USEP-OHIO Update

We wish to announce the 2013 Discover Parenting Winners! View photo collection and sign up for our 25th Discover Parenting-2014 Please see photos, registration, etc.

"Mom says 'Click It' So She Won't Get a Ticket", is a great photo that taps into the most important and successful recent traffic safety program in America."Click It or Ticket" has helped convince many Americans to observe the law! - reminding us that it is safest to use the current standards for safely seating infants and children.

"Know Safety...No Accidents" Shows an active youngster properly and safely seated! The caption caught our attention in its simplicity, and clever play on words. All parents/drivers who KNOW the laws and abide by the recommended guidelines, realize there are NO accidents.

"Being Buckled In, Is Safer than Being Held Onto Tight", depicts a clear message with both photo and the safely-seated, smiling child. It refers to the important message sometimes realized too late by loving parents, grandparents and friends who think they may be able to safely hold a child on their laps.

"Mommy Keeps Me Safe by Buckling Me Up" shows us a child who, like many American youngsters, probably spends a good amount of time in his safe carseat. Mom is giving him a safer ride by always buckling - every time!

We congratulate all students who participated for being creative, thoughtful, original, and for the critical thinking they have done in creating their entries. We thank the teachers who have thoughtfully prepared their students for the task of being safe, responsible parents. This project was used by the teachers to help fulfill the Ohio Content Standards for their curriculum. Congratulations to all! We hope your school, your community and the local papers and newsletters will help you tell the story of your participation in Discover Parenting - 2013.

Included Below: Updates on the Ohio Budget, what's in what's out, what is not addressed! Keep listening for the Ohio Budget news. According to Ohio law, the Ohio Biennial budget needs to be signed by Governor Kasich by June 30^th. Also Updated Events and Resources!

Update on HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15: The Senate passed Am. Sub. HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15 on June 6, 2013 along party lines. The $61.7 billion budget bill was amended twice by the Senate Finance Committee and then the Senate, adding more money for K-12 education compared to the House and executive versions of HB59, but does not include an executive provision to expand Medicaid for uninsured Ohioans, or provide additional state funds for local governments. More information about the Senate version of HB59 is included below.

Many groups and organizations are working to secure health and safety in solid programs for families in Ohio. Be sure to let your voice be heard, as this process continues. Your input is valuable in many ways to protect and preserve the well-being of children and families in our state. Our next Update will include a variety of topics as well as progress on the education budget. As parents and professionals we wear many hats as we teach, guide and advocate for our kids.

HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15: The Senate passed Am. Sub. HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15 on June 6, 2013 along party lines. The $61.7 billion budget bill was amended twice by the Senate Finance Committee and then the Senate, adding more money for K-12 education compared to the House and executive versions of HB59, but does not include an executive provision to expand Medicaid for uninsured Ohioans, or provide additional state funds for local governments. More information about the Senate version of HB59 is included below.

Third Grade Reading Guarantee: Governor Kasich signed SB 21 (Lehner) Third-grade Reading Guarantee on June 4, 2013. The Third Grade Reading Guarantee was enacted by the 129th General Assembly in SB316 and amended later in HB555. SB21 addresses concerns raised by educators after the law was approved last year, including a provision that severely limits the number of teachers who would be qualified in Ohio to provide intervention services to students who are not reading on grade level.

Ohio's School Funding System Still Unconstitutional: The Columbus Dispatch reported on June 3, 2013 an interview in which Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor expressed her belief that Ohio's system of funding public schools is not compliant with the DeRolph court decisions issued by the Ohio Supreme Court. According to the Dispatch, "The Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor says state lawmakers have failed to fix the way public schools are financed since the high court in 2002 issued its last of four rulings that the funding system was unconstitutional." The Chief Justice was speaking to the Dispatch Editorial Board about how lawmakers have responded to the DeRolph decisions. She believes that nothing has changed, and the system is still unconstitutional.

The article is available.

State Tax Revenues Up: The preliminary May 2013 revenue report released by the Office of Budget and Management, Tim Keen Director, shows that state revenue is now $735 million ahead of forecasts for FY13, which ends on June 30, 2013. More revenue than expected was collected from personal income tax and sales taxes. The personal income tax earned $8.6 billion for the fiscal year so far, which is about $520 million over estimates.

This is good news for House and Senate leaders, who expect a conference committee will be needed to work out the differences between the House and Senate versions of HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15, and will be using the latest revenue estimates to determine FY14-15 allocations for HB59. Republican lawmakers and Governor Kasich are also discussing additional income tax cuts, while Democrats would use additional funds to support K-12 education, the local government fund, food banks, health care services, etc.

The OBM revenue report is available.

The Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Senator Oelslager, agreed to additional amendments for HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-15, before the full Senate amended and approved the $61.7 billion budget plan on June 6, 2013.

Overall the Senate version of HB59 adjusts Ohio's system for funding schools; provides a tax cut for small businesses, but not the across the board tax cut proposed by the House; and excludes Medicaid expansion, which was proposed by Governor Kasich and included in the bill as introduced.

The Senate version of HB59 provides a total for the biennium of $22.6 million in General Revenue Funds for the Ohio Arts Council. This is an increase of $5.8 million over FY12-13 levels. All Fund Groups for the Ohio Arts Council total $25.6 million for the biennium.

The General Revenue Fund budget for the Ohio Department of Education increases from $15.1 billion in FY12-13 to $16.4 billion in FY14-15, an increase of $1.292 billion. The All Fund Groups budget for education increases from $22.4 billion in FY12-13 to $23.6 billion in FY14-15.

Compared to FY12-13, the Senate version of HB59 increases funding through the General Revenue Fund for Early Childhood Education; the Ohio Educational Computer Network, due to the re-constitution of the eTech Commission; Academic Standards; Student Assessments; Educator Preparation; Community Schools/Choice; General Technology Operations; Technology Integration and Professional Development; Transportation; Auxiliary Services; Nonpublic Administrative Costs Reimbursements; Special Education Enhancements; Career Tech Enhancements; Foundation Funding; Literacy Improvement; and Property Tax Allocation.

New education programs included in the bill are the Straight A Fund ($250 million); Education Choice Expansion ($25.5 million); and Community School Facilities ($15 million). These programs are being funded out of the Lottery Profits Fund, which is increasing from $1.4 billion in FY12-13 to $1.78 billion in FY14-15.

HB59 also slightly decreases funding for Accountability/Report Cards and eliminates funding for Ready to Learn, a program originally included in the House version of HB59, and now removed by the Senate.

The total General Revenue Fund budget for FY14-15 increases by $7.5 billion from $54 billion in FY12-13 to $61.7 billion in FY14-15. The All Fund Groups budget totals $120.5 billion for FY14-15.

The latest Senate version of HB59 also addresses the following K-12 policies that education stakeholders testified against before the Senate Finance Committee, Education Subcommittee:

Tax Appeals: Removes a provision, added by the Senate Finance Committee, that would prohibit boards of education from filing appeals on property values for real estate taxes within their districts. Boards of education often challenge the value of properties through the Board of Revisions process in order to ensure that real property is valued fairly for tax purposes, so that school districts receive the tax dollars that they are due to operate the schools, and all tax payers are treated fairly.

Pupil Count: Changes a House provision requiring school districts to take a monthly student count, and instead requires two student counts per school year, one in October and another in February. Witnesses testified that taking a student count every month would be impractical and would lead to significant planning problems for school districts. Currently school districts take one count of all students in October, but it takes on average three months to verify the results.

Payment in Lieu of Transportation: Restores current law regarding how parents are reimbursed when school districts determine that transportation of students is impractical. Several witnesses requested that the House provision be removed, because it removed the ability of the school district to negotiate with parents about the transportation of their students, and would have deducted from the school district's transportation aid a larger per pupil reimbursement. Since state aid for transportation is already underfunded and must be supplemented with local district revenue, school districts told lawmakers that they could not afford this change, and have enough money to transport students.

Straight A Fund: Increases the Straight A Fund to $250 million a year. Governor Kasich had proposed $300 million to support the Straight A Fund in the executive budget, but the House lowered the fund to $150 million. The purpose of the fund is to provide districts grants through a competitive process to become more innovative and improve academics or lower costs.

Early Childhood Education: Increases state funds to support early childhood education, including $33.3 million in FY14 and $45.3 million in FY15 to allow children from low-income families to attend private preschools when publicly funded preschools are not available.

Motor Fuel Tax: Increases the motor fuel tax reimbursement for city, exempted village, joint vocational, and local school districts and educational service centers for motor fuel purchased and used for school district and service center operations from 6¢ per gallon to 10¢ per gallon. Under continuing law, the overall motor fuel tax rate is 28¢ per gallon. Superintendents and treasurers testified that the reimbursement hadn't been changed in years.

Superintendents, treasurers, and representatives of education organizations urged Senators to change several HB59 provisions that could negatively impact schools and districts, and establish a mechanism for determining an adequate formula amount per pupil for funding schools.

The Senate, however, retained several controversial provisions in HB59, and did not include a method to determine an adequate formula amount based on education standards, services, or student needs.

EdChoice Expanded: Retains the expanded EdChoice voucher programs with some changes. The Senate version of HB59 includes two voucher programs, one based on family income and the other based on school district ratings on the Third Grade Reading Guarantee measure.

The expanded Education Choice voucher based on income would allow students in the 2013-2014 school year entering Kindergarten and first grade to qualify for a voucher to attend eligible private schools, if their family income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, regardless of the rating of the school on the local report card. The program would be funded by the state rather than through deductions from the resident school district, which is the way the EdChoice voucher is currently funded. Participation in the program is therefore limited by the amount of state funding, which is $8.5 million in FY14 and $17 million in FY15. Assuming students use the maximum scholarship amount, there would be about 2000 vouchers available in FY14 and 4000 available in FY15. The bill also states that students can continue to receive vouchers in future years. The bill was amended to provide tiered funding for continuing voucher students whose parents' income level increased more than 200 percent of the poverty level.

Superintendents and representatives from education organizations testified that many effective and excellent school districts, especially those in rural Ohio, could have a large number of students qualify for the expanded EdChoice voucher program based on family income. Even though funding for the voucher would be capped at $8.5 million in FY14 and $17 million in FY15, and would be funded by the state, superintendents and treasurers testified that losing students and state funding per student could financially harm their school districts. They also noted that if the expanded voucher program continued in future biennia, it could provide public funds to almost all students attending private schools in a few years, increasing the overall burden and cost for K-12 education for the state.

The Third Grade Guarantee voucher provision would begin with the 2016-2017 school year. It qualifies for the EdChoice scholarship students in kindergarten through third grade who are enrolled in a district-operated school that has received a grade of "D" or "F" in "making progress in improving K-3 literacy" in two of the three most recent state report cards, and has not received an "A" in "making progress in improving K-3 literacy" in the most recent report card issued prior to the first day of July of the school year for which the scholarship is sought.

Opponents of this voucher program told lawmakers that the provision would allow students to leave public schools that must ensure students are reading at grade level, to attend private schools that do not have to comply with the Third Grade Guarantee law or provide additional reading help for students.

Contract-Out Provisions (Section 3317.40): Retains the bill's provision that requires school districts that fail to show "satisfactory achievement and progress", as determined by the State Board of Education, serving subgroups of students (special education, economically disadvantaged, ELL and students identified as gifted in superior cognitive ability and specific academic ability), to submit an improvement plan to the ODE for approval. The ODE may require the school district to partner with other organizations to provide services to these students. Witnesses testified that this provision is impractical to implement, because state aid only provides a portion of the full cost to provide services to subgroups of students anyway, and school districts already contract out many of these services to other organizations.

Joint Vocational School District Boards: Retains the bill's provision that changes the composition of the boards of education of joint vocational school districts (JVSD). The members of JVSD boards are now selected from among the elected representatives of participating districts. The Senate version of the bill would require JVSD board members to be selected from regional employers, which would duplicate the membership of the JVSD business advisory boards, which currently include representatives of regional employers and others in the community who are involved in career education.

Transportation and Career Tech Components: Retains the bill's provisions that keep state funding for transportation and career tech within the gain cap, thereby limiting the amount of state funding available for school districts. Also retains a provision in the bill that removed components of the current transportation-funding formula. These components supported best practices regarding the transportation of students to schools

The Ohio Senate and House have now approved very different versions of HB59 (Amstutz) Appropriations for FY14-FY15. The House is expected this week to vote to reject the Senate changes for HB59, which means that the bill will be assigned to a conference committee composed of three members from the House and three members from the Senate, who will work to develop a compromise bill. The conferees could start work next week. Lawmakers have until June 30, 2013 to complete work on the bill, and most agree that the House and Senate will meet the deadline.

In the meantime, although more changes will be made by the conference committee, the following is a summary of the latest changes made by the Ohio Senate to HB59 last week.

FUNDING CHANGES

Ohio Arts Council Section 217.10: Increases appropriation item 370502, State Program Subsidies, by $25,000 in each fiscal year.

Foundation Funding: Decreases GRF appropriation item 200550, Foundation Funding, by $5.7 million in FY14 and increases this item by $147.3 million in FY15.

Payment in Lieu of Transportation: Earmarks $5 million in FY14 and $2.5 million in FY15 for payments to parents in lieu of transportation.

Straight A Fund Section 263.10: Increases the Lottery Profits Education Fund 7017 appropriation item 200648, Straight A Fund, by $50 million in each fiscal year. Appropriates $100 million in FY14 and $150 million in FY15.

Early Childhood Education 263.20: Increases GRF appropriation item 200408, Early Childhood, to $33.3 million in FY14 and by $45.3 million in FY15. Eliminates the Ready to Learn program and GRF appropriation item 200468, Ready to Learn, funded at $5.05 million in each fiscal year.

Read Baby Read Section 263.255: Re-establishes GRF appropriation item 200566, Literacy Improvement, with an appropriation of $150,000 in each fiscal year and specifies that the funds be used for Read Baby Read.

Ready, Set, Go.... to Kindergarten (Lorain County): Moves the $50,000 earmark in each year for the Ready, Set, Go...to Kindergarten Program from appropriation item 200468, Ready to Learn, to appropriation item 200408, Early Childhood Education.

Jon Peterson Scholarship: Increases GRF appropriation item 200550, Foundation Funding, by $5 million in FY14 and earmarks that amount in 2014. Specifies that the earmark must be used to reimburse school districts for the full cost of Jon Peterson Scholarship deductions taken for students who did not attend a public school in their resident district in the previous year, and specifies that the payment amounts may be prorated if the earmarked amount is not sufficient.

Auxiliary Services: Decreases GRF appropriation item 200511, Auxiliary Services, by $48,338 in FY14 and increases this appropriation item by $3.3 million in FY15.

Nonpublic Administrative Cost Reimbursement 3317.063: Decreases GRF appropriation item 200532, Nonpublic Administrative Cost Reimbursement, by $21,836 in FY14 and increases this appropriation item by $1.5 million in FY15. Allocates $58.9 million in FY14 and $62.4 million in FY15. Increases the maximum per pupil amount for reimbursement of noncharter school administrative cost funds to $360.

Board of Regents Section 363.483: Increases the earmark under GSF appropriation item 235653, Co-op Internship Program, for the Ohio Center for the Advancement of Women in Public Service at the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University from $75,000 to $150,000.

Board of Regents Section 363.10: Increases GRF appropriation item 235444, Post-Secondary Adult Career-Technical Education, by $500,000 in each fiscal 11 year.

Board of Regents Section 363.483: Earmarks $10,000 in each fiscal year in Fund 5JC0 appropriation item 235649, Co-op Internship Program, for the Ohio College Access Network to support the Ohio Student Education Policy Institute.

FORMULA CHANGES

Formula Amount: Changes the formula amount to $5,745 (from $5,732) in FY14 and to $5,800 (from $5,789) in FY15.

Bi-annual ADM Counts R.C. 3317.01 and 3317.03 31: Requires the superintendent of each city, local, exempted village, and joint vocational school district to certify the average daily membership of students receiving services from schools under the superintendent's supervision during the first full week of October and the first full week of February (rather than during the first full school week of each month as required by the bill). Specifies that annualized periodic payments for each school district must be based on the district's final student counts verified by the superintendent of public instruction based on reports under section 3317.03 of the Revised Code, as adjusted, if so ordered, under division (K) of that section, equal to the sum of one-half of the number of students verified and adjusted for the first full week in October plus one-half of the average of the numbers verified and adjusted for the first full week in October and for the first full week in February.

