The Tennessee Department of Education and SAS Institute Inc. are partnering to provide valuable teaching resources for Tennessee’s Colleges of Education. Future educators and administrators will learn how to improve teaching effectiveness and student performance by working with simulated reports and results from the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). For more information, read here: Valuable Data Analysis Skills

Interested in seeing what the graduation rates are in our community schools? An article in The Daily Times provides information about all four high schools and how, in some cases, the rates have greatly improved over the last several years. Our educators are working hard to make sure our students graduate from high school on time.

WBIR’s anchor John Becker interviewed BEI Executive Director Bonny Millard and William Blount High School graduation coach Virginia Loflin about improvements in county graduation rates as well as the work that graduation coaches do.  http://www.wbir.com/video/default.aspx#/Newsmakers%3A%20Blount%20Co.%20Education%20Initiative/66874940001

A Maryville father wanting to be more involved in his children’s lives initiated a local chapter of a national organization at Foothills Elementary School.

By Eric Rice

Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) is a “Father Involvement Initiative of the National Center for Fathering.” Jim Moore created the program in 1998 in response to a tragic school shooting in Jonesboro, AR.  Noting the relative absence of fathers in his own son’s school, Moore began recruiting men and challenging them to become more involved in the school. Today, 1,500 schools and 65,000 men are reconnecting with their kids, keeping schools safe, and supporting the work of school teachers and administrators through Watch D.O.G.S. 

After researching the program for some time as a way to be more involved with my own kids, I introduced the program to Principal Amy Vagnier at Foothills Elementary School. She, along with school administrators Tammy Hooper and Kara Buckner, began putting the plans in place to launch Watch D.O.G.S. at Foothills. On Jan. 12, 2010, the school hosted its first annual Dads and Kids Pizza Night, to kick off the program. More than 500 people, including 200 dads, were in attendance to hear about Watch D.O.G.S. Fathers and father figures were challenged to take an active role in the lives of their kids, specifically in their education. Dads were asked to commit to spending at least one full day in the school per school year and more than 100 dads have done so already.

Dads show up for their “Dog Day” at 7:15 a.m. wearing their Watch D.O.G.S. “uniform” t-shirt.  They receive a specific schedule and spend time, not only in their own kids’ classroom, but in other areas needing assistance, such as playground duty, the lunchroom, “specials” (Music, Art, P.E., Library), and small reading groups. They also help with arrival and dismissal, patrol the hallways and periodically walk the perimeter of the school.  Dads have thoroughly enjoyed their experience, and the faculty and students have also responded positively to the new Watch D.O.G.S. presence.

Since implementing Watch D.O.G.S., 89% of schools have found the program to be a valuable component of the schools effort to promote a safe and positive learning environment, and 79% have noted an increase of father involvement in the school in other areas such as parent/teacher conferences, volunteerism, and PTA/PTO involvement, according to information on the National Center for Fathering’s web site. Visit the NCF website to learn more about the Watch D.O.G.S., as well as the effects an involved father can have on his kids, and ideas about how to become more involved in your kids’ lives. Go to NCF’s web site for more information.