The Six Components of Parental Involvement for Administrators

This course, which was recorded on January 20, 2015 at the AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas, features Dr. Beverley Romanin, former teacher and administrator and expert consultant on parental involvement programs. The presentation, which is geared toward administrators, features an overview of Dr. Joyce Epstein's Six Components of Parental Involvement, which include the concepts of parenting, communicating, volunteering, students learning at home, school decision-making, and collaborating with the community.

Fostering Positive Educational Transitions for Children of Military Families

Throughout the state of Arkansas, there are an estimated 6,000-7,000 military-connected students in our public schools. These children face challenges unique to life in the military, and their educational careers are hardly unaffected by these difficulties. It is the mission of the 2022 Arkansas Teacher of the Year, Jessica Saum, to bring awareness to these matters. 

In this course, hosted by Cassandra Webb, you will hear from School Liaison Program Manager Terri Williams and Military Family Engagement Advisor Don Kaminar, both state-level experts on matters involving the education of military-connected children. These panelists, in addition to Ms. Saum, will begin by shedding light on the unique challenges faced by military-connected children. Mr. Kaminar will then share information about the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, also referred to the Military Interstate Children's Compact or simply the Compact. The Compact is administered by the Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission and was designed to help ease school transitions for military-connected students. Mr. Kaminar will help schools understand how the Compact should guide their decisions regarding military-connected students within their districts. He will also discuss the Purple Star Schools program and outline the steps schools can take to earn the Purple Star School designation. Lastly, Ms. Williams will discuss resources available to military-connected children, their families, and the schools serving them. 

The Arkansas Guide for Promoting Family Engagement Through Age Eight

Family engagement is more than simply inviting parents to school once or twice a year; it is a continual process of working together for the benefit of students. Jackie Govan (Director, Head Start State Collaboration) and Jamie Morrison Ward (Curricula Concepts) present the Arkansas Guide for Promoting Family Engagement, a resource educators can use to help promote parental involvement and explain the importance of childhood development to the caregivers in students' lives. The Guide also contains information about putting together action plans for getting families to play a role in their children's education.

This course was recorded at the AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas on June 14, 2016.

A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the NGSS: A New Vision for Science Education

A Framework for K-12 Science Education identifies the key scientific ideas and practices students in all grades should learn. Dr. Heidi Schweingruber, Director for the Board on Science Education, introduces the frameworks as a new vision for science learning. She reviews the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), details the three dimensions, and presents data in support of the need for implementing these standards in the classroom.

This course was taped during the AAMLE annual conference on March 30-31, 2015.  

Scientific and Engineering Practices in the Classroom

A Framework for K-12 Science Education presents three dimensions that are combined to form each standard with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The first dimension, Scientific and Engineering Practices, is the focus for this course. Heidi Schweingruber, Ph.D., Director for the Board on Science Education, discusses how these practices help support learning in the classroom. Referencing data from Achieve, she identifies the shifts in science education and suggested techniques for implementation. 

This course was taped during the AAMLE annual conference on March 30-31, 2015. 

Crosscutting Concepts

Crosscutting concepts are in place to help students make connections across the different disciplines. Dr. Heidi Schweingruber, Director of the Board on Science Education, explains how these concepts are more than just a way to categorize activities; they exist to support and deepen student learning. She identifies the guiding principles for how these concepts should be used in the classroom and looks at the progression of complexity and sophistication across the grades. Having prior knowledge of the NGSS framework before taking this course is strongly encouraged.

This course was taped during the AAMLE annual conference on March 30-31, 2015. 

Disciplinary Literacy: Science - K-12

In this course, Karen Ladd of the Nettleton School District discusses disciplinary literacy and how it is effectively applied in the science classroom. She begins with a thorough discussion of what disciplinary literacy means. Afterward, she introduces a science literacy lesson model and explains how it can be used as a template for designing science lessons that incorporate the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards.

This course was taped September 9, 2014 at the AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas. 

PLEASE NOTE: This course has been temporarily disabled while we look into a video issue. 

Elementary Science Safety and Lab Guidelines

Dr. Irene Cesa, retired Director of Technical Services for Flinn Scientific, addresses specific safety issues and concerns to help current and prospective teachers safely and effectively use hands-on inquiry-based science activities in the elementary classroom. This presentation details procedures for not only creating safe activities but also for establishing a "culture of safety" in the classroom. It also describes how to identify and minimize hazards and risks, and provides general safety rules and guidelines especially useful at the elementary level.

To the Stars and Back: Empowering Students with Project-Based Learning

Throughout history, people have always looked to space as a source of awe and wonder. We have strived to not only better understand our universe but also our place in it. Nettleton STEAM, a unique third through sixth-grade school in Jonesboro, Arkansas, continues this time-honored tradition of exploration and discovery by infusing STEAM and project-based learning into everything they do.  

STEM education is critical to developing innovative problem solvers and strengthening community partnerships. Nettleton STEAM is a Cognia STEM certified school where twenty-first century skills, service learning, and the arts are explored through project-based learning and makerspaces. Nettleton STEAM was granted the extraordinary opportunity to participate in a downlink with astronauts aboard the International Space Station in December of 2020. In this course you will learn how educators at Nettleton STEAM use project-based learning through the lens of the International Space Station themed projects created around this event.

Journey North: Introduction

The Journey North program is a free resource for elementary and middle school classes that is comprised of a variety of topics, lessons, and activities. Each thirty-minute professional development workshop provides an opportunity to see Journey North classrooms in action while exploring science inquiry and other standards-based teaching and learning practices.

This introductory Journey North workshop explores the three sets of investigations that make up the Journey North program. Using the video as a springboard, the workshop looks at some of the basic concepts behind the Journey North investigations and explores topics that are important to middle- and elementary-level science teachers.