The Metropolitan Atlanta P-16 Community Council is part of a comprehensive and collaborative effort aimed at raising expectations and ensuring student achievement. Pre-school through Post-secondary (P-16) educators, members of the community, business representatives are working together to "raise the bar" of academic achievement so that all students at all levels can compete in today’s global community. The Council works to promote changes in public educational systems that will improve student success.
Most educators agree that high school is too late to begin preparing students for entrance into college or other post-secondary schools. National data indicate that not all students have an equal chance of continuing their education beyond high school. The P-16 initiative is committed to improving student achievement by providing comprehensive academic standards and equal opportunity for student success beginning at the pre-school level.
Establishing academic standards, training professional educators to teach to those standards, and developing assessments to measure student performance are the essential elements of the P-16 initiative. Educators, community members, and business partners agree that the education of Georgia’s citizens is a shared responsibility, and these groups are cooperating together to accomplish the goals of the P-16 initiative.
The Metropolitan Atlanta P-16 Community Council is one of 15 local Councils initially funded by challenge grants from the University System of Georgia to promote the Georgia P-16 Initiative. The Council includes five local public school systems (300,000 students); seven colleges and universities (70,000 students); three technical institutions (10,000 students); and over 20 organizations representing business, community, and educational interests.
The University System of Georgia, through the Georgia P-16 Council, has awarded the Metropolitan Atlanta P-16 Council two challenge grants. The first was awarded in 1996 to develop academic (content and performance) standards and assessments aligned to those standards. Voluntary content and performance standards for levels Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, 3, 5, 8, 12, and 14 have been drafted. Assessments have been developed for Pre-K and Kindergarten and are currently being developed for the other levels.
The Council was awarded a second challenge grant in 1997 to address concerns about teacher preparation. Co-Reform is focused on improving the quality of teacher preparation and in-service training by working with colleges of education, colleges of arts and sciences, and in-service educators. Determining the content and skills educators need in order to enable students to attain high standards is a priority. As part of this process, and with additional funding from national sources, standards for pre-service teachers are being developed. The Council received an Achievement Award from the Board of Regents for activities conducted during 1999-2000.
To improve student achievement from pre-school through post-secondary education
To ensure learning, equity, and excellence for all students
To help all students move successfully from one educational level to the next or from one system to another
To increase access and success of all students in post-secondary education, especially those from minority and low-income groups
To ensure that all students who enter post-secondary education are prepared to succeed
To establish university-school models (elementary, middle, and high schools) to serve as arenas for investigating best practice that results in all students meeting high academic standards
To foster innovative multi-disciplinary collaboration in schools and at all levels of teacher education and preparation
To disseminate knowledge of best practice and research in teaching and learning at all levels in professional journals, at conferences, and through a clearinghouse for Co-Reform in education established at Georgia State University
By bringing together representatives from public school systems, colleges, universities, technical institutions, and business and community organizations, the Council has encouraged constructive dialogue among different constituent populations. Group members discuss needs and expectations, and explore ways to combine resources and coordinate efforts. By working together in a collaborative atmosphere, the Metropolitan P-16 Council members help ensure that students can move from one school district/system to another and be taught at the same level and held accountable to the same performance expectations. The Council’s cooperative efforts further the goals of the P-16 initiative efficiently and effectively.
One objective of the Metro P-16 Council is to increase in-depth working knowledge about standards-based education for all educators and parents. To this end the Council has worked with APPLE Corps in the development of a proposal for a grant from the Public Education Network to develop workshops and materials for parents in the Atlanta Public Schools. This grant of $20,000 was awarded in December 1999, and work has begun by APPLE Corps on this project.
Other activities during 1999-2000 by Metro P-16 included the development of grant proposals, and subsequent awarding of, the Title II grants for the Advanced Academy for Future Teachers, Standards-Based Teacher Education Program, and the Academy for Principals. MAP-16 facilitated the Haberman Foundation Training for college and local system personnel on interview techniques for identifying teachers for at-risk students that took placed in February 2000.
The Council drafted content standards for six subject areas: Language Arts, Mathematics, Modern Foreign Languages, Science, Social Studies, and Visual and Performing Arts. "Disciplinary Alliance" teams comprised of teachers from the five local public school districts, parents, and members of the business community reviewed existing academic standards and the Georgia Quality Core Curriculum as a basis for drafting content standards. The content standards the teams drafted were then distributed to the community for review. Revisions were made based on recommendations and comments. The content standards are still called a "draft" to emphasize that these standards are always open to revision and updating as needed.
A second set of Disciplinary Alliance teams was formed to draft performance standards aligned to the content standards. As with the content standards, the Council submitted the standards to the community for review. Performance standards have been drafted for all levels and subject areas; however, standards for some grade levels and subject areas are works-in-progress, undergoing revision to incorporate comments and recommendations, and ongoing refinement to ensure clarity, coherence, and completion.
In addition to content and performance standards for all grade levels and subject areas, the Metropolitan P-16 Community Council has developed Pre-K and Kindergarten Academic Standards, a stand-alone document that contains content and performance standards for those grade levels, along with model assessments to measure student achievement at the Advanced, Proficient, and Partially Proficient levels. The document is slated for publication in September, 1999. It was published in September '99. A staff development module on the use of the document was developed on October '99 and disseminated to local school systems. This module is available on this website.
Designing model assessments aligned with academic and performance standards
Revising and updating academic and performance standards
Improving the quality of teacher preparation and in-service training by working with colleges of education, colleges of arts and sciences, and in-service educators
Participating in nationally supported projects to develop standards for graduation from college in science (biology) and history
Networking with other P-16 Councils across the state and nation
You can send e-mail to the Metropolitan Atlanta P-16 Community Council Director.
© 1999 Metropolitan Atlanta P-16 Community
Council
University Plaza, Atlanta, Georgia 30303
(404) 651-4236
Last Modified on Sunday, April 21, 2002
