Tag: Education
Birmingham Council Adds $250K to Early Childhood Education Program
The council approved additional money for the Small Magic program, which aims to increase kindergarten readiness by analyzing how much adults talk to a child each day. It also OK’d applying for a grant to increase Birmingport’s ability to move cargo.
BW Recommends | February 17, 2025
BW Recommends is a rundown of stories you might have missed this week, offering insight into issues important to our area or sometimes tickling your curiosity.
Alabama A&M Raises Its Profile in Birmingham and Beyond
Look! Up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a bulldog.
No, really. It is a bulldog – the Alabama A&M University Bulldog. Read more.
Penny Foundation Brings Inaugural Debate, College Prep Events to Birmingham
Samford University and Howard University debaters will face off Friday during the inaugural Southern Scholars Debate Classic to argue the question of whether a majority-two-party system is the best way to govern the United States. A second academics-focused community event – a career-prep showcase for area high schoolers, their families and school staff – will follow on Sunday. Read more.
Learning Loss: Alabama ACT Scores Climb but Still Down From Pre-Pandemic Levels
ACT scores for Alabama’s Class of 2023 have improved in the past two years but still have not reached the levels scored before the learning loss of the pandemic, a new report from the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama shows. Progress depends on several factors, one of which is economic instability. Read more.
Alabama Public Schools Overall Graded B on State Report Cards; JeffCo Schools Score B and Birmingham Schools C
Alabama’s K-12 public schools received an overall grade of B on new school and district report cards released Thursday by the Alabama State Department of Education.
More than half of Alabama’s K-12 schools received As or Bs in this year’s evaluations, the first ones to come out under the changes to the Alabama Accountability Act, which reclassified schools with D or F grades as priority schools and eliminated language labeling schools as “failing.”
In the Birmingham area, Jefferson County schools earned a B overall and Birmingham City Schools earned a C. Scores for other school systems, individual schools and charter schools in the area ranged from As to Fs. Read more.
Report Card Scores for Individual Birmingham and Jefferson County Schools, Other Area School Systems and Charter Schools
Phillips Academy Teacher Wins Milken Award, Known as the ‘Oscar of Teaching’
A Birmingham teacher was given an award nicknamed the “Oscar of Teaching” during a surprise assembly at John Herbert Phillips Academy on Wednesday.
Korri Cunningham, IB coordinator for the school, was surrounded by cheering students, colleagues and dignitaries when she was surprised with the Milken Educator Award.
She said the award was “beyond anything I could ever imagine.”
“In teaching, the rewards aren’t always seen,” she said. “So to receive something of this magnitude, I can’t even begin to describe it. And it feels so good to really feel appreciated for all the hard work I put into the classroom.” Read more.
Get Your Children to School, Woodfin Tells Parents
Mayor Randall Woodfin said Tuesday that Birmingham schools have unusually large numbers of truant students and, if he has to, he’ll push for parents to be held legally accountable for allowing their children to stay home from school.
Ten weeks into the school year, well more than half of third graders are considered truants, which means they have seven or more unexcused absences, Woodfin said.
“It’s unacceptable,” the mayor said.
“Teachers cannot teach your child if they are not in class.” Read more.
Book Bans Are on the Rise in the Gulf South. Here’s What’s Being Challenged in Alabama
Efforts to ban books believed to be inappropriate for children and teens have seen a sharp uptick recently, but some libraries and bookstores are fighting back. Read more.