Preschool Special Education Students: Credits school districts with funding for preschool students who receive a scholarship to attend an alternative provider under the Autism Scholarship Program.

Special Education: Replaces the special education multiples of the formula amount in the bill (which are the multiples in current law) with dollar amounts for FY14, and increases those dollar amounts in FY15.

Third Grade Reading Guarantee: Changes the bill's formula for Kindergarten through third grade literacy funds by decreasing the dollar amounts that are multiplied by the state share index, but adding an additional dollar amount that is not multiplied by the state share index to the payment, and provides for these dollar amounts to increase in FY15. Provides $125 in FY14 and $175 in FY15 per pupil for students in grades K-3. The added amounts per pupil are $100 in FY14 and $160 in FY15.

Economically Disadvantaged Students: Changes the bill's formula for economically disadvantaged funds by decreasing the dollar amounts from $300 to $250 per pupil in FY14 and to $253 in FY15.

Career Tech: Replaces the career-technical education multiples of the formula amount and the career-technical education associated services multiple in the bill (which are the multiples in current law) with dollar amounts for FY14, and increases those dollar amounts in FY15.

Joint Vocational School Districts: Changes the formulas for special education funds, economically disadvantaged funds, career-technical education funds, and career-technical education associated services. Changes the formula amount to $5,745 in FY14 and to $5,800 in FY15. Allocates an estimated $269 million in FY14 and $276.1 million in FY15 for JVSD state aid.

Community Schools and STEM Schools: Changes the formulas for special education funds, Kindergarten through third grade literacy funds, economically disadvantaged funds, and career-technical education funds.

Student Counts for Certain Payments: Specifies that 25 percent of a district's students that attend a community school (other than an Internet- or computer-based community school (e-school)) are included in the district's "net formula ADM" for purposes of calculating targeted assistance, to correspond with the provisions of the bill's school funding formula specifying that community schools (other than e-schools) receive payments for 25 percent of students in this category. Subtracts a district's students attending an e-school from the district's counts of limited English proficient students, Kindergarten through third grade students, and economically disadvantaged students to correspond with the provisions of the bill's school funding formula specifying that e-schools do not receive payments for these categories of students.

Gain Cap: Increases the factor by which foundation funding is capped for traditional and joint vocational districts from 1.06 times prior year funding in each fiscal year to 1.0625 and 1.105 times prior year funding for FY14 and FY15.

Transitional Aid Guarantee JVSD: Requires the ODE to adjust, as necessary, the transitional aid guarantee base of school districts that participate in the establishment of a joint vocational school district (JVSD) that first begins receiving funding under the JVSD funding formula in FY14.

Pupil Transportation: Specifies the amounts of $413.4 million in FY14 and $434.1 million in FY15 earmarked from GRF appropriation item 200502, Pupil Transportation, for pupil transportation formula payments to school districts rather than earmarking the remainder of this appropriation for such payments after the allocation of certain set-asides.

Pupil Transportation: Specifies that, for purposes of calculating transportation funding, "rider density" means "total ADM per square mile of a school district" rather than "the number of qualifying riders per square mile of a school district."

Kindergarten Students: Requires the ODE to adjust a district's average daily membership certification by one-half of the full time equivalency for each student charged fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten.

Tuition: Removes a provision of the bill specifying that a district may charge tuition for a student enrolled in all-day kindergarten as long as the student is included in the student count reported to the Department of Education as less than one full-time equivalent student.

Spending Requirement for Economically Disadvantaged Funds: Requires a city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district, community school, or STEM school to spend the economically disadvantaged funds it receives for any of the following initiatives or a combination of any of the following initiatives: extended school day and school year, reading improvement and intervention, instructional technology or blended learning, professional development in reading instruction for teachers of students in kindergarten through third grade, dropout prevention, and school safety and security measures.

Requires each school district, community school, and STEM school to submit a report to the ODE at the end of each fiscal year describing the initiative or initiatives on which the district's or school's economically disadvantaged funds were spent during that fiscal year, and requires the ODE to submit a report of this information to the General Assembly not later than December 1 of each odd-numbered year, starting in 2015.

Educational Service Centers: Reinstates the $6.50 per pupil transfer and current law that permits the board of education of any client school district to pay an amount in excess of $6.50 per student, per district approval. Sets the state payments per pupil to ESCs at $37.00 per pupil in FY14 and $35 per pupil in FY15. Increases the state earmark for ESCs to $43.5 million in FY14 and $40 million FY15, in addition to a $3.8 million earmark for ESCs to provide services for gifted students.

SPECIAL EDUCATION

Physical Education Exemption for Children with Disabilities R.C. 3302.032, 3313.603, 3313.6016, and 3313.674 98: Subject to a child's individualized education program (IEP), exempts a child with a disability from the physical education requirement to graduation from high school; the physical activity pilot project; and the school body mass index screenings.

Specifies that a child with a disability must not be included in the measure established by the State Board of Education to gauge student success in meeting physical education benchmarks, compliance with local wellness policies prescribed by the federal "Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004," whether a school district or building elected to administer the screenings for body mass index, and whether a school district or building is participating in the physical activity pilot program.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION

Modifies the Early Childhood Education program to qualify licensed child care providers for funding and requires programs that are highly rated under the Step Up to Quality program to comply with the requirements of that program, instead of certain requirements of the existing program.

Requires the Early Childhood Advisory Council to issue recommendations regarding an early childhood voucher program to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Governor's office of 21st Century Education, the Speaker of the House, President of the Senate, and chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees by October 1, 2013.

Increases the appropriation for Early Childhood Education to $33.3 million in FY14 and to $45.3 million in FY15. Increases the number of providers who are eligible to receive funds under the program.

JOINT VOCATIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS R.C. 3311.19:

JVSC Board: Replaces the current method of appointing members of a JVSD board of education with a system where the school districts or ESC that belong to a JVSD each appoint one member to a JVSD board. Specifies that the appointed individuals may not be members of the appointing board or ESC and that the total number of members appointed to the JVSD board is equal to the number of members on the JVSD's board prior to the bill's effective date. Requires the appointing board to select members who represent regional employers and who are qualified to consider a region's workforce needs. Specifies that a term of office for a JVSD board member be three years and limits members to two consecutive terms.

EDUCATIONAL SERVICE CENTERS

Carryover Funds: Specifies that the option to carry over ESC funds at the end of a fiscal year applies only to both unexpended and unobligated funds, rather than funds that are only unexpended as under the bill. Removes the bill's provision that would permit an ESC client to use a portion of its carryover funds for a purpose other than those specified in its service agreement, and requires that those funds only be used for services specified in the service agreement.

Removes ESC Responsibilities: Requires each "local" district board to prescribe a curriculum for all schools under its control, and removes this requirement for ESCs with respect to "local" districts (R.C. 3313.60). Removes a requirement that each ESC annually certify the average daily membership (ADM) of students receiving services from schools. Permits a "local" district superintendent to excuse a child that resides in the district from attendance for any part of the remainder of the current school year upon satisfying conditions specified in law and in accordance with district board and State Board rules, and removes this authority for an ESC superintendent acting on behalf of a "local" district (R.C. 3321.04). Requires the superintendent of a "local" district in which a child withdraws from school to immediately receive notice of the withdrawal from the child's teacher, and removes this requirement as it applies to ESC superintendents acting on behalf of "local" districts (R.C. 3321.13).

Attendance Officer: Permits a city or exempted village district board to obtain services from an ESC attendance officer instead of employing its own attendance officer (R.C. 3321.14). Permits, rather than requires, every ESC governing board to employ an ESC attendance officer, and requires an ESC to make the decision regarding employment of an attendance officer based on consultation with the districts that have agreements with the ESC (R.C. 3321.15).

Instructional Program: Permits a "local" district, rather than the ESC, to provide an instructional program for the employees of the district, in the same manner as currently authorized for "city" and "exempted village" districts (R.C. 3315.07(A)).

Business Advisory Council: Requires a "local" district board to appoint a business advisory council unless the district and an ESC have an agreement providing that the ESC's business advisory council will represent the district's business (R.C. 3313.82). Applies the above exception to the requirement to appoint a business advisory council to city and exempted village districts, which are already required to appoint a council under existing law (R.C. 3313.82).

TRANSPORTATION

Parental School Transportation Subsidy: Restores current law provisions for a payment in lieu of transportation to a student's parent, where a school district board determines it is impractical to transport the student by school conveyance. Changes the minimum amount for payment in lieu of transportation from an amount determined by the ODE to $225, effective July 1, 2014. The maximum amount for payment in lieu of transportation, or the average cost of pupil transportation for the previous school year as determined by the ODE remains the same.Increases GRF appropriation item 200502, Pupil Transportation, by $2.5 million in FY15 and earmarks the same amount for payments in lieu of transportation.

Transportation of Chartered Nonpublic and Community School Students on Weekends R.C. 3327.01: Maintains the bill's provision exempting school districts from transporting students to and from chartered nonpublic and community schools on Saturday or Sunday, unless an agreement to do so is in place prior to July 1, 2014.

STRAIGHT A PROGRAM

Straight A Program Section 263.325: Adds both of the following to the list of entities that may receive grants from the Straight A Program and removes them from the list of entities which may be part of an education consortia: institutions of higher education and private entities partnering with one or more of the educational entities that are eligible to receive grants from the program.

Purpose of Program: Specifies that Straight A Program grants are for projects that aim to achieve significant advancement in one or more of the following goals: student achievement, spending reduction in the five-year fiscal forecast, and utilization of a greater share of resources in the classroom.

Board Membership: Adds an additional gubernatorial appointee to the governing board that makes grant decisions for the Straight A Program.

Grant Application Reviews: Removes a requirement that the system for evaluating and scoring grant applications under the Straight A Program must be given priority to applicants whose goals "demonstrate particular attempts" in achieving the following: cost reduction in the delivery of services, progress in improving literacy in grades kindergarten to three, achievement and progress for students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient students, and gifted students improving the performance measures that comprise the Prepared for Success component under the new academic performance rating system, and "utilizing programs recognized as innovative under the federal Race to the Top program."

Maximum Grant: Removes a provision specifying that the maximum amount of a grant that may be awarded to a school district, educational service center, community school, STEM school, college preparatory boarding school, or individual school that applies for a grant is $500,000. Removes a provision specifying that the maximum amount of a grant that may be awarded to education consortia is $1 million.

NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS

Administer State Achievement Tests: Requires each chartered nonpublic school to administer the state achievement assessments to all of its students if at least 35 percent of its total enrollment is made up of students who are participating in the Educational Choice Scholarship Program, Autism Scholarship Program, Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program, or the Pilot Project (Cleveland) Scholarship Program. For each chartered nonpublic school that has a total enrollment in which less than 35 percent of students participate in the scholarship programs described above, maintains current law which requires the school, if it educates students in ninth through twelfth grades, to administer the Ohio Graduation Tests, and permits the school to elect to administer the elementary state assessments.

VOUCHER PROGRAMS

Education Choice
Ed Choice Scholarship - Volunteering in Lieu of Payment R.C. 3310.13 20: Eliminates the requirement that chartered nonpublic schools that accept the Ed Choice Scholarship permit families of eligible students to provide volunteer services in lieu of cash payment to pay all or part of the amount of the school's tuition not covered by the scholarship.

Ed Choice Scholarship Eligibility R.C. 3310.032: Removes a provision that deems a student who has received an educational choice scholarship in the previous year an eligible student in subsequent years even if the student's family income rises above 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines and replaces it with a provision that establishes tiered eligibility according to the following:

If the student's family income is above 200 percent but at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the student may receive a scholarship in the amount of 75 percent of the full scholarship amount. If the student's family income is above 300 percent but at or below 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the student may receive a scholarship in the amount of 50% of the full scholarship amount. If the student's family income is above 400 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, the student is no longer eligible to receive an Educational Choice Scholarship.

Ed Choice Eligibility R.C. 3310.03: Specifies that a student who will be enrolling in school in this state for the first time and would otherwise be assigned to a school building that would qualify for the Ed Choice scholarship (under the bill) must be at least five years of age by January 1st of the school year that the scholarship is sought. (Age five is the age at which a student who is not a preschool child with a disability becomes entitled to attend school in the district. The students parents, or in some case the student, resides in.)

Autism Scholarship Program

Autism Scholarship Program: Specifies that individuals that provide services to a child under the Autism Scholarship Program are not required to obtain a one-year, renewable instructional assistant permit until December 20, 2014, which is 24 months (rather than 12 months as under current law) after the effective date of the act that authorized the State Board of Education to issue such a permit to an individual, upon the request of a registered private provider, qualifying that individual to provide services to a child under the Autism Scholarship Program.

Jon Peterson Scholarship

Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program: Provides that, during the fall 2013 application period for the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program, the ODE shall not accept any applications from students who have not received a scholarship from the program in the previous or current school year.

HOME-SCHOOL and PRIVATE SCHOOL PARTICIPATION

Participation by Home-schooled and Private School Students in School District Extracurricular Activity R.C. 3313.5311 and 3313.5312 141: Affords students enrolled in chartered or nonchartered nonpublic schools and students receiving home instruction the opportunity to participate in an extracurricular activity at the school of the student's resident school district to which the student would be otherwise assigned under specified conditions. Permits the superintendent of any school district to afford any student, who is enrolled in a nonpublic school and is not entitled to attend school in that district, the opportunity to participate in a school's extracurricular activities if, the nonpublic school in which the student is enrolled does not offer the extracurricular activity, and the extracurricular activity is not interscholastic athletics or interscholastic contests or competition in music, drama, or forensics. Requires the superintendent of any school district to afford any student receiving home instruction and who is not entitled to attend school in that district the opportunity to participate in a school's extracurricular activities, if the activity is not offered by the student's resident district. Prohibits a school district, interscholastic conference, or organization that regulates interscholastic conferences or events from imposing eligibility requirements on nonpublic school or home schooled students that conflict with the amendment's provisions. Authorizes a school district board of education to require students enrolled in chartered or nonchartered nonpublic schools and students receiving home instruction who are participating in an extracurricular activity in that district to enroll and participate in not more than one academic course at the school offering the extracurricular activity as a condition to participating in the activity. Requires the district board, if it chooses to implement the course requirement described above, to admit students seeking to enroll in an academic course to fulfill that requirement as space allows, after first enrolling students assigned to that school.

COMMUNITY SCHOOLS

E-school Provisions R.C. 3302.035, 3314.261, and 3314.29: Requires the ODE to issue composite grades to a community school operator that manages, in whole or in part, more than one Internet- or computer-based community school ("e-school"), based on the grades issued for the e-schools managed by the operator. Requires that an e-school managed by an operator described above be subject to sanctions or permanent closure based on the lower of the composite grade of the operator or the grade that the individual e-school received. Exempts community schools where the majority of its students are enrolled in dropout recovery and prevention programs from the provisions of the amendment. (Those schools are issued separate report cards that do not include letter grades and are subject to separate closure standards.) Specifies that a student who transfers from one e-school to another e-school managed by the same operator is considered "continuously enrolled" for purposes of state assessment administration.Specifies that the resulting two e-schools from a separation under the bill may not add grade levels.

E-School Exemptions: Exempt students enrolled in e-schools from the physical education requirement to graduate from high schools and exempts e-schools from the physical education/wellness measure on the report card.

Licensing Requirements: Removes a House provision that removed the requirement that physical education teachers in community schools to hold a proper teacher license to provide instruction in physical education.

Community School Closure: Specifies that in order to trigger permanent closure of a community school after July 1, 2013, a school that offers any of grades 4 to 8 and does not offer a grade higher than grade 9, in at least two of the three most recent school years, must have been both, in a state of academic emergency and showed less than one standard year of academic growth in either reading or mathematics, as determined by ODE. (Both criteria apply for such schools before July 1, 2013. Current law requires only that such schools be in academic emergency for 2 of the last 3 years to trigger permanent closure after July 1, 2013.) According to the Legislative Service Commission this provision might make it more difficult to close community schools after July 1, 2013 (compared with current law after that date).

MISCELLANEOUS

New Leaders for Ohio Schools: Requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules for the issuance of an alternative principal or administrator license to an individual who successfully completes the New Leaders for Ohio Schools pilot program.

