Dear Colleagues:
Welcome back for the start of a brand-new calendar year! I hope you had a chance to rest and spend time with your family and friends during the holiday season.
I will keep my message short this week because, if you are anything like me, you have a lot of email awaiting you in your inbox. I did want to remind everyone that the deadline for nominations for the 2024 Kentucky Teacher of the Year program is next Monday, Jan. 9.
So far, we have had 1,127 nominations from across the Commonwealth. Anyone can nominate a teacher for this distinction, including administrators, teachers, parents, students and community members. The application is very short, asking for the teacher’s name, email and a brief reason why you are submitting the nomination.
We are trying to match last year’s record of receiving at least one nomination from each public school district in Kentucky. Please consider sharing the 2024 Kentucky Teacher of the Year nomination form with your parents and school staff. If you know of a teacher who has done outstanding things in your district, please consider nominating them yourself. The nomination form should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
After the nominations process closes next week, teachers will receive the application packet, which goes more deeply into their teaching methods and philosophy. They will have until Feb. 21 to submit the packet.
I know there are so many outstanding teachers in Kentucky who are deserving of an award like the Kentucky Teacher of the Year. Please help us share the word about this tremendous opportunity to be recognized among the state’s best educators.
Kind regards,
Jason E. Glass, Ed.D.
Commissioner and Chief Learner
KyMTSS Self-Assessment Tool Now Available!
The KyMTSS Self-Assessment Tool is designed to support district and school leaders and teams responsible for Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) implementation. The tool is aligned with Kentucky’s six essential elements to drive systematic change. It also is intended to assist with resource identification and action planning for MTSS implementation.
The KyMTSS Self-Assessment is organized into six sections and embeds a mini-action planning section with each of the six essential elements. The tool primarily limits a key feature to one essential element to keep the document manageable and user friendly. In practice, all features may be applied to multiple essential elements in an effective MTSS framework.
Suggestions for Use:
- Teams administer the KyMTSS Self-Assessment annually to establish a baseline and to monitor implementation progress at the organizational level.
- Teams administer an essential element of the KyMTSS Self-Assessment tool to guide the implementation of a given essential element.
- Teams, MTSS leads or administrators can use the KyMTSS Self-Assessment Tool to highlight key terms for common language and core concepts of the KyMTSS Framework, including the six essential elements.
Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign Planning Webinars
The Efficient and Healthy Schools campaign will begin holding planning webinars on Jan. 10.
Led by the U.S. Department of Energy with support from Berkeley Lab, the Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign engages schools – especially those serving low-income populations and rural areas – to reduce energy costs and improve energy efficiency, health and resilience. The campaign aims to connect schools with practical solutions, and provide technical assistance and resources to improve school facilities.
The campaign is actively recruiting schools/districts for the recognition program. The recognition program has two tracks: implementation and planning, and two categories: energy efficiency plus health, and emissions reduction and resilience.
There are two sets of upcoming webinars for districts beginning Jan. 10 for the planning track. For more information, see the Efficient and Healthy Schools Campaign one-pager.
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