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AEP Online |
Donation Helps Raise Awareness About Supplementals' Role in Struggling SchoolsSchool districts, teachers, and publishers have been working in a complicated and high stakes atmosphere since the 2001 reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, known by most as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). There is no doubt the law, in principle, has been the catalyst to change how education is delivered and measured. However, in the six years since it's been passed, schools have struggled to meet the law's stringent adequate yearly progress statutes and are still facing the same financial barriers they did in 2001. The opportunities for all stakeholders to work together in this environment are few, but AEP and the National Education Association recently collaborated to make a difference. Each year, education companies from around the world enter their top products to be judged by a panel of teachers and education experts in the AEP Awards. Products that receive the highest scores earn the right to display the Lamp of Learning seal, nationally recognized by educators and administrators as a mark of outstanding educational quality. When the competition is over, AEP distributes all product entries--which can include workbooks, software, DVDs, and even entire reading curricula--to teachers and schools in need. This year, with the help of the Delaware arm of the National Education Association (NEA), AEP identified Austin D. Baltz Elementary in Elsmere, DE, as a school that would benefit from such a contribution. Students at Baltz represent the very children NCLB was intended to help. The school is located in a low-income suburb of Wilmington, and all of its students qualify for free or reduced lunches. Baltz has a high percentage of English Language Learners and is facing staff cuts due to recent budget problems in Wilmington's Red Clay School District. The school is seeing improvement in test scores, but is under academic review. Through contact with the local NEA, Baltz was identified as a school that would be open to receiving the supplemental instructional materials and would benefit from such an infusion of instructional support. Principal Jennifer Sheilds-Russell was excited to get the opportunity to bring such a valuable resource into the school. "We want to thank AEP, our new best friend," she stated at a small event held to document the donation. "Last year four of our classrooms were completely flooded, and those teachers lost everything. We will let those teachers pick [from among the donated materials] first." Attending the presentation ceremony were Barbara Finnan, a teacher representative from the NEA; the Red Clay School District's Pati Nash; and AEP's CEO Charlene Gaynor. Gaynor read a short book to the children and spoke with them about the importance of lifelong learning. "This donation fulfills part of AEP's goal to support achievement for all students," said Gaynor after the event. "We encourage and work with publishers to produce the highest quality materials to help the diverse learning needs of all students." Finally, she thanked the DSEA (Delaware State Education Association) for making the connection and commented on future plans to continue the outreach to teachers and administrators. "Supplementals are often the unsung heroes of academic success," said Gaynor. "The textbooks and curriculum programs act as the foundation, but ask any teacher and they'll tell you that it's the workbooks, readers, educational games, and classroom periodicals that can really make a difference. The more people know about supplementals, the more we are helping all students achieve. The Red Clay school District has invited Gaynor to speak at a board meeting to discuss the donation and other ways they can work with AEP in the future.
Questions, ideas, or in need of more information? Please contact Stacey Pusey at 856-241-7772. |
For more information on the AEP Awards, please contact Doug Ferguson at dferguson@AEPweb.org.
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2008 The Association of Educational
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