Tuition for All-Day Kindergarten R.C. 3321.01: Specifies that the only school districts that may charge fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten are those districts that are offering all-day kindergarten for the first time or that charged fees or tuition for all-day kindergarten in the 2012-2013 school year.

Gifted Funding Study Section 263.433: Removes the provision that mandates a study of appropriate funding for gifted students.

Executive Session Municipal School District R.C. 3311.86: Authorizes the committees and subcommittees of a board of directors of a municipal school district transformation alliance to hold executive sessions as if the committee were a public body with public employees. A provision in the bill authorizes the boards of directors of such entities to hold executive sessions under the same conditions.

Student Participation in the PSEO Program R.C. 3365.02: Requires the Chancellor of the Board of Regents to report recommendations to establish the College Credit Plus Program. Revises the bill's requirement that student in the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options Program be based solely on the participating college's established "admission" standards, to instead be based solely on the participating college's established "placement" standards for credit-bearing, college level courses. Prohibits the ODE from reimbursing a college for any remedial college courses.

HIGHER EDUCATION

Completion Plan R.C. 3345.81: Replaces the bill's language requiring all boards of trustees of state institutions of higher education to adopt by May 1, 2014, an institution-specific strategic completion plan with certain provisions. Retains the bill's requirements that the strategic completion plan be designed to increase the number of degrees and certificates awarded to students, be consistent with the
mission and strategic priorities of the institution, and include measurable student completion goals

Senate and House Leaders Introduce Education Bills: U.S. Senate Republicans, Senate Democrats, and House Republicans introduced last week separate legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the No Child Left Behind Act (2002). The act has been in limbo since 2007 as lawmakers continue to disagree about the federal role in K-12 education and specifically about how to reauthorize various provisions of the act that have become controversial. Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed legislation to reauthorize ESEA, but neither chamber has seriously considered the other chamber's bills.

Senate Democrat Plan: Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Pension, and Labor Committee (HELP), introduced on June 4, 2013 the Senate Democrat's latest version to reauthorize ESEA entitled, Strengthening America's Schools Act of 2013 (SASA) (S1094).

According to a summary of the bill, the Strengthening America's Schools Act of 2013 provides a framework to help all students graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills needed for success in college/and or a career by supporting teachers and principals to provide high quality instruction; ensuring disadvantaged students get the supports they need to succeed; and focusing federal attention on supporting states and districts in turning around low-performing schools and closing achievement gaps.

To accomplish these goals SASA focuses on education programs for young children; the achievement of subgroups of students; equal educational opportunities; flexibility for states to sustain current reforms; and teachers and principals.

The bill would direct states to develop guidelines for what children should know and be able to do prior to kindergarten entry to reduce gaps in school readiness; encourage states to provide full-day kindergarten and expand early childhood education; and help more schools provide a well-rounded education with time for the arts and physical activity.

The bill also includes a number of provisions that arts education advocates support. The arts are listed as a core academic subject; arts and music are included as enrichment activities in the Expanded Learning Time and Supporting Successful, Well-Rounded Students sections; and the bill amends ESEA to require states to develop core standards for key subjects such as math, reading, and "creative arts" for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade. This is a very positive step, because it will align K-3 standards with existing standards for grades 4-12, which already include the arts as key subjects.

Some of the more controversial and unpopular provisions of No Child Left Behind Act are modified, but still included in SASA, such as the practice of disaggregating student achievement data across subgroups to focus on disparities, and teacher evaluations based on student performance.

The bill calls for an expansion of the categories of disaggregation to include gender and English proficiency, and disseminating an equity score card to provide school-level information to parents on the school's climate, the school's educational opportunity offerings (such as AP, full-day kindergarten, or gifted programming), the number of assessments required, and the school's funding by sources (state, local, and federal).

However, states would be provided more flexibility to set their own accountability goals for student achievement and reforms to improve low-performing schools. Currently 37 states have received an NCLB waiver from the U.S. DOE to set their own accountability standards within certain federal guidelines. States without a waiver would be allowed to adopt their own accountability targets based on certain criteria. However, the bill still requires that all state accountability systems must "include student academic achievement and growth, English language proficiency for English Learners and, for high schools, graduation rates for all students; systems will also include accountability for all subgroups."

One of the more interesting requirements would require that local and state resources per-pupil for Title I schools are equal to or greater than the average combined local and state funds per pupil in non-Title I schools.

The Strengthening America's Schools Act is available.

Senate Republican Plan: Senate Republicans introduced their version to reauthorize ESEA on June 6, 2013 entitled the Every Child Ready for College or Career Act (S.1101). The bill is sponsored by Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Johnny Isakson of Georgia, Pat Roberts of Kansas, Orrin Hatch of Utah, and Mark Kirk of Illinois.

At just 220 pages, compared to the Senate Democrat plan at 1,150 pages, the Republic plan would "move out of Washington and back to the states decisions about whether schools and teachers are succeeding or failing".

The Senate Republican bill would transfer decisions about measuring student achievement and fixing under-performing schools to state and local control; give states the authority to define standards and tests for students in reading, math, and science; allow states to use $14.5 billion in Title I funds for low-income children to follow those children to the public school they attend; encourage the formation of charter schools; end the federal definition of "highly qualified" teachers and encourages states to use their share of $2.5 billion in federal Title II funds to create teacher evaluation systems related to student performance and other factors; consolidate 62 programs into two block grants, and give states more flexibility in spending education dollars; and continue state and district report cards; and create an annual Secretary's report card about the nation's schools.

The Republican Plan is available.

House Republican Plan: Representatives John Kline (R-Minnesota) and Todd Rokita (R-Indiana) introduced on June 6, 2013 the Student Success Act (H.R. 5) to reauthorize ESEA, and "....restore local control, support more effective teachers, reduce the federal footprint, and empower parents." Representative Kline is chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, and Representative Rokita is chair of the House Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee. The bill does the following:

· Reduces the federal role in education by returning authority for measuring student performance and turning around low-performing schools to states and local officials. The bill repeals the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) metric and federally-prescribed school improvement and turnaround interventions, and empowers states to develop accountability systems that effectively evaluate school quality. At the same time, the legislation maintains a focus on high standards and disaggregated assessment data, ensuring school and student performance is transparent and parents have the information needed to make decisions about their children's education.

· Eliminates more than 70 programs and replaces them with the Local Academic Flexible Grant to provide states and school districts the flexibility to support initiatives based on their local needs.

· Maintains separate funding streams for the Migrant Education, Neglected and Delinquent, English Language Acquisition, Rural Education, and Indian Education programs, but merges them into Title I of the law. The legislation also strengthens these programs to improve student achievement, and provides states and districts flexibility to use funds across programs to better support their students' needs.

· Repeals the Highly Qualified Teacher requirement and supports the development and implementation of state- and locally-driven teacher evaluation systems that provide states and school districts the tools necessary to measure an educator's influence on student achievement.

· Consolidates most of the teacher quality programs in current law into a Teacher and School Leader Flexible Grant program to support evidence-based initiatives to recruit, hire, train, compensate, and retain effective teachers.

· Reauthorizes the Charter Schools Program, which supports the expansion and replication of high- quality charter schools. The legislation also strengthens the existing Magnet School and Parent Information and Resource Center programs, which provide states, school districts, and other entities with federal support so parents can identify quality options and participate in their children's education.

· Strengthens the five existing Impact Aid programs, which provide direct funding to school districts impacted by the presence of the federal government. The programs reimburse districts located near, or serving students from, military bases, federal lands, and Indian reservations for the loss of property taxes.

· Strengthens provisions to ensure the participation of private school students and teachers in the programs funded under the law, and improves the military recruiting provisions by ensuring military recruiters have equal access to high schools as institutions of higher education.

· Limits the authority of the Secretary of Education in four key ways: prohibits the secretary from imposing conditions, including conditions involving state standards and assessments, on states and school districts in exchange for a waiver of federal law; prevents the secretary from creating additional burdens on states and districts through the regulatory process, particularly in the areas of standards, assessments, and state accountability plans; prohibits the secretary from demanding changes to state standards, and influencing and coercing states to enter into partnerships with other states; and outlines specific procedures the secretary must follow when issuing federal regulations and conducting peer review processes for grant applications.

· Reauthorizes the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and places a greater emphasis on improved identification of homeless children and youth; provides better collaboration and information sharing among federal and state agencies to provide services for homeless students; and strengthens provisions in current law to enhance school stability and protections for homeless youth and parents.

Events and Resources – On the following topics: Advocacy, Arts, Child Abuse Prevention, Childbirth Education, Child Welfare, Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, Diversity and diverse learners, Early Childhood, Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) and Career Tech, Health, Juvenile Justice, Literacy and GED, Mental Health, Ohio Dept. of Ed. and State Board of Ed, Opinion, Parents, Research and Policy, Safety, Teens, Volunteers, and at the end, a special list of Webinars, Blogs and Trainings.

Collaborative Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention Chapin Hall Family Policy Forum

Despite overall declining rates of teen births in the United States, there exists significant disparity across race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and youth living in conditions of higher risk. Teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States are also significantly higher than in other industrialized nations. The social and economic costs of teen pregnancy are high and have a long-term impact on teen parents, their children, and communities.

For more articles from a variety of sources see USEP-OHIO E-Updates on our website at www.USEP-OHIO.com.

See 2013 information on Child Poverty under Diverse Learners and Policy headings below.

Voices for Ohio's Children has created an electoral advocacy kit with tips and guidelines for communicating with candidates and with staff and supporters. Download the kit here (pdf).

2013 ACTE National Policy Seminar – Association for Career and Technical Education

This year, the CTE community Climbed the Hill in March during the 2013 ACTE National Policy Seminar. Our focus centered on how we can overcome key obstacles, such as funding battles, and work with both sides of the aisle in today’s partisan environment to create successful CTE policy. More details about the offsite content, as well as all the speakers and issues, will keeping coming! Continue to check

Ohio Alliance for Arts Education Statement – Contact members of Congress and the President and urge them not to limit the charitable deduction in the lame duck session and to avoid deficit reduction and tax reform solutions that would increase poverty and widen income inequality.

Contact information for Congress and the President is available.

From Marian Wright Edelman and the Childrens’ Defense Fund – The Massive Costs of Gun Violence

Number of families struggling continues to grow in Ohio (Jan. 30, Dispatch.com)

First Focus Campaign for Children, a national, bipartisan children's advocacy group, recognized 100 members of Congress for leadership on issues important to children during the 112th Congress (2011-2012). The list included Ohio's Sen. Sherrod Brown and Rep. Pat Tiberi.

"Lots of politicians talk about kids' issues, but few back it up," said Bruce Lesley, president of the Campaign for Children. "Champions and defenders delivered for kids." The advocacy organization recognized as "Champions for Children" 50 members of Congress whose extraordinary efforts to protect and improve the future of America's next generation. An additional 50 members were recognized as "Defenders of Children" for their support of policies that advance the well-being of children.

In selecting champions and defenders, First Focus Campaign for Children noted leaders who introduced, co-sponsored and voted for legislation to meet children's needs. In addition, the organization considered members who demonstrated extraordinary initiative by spearheading activities such as sponsoring hearings or garnering the support of their colleagues to improve the health and well-being of children.

Child and Family Policy Forum: Chapin Hall Webinar - Measuring Child Well-Being at the Neighborhood Level.
The webcast will be available for viewing on the Chapin Hall website during the Child and Family Policy Forum.View the live webcast Register for the live webcast or view later through the website.
Panelists:Robert Goerge, Senior Research Fellow, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago; Alaina Harkness, Program Officer for Community and Economic Development in U.S. Programs,
The MacArthur Foundation; Chris Brown, Director, New Communities Program, LISC Chicago; Nancy Ronquillo, President and Chief Executive Officer, Children's Home + Aid Moderator Matthew Stagner, Executive Director, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

Policy Matters - New normal? – Ohio added just 7,600 jobs in April, nowhere near what’s needed to fix Ohio’s slow-growth economy. The state needs 235,000 jobs just to make up for losses in the last recession. If the current job-growth rate becomes Ohio’s new normal, the state is in deep trouble. See our latest JobWatch report for more.

No miracle -- Ohio has the fourth-worst job creation record among states since June 2005, when we slashed taxes in the name of job creation. Since then, we’ve underperformed the nation in every sector, according to our comprehensive look at Ohio jobs. The country has added too few jobs since then, but Ohio has actually gone backward. True, our unemployment rate is lower than the nation’s, but that’s mostly because people are leaving the labor force, not because they’re finding jobs.

Ohio’s shrinking schools -- A large majority of Ohio school districts responding to our survey are making serious spending cuts. Of those, most have gotten rid of staff, cut or frozen salaries, reduced benefits or cut back on classroom materials to deal with the loss of state funding since 2011. Students in many districts are facing larger class sizes and reduced course offerings, at a time when investing in education is essential to our economy. There’s still time for legislators to craft a stronger, more predictable school funding system for the next two years and beyond.

Hit while down -- Thousands of unemployed Ohioans soon will be feeling the effects of federal sequestration budget cuts through a reduction in their weekly unemployment compensation checks, according to our statement on the automatic federal cuts. Altogether, unemployed Ohioans are expected to see $25 million less in benefits between now and the end of September. Too bad, since these benefits are a proven way to prevent deeper downturns.

JobWatch -- Ohio added 16,100 jobs in February, welcome news after job revisions showed that 2012 had the slowest rate of job growth since the end of the recession -- the state lost 10,500 jobs in the last six months of 2012. Ohio’s unemployment rate remained steady at 7 percent.

$10.10 by 2015 -- Increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 would create 5,800 jobs, give more than 1 million Ohio workers a raise, and circulate some $2.1 billion in the state economy. More than half of those helped would be women and more than four out of five are over 20 years old. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 would help our lowest-paid working people get a share of America’s rising productivity.

In the news, as always -- National, state and local media with some great recent coverage: The American Prospect examines state think tanks across the spectrum and lauds Policy Matters as an effective force, while Huffington Post and Dayton Daily News rally around our effort on SharedWork. We're cited in stories in: the Cleveland Plain Dealer calling for “adequate funding of traditional public schools not undeserved rewards for some poorly supervised charters;" the Akron Beacon Journal and the Toledo Blade recommending a fairer tax system (including an Earned Income Tax Credit); the Youngstown Vindicator on trade policy; the Canton Repository on regressive tax proposals; the Mansfield News Journal, among others, on whether people change states because of taxes (they don’t); the Columbus Dispatch on yet more ineffective tax cut proposals for business; and more.

Online Nominations for Governor's Awards for the Arts: The Ohio Arts Council is now accepting online nominations for the 2013 Governor's Awards for the Arts in Ohio. The annual awards are given to Ohio individuals and organizations in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the arts statewide, regionally and nationally. View the complete press release.

PTA Grants
Local PTAs can apply for up to $1,000 in funding for Arts Enhancement Grants from National PTA.

The National PTA is now accepting applications for the 2013 Mary Lou Anderson Reflections Arts Enhancement Grants. The grants will award local PTAs up to $1,000 in matching funds to student-centered programs geared toward sustaining and enhancing creativity and artistic values for large groups of at-risk students. With research showing students receive the most benefit from programs that include consistent involvement in the arts, the National PTA proudly supports these invaluable opportunities. Local PTAs are invited to apply for funding to establish or enhance arts programs in one or more arts areas: visual arts, photography, music, dance, literature, and theater. Priority is being placed on projects that represent research-based best practices in arts education. Specifically, PTA will fund arts programs that:

Find out about applications and the timeline for submission on the PTA's website.

Arts, Science, Technology, and Society on a Global Stage: The National Endowment for the Arts, the Salzburg Global Seminar, and the Embassy of Austria hosted a discussion entitled, "Transcending Borders: The Intersections of Arts, Science, Technology, and Society on a Global Stage" was held June, 2012. Participants examined how today's artists and scientists improve our critical understanding of the world by provoking new ideas, experimentation, and creative strategies. This conversation featured artists-scientists teams, along with policy makers and curators who champion their work, to examine the impact creativity and collaboration across these sectors can have to reshape the world.
This event was archived for viewing webcast through the NEA website. More information is available.

