Fwd: Kick Off Your Week: A commitment to equity and excellence for Hawaii's keiki

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From: Supt. Christina M. Kishimoto <reply@hawaiidoe.org>
Date: Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 12:17 PM
Subject: Kick Off Your Week: A commitment to equity and excellence for Hawaii's keiki
To: <20048903@notes.k12.hi.us>

VIEW EMAIL ONLINE A commitment to equity and excellence for Hawaii's keiki In my message last week, I discussed the Department's efforts to foster supportive learning environments for all of our haumana. In order to change the trajectory of our most vulnerable students, it is imperative that we create equitable opportunities for success. It's with this commitment to equity that I would like to share a few updates and reminders. Guidance and Supports that Empower Students At the Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE), we have a responsibility and deep commitment to ensuring that we have systems and guidance in place to protect and empower those who may be the most vulnerable so we can truly provide access to a quality public education for all of our students. One of those areas of our commitment is reflected in the Department's Guidance on Supports for Transgender Students and Board of Education (BOE) Policy 305.10, which prohibits discrimination based on protected classes, gender identity and expression. Please be sure to review and familiarize yourself with both.   Building a Pre-Kindergarten Pipeline In our commitment to equitable access to pre-kindergarten (Pre-K) opportunities, we are seeking legislative funding to add 22 new Pre-K classrooms at public elementary schools statewide. We are also coordinating with our charter school partners, who will provide additional Pre-K classrooms. This is especially important in high-poverty, underserved areas where there are limited early learning experiences, creating gaps in school readiness. We are one of many partners who are answering this call to action through a new State of Hawaii Early Childhood Plan – Our Keiki, Our Future. I look forward to sharing updates about this plan as we move forward, as well as the HIDOE School Readiness Call to Action Equity Plan, which includes: 1.   Converting 22 identified available classrooms in our elementary schools to Pre-K classrooms for school years 2019-21. 2.   Selecting High School Teacher Academy programs that will embed an Early College Pre-K course of study and model classroom. 3.   Identifying elementary-to-middle-school feeders that are interested in moving their 6th grade to the intermediate level in order to include a Pre-K center as part of their elementary school design. 4.   Establishing a teacher incentive program for K-3 teachers interested in cross-certification in early childhood to serve as teacher leaders for our Pre-K expansion. Mahalo to our Complex Area Superintendents, principals, and charter schools who have come together to develop our equity and access approach, which will serve as the public sector contribution to our overall educational public-private partnership.  Opportunities in Computer Science Innovation According to workforce statistics, computer science jobs will continue to grow exponentially — what an exciting opportunity to embed into our curriculum design! In the spring of 2018, the HIDOE adopted K-12 computer science standards, and we are using the next three years to shift student learning to a more interdisciplinary, design thinking, innovation approach using these standards along with new units of study. I am excited to share that on Oct. 5, the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board approved K-12 teacher licensure options for computer science. With this groundwork in place, teachers, principals and Complex Area Superintendents have the opportunity to develop a Computer Science continuum across all grade levels that will help the state achieve its goal of providing computer science opportunities for K-12 students by 2022. This is exciting and challenging design work. In addition to the new standards and strengthened teacher pipeline, HIDOE has dedicated state general funds to support the second cycle of School Design Innovation Grants and launch a new Computer Science Innovation Grant. Administered by the Office of Strategy, Innovation, and Performance (OSIP), these grant opportunities are open to all Hawaii public and charter schools. The deadline has been extended until 4 p.m. HST, Friday, Nov. 2. For more information, please click here. Be sure to look out for a "Save the Date" scheduled to go out next week from the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design for our summer institute on computer science, an opportunity for teacher leaders to collaborate with educator teams on powerful teaching and learning practices. Join the Unity Day Celebration Lastly, this Wednesday, Oct. 24, please join us in celebrating Unity Day by wearing orange and sharing your messages of hope on social media using #UnityDay2018. Your participation is a simple way to convey your support for communities of kindness, acceptance and aloha. In order for our students to be able to innovate and be engaged, we must provide equitable access to safe and welcoming campuses in addition to rigorous learning standards for excellence. FOLLOW US: Facebook | Twitter | Vimeo | Pinterest | LinkedIN     ONLINE: HawaiiPublicSchools.org This email was sent to all Hawai'i DOE staff. unsubscribe

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