2011 State of the State Addresses Education-Related Proposals by Issue

The following summary includes education-related proposals from the 2011 state of the state addresses. To assure that this information reaches you in a timely manner, minimal attention has been paid to style (capitalization, punctuation) or format. To view the documents, click on the blue triangle next to the state. Accountability 6 Accountability--Reporting Results 1 Accountability--Sanctions/Interventions 1 Accountability--School Improvement 2 Delaware Governor Jack Markell's State of the State Address PROPOSALS AP Courses, Assessment Systems, Federal Aid, Incentive Pay for Teachers, Teacher Evaluation -- Make the state's Race to the Top competition plan a reality by: (1) Implementing a better assessment system, measuring student growth during the year and providing real-time feedback so teacher can adjust and improve student learning on-the-spot; (2) Measuring student growth in every subject area so we can link teacher evaluations with how much their students learning in their classroom, identify what works, and raise the quality of instruction across the state; (3) Give teachers more time to collaborate with their colleagues and work with data coaches in interpreting student data and developing strategies to address identified needs; (4) Meet parents' requests for more Advanced Placement courses; and (5) Provide incentive pay to attract highly effective teachers to high-needs schools. Common Core Standards -- Assess more accurately how proficient our students are at meeting the new common core standards. Early Learning -- Increase the focus on early learning within state government, improving assessment and the use of data, and better coordinating and integrating funding. Foreign Languages, Online Courses -- Offer high-quality online Chinese language courses developed with federal grant funding. STEM -- Fund a new STEM Teacher Residency Program to attract individuals with experience in the STEM areas to the teaching profession. -- Bring to the classrooms a former senior scientist with Astra-Zeneca and a Master's-level physicist with prior experience at NASA. ACCOMPLISHMENTS Common Core Standards -- Adopted new, clearer and higher "common core standards." Federal Aid -- Won the national Race to the Top competition. Foreign Languages -- Required completion of a world language in order to graduate. -- Offered Chinese language courses to students at virtually no cost to the state. School Improvement -- Launched the Partnership Zone effort to provide more focus on our lowest-achieving schools. Selected schools are required to implement significant and difficult changes and all four Partnership Zones have done so. School Safety -- Asked the Safety and Homeland Security Secretary to oversee creation of model comprehensive school safety plans for the 26 public schools with a State Police Resource Officer. STEM -- Created a STEM Council to ensure that schools have the high quality programs and partnerships necessary so that students gain the critical skills and knowledge needed for high-quality jobs. http://governor.delaware.gov/remarks/2011stateofthestate/2011stateofstate.shtml New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez's State of the State Address PROPOSALS Nothing we do is more indispensable to our future well-being or will receive more attention from my administration than guaranteeing our children a quality education. Student Achievement, Accountability, Finance -- Place a command-focus on student performance and progress, not just on how much money we're spending. -- We must end the culture of low expectations. "Kids First, New Mexico Wins" plan is comprised of four key initiatives: -- First, get money out of the bureaucracy and into the classroom. Today, only 61 cents of every education dollar makes it to the classroom. -- Second, adopt an easy-to-understand, easy-to-implement system of grading. Schools will be assigned letter grades A, B, C, D or F. And these grades will be posted to the Web. That's real accountability that will yield real results. Greater accountability will ensure we identify struggling students in all grades.We will focus attention on the lowest-performing 25 percent of students. Get them help immediately. Target failing schools with immediate intervention. Currently, it takes approximately five years to identify and intervene in a failing school. -- Third, end social promotion, the practice of passing children from one grade to the next before they have mastered the basics. The New Mexico "Ready for Success" initiative will get struggling students the help they need before we pass them on to the next grade. Teaching Quality -- Reward New Mexico's best teachers. The most important people in the lives of our students are parents and teachers. The quality of our teachers is the key to improving our quality of education. A system that evaluates and rewards excellence will attract the best and brightest to New Mexico classrooms. ACCOMPLISHMENTS N/A - Newly-Elected Governor http://www.governor.state.nm.us/uploads/FileLinks/20e5f2e740f34a2297a940e2bacdfcce/011811_2.pdf Assessment 4 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention) 1 At-Risk (incl. Dropout Prevention)--Alternative Education 1 Attendance 2 Bilingual/ESL 1 Business Involvement 5 Career/Technical Education 4 Choice of Schools 3 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools 8 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Cyber Charters 1 Choice of Schools--Charter Schools--Finance 1 Choice of Schools--Choice/Open Enrollment 2 Choice of Schools--Tax Credits 2 Choice of Schools--Vouchers 2 Choice of Schools--Vouchers--Privately Funded 1 Class Size 1 Curriculum--Foreign Language/Sign Language 1 Curriculum--Mathematics 1 Curriculum--Science 1 Economic/Workforce Development 18 Finance 17 Finance--Adequacy/Core Cost 1 Finance--District 3 Finance--Facilities 3 Finance--Federal 3 Finance--Funding Formulas 3 Finance--Resource Efficiency 1 Finance--State Budgets/Expenditures 13 Finance--Taxes/Revenues 2 Governance 7 Governance--School Boards 2 Governance--State Boards/Chiefs/Agencies 2 Health 1 High School 7 High School--Advanced Placement 3 High School--College Readiness 6 High School--Dropout Rates/Graduation Rates 2 High School--Dual/Concurrent Enrollment 1 High School--Graduation Requirements 2 Leadership--District Superintendent 2 Leadership--District Superintendent--Compensation and Diversified Pay 1 Leadership--Principal/School Leadership 4 Online Learning--Virtual Schools/Courses 2 P-16 or P-20 5 P-3 5 P-3 Grades 1-3 4 P-3 Kindergarten 1 P-3 Kindergarten--Full-Day Kindergarten 3 P-3 Preschool 2 Parent/Family 1 Postsecondary 8 Postsecondary Accountability 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Financial Aid 6 Postsecondary Affordability--Textbooks 1 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees 5 Postsecondary Affordability--Tuition/Fees--Prepd/College Savings Plans 1 Postsecondary Faculty--Compensation 1 Postsecondary Finance 13 Postsecondary Finance--Efficiency/Performance-Based Funding 1 Postsecondary Institutions 2 Postsecondary Institutions--Community/Technical Colleges 3 Postsecondary Participation--Access 6 Postsecondary Participation--Affirmative Action 1 Postsecondary Students 1 Postsecondary Success--Completion 7 Postsecondary Success--Developmental/Remediation 1 Postsecondary Success--Transfer/Articulation 1 Privatization 1 Promotion/Retention 3 Reading/Literacy 2 Remediation (K-12) 2 Rural 2 Scheduling/School Calendar 1 Scheduling/School Calendar--Extended Day Programs 1 School Safety 2 School/District Structure/Operations--District Consolidation/Deconsolidation 2 School/District Structure/Operations--Facilities 1 School/District Structure/Operations--Shared Services 2 Special Education 2 Special Populations--Military 1 Standards 2 Standards--Common Core State Standards 1 State Policymaking 5 STEM 6 Student Achievement 8 Teaching Quality 6 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay 5 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Pay-for-Performance 3 Teaching Quality--Compensation and Diversified Pay--Retirement/Benefits 5 Teaching Quality--Evaluation and Effectiveness 8 Teaching Quality--Paraprofessionals 1 Teaching Quality--Recruitment and Retention 1 Teaching Quality--Tenure or Continuing Contract 5 Technology 4 Technology--Computer Skills 5 Technology--Equitable Access 1 Technology--Teacher/Faculty Training 1 Textbooks and Open Source 1 Youth Engagement 1 329