Poverty numbers for Toledoans rose 53.3% between 1999 and 2011 (Feb. 1, Toledo Blade)

Prevention and the Child Protection Professional
Implementing Effective Child Abuse Prevention Programs

This national conference was designed for child abuse prosecutors, investigators and other child protection professionals. This three-day course assisted professionals in recognizing the factors in their communities contributing to child abuse, and expose them to numerous evidence-based prevention programs that can be implemented in their communities. To download the Prevention Conference reports or get more information click here.

Fellowships available: The application period for the Doris Duke Fellowships for the Promotion of Child Well-Being (formerly named the Doris Duke Fellowships for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect) is now open. The fellowships are designed to identify and develop a new generation of leaders interested in and capable of creating practice and policy initiatives that will enhance child development and improve the nation's ability to prevent all forms of child maltreatment. Application materials and more information.

Columbus – 1515 Indianola Avenue, Columbus 43201; Instructor: Nancy Derian, R.N. Please click on the link for the current Directions For Youth & Families Childbirth Education click to see the flyer

Childbirth classes are designed for Mothers ages 12-21 and their support system.

Childbirth classes are designed for Mothers ages 12-21 and their support system.

See Chapin Hall Webinars like Children Whose Parents Have Experienced Childhood Trauma: Challenges, Obligations, and Reasonable Efforts for Reunification recently recorded and archived at www.chapinhall.org

News articles:New effort to strengthen Ohio's foster care system (Jan. 14, Public News Service)

Child Welfare/Foster Care and Adoption Issues so critical to the many children in our state child welfare system are discussed with new remedies by a wide variety of advocates working for Ohio children to be supported with family permanence! We need to offer support to those involved in the plans at state and national levels. Summer Forums have created a plan for legislation and action. For more information see notes and contact persons at www.pcsao.org. http://www.pcsao.org/WeeklyUpdate/2012/2012PermanencyForumsSummary.pdf

Over Sixteen Million Children in Poverty in 2011 (pdf)
Casey Institute - Great Resource for Child Welfare information:

http://www.casaforchildren.org/site/c.mtJSJ7MPIsE/b.5301303/k.6FB1/About_Us__CASA_for_Children.htm

Columbus Mediation Services Trainings CMS provides personal conflict resolution, Basic mediation, and Domestic mediation workshops ranging from 6 to 40 hours in length to educators, legal, mental health and business professionals as well as youth, parents, schools, employees, and neighborhood groups. Fall classes (Continuing education credit is available for most professionals. See Fee Schedule.) Free Classes available from Community Mediation Services in Central Ohio. Contact Joe Ridder at 614 228 7191 info@communitymediation.com New dates. Contact for information.

Certificate Program in Conflict Management and Peace Studies Core Courses can be applied towards the Social and Behavioral Science degree requirements for any degree. Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies (East, West, and Metro Campus) Conflict Management Skills Class (East and West Campus), Implementing Peace Studies and Conflict Management Theories and Practices with Service Learning (Independent Study) Call 216-987-3075 to register at CCC.

Sustained Dialogue Campus Network - Student-run and Student-lead at East/West and Metro Campus

Interested in helping to help the college create a safe and supportive learning environment for all students? Interested in learning important conflict management skills transferable to all disciplines? Find out more http://www.tri-c.edu/enrichment/communityservices/GRIC/Pages/SustainedDialogue.aspx

Exhibit - Photographic Images: A Local to Global Perspective, Critical issues affecting our planet and its people, West Campus and East Campus Library. Global Issues Resource Center and students involved in the Tri-C Conflict Management and

Peace Studies certificate program share their peacebuilding experiences at a local to global level in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East.

Contact: Jennifer Batton, M.A. Director, Global Issues Resource Center and Library, Cuyahoga Community College

Conflict Management Bullying Prevention: Changing School and University Culture and Climate

Location: Cuyahoga Community College, East Campus, Highland Hills, Ohio, (near Cleveland)

Sponsored by: Global Issues Resource Center, Cuyahoga Community College, in partnership with Facing History and Ourselves, Virginia Tech, Cleveland State University, University of Akron, Orange High School, Beech Brook, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, The Ohio Department of Education and The Office of the Ohio Attorney General.

Events Offered by: Global Issues Resource Center, Virginia Tech, Cleveland State University, University of Akron, Orange High School, Beech Brook, the Ohio Department of Education and The Office of the Ohio Attorney General

For materials generated or followup to the Summit, Call Global Issues Resource Center at 216.987.2224 or email Elizabeth.Wuerz@tri-c.edu See registration link above.

The Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence (MACC) hosted its 10th Anniversary Gala on Thursday, April 25, 2013 at the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, Ohio. MACC is one of the first in the nation and Ohio’s only statewide organization dedicated to developing cultural competence strategies and solutions to improve health care outcomes. This is an important milestone for us. In addition to interactive cultural entertainment and ethnic foods, the celebration will be capped by the presentation of the 2013 “Enlightened Kaleidoscope” awards.

We invite you to submit a proposal to present at the Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence (MACC) Annual Training Conference to be held on September 19-20, 2013.

The conference will focus on health and behavioral health integration and in eliminating disparities across communities and systems. The audience mainly consists of behavioral health and social services providers and administrators, advocates, consumers, and family members. Conference early discounted registration is now available on www.maccinc.net

MACC 2013 Training Conference
“Streams of Change: From Disparities to Equity”

September 19-20, 2013
Holiday Inn Columbus-Worthington,
7007 N. High Street, Worthington Oh, 43085

For each additional person, add $4,020. ($3,960 was added for each additional person in 2012.)

CARE Training Sponsored by the Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence

CARE Ohio – Building Cross-Cultural Competence In Health and Human Services - Free Training

Sponsored by MACC Inc. and funded by the ADAMH Board of Franklin County Community Mini-Grant

CARE Ohio (Level I) training is a foundational training program that increases the knowledge and understanding about the impact of cultural practices, attitudes and beliefs on the patient/client and provider relationship, and provides tools, concepts and strategies for strengthening cross-cultural skills.

Join your colleagues in becoming cross-culturally trained by attending one of the upcoming CARE Ohio trainings. CARE Ohio (Level I) training is a foundational training program that increases the knowledge and understanding about the impact of cultural practices, attitudes and beliefs on the patient/client and provider relationship, and provides tools, concepts and strategies for strengthening cross-cultural skills.

Thursday, June 13, 2013 - Columbus, OH
    1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
    Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence
    2323 W. Fifth Avenue, Suite 160, Columbus, Ohio 43204

    Friday, August 16, 2013 - Columbus, OH
    1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
    Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence
    2323 W. Fifth Avenue, Suite 160, Columbus, Ohio 43204

    Friday, October 4, 2013 - Columbus, OH
    1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
    Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence
    2323 W. Fifth Avenue, Suite 160, Columbus, Ohio 43204

Please register online or complete the registration form and fax it to: 614-487-9320.

Globalization is an inevitable process in the 21st Century, and so is the cross-culturalization. On the one hand, the world is becoming more homogeneous, and distinctions between national markets are not only fading but, for some products, will disappear altogether. This means that marketing is now a world-encompassing discipline. To read full article click here.

Diversity Resource:One World - Cultural Cues and Clues Resource Guide from USEP-OHIOYou have told us you need tools for communicating effectively with the families of students from many cultures. We have a new page on our website devoted to sharing information and tips that may help to understand and be understood.

Immigrant and Refugee Toolkit - Materials in 18 languages The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Healthy Living Toolkit is designed to educate refugees and immigrants so they can become proactive health consumers in their communities. The toolkit presents material in a culturally appropriate manner and is intended to help health care-related professionals to more effectively assist refugees and immigrants and reduce the health disparities among these populations.If you need a resource for an individual who speaks one of these languages you can access it by following this link.
The Toolkit includes a section on Mental Health which covers the topics of Adjusting to a New Culture, Substance Abuse and How to Manage Stress. Other topics include -- Communicable Diseases, Domestic Violence, Environmental Health, Health Care, Hygiene, Maternal and Child Health, Nutrition Related Diseases, Respiratory Diseases and Women's Health.Please share it with your colleagues!

Special Education CEC Webinars - Online professional development for special educators Tier One Instruction for Diverse Pre-K Learners A CEC/DEC Collaborative Webinars on a variety o topics. Participants in this webinar will learn to:

1. Identify sources of common learning outcomes for diverse groups of young children.

2. Identify daily routines and activities in which learning opportunities can be embedded.

3. Develop multiple and varied teaching sequences built upon the principles of universal design for learning and developmentally appropriate practice.

4. Teaching diverse Pre-K learners is a unique challenge. Participate in this webinar to learn how to plan,

Understand key evidence-based instructional practices that can be used for preschool-aged children with diverse abilities to ensure high-quality Tier-One instruction. Register Today

Early Childhood oaeyc conference info plus. Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children Ignite your passion, purpose and performance. Network with professionals; get informed on the latest state updates; enjoy being with adults for a few days. The next best thing to being there is to attend online. Go to www.oaeyc.org for information and to register Rates as low as $75. Attend online – live broadcast rates as low as $25.

Save the Date for NAEYC's 2013 National Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development
Attend an exciting conference designed for leaders who prepare and mentor early childhood professionals in San Francisco, California June 19-20, Developmentally Appropriate Practice. Full story >>

2013 Week of the Young Child™ Resources Now Available
The 2013 Week of the Young Child™ was April 14–20 and we have new resources to help you plan your celebration for next year! Full story >>

Preschool Regional Workshop for Parents, Teachers and others Ohio Coalition for the Education of Young Children with Disabilities: hear about future events - Visit our website at www.ocecd.org 800-374-2806 and ask for Jane.

Feedback Needed for Ohio Standards Ohio AEYC encourages you review the new standards carefully and take advantage of this opportunity to:Express your voice. Engage in a professional community. Influence the future of early childhood!Note: If you have difficulty with any links in this email, go to the Build-Ohio website: www.build-ohio.org New Step Up To Quality Program Standards Available for Review.
Introduction, Overview, and Ohio's Draft Program Standards

CAEYC - Columbus Association for the Education of Young Children presents free professional training for Columbus AEYC members. columbusaeyc@gmail.com Go to http://www.oaeyc.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3292 for a list of the many oaeyc chapters in Ohio – Dayton, Toledo, Cincinnati, Cleveland and many more.

NAEYC http://families.naeyc.org/ New opportunity - Parent information website provided by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) authors - T Berry Brazelton, M.D. and Joshua Sparrow, M.D. Families Today has been featured in the N.Y. Times for 20 years. Get answers to Early Childhood questions.

Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children (OAEYC) Ohio Association for the Education of Young Children Webcasts/Training are presented by Early Care & Education National Experts. Click here for all webcasts & registration details!
Approved Professional Credit includes: ODJFS In-Service, CDA, Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Pending Credit Approval: IACET Education and Social Work CEUs.
The webcast trainings may be viewed free of charge by both parents and early childhood professionals. An optional professional credit/certificate of completion (including ODJFS in-service form) is offered for a $25 fee. Your certificate is automatically issued for you to download as soon as you complete the webcast! Go to www.oaeyc.org<http://www.oaeyc.org> for all the details!

Call for Proposals Early Childhood Conference 2014 get them in early by using the 2013 guidelines as first contact. Conference Location: Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, OH- Proposal should include: Title - consider the marketing appeal to your targeted audience Description – a short paragraph which accurately describes and markets the attendee experience Two measureable objectives including the content, teaching time and method The Core Knowledge and Competency Area for each objective and the overall workshop The targeted training level, focus and audience. See 2013 Ohio Early Care & Education Conference Call for Proposals Guide

Preschool Vision Screening Certification Training (Prevent Blindness America)

NAEYC The National Association for the Education of Young Children, Read Young Children and Use NEXT to Support Early Childhood Professional Development
A recent issue of Young Children covers current trends and initiatives in the early childhood field—from research to policy to practice. Learn about technology to enhance learning, programs tailored to children's and families’ cultures, the status of state-funded pre-K programs, and more. Read select articles by visiting the Young Children website. Then further early childhood professional development with NEXT for Young Children, an electronic publication that accompanies each issue of Young Children. NEXT includes discussion questions, research-to-practice connections, and training session activities that build on the content from selected articles. This great resource is free for a limited time. Download it today.

Family and Consumer Sciences and Career Tech see more at end of resource section

We will spend time writing pre and post-assessments for the three courses to use with SLO’s.

Variety of salads buffet style for $10.00 per person including beverage, salads, and cookie.

Career Development Through Career Connections
Wednesday, July 31
8:00 am - 4:00 pm
($75 to attend the pre-conference ONLY, $50 if you are attending the whole conference. Includes lunch)

Join us for the 4th annual Career Development Conference. This year's conference will focus on the state initiative Career Connections. Presentations and breakout sessions will focus upon the integration of career-based learning academic classrooms. There will also be continued focus on labor market information and trends, business and education partnerships, as well as strategies that support students' college and career exploration, planning and decision-making. Who: K-12 Teachers, Counselors, and Administrators

Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel offers -Smart Money Choices is a free, half-day financial planning conference for all Ohioans, presented by the Ohio Treasurer's office, and supported by a variety of statewide and regional partners. The Ohio Treasurer is committed to providing Ohioans with helpful tools to make informed decisions in personal finance. Each Smart Money Choices conference includes an opening session, three breakout sessions taught by financial planning experts, and a closing session. Smart Money Choices is offered from 8:00 AM to 12:15 PM (registration opens at 7:30 AM). *Smart Money Choices Columbus will be held from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm (registration opens at 12:30 PM). Courses offered include Budgeting, Credit & Debt Management, Consumer Scams, Investments, Student Funding & Debt Management, Retirement Planning, Social Security and NEW Financial Education Resources for Educators.Click to RegisterOr Visit www.OhioTreasurer.gov/SmartMoneyChoices.

OATFACS and Me! …..a perfect summer professional development fit! Summer conference 8/5 and 8/6.

Make sure your calendar is marked, your purchase order is created and you are on board to spend August 5th and 6th with your fellow FCS and Workforce teachers for the only professional development planned with you in mind! You are invited to the 2013 conference, held at the Hilton Easton, Columbus on August 5-6, 2013.

Dr. Ruth Dohner, Teaching to the Language Arts Common Core in Family and Consumer Sciences.

Deb McDonald, Breaking Down the Classroom Walls, using Internet resources to improve and individualize Early Childhood Education.

Post Conference on August 7 will provide opportunities to be trained in depth in…

ServSafe - become Level One Certified to give your students the edge in work environments.

FCCLA - in depth training. New to FCCLA or returning to FCCLA this is the workshop for you.

This is the most extensive professional development offered for every FCS and workforce teacher. Check the OATFACS website for updates and posting of schedule after June 15. Plan to attend to make 2013-2014 your best year ever!

This conference will be attended by approximately 300 Family and Consumer Sciences Teachers, Early Childhood Educators, Culinary Instructors, Teaching Professions Teachers, Hospitality and Lodging Instructors and FCS Supervisors. We are the premier conference for family and consumers sciences programming and have a long history of providing relevant content for all attendees.

This year our focus is on helping conference attendees: Acquire concepts, strategies and lesson plans to implement in their classrooms that directly tie Family and Consumer Sciences to course standards,

Help attendees meet the new demands of teacher evaluation systems including data collection and student learning objectives, and Improve networking opportunities for attendees.

Lois Stoll, Conference Chair, stolll@benjaminlogan.org. Presenters who are conference attendees must register for conference, other presenters may arrive for their presentation only.

To help students understand their rights, the Ohio Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section offers various consumer education programming. The following resources are available:

. Free workshops to train educators or individuals who work with students about relevant consumer laws and issues

To schedule a workshop or guest speaker, or for more information, contact Rachael Wummer at Rachael.Wummer@OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov or 614-387-1103.

New Financial Literacy Source Check this out the Life.Money Webinar If you cannot get this above link to work go through Google Docs

Ohio Association of Family and Consumer Sciences OAFCS Annual Meeting was March 22-23 at Salt Fork Lodge and Conference Center. Look for the agenda at www.oafcs.org and contact Mary Jo Kohl for outcomes.

Regional Officer Deadline April 10. On June 14, 2013, Regional Officer Leadership Training will be held in Columbus. This is required. Information and Application is posted at www.ohiofccla.com/applications.php

See new deadlines for contests scholarships, awards – video competition, etc. 3 have April deadlines as early as April 15^th!

CTE Success Story Nominations- Deadline for Submission: May 1, 2013. Please send nomination form to Joyce Sheets at joyce.sheets@education.ohio.gov or

The nomination process for ACTE's Board of Directors is now open! Completed applications are due by June 15.

