit.

A Center for Schools & Communities staff member will track your participation during the online session. Within five (5) business days of the completion of the session, you will receive, by e-mail, the required Act 48 form for completion. If you are interested in receiving Act 48 credit, please check the appropriate box on the online registration form.

About the First Monday Series

The First Monday Series is a year-long, one-hour online organizational development seminars designed for staff and management professionals of non-profit and grant- funded organizations.

This series is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Public Welfare in partnership with the Center for Schools and Communities.

The first session in the series was held on October 1 and the final session will be held on June 2, 2008.

The series will:

Introduce professionals to new management tools.
Offer new ways to think about current practices.
Explore emerging trends in human services and education.

Learn more information about the First Monday Series.

Cohort 4 Grantee Application Revision Workshop

On Tuesday, November 6, the Pennsylvania Department of Education, in partnership with the Center for Schools & Communities, offered a two-hour online workshop for all 21st Century Community Learning Centers Cohort 4 Grantees. The recording of the session as well as the PowerPoint presentation slides have been posted to this page.

PowerPoint Presentation Slides (PDF format)

View the recording of the online workshop

NOTE: In order to view these recorded presentations, you must have the Elluminate Live! Java application downloaded to your personal computer. There is no cost to download the software. To configure your computer, visit the Elluminate support page at: http://www.elluminate.com/support/

NOTICE! Department of Education

For your information and action: Recently the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) began notifying 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) Program Directors that breakfast, lunch and afterschool snacks cannot be claimed under the National School Lunch Program on days when school is not normally in session, but the 21st CCLC program is operational. State Directors were reminded that when school nutrition programs are provided on non school days, funding for food and labor must come from other sources. Read More...

2007-2010 21st Century Community Learning Center - Cohort 4 -
Pre-Proposal Conference

On Tuesday, June 5, 2007, the Pennsylvania Department of Education conducted a pre-proposal online session. Attendees were provided information about the goals and priorities of the 21st Century program, application procedures, evaluation criteria and technical assistance and resource information about high-quality programming and related state and federal requirements. There was an extensive question and answer segment. A compilation of the questions and the official responses is posted below.

Presentation Slides (PDF format)

Participant Questions & Official Responses from PDE (PDF format)

Link to recording of June 5 pre-proposal conference

Please note that the recorded presentation is 1 hr. 10 min. in length. After that point, the session paused for 30 minutes and then resumed for a question & answer segment. Please refer to the PDE-approved question and answer summary posted above for the official responses.

In order to view this recorded session, you must have the Elluminate Live! Java application downloaded to your personal computer. There is no cost to download the software. To configure your computer, visit the Elluminate support page at: http://www.elluminate.com/support/

2007-2010 21st Century Community Learning Center Request for Application (RFA)

The 21st CCLC program provides federal funding for the establishment of community learning centers that provide academic, artistic and cultural enrichment opportunities for children, particularly students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools, to meet state and local standards in core academic subjects; to offer students a broad array of activities that can complement their regular academic programs and to offer literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children. Contracts with successful applicants will be issued for a three-year period beginning October 1st, 2007, with the possibility of continuation for an additional two-year period. The minimum grant award is $50,000 per year. Applications must be received by 4 P.M. on Friday, June 29, 2007.

Call for Peer Reviewers

The Pennsylvania Department of Education in partnership with the Center for Schools and Communities is, is seeking qualified individuals to assist in the review of 21st Century Community Learning Center grant funding applications - FY 2007-2010. For more information, please click here. Peer Review Application

Making Your Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Science-Based
Presenter: Susan E. Washinger, M.Ed.

The Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Public Welfare, in partnership with the Center for Schools and Communities, recently offered a one-hour, live, online professional development opportunity entitled, "Making Your Teen Pregnancy Prevention Programs Science-Based" by Susan E. Washinger, M.Ed. for program coordinators and program personnel for both the 21st Century Community Learning Centers and the Pregnant and Parenting Teen/Education Leading to Employment and Career Training Initiatives. The presentation provided the characteristics of effective prevention programming and how to incorporate these features into your program.

The presenter, Susan Washinger, is a Project Coordinator of Science-Based Programs for the Pennsylvania Coalition to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. She has worked in prevention and youth development programming for the past nine years. Susan has a Masters Degree in Health Education from Penn State University.