Nominations will begin April 1. Completed applications are due June 15. In order to vote, you must be an ACTE member by Nov. 6, 2013. Voting will open during ACTE's CareerTech VISION 2013 on Fri., Dec. 6 and end at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 4, 2014.

The Senate and House approved a Continuing Resolution (CR) last week that will provide funding for Perkins and other federal programs for the remaining six months of Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. The bill lowers the discretionary funding cap for FY 2013 by incorporating the 5 percent sequestration cut to almost all federal programs, including Perkins. Unless reversed, the cut will impact CTE programs nationwide in the 2013-14 school year. Read more...

Recently, both the House and Senate approved their respective budget resolutions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. These resolutions set the overall discretionary spending caps for the coming fiscal year and establish the total amount of funding that will be available for programs like Perkins. Read more...

The House of Representatives voted to pass the Strengthening Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act on March 15. The final bill contains several controversial measures, including consolidating 35 workforce training programs into a single block grant controlled by state governors and eliminating all required representation on workforce boards except for businesses. Read more...

As part of a package of CTE-related legislation, Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) introduced two new bills aimed at professional development for CTE educators and modernization for CTE facilities. Read more...

ACTE members joined together to “Climb the Hill” and advocated on behalf of CTE during the 2013 National Policy Seminar in Washington! For more resources, visit our NPS page and read the event coverage on the CTE Policy Watch Blog:

Welcome to the latest issue of ACTE Interactive (ACTE-i). ACTE-i is your guide to all the interesting CTE-related content making its way around the web. Whether it’s social media, viral videos, or a good old-fashioned website, ACTE-i will bring you up to speed on the fast-paced world of #careerteched. In this issue, we bring you the latest on ACTE’s Career Tech VISION 2013, update you on our webinar series, as well as information on how you can volunteer with ACTE.

New resource page on the Dibble website especially for FACS student teachers. It's chock full of research, free sample lessons, brochures, FCCLA tip sheets and more!!

InVEST works with high schools to help teachers incorporate insurance into their classroom. The high school program can be tailored to each school's curriculum/academic requirements and is flexible to accommodate any teaching style.

Webinar: Evaluating Family & Consumer Sciences Programs (K-12): Data, Documentation, and Decision-MakingProgram evaluation can provide the data and documentation necessary for assessing the quality of FCS programs. With increasing accountability and diminishing resources, FCS programs must be equipped to review curricula, evaluate programs, make decisions to respond effectively, and communicate the results to stakeholders.

This webinar will discuss the need for evaluating FCS programs and provide strategies and suggestions for appropriate evaluation. Register Now! Or get information for viewing after the event.

Promoted by the National Career Development Association, November is National Career Development Month! The Ohio Career Development Association would like to encourage you to celebrate the journey that is career development with career related activities for the students with whom you work. According to the ASCA National Standards, Career Development is a primary theme of studentsuccess. Since November is National Career Development Month, it's a great time to promote or host career awareness activities with students. This is an excellent opportunity for all educators and professional staff to integrate career development into curriculum and programming. Here is a snapshot of what others have done in the past:

Plan job shadowing day/students can experience careers hands-on Have students explore career interests and pathways

Create a career-themed book display in your school library; Prepare display boards focused on career pathways

Host a career day where professionals discuss many types of career fields; Increase awareness and usage of career resources and assessments Looking for more ideas? Check out OCDA's website: www.ocdaonline.org.

The Jimmy Rane Foundation is pleased to announce the availability of the 2013 Jimmy Rane Foundation scholarship.

Snack Neutralizer: a free nutrition education tool that calculates exercise time required to burn calories

Oct. 2012, Park Ridge, Ill.-A free nutrition education tool that earned an elementary school teacher in North Carolina a trip to the White House is being featured this month by ENC-Teacher Exchange, the information-sharing program introduced this year by Egg Nutrition Center (ENC), science division of The American Egg Board in Park Ridge, Ill. Snack Neutralizer Computer Sciences teacher Jeffrey Schwartz was honored at the White House in 2010 for creating The Snack Neutralizer, a free online program that teachers and students of all ages can use to calculate the time required to perform most any given exercise activity to burn calories of a wide variety of snack foods. Schwartz created three new lesson plans this month to accompany the video story called "Snacking on Technology," which can be found here. All nutrition educators in grades K thru 12, notably members of The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (aafcs.org) with which ENC is affiliated, are invited to join ENC-Teacher Exchange online at no charge by clicking here. And they're encouraged to submit new or existing obesity-fighting program ideas and teaching tools to ENC-Teacher Exchange for a chance to earn the $500 honorarium by writing to info@encteacher.org.

Career Technical Educator a Part of Governor's New Workforce Board – Dennis Franks, Superintendent at Pickaway Ross Career and Technology Center, will represent career technical schools, as a member of the Governor’s new Executive Workforce Board, according to the announcement issued by Gov. John Kasich on Sept. 24. The Governor created the new workforce board through an executive order issued in February 2012.

The order initiated the Governor's Office of Workforce Transformation and the Executive Workforce Board with the goal of better coordinating Ohio's disparate system of 77 workforce programs spread across 13 state agencies.

Members of the board "will advise the Governor and the Governor's Office of Workforce Transformation on the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Ohio's entire workforce system...”

Park Ridge, Ill.—Color-coding foods into three categories that mimic a traffic light to help elementary school students distinguish good foods (green light) from unhealthy foods (red light) is proving to be a very successful nutrition education device in Colorado and elsewhere.

And that’s precisely why the “Go Slow Whoa” color-schemed system introduced three years ago at Laredo Elementary School in Aurora, Col. is featured this month by ENC-Teacher Exchange, a free web-based program for teachers that offers new and updated teaching methods that can help combat rising obesity trends in K thru 12 schools.

The success of Laredo Elementary’s “Go Slow Whoa” program is illustrated on the ENC-Teacher Exchange web site in a brief video that is accompanied by instructional tools that teachers can download at no charge.Laredo is one of 18 schools so far in Colorado that is participating in the education initiative offered by Denver-based LiveWell Colorado, a non-profit organization committed to preventing and reducing obesity in the state by promoting healthy eating and active living.

ENC-Teacher Exchange was introduced a year ago by Egg Nutrition Center(ENC), science division of The American Egg Board in Park Ridge, Ill. Egg Nutrition Center’s contribution to America’s battle against obesity in elementary and high schools is expressed in two ways:

· Showcasing teachers and schools that have created successful programs for combating obesity.

· Encouraging teachers to create and submit new ideas so that other teachers can learn and benefit from them.

Health, nutrition and physical education teachers in all 134,000 U.S. schools are invited to become members of ENC-Teacher Exchange, whereby they’ll receive E-mail notification when new video stories or teaching tools are added. Click herefor easy online application.

ENC-Teacher Exchange is supported by The American Association of Family & Consumer Sciences (aafcs.org).More than 800 AAFCS members are currently enrolled.

K thru 12 teachers are invited to submit new obesity-fighting ideas to ENC-Teacher Exchange, with the understanding that concepts must be developed by teachers into practical teaching tools that can be shared with other teachers in order to qualify for a $500 honorarium.New teaching tools must be worthy of publication on the ENC-Teacher Exchange web site to merit the honorarium.That process usually requires a teacher to begin by sending a one-page concept description to info@encteacher.org.For more information, please E-mail ENC-Teacher Exchange membership manager Linda Tinoco, or phone her at 708-974-3153.

Family and Consumer Sciences end of the year reports: Listserv FCS Teachers and Supervisors

GRADS – New Program for created to teach Ohio standards was rolled out at the August OATFACS conference!

Parents with Prospects™ GRADS is a unique set of blended learning resources, which are fully mapped to all 5 of the Ohio Department of Education GRADS Standards.
Parents with Prospects™ student curriculum consists of 1000 page color session packets covering allaspects of the GRADS delivery. The workbook is supported by online learning materials and progress is tracked through our unique database to enable complete statistical analysis.
Working in partnership with Ohio Department of Education GRADS teachers we have created a full learning curriculum.

Ohio FCCLA Sign up members to compete in STAR/Skill Events at the regional level competitions

Advisers to sign up to volunteer at regional competitions and to sign up other adults to volunteer at regional competitions

Choose online registration site for your region. Look at map to see your region or list of CTPDs in each region. Please note three regions have separate Culinary online sites.

Enter your User Name and Password ( Use the User Name and Password that you set up in your affiliation profile)

Outstanding Chapter, Power of One, Leaders at Work, Dynamic Leadership and State Degree Projects will be evaluated at several sites throughout the State of Ohio.Evaluations will be conducted at various times at each site.Evaluation information will be mailed from the site. ALL POWER OF ONE PROJECTS MUST BE COMPLETED AND SIGNED BEFORE MARCH 1.Power of One Five Unit Recognition Application must be typed.The Power of One Project Sheets must also be typed.

Chapters may choose to attend any site(s) but must pre-register number and names of students according

to site(s).You do not need to register according to regions! Register for the most convenient site for your chapter.All checks are sent to: Chapter and Personal Achievement Awards, Ohio FCCLA, 25 South Front Street, MS#611, Columbus, OH 43215.Regional Coordinators will not accept applications!All registrations are online.

All Ohio FCCLA chapters will affiliate directly through Ohio FCCLA. You will not send anything to National including money. All checks for dues will be made payable to Ohio FCCLA. (You should changed this with your treasurer's office.) Ohio FCCLA feels that we can deliver better service through using a direct affiliation method. I will be able to know if you affiliate immediately and specially new chapters. You will be able to print rosters and invoices immediately. You will receive follow up emails.

You will register at www.registermychapter.com/fcclamem/oh. It is actually ready now. You will be able to upload a special Excel spreadsheet also. More details will follow. If you use the system to register for State Leadership Conference, your information is stored in the system.

FCCLA Events: Contact Paulette Farago pofarago@aol.com Reserve tickets now for the 2012 Fall 3^rd annual career day with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Go to the end of the Events and Resources for a complete list of FCCLA dates. See Adviser Academy, Chef’s Challenge, State Fair + more. http://www.fcclainc.org/content/adviser-academy-home/.

(Also see MORE references to Family and Consumer Sciences information and resources, and FCCLA at the end of this document after Webinars, Blogs and Trainings.)

American Association for Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) presents Webinars like Nutrition-Dehydration, and others; register now for Dehydration and its effects on the body webinar or a new presentation, Why group Work Does Not Work, presented by Catherine Anstrom, PhD, a 90 minute program including Q and A. Through a case study, literature review, and a qualitative study on university faculty members' perceptions of group work, Dr. Anstrom learned that very few educators are trained in group work. And because teaching has become so over-burdened in the past decade, teachers are reluctant to invest time in learning new strategies for things like group work. AAFCS webinars are $35 for AAFCS members, $50 nonmembers. Register Now! State licenses and group discounts also available.

Former CDC obesity expert visits Cleveland to talk about how to easily get kids to lose weight (Jan. 22, Cleveland.com)

Snacking: Cause or potential cure for childhood obesity? (Jan. 21, Post-Tribune)

The nomination process for ACTE's Board of Directors is now open! Completed applications are due by June 15.

The nomination process for ACTE's Board of Directors is now open! Completed applications are due by June 15.

House and Senate Pass FY 2014 Budgets Recently, both the House and Senate approved their respective budget resolutions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. These resolutions set the overall discretionary spending caps for the coming fiscal year and establish the total amount of funding that will be available for programs like Perkins. Read more...

House Passes Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization The House of Representatives voted to pass the Strengthening Knowledge and Investing in Lifelong Skills (SKILLS) Act on March 15. The final bill contains several controversial measures, including consolidating 35 workforce training programs into a single block grant controlled by state governors and eliminating all required representation on workforce boards except for businesses. Read more...

Senator Begich Completes CTE Legislation Package As part of a package of CTE-related legislation, Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) introduced two new bills aimed at professional development for CTE educators and modernization for CTE facilities. Read more...

2013 ACTE National Policy Seminar ACTE members joined together to “Climb the Hill” and advocated on behalf of CTE during the 2013 National Policy Seminar in Washington! For more resources, visit our NPS page and read the event coverage on the CTE Policy Watch Blog:

AAFCS Webinars: New EXperiences in Training (NEXT) are designed to utilize online meeting technology to provide professional development activities throughout the year.

The Spring 2013 Webinar Season is here! If the webinar date is passed, look for information on content. Thursday, April 11th at 4:00pm ET: Preparing Our Students for the Real World: Are Colleges Doing Enough?

Thursday, April 18th at 4:00pm ET: Playground Power: Why Outdoor Play is Beneficial

Wednesday, April 24th at 4:00pm ET: Applying STEM Concepts to Real World Issues Using Family and Consumer Sciences Curriculum

Individual registration rates are just $35 for AAFCS Members ($50 for nonmembers). Group rates are also on sale!

National Eating Disorders Awareness Eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder are serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses which are often misunderstood, misdiagnosed and hidden from public scrutiny. available resources.

In 2008, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act was unanimously passed into law. California became one of the earliest adopters of extended foster care when Assembly Bill 12 (AB 12), California's Fostering Connections Act, became law in late 2010, and is highly relevant for today.

Immunization Day at the Ohio Statehouse (Immunization Advocacy Network of Ohio)

Was April 9 - 9 a.m. Follow the information at this link for future dates and times.

Former CDC obesity expert visits Cleveland to talk about how to easily get kids to lose weight (see Jan. 22, Cleveland.com)

Snacking: Cause or potential cure for childhood obesity? (Jan. 21, Post-Tribune)

March 27-28, Columbus. Contact Voices for Ohio’s Children for more information and future meetings.

Planning is well underway behind the scenes for Voices’ annual Children’s Health Conference, was held March 27-28, at the Columbus Airport Marriott Hotel. This year’s conference is titled “All Together Now” and offered a holistic approach to children’s basic health needs.

Featuring breakout sessions on topics from high-risk care management to trauma and mental health, the conference included opportunities for discussion on a myriad of health issues beyond traditional determinants. Highlights of the two-day conference included a lunch panel with state officials, who will offer a comprehensive update from a number different of agencies and departments that provide services to children.

Disparities in Healthcare Quality Among Racial and Ethnic Groups: Selected Findings

Despite improvements, differences persist in health care quality among racial and ethnic minority groups. People in low-income families also experience poorer quality care. This fact sheet discusses differences between groups in terms of relative rates, which is the ratio of the comparison group (e.g., Black) to a baseline group (e.g., White).

Creating Trauma Informed Systems of Care Presented by Licking County Municipal Court in conjunction with the Specialized Dockets Section of Judicial & Court Services, BHP of Central Ohio, Inc. and Mental Health and Recovery for Licking and Knox Counties (Funding provided by SAMSHA’s Promoting Alternatives to Seclusion and Restraint through Trauma Informed Practices). (a one day training was offered twice) Location: Cherry Valley Lodge – Newark, Ohio, for Court and agency personnel

This training was free of charge. For more information and future events, contact Charlsia Brown, Charlsia.Brown@sc.ohio.gov or 614.387.9425.

Webinars on the Health Care Law in Spanish Hosted By the HHS Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. To register for the webinar, please click on the date below. The Health Care Law 101 webinars will change monthly to include tours of www.CuidadoDeSalud.gov , a presentation on the main provisions of the law, and a presentation on health disparities and the health care law.

www.NotASingleDrop.org is Ohio's web site about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). FASD refers to conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), fetal alcohol effects (FAE), alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), and alcohol-related birth defects (ARBD).

Department of Alcohol & Drug Addiction Services Department of Mental Health Behavioral Health

News Now from John R. Kasich, Governor, Orman Hall, Director, ODADAS,Tracy Plouck, Director, ODMH

Medicaid Health Homes Will Coordinate Services New initiative marks the ongoing partnership between ODMH and Ohio Medicaid. Today, public officials and community advocates visited Toledo’s Zepf Center to announce a statewide

initiative focused on coordinating mental and physical health care and boosting the overall health of Ohio’s Medicaid enrollees with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI). The Ohio Department of Mental Health (ODMH), in conjunction with the Office of Medical Assistance (Ohio Medicaid), first will implement the new Medicaid benefit -- called a Health Home -- in five Ohio counties, including Adams, Butler, Lawrence, Lucas and Scioto. Within a year, the benefit delivered by community behavioral health providers will be available statewide. Read the ODMH press release for complete details.

A skilled, healthy and drug-free workforce is the engine that drives Ohio’s economic recovery. That’s

why the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) and the Ohio Bureau of

Workers’ Compensation (BWC) are partnering to support National Drug-Free Work Week from Oct. 15-20.

This annual awareness campaign underscores the importance of drug-free workplaces and encourages

workers with substance abuse problems to seek help. View the press release for complete details.

Are you a fan of infographics? If so, the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare has

created the “Addiction is a Disease” infographic to help you share information about the disease, its

stages, statistics about how widespread it is, and how treatment works. You can download the

infographic from the National Council’s web site to share on your web and social media platforms.

Wells Fargo is teaming up with the region's four biggest medical providers to bring the coverage to local athletes and make Sacramento a model of brain-injury prevention for the rest of the country. Find out details about the care plan.

The War Over Prescription Painkillers CDC and the DEA and several other government agencies have been issuing some alarming reports about abuse of prescription painkillers, and what the government says has been a dramatic rise in overdose deaths. Read more.

Webinar To Examine the Use of Restorative Justice Practices in School Discipline

The U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services will present “Stemming the School-to-Prison Pipeline: Applying Restorative Justice Principles to School Discipline Practices .” This one-and-a-half hour Webinar, fourth in a series from the Supportive School Discipline Initiative, will address how school districts and schools can apply restorative justice principles (conflict resolution, fostering understanding and empathy, and building stronger relationships in schools and communities) to school discipline practices to stem the school-to-prison pipeline. Registration information is available online.

Ask about the Just Detention International Webinar. Contact the information at the link above. Part I was April 13, 2013. But they are continuing.

"One in Eight: The Reality of Sexual Abuse in Youth Detention” is the first in a three-part series of webinars on providing services to survivors of sexual abuse in juvenile detention. This webinar will cover the juvenile detention system, focusing on the crisis of sexual abuse facing youth detainees. These perspectives will help shed light on why so many youth detainees – one in eight overall – are sexually victimized, and on the impact of this abuse on youth and their communities.

The NAASLN Webinar Series invites you to attend the Internet-based seminar presented by Dr. Robin Lovrien Schwarz. Adult English Language Learners with Limited Print Literacy - A Group with VERY Special Learning Needs
Dr. Lovrien Schwarz's presentations, whether live or online, are always highly praised for format, content, depth of knowledge and her practical, easy to implement solutions for helping ESOL learners succeed. Register ONLINE – Go to www.naasln.org/webinars.htm

See the News Now alert for important updates from the Ohio Departments of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services and Mental Health. They will merge by summer of 2013.

The Ohio Departments of Mental Health and Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services have launched a website — www.adamh.ohio.gov — dedicated to the planned consolidation of Ohio’s Cabinet-level behavioral health services agencies. The website features news and information related to the consolidation, project charter, timeline, agency overviews, quick links, a blog and a section dedicated to Frequently Asked Questions.

Boards, providers, stakeholders, consumers and advocates are also invited to participate in

All-Ohio Institute on Community Psychiatry was held March 1-2, 2013 – Cleveland. Download flier for more information and contacts for future events.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is partnering with the Ohio Department of Health and Drug Free Action Alliance to invite southern Ohio’s law enforcement agencies to participate in the newly established Ohio Prescription Drug Drop Box Program. The pilot program will provide approximately 75 drop boxes to collect prescription drugs and at least three incinerators to destroy them. The drop boxes are secure mailbox-style disposal boxes that can be placed inside law enforcement departments where residents can walk in and deposit their unwanted, expired or unused prescription drugs. The portable drug incinerators will be provided to agencies that are able and willing to serve as a regional destruction site for the pills collected from other drug drop boxes in the area. ODADAS is also supporting the pilot program through funding provided to the Drug Free Action Alliance.

Law enforcement agencies in the following counties are eligible to apply for the pilot program:

Adams, Athens, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Fayette, Gallia, Greene, Hamilton, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Montgomery, Pickaway, Pike, Preble, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, Warren and Washington.

The Ohio Women’s Network, a statewide organization of ODADAS-funded service providers who are committed to advancing gender-specific prevention and treatment programming in Ohio, is seeking to expand it membership. OWN meets monthly in Columbus and offers free “best practices” trainings for any staff working in women’s programs. The Network co-sponsors Ohio’s biannual Women’s Symposium and, as a 501 c(3), is qualified to compete for grants. Membership is $100. To apply, download the application. For meeting information, contact Jeane Cole, OWN Secretary: jeanecole777@aol.com or 513 961-4663.

SAMHSA Launches BH Facility Locator for National Guard Members and Their Families

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has combined online resources and developed a substance abuse and mental health services facility locator website for National Guard members and their families. The purpose of this site is to provide a single location to find resources for substance abuse treatment, mental health and primary care in the user’s community; however, this tool is not intended to identify or endorse any program/provider as being knowledgeable or certified in specifically tailored services or interventions for military service and veteran populations.

A new study from researchers at Western Illinois University (WIU) finds college students who use prescription drugs for non-medical purposes are at increased risk of depression and thoughts of suicide. The researchers analyzed the answers of 26,600 college students who participated in a national research survey by the American College Health Association. Students were asked about their non-medical prescription drug use, including painkillers, antidepressants, sedatives and stimulants, as well as their mental health symptoms in the past year. About 13 percent of students reported non-medical prescription drug use, according to a WIU press release. Those who reported feeling sad, hopeless, depressed or considered suicide were significantly more likely to report non-medical use of any prescription drug. The link between these feelings and prescription drug abuse was more pronounced in females, the researchers report in Addictive Behaviors. The researchers conclude that students may be inappropriately self-medicating psychological distress with prescription medications.

Multi-Disciplinary Care for Psychopathology and Behavioral Difficulties in Children with Epilepsy

Nationwide Children’s Hospital presented “Multi-Disciplinary Care for Psychopathology and Behavioral Difficulties in Children with Epilepsy: The Importance of Primary Care and Mental Health Teams. visit

Behavioral Health e-Update is published monthly by the ODADAS Office of Communications, in cooperation with the Ohio Department of Mental Health, and distributed through the Department’s eNews listserv. To subscribe to eNews, click HERE. For an archive of previous issues, visit the ODADAS website at www.odadas.ohio.gov . Click on News>e-Updates.

We welcome your feedback and suggestions. If you have a news item, funding opportunity or training announcement for a future issue of Behavioral Health e-Update, please send an email to Eric.Wandersleben@ada.ohio.gov .

MultiCultural Advocates for Cultural Competence Charleta B. Tavares, Executive Director

CARE Ohio Level I Trainings – “Building Cross-Cultural Competence in Health Care”

The cost of the CARE training Level I (3 hour session) is $35 for MACC members and $45 for non-members and CARE Level II (8 hours) is $120 and $150 accordingly. CEU’s are available for RNs/LPNs and LSWs/LISWs; application has been made for CEU’s for Counseling and Ohio Chemical Dependency professionals. Fax the registration brochure to 614-487-9320. For more information about CARE trainings click here.

Columbus Public Health Department
240 Parsons Avenue – Room 119 C - Columbus, Ohio 43215
This year’s conference will focus on health care integration in the context of health care reform that seeks to eliminate health disparities. For more information or to submit a proposal, click here or visit www.maccinc.net. For more information contact Esta Powell at epowell@maccinc.net or call (614)221-7841.

Ohio Department of Education/State Board of Education and allied resources

Ohio's teacher training policies receive C- grades from national group (Jan. 23, Cleveland.com)

Message from DYS Director Harvey Reed DYS was awarded a grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention to provide mentoring services to 245 youth leaving DYS facilities and returning to Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Montgomery and Summit counties. Mentoring begins four to six months prior to a youth’s release and continues in the community for at least an additional six months. Mentoring services support a youth’s reentry plan and assist with education, employment, housing, behavioral health treatment and other supportive services.

Last week DYS hosted a mentoring recognition event to show appreciation for all of the community partners, mentors, mentees and staff who have made the Second Chance Mentoring Program a success. In 2012, the program matched a total of 99 youth with mentors! The event’s theme, “The Game of Life,” focused on how a committed mentor enriches the life of a youth by encouraging personal growth and development. The event included a youth panel discussion, reentry resources and presentations from a total of six keynote speakers.

The Ohio Department of Education (ODE) has issued another updated contact guide for the ODE. The new guide is more comprehensive and organized by areas.

The Center on Education Policy (CEP) released on September 19, 2012 a report entitled, State High School Exit Exams: A Policy in Transition by Shelby McIntosh. Without funding for research built into states' plans for these exams, they cannot adequately ensure the success of these policies or understand the impacts on their students."

Advocates for Ohio’s Future Dayton Community Conversation: Local leaders, advocates and state lawmakers are coming together for Community Conversations across the state to discuss Ohio’s investment in health and human services in the state budget and what it means for Ohio and local communities. The following Community Conversations are scheduled from 2-4 p.m.

Topics: Federal budget and other future events. Ask Brandi for new dates and titles.

What a relief! We didn’t go over the fiscal cliff. The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 officially averted the fiscal cliff of combined tax hikes and automatic spending cuts. Learn more about what the fiscal cliff means for kids and how kids and families fared in the broader budget deal.

Our speaker is Jared Solomon, senior director of Budget Policy at First Focus, a bipartisan advocacy organization dedicated to making children and families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions.

RSVP to Brandi Scales at bscales@vfc-oh.org. The call-in number is 712-432-3900; passcode 249606#.

Illogical - Ohio's unemployment compensation trust fund is chronically underfunded because employer taxes have not kept pace with needs. This means that taxpayer funds are being used to pay interest on debt, according to our recent statement. The money Ohio is diverting in this way would be better used to meet critical needs of schools and local governments that have suffered deep cuts under the current budget. It's illogical, and bad policy, for the state to be forking over tens of millions of dollars in interest charges.

Unaffordable - Low- and middle-income Ohioans would pay more in taxes under Congressional Republicans' approach to extending the Bush tax cuts than they would under President Obama's proposal, according to a new comparison by Citizens for Tax Justice. The GOP also wants to give more cuts to the wealthiest 1 percent than Obama does. Unfortunately, both sides want "to extend far too many of these unaffordable tax cuts," says CTJ's director.

Stepchildren Making You Crazy?
5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families

Recently, I was sitting at lunch with a friend, swapping stories about our families. I shared that I was concerned about how my adult stepdaughter was doing—she was facing a difficult situation thousands of miles away from home. “Well,” my friend said, “You don’t have to worry about that. You’re not her real mom.”
Read more »

There are new features on the For Families website to support your family engagement efforts.

UnderYOURInfluence offers parents of teen drivers numerous FREE resources to help parents create a strong and sustainable parent-teen driving relationship!

The busyness of today's families extracts a price on both children and parents. The average family has just too much going on. Learn what parents can do to take charge of their calendar and create a simpler, more meaningful, and healthier life for everyone in the family.

"Frantic Families: Avoiding the Trap", was offered on April 11^th from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at St. Vincent Ferrer Parish (Hamilton Hall), 7754 Montgomery Road, Kenwood. The fee is $15/person. Contact Sandy Keiser at Catholic Charities at 513-241-7745 or skeiser@ccswoh.org

In today's world, parenting has never been more challenging. Parents are finding that new methods are needed to reach, teach and support their children. "Growing Up Again", is a four session class that will help parents learn a variety of ways to reach their children and balance love with limits.

It began on April 25 at Hyde Park Health Center, 4001 Rosslyn Drive, from 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm. The fee is $60/person. Contact Sandy Keiser at 513-241-7745 or skeiser@ccswoh.org.

Sandra Keiser, LISW-S, CFLE Community Education Specialist and Consultant Catholic Charities SW Ohio

FREE Evening Presentation: Simplicity Parenting
REGISTER NOW Presenter Kim John Payne explains why less is more and presents four simplicity pathways you can take to help your child feel calmer, happier and more secure. This is the work which provided the inspiration for Kim’s best-selling book, Simplicity Parenting (published in August 2009). It presents not only four simple steps, but provides examples of how to bring “the power of less” into your home on a daily basis. So much of modern life seems to be about more. Very few presentations you will attend will suggest that you do less, but this is one of them. It quietly presents ‘do-able’ daily ways in which we can simplify our families lives and by doing so build resiliency within our children. Presentation was: May 8, 2013; 7 to 9 p.m.; Antioch University Midwest; PNC Auditorium
900 Dayton St. Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387
This event is part of Safe School Climate Conference: Making the Invisible Visible. The conference explores ways to promote and build an effective learning environment for students and staff. Topics include bullying prevention, peer mediation, student mental health and more. Check out midwest.antioch.edu/education-conference for more information or to register.

Keynote Speaker: Kim John Payne, M.Ed. An international expert on School Climate & Social Inclusion, consultant, and trainer to over 110 U.S. independent and public schools, Kim John Payne, M.ED, has been a school counselor, educator, consultant, researcher, and educator for twenty-seven years. Mr. Payne has helped children, adolescents and families explore social difficulties with classmates, attention and behavioral issues at home and school, and emotional issues such as defiance, aggression, addiction and self-esteem. He has appeared frequently as a bullying prevention expert on television including ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox; on radio with the BBC, Sirius/XM, CBC & NPR and featured in print media such as Time Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Parenting, Mothering, and the LA Times.

Session partners include Yellow Springs High School/McKinney School PTO and Mills Lawn School PTOConference Partners include: Antioch College, Yellow Springs Community Foundation, Think Tank of Clark County, Project Trust and ThinkTV
Questions or for information? Email education.aum@antioch.edu or call Sarah Wallis at 937-769-1862

Learning First Alliance newsletter available. See School Engagement models: Parental engagement is a crucial part of student success, but developing effective family/school relationships requires intentional design. LFA recently assembled a new resource on models of effective parental engagement strategies, compiling several examples from many of our member associations. Read more...

School Reform - First Do No Harm. A recent report argues that the top-down, punitive reform efforts currently in vogue are ineffective and cause more harm than good in turning around troubled schools.

http://families.naeyc.org/ New opportunity - Parent information website provided by NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) by T Berry Brazelton, M.D. and Joshua Sparrow, M.D. Families Today has been featured in the N.Y. Times for 20 years. Get answers to Early Childhood questions.

Columbus Directions for Youth and Families upcoming Teen Childbirth Education classes. FREE. If you have questions please contact Intake at 614 294-2661 Designed for teen mothers 12-21 and their support system. Please click on the link for information. Childbirth Education flyer http://www.dfyf.org/user_files/cb.pdf

Stepchildren Making You Crazy?
5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families

Blog – Parenting Reflections http://parentingreflections.com/
Contributors include Jean Clarke, Elizabeth Crary, Connie Dawson, Beth Gausman, Helen Neville, Sandy Keiser, Emily Williams.

Chapin Hall offering – Articles on many topics; see Advocacy topic area for new seminar on Public Policy

School Engagement Among Parents of Middle School Youth
Most researchers, policymakers, and educators believe that children do better in school when their parents are involved in their education. However, there is no gold standard for how to engage parents. Consequently, schools often employ a broad range of "parent involvement" efforts, with little clear evidence about what works best and for whom. This issue brief uses data from Chapin Hall's evaluation of the Elev8 full-service schools initiative as an illustrative case study to reflect on the efficacy of different parent engagement approaches during the middle school years.

Challenges of Military Parents
CNN has published an opinion piece by Doris Duke Cohort One Fellow Tova Neugut about the challenges that face fathers serving in the military. She discussed the need to support military fathers who face a number of challenges at home and during deployment, particularly during the period of reintegration after service members return from duty.

See the opinion piece on the CNN website

Education Week:Special Report: Leaders To Learn From: Lessons From District Leaders - In the first of what will be an annual report on leadership, Education Week’s Leaders To Learn From provides fifteen profiles on forward-thinking education leaders.

Common Core for English-Language Learners: Take a look at districts making the standards accessible to ELLs and see how teachers are preparing for instruction and assessment challenges.

Math and the Common Core: Discover how math instruction is changing in light of the common standards and see how teachers are preparing at-risk students for the common core.

Literacy and the Common Core: Understand how curriculum and assessments are shifting as a result of the English/language arts standards and how literacy is being implemented across the subject areas.

Credit Recovery and Online Learning: See how districts are using online learning to reach students beyond traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms.