PowerPoint Presentation

View the recorded online presentation

In order to view these recorded presentations, you must have the Elluminate Live! Java application downloaded to your personal computer. There is no cost to download the software. To configure your computer, visit the Elluminate support page at: http://www.elluminate.com/support/

Mott Releases, A New Day for Learning, a Report of the Time, Learning, and Afterschool Task Force.

The report is intended as the first step towards catalyzing conversations and initiating the development of actions among key decision makers across the country. On January 17 in Washington, DC, the Task Force will discuss what it takes to implement a new day that maximizes children's learning opportunities.

A New Day for Learning, a report from the Time, Learning, and Afterschool Task Force was funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Task Force members include researchers, foundation leaders, afterschool experts, education leaders, municipal officials, business, and school reform experts. To view a copy of this report, please click here. For additional content, including a cover story from Edutopia Magazine and documentary film segments on afterschool programs, please visit www.edutopia.org.

"The Methods Behind the Madness: Successful Strategies for Behavior Change" by Elizabeth Schroeder, Ed.D., MSW

On Tuesday, February 27, 2007, The Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Public Welfare, in partnership with the Center for Schools and Communities, offered a one-hour, live, online professional development opportunity entitled, "The Methods Behind the Madness: Successful Strategies for Behavior Change" by Elizabeth Schroeder, Ed.D., MSW. This presentation provided practical interventions to enable students to maintain healthy behaviors and change unhealthy ones.

The presenter, Elizabeth Schroeder, is a trainer, consultant and author in the areas of sexuality, youth development, curriculum and counseling. She has provided trainings throughout the United States and overseas to thousands of youth-serving professionals and teens, presented at national conferences and written extensively about sexuality issues. Elizabeth is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University in New Jersey and is completing a doctorate in Human Sexuality Education at Widener University.

PowerPoint Presentation

View the recorded online presentation

Sustainability Planning for 21st CCLC

The Center for Schools and Communities (CSC) in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Education sponsored orientation on Sustainability Planning for 21st Century Community Learning Centers Cohort I Grantees. 60 persons from over 24 sites attended one of three orientation sessions held in Erie, Pittsburgh, and Camp Hill between September 7 and September 14, 2006. Lynn Reinhold and Michael Brand from the Center for Schools and Communities presented an orientation that provided a basic introduction of Financial Sustainability Planning using six modules developed by The Finance Project. The orientation provided the participants with information about understanding the value and benefits of sustainability planning.

After thoughtful and careful consideration of the internal management structure, implementation of 21st CCLC, and assessment of overall readiness, Erie School District, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, RSVP in Newport School District and Bethlehem School District are participating in a larger Sustainability Planning process.

Family and Community Development Coordinators are working intensively with these sites through Spring of 2007. Their assistance involves:

Six to eight facilitated team meetings.
Eight to ten on-site technical assistance visits with the sustainability planning team and sub-committees.
Regular consultation via telephone and e-mail.
Professional development sessions via on-line training.

Participating in this process will help sites to:

Clarify where they are and develop a focus on where they want to go.
Demonstrate the value of their work to their community.
Convince investors to support their work.

Additionally, Bedford and Farrell School Districts are facilitating this process through their own leadership with follow-up and assistance from Michael Brand, CSC Family and Community Development Coordinator.

More information about the Finance Project is available at www.financeproject.org

Summer Learning Programs with an International Focus

The Center for Summer Learning at Johns Hopkins University is conducting a survey to find out what summer learning programs are currently doing to help kids and young people learn about international issues and gain a global perspective. They are looking for model summer programs that can help us shape future work in this area. Please take a moment to fill out a very brief survey and share with us a little about your program. We will use survey responses to help us identify potential partners for an upcoming project of the Center for Summer Learning. Take survey!

What Does It Take to Invest in Summer?

Summer represents a time of year when public education resources dramatically decline. Yet we know that summer learning programs are critical in providing youth with safe, nurturing, and engaging environments that accelerate achievement and promote healthy development. Despite the well-documented need for summer programs and significant public and private investment, very little is known about the actual costs of running varying types of programs and the likely benefits of participation. Read More...

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More News:

21st Century Community Learning Centers 101:
Live, Online Professional Development Session--Recorded Online Session and Powerpoint Presentation

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:
Third Annual Eastern Regional Conference on Afterschool

5th Annual Afterschool for All Challenge a Great Success

Extra Learning Opportunities and After-School Programs:
What Does the Research Tell Us?