Teacher Evaluation: Explore the multiple measures being used to measure teacher performance.

College Readiness and Access: Examine districts where students are being prepared for the academic and financial demands of college.

Data-Driven Decisionmaking: Learn about successful district efforts in data-driven reform and put your school's data into practice.

Each Spotlight is delivered in an easy-to-read, easy-to-use digital format, with numerous in-depth articles in one convenient PDF file.

The Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies, in conjunction with Community Research Partners, released a study documenting trends in poverty across Ohio over the past decade. Startling results show that almost two million people in Ohio live in poverty. That’s one in six people - enough to fill the OSU football stadium more than 17 times. Results are even more shocking for children. From 1999 to 2010, the number of children in poverty grew by more than 232,000. Statewide, nearly one in four children lives below the federal poverty level. For children under the age of six, that number rises to one in three. That’s enough for children to make up more than one-third of all Ohioans who live in poverty.

This brief describes the characteristics and economic well-being of young people aging out of foster care who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB). It also compares their economic self-sufficiency to that of their heterosexual peers also aging out of care.

Replicating Home Visiting Programs with Fidelity: Baseline Data and Preliminary FindingsIn 2008, the Children's Bureau in the Administration for Children and Families at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services entered into cooperative agreements with 17 programs in 15 states to support the implementation of home visiting programs designed to prevent child maltreatment. This report describes the fidelity measurement framework adopted by the cross-site evaluation team and early fidelity outcomes for 44 agencies implementing home visiting services as part of the initiative.

TANF Child-Only Cases: Who Are They? What Policies Affect Them? What Is Being Done?

Child-only cases were far from the center of attention when the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program was created in 1996 and when it was reauthorized in 2005. However, with adult-aided cases at less than one-quarter of their pre-TANF levels, child-only cases have become a substantial presence in the nation's TANF caseload. Interest in these cases is growing. This report is written to aid policy makers as they contemplate modifications to TANF. Read the report on the Chapin Hall website

Teacher Evaluations – ASCD Panel Discusses Teacher Evaluations: The ASCD November 2012 Whole Child Podcast, hosted by Molly McCloskey, featured a panel discussion on fair and effective teacher evaluations. The Podcast is available. Information about other Whole Child Podcasts is available.

Regional Forums - Voices for Ohio’s Children is now in the process of compiling data and input from each of their Regional Children's Forums held in the summer, and will compile a policy agenda for the upcoming year. With Ohio's budget cycle functioning on a biennium-basis, the action list for 2013 will encompass both legislative and fiscal priorities. Using the feedback from our partners, we seek to identify emerging patterns across the state and structure the framework of next year's agenda based on grassroots recommendations. We anticipate another busy year, and we look forward to engaging a wide network of child advocates and policy makers at all levels of government as we begin the work ahead of us.

If you were unable to attend one of the forums or want to review the handouts, collateral materials are available online.

Psychiatry - Significant Changes to the codes in the Psychiatry section of the AMA's Current Procedural Terminology went into effect to services provided beginning Jan. 1, 2013

Resources on Poverty in the USA http://www.spotlightonpoverty.org/poverty_day_resources.aspx Parents' Pasts and Families' Futures: Using Family Assessments to Inform Perspectives on Reasonable Efforts and Reunification. Comprehensive family assessments conducted by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services are used to identify/understand the experiences of parents involved with the child welfare system who report extensive exposure to trauma in their own personal histories. Download the report on the Chapin Hall website

Download the Discussion Paper on the Chapin Hall website. See others and note Advocacy area Beyond School Improvement: Chapin Hall Webinar December 6, 2012 Available archived after presentation.Partnering to Strengthen Educational Opportunities for Urban Children and Youth. The CWICstats dashboard report for the second quarter of 2012 is now available. The quarterly dashboard report was developed for the Chicago Workforce Investment Council (CWIC) to provide a snapshot of key workforce and economic indicators. The report highlights many of the key indicators and their most recent changes, and then graphically depicts key and additional indicators over time.

Moving from Afterschool Training to the Workplace: The Second Year of the Palm Beach County Afterschool Educator Certificate Program
In the second year implementation study of the Palm Beach County Afterschool Educator Certificate program (PBC-AEC), researchers at Chapin Hall sought to understand program implementation and establish how this 80-hour course affected individuals in the second year of operation. The report explains how afterschool organizations adopted the principles of PBC-AEC, and the extent to which training graduates used PBC-AEC ideas and practices in their work.

Opportunities/events available from Case Western University The Schubert Center for Child Studies aims to strengthen links between child-related academic study, public policy formation, and professional practice. Based in the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, the Schubert Center convenes experts from across campus and throughout the Cleveland community to provide an innovative forum for multidisciplinary education, research, and communications focused on child policy. Follow the links below (control+click) for information on Schubert Center initiatives, activities, and resources such as:Our series of Research and Policy Briefs summarizing child-related research at CWRU and highlighting implications for policy and practice Monthly lunch-time seminars featuring cutting-edge research by CWRU faculty and corresponding commentary by local professionals

From Policy Matters Ohio Leveling out - Our latest foreclosure report points out that even though new filings dropped for the second year in a row - down to 71,556, a 16 percent decrease from 2010 - foreclosures in Ohio seem to be leveling off at a crisis-level peak. Mediation and foreclosure prevention programs are clearly making a dent.

Cuts without a cause - Even though there is no budget shortfall, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and House Republicans propose squeezing $95 million out of Ohio's current budget with no plans to use the money to restore critical services. Our analysis of HB 487, part of the governor's "Mid-Biennium Review," suggests that small amounts of money could have significant impact on the lives of many Ohioans. Just $8 million could pull down a federal match and reduce the wait for 14,000 families needing services from the Department of Developmental Disabilities; just $6.2 million could stop the cut pending next year to alcohol and drug treatment services and help provide treatment for 3,800.

From Learning first Alliance Learning First Alliance Spotlight: Family Engagement - A Driving Force Behind School Tu Project Yellow Light is a scholarship competition designed to bring about change. As an applicant you have one clear mission: encourage your peers to develop and embrace safe driving habits.

Apply Today rnaround Efforts By Betsy Landers, President of the National PTA

www.NAWHSL.org for information on a variety of resources and safety programs in the USA

Safety organizations and websites recommended by National Association of Women Highway Safety Leaders:

Check out NOYS Events Page to find out the details and for information on more events!

You are cordially invited to attend the May 8th launch of the Decade of Action for Road Safety events at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC. We will celebrate Global Road Safety Week, Global Youth Traffic Safety Month and Bike Month. Please see invitation below from the Honorable Norman Y. Mineta, Chairman of Make Roads Safe North America.

This year, the theme of Global Road Safety Week is pedestrian safety and members of the Mandela family will lead the Long Short Walk, a worldwide walk for road safety in memory of Zenani Mandela, in locations all over the globe. Won't you join us and add your steps to thousands of others who share the common goal of safe roads for all?

Whether or not you can join us in DC, we encourage you to organize your own Long Short Walk before May 8th in support of Global Road Safety Week. Perhaps you are already planning a meeting or a walk? Consider including a Long Short Walk (perhaps during a break) in support of the Mandelas and our worldwide goal of safe roads for everyone. You'll be spreading the word about road safety and improving your health (the CDC recommends 30 minutes of walking every day).

1) Invite friends/colleagues and make signs (or download them) telling us why you are walking: I'm walking for health & safety; I'm walking for youth; I'm walking for safe roads for everyone.

(2) Find a safe route to walk, get signs, and register your walk at www.mylongshortwalk.org.

(3) Walk! If you prefer to bike, you can go on a Long Short Walk & Roll! Use the "Every Body Walks! App" to keep track of your distance and don't forget to share your photos by uploading them at www.mylongshortwalk.org, tweeting them #walksafe and #noysnoise, and publishing them on your websites/blogs/Facebook.

Thank you for being a champion for road safety. With our combined steps, we can encircle the globe with our efforts to make roads safe for everyone!

Everyone can become a Global Youth Traffic Safety MonthT Partner by clicking here. Your commitment can be as grand or small as your time and resources allow.

A simple way to participate in Global Youth Traffic Safety MonthT is to take a walk with your teen. Your walk can be as short or as long as you want. Register your walk at www.mylongshortwalk.org.

Everyone should be able to walk and bike without fear of injury. But every year 1.3 million people are killed on the roads and many more are seriously injured. Encouraging walking and biking is good for safety, for health, and for the environment. So, in support of the Global Road Safety Week 2013 and the Decade of Action for Road Safety, the Zenani Mandela Campaign (in memory of Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter who lost her life in a crash) has launched the 'Long Short Walk' for safer, healthier, greener mobility. NOYS member organizations are participating in this effort as part of Global Youth Traffic Safety Month in May.

Project Yellow Light is a scholarship competition designed to bring about change. As an applicant you have one clear mission: encourage your peers to develop and embrace safe driving habits.
Apply Today

Injury Prevention for Teens 15 to 19 Years Injury prevention tips on a variety of topics.

Easy Steps to Properly Fit a Bicycle Helmet
It's not enough to simply buy a bicycle helmet - it should be properly fitted, adjusted, and worn each time you ride.

The USDA released its long-awaited nutritional guidelines for snacks that are sold in schools.

Among adults with a mental illness, 36 percent smoke cigarettes, compared with 21 percent of adults without a mental illness.

Many doctors don't ask their teenage patients about their drinking, a new study finds.

The threshold for the driving under the influence standard that is part of the new Washington state marijuana law may be too high, a government expert says.

Energy drinks can be dangerous for teenagers, according to a new report published in a pediatrics journal.

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Release 2013 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws

A package of recommendations that would ban beginning drivers from using cellphones behind the wheel and make other changes aimed at reducing teen traffic fatalities and serious injuries is progressing through the South Dakota Legislature.

Nearly one million high school teens drank alcohol and got behind the wheel in 2011.

February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and the facts may surprise you.

When one thinks of bullying, one may imagine a defenseless kid rushing to his bike after school to avoid a group of tough tyrants; however,bullying occurs in the university environment too.

Most teenagers do not experience physical aggression when they date. However, for one in 10 teens, abuse is a very real part of dating relationships.

· If you're a parent, know that your everyday behavior plays a big part in shaping your child's behavior, too. Impact: After the Crash Documentary Film by MADD

· Raise funds for your student organizations selling the Novice Driver's Road Map

· Oder a Wheel and Pedal Kit to Provide the Ultimate Driver Simulation Experience

· National Strategy for Suicide Prevention 2012: Goals and Objectives for Action

Go to Under Your Influence Newsletter - UYI Newsletter: December is National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month!

Watch this NHTSA PSA you can use to promote holiday highway
safety in your community.

See Parents heading in Events and Resources listing for parent toolkit available to order. Access this FREE toolkit!

The National Road Safety Foundation Michelle Anderson Operations Manager: 866-SAFEPATH (866-723-3728)
3 New York Plaza New York, NY 10004 Email: nrsf@nationalroadsafety.org

The National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF) has designed free driver education programs. The mission of NRSF is to bring awareness through life long education which will influence responsible driving behaviors. www.nrsf.org

NOYS National Organization for Youth Safety www.actoutloud.org (see more under Safety – Youth)

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety - www.aaafoundation.org

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP - www.aap.org

American Association of State Troopers (AAST) - www.statetroopers.org

American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA) - www.adtsea.iup.edu

American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) - www.atssa.com

BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network – www.bacchusgamma.org

Boost America! – www.boostamerica.org

Brain Injury Association – www.biausa.org

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – www.chop.edu

FACE Truth and Clarity on Alcohol – www.faceproject.org

Federal Highway Administration - www.fhwa.dot.gov

General Federation of Women’s Clubs - www.gfwc.org

Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA) - www.ghsa.org

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - www.highwaysafety.org

International Association of Chiefs of Police - www.theiacp.org

Kiwanis International - www.Kiwanis.org

Make Roads Safe – www.makeroadssafe.org

Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Injury and Violence Prevention Program - www.mchb.hrsa.gov

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) - www.madd.org

National Clearinghouse on Drug and Alcohol Information (NCADD) - www.ncadd.org

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) - www.nhtsa.org

National Road Safety Foundation - www.nationalroadsafety.org

National Safe Kids Campaign - www.safekids.org

National Safety Belt Coalition - www.carseat.org

National Safety Council - www.nsc.org

Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (N.E.T.S.) - www.trafficsafety.org

Operation Lifesaver, Inc. - www.oli.org

Roadway Safety Foundation - www.roadwaysafety.org

Rotary International - www.rotary.org

Safe Communities - www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Safe Ride News Publications - www.saferidenews.com

Seat Check – www.seatcheck.org

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) – www.saddonline.com

(See Safety above for UYI newsletter, MADD, and NHTSA PSA) and for many resources on teen topics)

There’s a calendar date parents of Oppositional Defiant kids often cling to: the 18th Birthday. That magical day when your child becomes an adult and you are no longer responsible for him — at least not legally. Sure, you’ll still be his parent. But things will be different! No more power struggles, disrespect or refusal to follow the rules. No more embarrassment over the way he behaves or the choices he makes…
Read more »

Childbirth class for teen moms – Directions for Youth and Families in Columbus Teen Childbirth Education classes attached and ongoing. If you have questions please contact Intake at 614 294-2661, See Childbirth Education above. Designed for teen mothers 12-21 and their support system. Please click on the link for information.
Childbirth Education flyer

NOYS National Organization for Youth Safety www.actoutloud.org (see more under Safety – Youth)

There’s still time to join HandsOn Central Ohio in a wide range of activities throughout the month. To sign up for HandsOn Central Ohio’s volunteer events, visit HandsOn Connect. Gather your friends, employees or members of your organization and help out with one of these volunteer projects:

More Volunteer opportunities - Interested in being a foster grandparent? As a volunteer in the Foster Grandparent Program you'll receive a stipend, insurance benefits, and, best of all, the satisfaction of helping shape tomorrow's youth. You may volunteer 15 to 40 hours per week-it's up to you. There are no education or experience requirements, and you can choose to work with children from infancy through elementary school. For more information, contact Shryiell Owens, (614) 221-6766 ext 157 or email sowens@handsoncentralohio.org or look for the foster grandparent program in your area.

Don't Miss These Opportunities now past; but contact Hands On for more information and for future events

The Conference on Volunteering and Service is offering a special one-day rate for the most robust day of programming, Thurs., June 20. Don't miss this chance to join us for three workshop blocks and special events including:

National Policy: A Second Term and a New Congress (SID 3939)
With John Bridgeland, President and CEO, Civic Enterprises and Vice-chair, Malaria No More

What do the second term of President Obama and a new Congress mean for the service and volunteering sector? Join us for a discussion with prominent policymakers to learn and debate!

A Billion + Change: The Pro Bono Marketplace – LIVE (SID 3593)
Make the connection - join raucous roundtables of businesses and nonprofits sharing ideas in a live marketplace. Connect around your skills and needs for strategic planning, IT, HR, marketing and more!

Pitching Your Social Innovation (SID 3685)
Come be a “guest entrepreneur” in the Civic Accelerator, a Points of Light program in partnership with Village Capital, as we prototype, experiment and pitch new innovations in civic engagement.

Re-imagining Service: Turning Good Intentions into Measurable Results for Students (SID 3858)
Explore how to re-imagine service, driving toward measurable outcomes. Learn how Reading Partners and Citizen Schools engage volunteers, keep program quality high and equip volunteers to impact students’ lives. Hear from Target about how corporate partners can multiply service impact.

Bring a friend! If you or your colleagues can only attend for one day, join us on Thurs., June 20 for just $250. Register now to reserve your seats in these popular sessions. To register for the one-day rate, choose “One Day Attendee: Thursday” as your registration category.

Veterans Workforce Development Program Transforms Lives
Veterans in the United States are the most underserved community in workforce development.

While the focus of many veteran agencies at the federal, state and local level has been to provide good medical care and benefits, the process of assimilating them into the workforce as working professionals has been lacking.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010, young male veterans, age 18 to 24, had an unemployment rate of 21.9 percent, significantly higher than the national average – at nearly double the rate. Among the problems cited by veterans groups is that the skills a service member acquires in the military do not always transfer to the civilian world. What’s often missing is a certification system that tells an employer that the veteran has the skills and knowledge to meet the job requirements. The absence of training opportunities hampers the veterans in transitioning to the civilian workforce.

Halcyon Solutions is taking the initiative to address this critical gap that exists in our society. By combining our technical expertise with training and resource development, our goal is to equip veterans with the necessary skills so they can become IT professionals with Fortune 1000 companies.

Visit Halcyon Solutions to learn more about the benefits and upcoming summer class schedule.

Become a generationOn School, a place where academic learning comes alive through real-world service experience. This fall, set the stage for a year of student engagement, collaboration and social responsibility.

GenerationOn's comprehensive philanthropy education resources and targeted professional development support educators as they implement the strategy of service learning and prepare students for career and college success with 21st Century skills. This is not an add on, but good teaching that will help you incorporate the Common Core standards into your curriculum.

Build a Community of Service Learners
GenerationOn has more than 1,600 free lesson plans aligned with state and U.S. Common Core standards. Check out these unit plans ideal for building community and a commitment to service, right from the beginning of the school year:

Start a generationOn Club!
Register as a generationOn Kids Care Club facilitator and lead elementary school students in meaningful service projects in out-of-school time. Serve as the advisor for a generationOn Service Club and support middle and high school students as they plan and implement service projects outside of class time.

Many are available as they are presented and also saved for later viewing. So always consult the source to see if a past event might still be available as a resource.

As STEM education gains ever more prominence, statewide organizations are springing up from coast to coast to advance the cause. A key thrust, experts say, is moving from "random acts of STEM" to more purposeful, coordinated action. The networks and councils typically bring to the table a diverse set of players: educators, government and business leaders, and representatives of nonprofits and other community groups. The approaches pursued by these new networks vary, but include drawing road maps for improved STEM learning in and out of school, providing grants, launching STEM-focused schools, and advocating a policy agenda. In this webinar, officials from STEM organizations in California and Iowa will explain their strategies for ramping up education in science, technology, engineering, and math and the challenges ahead.

Marcella Klein Williams, chief education officer, California STEM Learning Network

This webinar will be moderated by Erik Robelen, assistant editor of Education Week.

Underwriting for the content for this webinar has been provided by the Noyce Foundation.

Can't attend? All Education Week webinars are archived and accessible "on demand" for up to four months after the original live-streaming date.

Teen Pregnancy discussion was held in March on collaborative approaches to prevent teen pregnancy-Child and Family Policy Forum - Collaborative Approaches to Teen Pregnancy Prevention: Public Agencies, Community Partnerships, and Policy Research

Chapin Hall Webinars available live and banked for later listening – Free. Go to the Urban Institute website http://www.urban.org/ for access to Chapin Hall video conferences on a host of topics including Parenting, Families, Immigrant issues, Extending Foster Care to Age 21, and a lot more.

Dropout Prevention: The Alliance for Excellent Education sponsored a webinar "Expanded Learning Opportunities: A More Comprehensive Approach to Preparing High School Students for College and a Career". The webinar highlighted a new Alliance issue brief that examines how schools can create options for students to address barriers that prevent high school students from graduating ready for college and a career. The panelists included Milton Chen, Senior Fellow, Edutopia; Maria Ferguson, Vice President, Alliance for Excellent Education; Jeannie Oakes, Director, Educational Opportunity and Scholarship Programs, Ford Foundation; Brad Stam, Vice President, ConnectEd: The California Center for College and Career; and Elliot Washor, Cofounder and Codirector, Big Picture Learning. If you were unable to watch the webinar live, archived video from all Alliance webinars is available, usually a day or two after the event is scheduled to air. A list of other upcoming Alliance webinars is available.

Consortium Developing Common Assessments: The Ohio State Board of Education recently agreed to join the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. This is one of the consortia that Education Week features in a webinar entitled "Common Assessments: What You Need to Know"
This webinar provided a briefing on the work of two consortia, the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. The consortia are using $360 million in Race to the Top money to design assessment systems for the common standards. The new tests will require essays, projects, and other tasks to gauge deeper, more complex student learning. The groups are also working on a variety of resources for teachers, such as model instructional units and formative assessments. Panelists include Joe Willhoft, executive director, the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, and Laura M. Slover, senior vice president, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.
Register for the webinar. All Education Week webinars are archived and accessible.

State agencies offer webinar series to combat bullying and improve school climate ODE has joined several other state agencies to form the Ohio Anti-Harassment, Anti-Intimidation and Anti-Bullying (Anti-HIB) Initiative. They are sponsoring a series of one-hour webinars during the current school year. School professionals, parents and community-support personnel are encouraged to participate in each session, which will be presented by experts from each sponsoring agency on topics including: policy implementation and supports; cyber safety; legal ramifications; school-wide interventions; teen dating violence prevention; and girl aggression. In addition to ODE, speakers will represent the Attorney General, eTech Ohio, the Ohio Domestic Violence Network and the departments of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Health, and Mental Health. Each webinar is open to the first 100 participants, with registration open 30 minutes before each program. In addition, the webinars will be recorded and posted the same day on this Web page for viewing at a later time. Please direct any questions to Jill Jackson at jill.jackson@ode.state.oh.us or (614) 466-9540.

CEC Webinars - Online professional development for special educators Tier One Instruction for Diverse Pre-K Learners A CEC/DEC Collaborative Webinar materials may be available.

5. Identify sources of common learning outcomes for diverse groups of young children.

6. Identify daily routines and activities in which learning opportunities can be embedded.

7. Develop multiple and varied teaching sequences built upon the principles of universal design for learning and developmentally appropriate practice.

8. Teaching diverse Pre-K learners is a unique challenge. Participate in this webinar to learn how to plan,

Understand key evidence-based instructional practices that can be used for preschool-aged children with diverse abilities to ensure high-quality Tier-One instruction. Register Today Individual, per-site webinar registration is only $89 for members or $114 for non-members.

Visit the HandsOn Central Ohio home page to nominate an award honoree, or submit a nomination form here, or to read more about the following trainings. For more detailed descriptions, additional training opportunities and to register, visit us online, or contact Marilee Chinnici-Zuercher at marileecz@handsoncentralohio.org. Contact Hands On for information on these trainings recently held. Preparing for IRS Form 990 Volunteer Engagement Series

The Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) has new blog that will
provide you with up-to-date information about OVAE events, presentations,
highlights from our visits to the field, and more. Visit the blog online
http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/ovae/

This month on Transforming Learning, a Learning First Alliance blog hosted by Education Week, national education leaders explore a variety of issues that have the potential to transform public education.

21st-Century Solutions to 21st-Century Problems Richard Wong, Executive Director of American School Counselor Association outlines that real education reform must take into account the changes in society and their effects on our students.

It's Time We Were Ready to Support School Readiness Marla Ucelli-Kashyap of the American Federation of Teachers, outlines the importance of school readiness and early childhood education.

Family and Community Engagement: The Critical But Often Missing Ingredient! Dr. Nancy Bolz, Director of Kansas Learning First Alliance, details the importance of open-communication when engaging the family and community in the school culture.

School Safety and Climate: Mirrors, Tubas, and Notebook Paper Dru Tomlin of the Association for Middle Level Education details creative approaches to school safety and enhancing school climate.

School Preparedness Matters Francisco M. Negrón, Jr. from the National School Board Association details the importance of school preparedness.

Five Essential Schoolwide Conditions for Common-Core Achievement Mel Riddile of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, details five essential school wide conditions for the Common Core State Standards that will fundamentally shift the way principals lead schools.

Delivering on the Promise of Technology to Accelerate Educational Improvements Brian Lewis, CEO of International Society for Technology in Education outlines the importance of technology in the classroom and the future benefits on children who graduate into a world where they will be competing for jobs on a global level - not only on a local, state or national level.

Americans for the Arts will be celebrating Arts in Education Week by hosting a blog salon on ARTSblog. This is a biannual event about arts education topics, and this fall's theme is the intersection of the arts and the new Common Core State Standards. The blog salon will feature a collection of posts by arts and education leaders, such as Yong Zhao, Richard Kessler, and Amy Johnson. Follow the salon by using the arts education tag on ARTSblog.

New Roles for Traditional Public Schools and Education Entrepreneurs Thomas Toch, senior fellow and director of the Washington office of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, recently posted a blog describing a new partnership with high performing charter schools that some leaders in traditional public schools are proposing. ("The Shifting Rhetoric of School Reform" Posted on May 23, 2012, originally published on The Avenue blog at The New Republic.)
Mr. Toch writes that at the annual New Schools Venture Fund summit some former participants in Teach for America and leaders of the entrepreneurial education reform movement, including Kayla Henderson (Superintendent of D.C. Public Schools), Cami Anderson (Superintendent Newark, New Jersey Public Schools), and Chris Barbic (administrator in the Memphis City Schools), are recognizing the limitations of the charter school movement, and are proposing compacts between traditional public schools and high performing charter schools to revamp low performing urban schools.
These leaders acknowledge that the most "vulnerable" students are still educated in traditional public schools, which have become the default system for many students who have been pushed out of charter schools, are not served by charter schools, or whose families do not apply to charter schools. In some cases charter schools have become "individual islands" of education excellence in some urban districts, but are not a "sufficient strategy for large scale reform."
According to the author, "This is a far cry from the scorn that many education entrepreneurs have heaped on traditional school systems since the emergence of the charter school movement two decades ago."
Read the blog.

Blog on Privatizing Education Anthony Cody in Education Week's "Living in the Dialog Blog" writes that the battle lines over education reform have become hardened over the role of the marketplace in pushing forward education improvement and innovation. (The Dialog with the Gates Foundation: What Happens When Profits Drive Reform" by Anthony Cody, Education Week, September 3, 2012.)

"If my child is acting like this now, what's he going to be like when he's older?"

Arts Integration and Joyful Learning: Judy Willis, an authority on brain research, writes in her blog for Edutopia that the creative arts can help children associate learning with pleasure and joy, develop “habits of the mind” that prepare them for adulthood, and also promote symbolic/conceptual thinking and innovative skillsets . (“Executive Function, Arts Integration and Joyful Learning (Part 6 of 7) by Judy Willis, Education 2012.)

Learning is a Pleasure: According to the author the anticipation of pleasure releases the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain, which increases pleasure and also reduces stress. She writes, “When students know they will have opportunities to use artistic, kinesthetic or manipulative experiences in the course of learning and as part of their learning assessments, their optimism is renewed. Knowing from the start that they will create representations of their learning through visual, musical or movement expressions (ideally with a medium of their choice) is an inoculation against boredom and low effort.”

Learning the arts provides students with opportunities to be creative, and this in turn increases student interest, motivation, and effort. Dr. Willis explains that often students who are not doing well academically adopt a “fixed mindset” in which they believe that any effort to learn with result in failure. Learning the arts enables students to believe in themselves, because students learn that with effort, practice and skills, “... they can transform their capacity for learning and increase their academic success.”

“Habits of the Mind”: Learning the arts also helps students learn “habits of the mind” such as practice, review, and application of knowledge, and how to delay gratification and to apply effort toward reaching a goal. These are important skills to understand and apply as students become adults and face challenges throughout their lives.

Symbolic/conceptual thinking: The author also writes that neuroscientists have looked at the neural activity of the brain, and learning the arts correlates with symbolic/conceptual thinking and processes using the highest forms of cognition, problem-solving, and critical analysis. Scientists have observed that learning the arts increases students’ sustained attention while participating in the arts, and also in general.

Advice about how to involve law enforcement if your child is physically abusive, including a free downloadable form that will help you through this process. Read more »

CARE Trainings – Register Now – Sponsored by the Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence; Fax the registration brochure to 614-487-9320. For more information about CARE trainings click here. See mental health or diversity - above.

HandsOn Central Ohio in Columbus knows that a strong nonprofit sector is key to a healthy community. We offer a variety of trainings and consultation services to assist nonprofit organizations increase their effectiveness and enhance their capacity to deliver high-quality services. Our trainings address topics of interest to nonprofits at an economical tuition rate that fits nonprofit budgets. For a detailed training description, dates of trainings, fees and to register, visit http://www.handsoncentralohio.org/public/training/trainings.php.

An Ounce of Prevention Webinar: Complete Curriculum on Preconception Issues for Teens and Young Adults,Presented by Brenda Bell and Lori Williamson Dean, 90-minute program Look now to see banked webinars. Register Now! Check out our Webinar Bundle program to save even more on registration costs!

Send us your events and the information you wish others to receive regarding your organization or program. Remember to enroll others in our address list to receive Parent Tips or Updates like this at usepohio@usepohio.com or to Cindy McKay cljfmckay@msn.com

Welcome to the USEP-OHIO Update Page

USEP-OHIO E-Udate Events and Resources June 14, 2013

Disparities in Healthcare Quality Among Racial and Ethnic Groups: Selected Findings

Stepchildren Making You Crazy?
5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families

Stepchildren Making You Crazy?
5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety - www.aaafoundation.org

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP - www.aap.org

American Association of State Troopers (AAST) - www.statetroopers.org

American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA) - www.adtsea.iup.edu

American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) - www.atssa.com

BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network – www.bacchusgamma.org

Boost America! – www.boostamerica.org

Brain Injury Association – www.biausa.org

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – www.chop.edu

FACE Truth and Clarity on Alcohol – www.faceproject.org

Federal Highway Administration - www.fhwa.dot.gov

General Federation of Women’s Clubs - www.gfwc.org

Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA) - www.ghsa.org

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - www.highwaysafety.org

International Association of Chiefs of Police - www.theiacp.org

Kiwanis International - www.Kiwanis.org

Make Roads Safe – www.makeroadssafe.org

Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Injury and Violence Prevention Program - www.mchb.hrsa.gov

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) - www.madd.org

National Clearinghouse on Drug and Alcohol Information (NCADD) - www.ncadd.org

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) - www.nhtsa.org

National Road Safety Foundation - www.nationalroadsafety.org

National Safe Kids Campaign - www.safekids.org

National Safety Belt Coalition - www.carseat.org

National Safety Council - www.nsc.org

Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (N.E.T.S.) - www.trafficsafety.org

Operation Lifesaver, Inc. - www.oli.org

Roadway Safety Foundation - www.roadwaysafety.org

Rotary International - www.rotary.org

Safe Communities - www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Safe Ride News Publications - www.saferidenews.com

Seat Check – www.seatcheck.org

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) – www.saddonline.com

Welcome to the USEP-OHIO Update Page

USEP-OHIO E-Udate Events and Resources June 14, 2013

Disparities in Healthcare Quality Among Racial and Ethnic Groups: Selected Findings

Stepchildren Making You Crazy? 5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families

Stepchildren Making You Crazy? 5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families

AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety - www.aaafoundation.org

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP - www.aap.org

American Association of State Troopers (AAST) - www.statetroopers.org

American Driver & Traffic Safety Education Association (ADTSEA) - www.adtsea.iup.edu

American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) - www.atssa.com

BACCHUS and GAMMA Peer Education Network – www.bacchusgamma.org

Boost America! – www.boostamerica.org

Brain Injury Association – www.biausa.org

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia – www.chop.edu

FACE Truth and Clarity on Alcohol – www.faceproject.org

Federal Highway Administration - www.fhwa.dot.gov

General Federation of Women’s Clubs - www.gfwc.org

Governors’ Highway Safety Association (GHSA) - www.ghsa.org

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - www.highwaysafety.org

International Association of Chiefs of Police - www.theiacp.org

Kiwanis International - www.Kiwanis.org

Make Roads Safe – www.makeroadssafe.org

Maternal and Child Health Bureau, Injury and Violence Prevention Program - www.mchb.hrsa.gov

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) - www.madd.org

National Clearinghouse on Drug and Alcohol Information (NCADD) - www.ncadd.org

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) - www.nhtsa.org

National Road Safety Foundation - www.nationalroadsafety.org

National Safe Kids Campaign - www.safekids.org

National Safety Belt Coalition - www.carseat.org

National Safety Council - www.nsc.org

Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (N.E.T.S.) - www.trafficsafety.org

Operation Lifesaver, Inc. - www.oli.org

Roadway Safety Foundation - www.roadwaysafety.org

Rotary International - www.rotary.org

Safe Communities - www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Safe Ride News Publications - www.saferidenews.com

Seat Check – www.seatcheck.org

Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) – www.saddonline.com

Stepchildren Making You Crazy?
5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families

Stepchildren Making You Crazy?
5 Ways to Manage Conflict in Blended Families