Public Education Foundation - Partners for Strong Schools

Newsletter / Podcasts

Welcome to KeyNotes and Voices of School Success! KeyNotes is PEF's brief monthly report on what's happening in Hamilton County school reform - progress, problems, and keys to success.

Voices of School Success is a series of audio or video discussions that bring the listener into the heart of school reform with stories of students, teachers, and key elements of reform policy.

E-newsletter:  KeyNotes

Issue 37 (November 17, 2010) - “Testing Teachers” to air locally
Issue 36 (October 14, 2010) - Two Major Investments in TEACH/Here
Issue 35 (August 5, 2010) - News on test scores
Issue 34 (July 14, 2010) - Challener Appointed as First to the Top Advisor
Issue 33 (June 17, 2010) - Innovation grant recipients announced
Issue 32 (May 19, 2010) - Annenberg Support; Excellent Teachers; College Data
Issue 31 (April 28, 2010) - Special Edition: An In-Depth Look at Race to the Top
Issue 30 (April 20, 2010) - Students embrace college opportunities
Issue 29 (April 13, 2010) - Calling math and science teacher wannabees
Issue 28 (March 18, 2010) - Principal Leadership Academy garners support
Issue 27 (February 16, 2010) - Stupendous good news!
Issue 26 (February 10, 2010) - Vote to help local education project
Issue 25 (January 27, 2010) - Challener Reports on Important Education Legislation
Issue 24 (January 20, 2010) - A Room Dominated by Thinking
Issue 23 (December 15, 2009) - Two More Excellent Teachers Featured
Issue 22 (December 3, 2009) - Reflections on Report Card 2009
Issue 21 (November 17, 2009) - Upton turns trash to treasure
Issue 20 (November 10, 2009) - Stanford; Wake Forest; NYU; University of...
Issue 19 (October 15, 2009) - Why are there life-size images of teachers...
Issue 18 (October 6, 2009) - New Training for Rising Principals
Issue 17 (September 16, 2009) - Dustin Dotzler's Excellent Classroom
Issue 16 (September 1, 2009) - PEF Merges with College Access Center
Issue 15 (August 4, 2009) - Teacher Residency to Boost Math and Science
Issue 14 (June 24, 2009) - College needed to fight fires?
Issue 13 (May 13, 2009) - Tennessee Ranks #1; Hamilton Co. Featured
Issue 12 (March 25, 2009) - Challener to Serve on Frist Commitee
Issue 11 (January 28, 2009) - VW Speaks: College Needed!
Issue 10 (December 4, 2008) - New Adult High Podcast and Latest Test Scores
Issue 9 (October 30, 2008) - Standards Are Changing!
Issue 8 (September 23, 2008) - National report validates academies
Issue 7 (August 27, 2008) - Benwood schools meet AYP!
Issue 6 (July 29, 2008) - Our First "Voices of School Success" Podcast
Issue 5 (June 25, 2008) - College Access: A Boost From Those Who Went Before
Issue 4 (May 28, 2008) - Tackling That Thorny Math Problem
Issue 3 (April 29, 2008) - Confirmation from Professional Skeptics
Issue 2 (March 27, 2008) - More Graduates Head to College!
Issue 1 (Feb 5, 2008) - Hamilton County Schools Recognized by New York Times

Podcasts: Voices of School success

Jeff Paulson's Excellent Classroom - January 20, 2010 (6:21 minutes): Jeff Paulson of Thrasher Elementary works hard to teach thinking skills to his students, including developing a class wiki page.

• Download video file
• Extended interview
• See the class wiki page

Voices of School Success: A series of PEF podcasts providing an inside look at progress and problems in Hamilton County school reform. (subscribe)

Danielle Lillie's Excellent Classroom - December 15, 2009 (5:53 minutes): See how Danielle Lillie engages her fifth graders at Red Bank Elementary through song, dance, and fun activities that promote serious learning. (download video file)

See what her students say about her as well (5:12 minutes): (download video file)

Penny Hynes' Excellent Classroom - December 15, 2009 (5:46 minutes): An ocean of fun and learning awaits Ms. Hynes' first grade students at Hixson Elementary. (download video file)

Hamilton County Graduates - November 10, 2009 (4:25 minutes: Hamilton County graduates are well prepared for college and careers. Meet a group of students bound for top 100 colleges around the country. (download video file)

Dionne Upton's Excellent Classroom - October 15, 2009 (4:28 minutes): Watch as Dionne Upton turns trash into treasure in her East Brainerd Elementary classroom.

Elaine Harper's Excellent Classroom - October 15, 2009 (4:30 minutes): Visit Red Bank chemistry teacher Elaine Harper's excellent classroom. See how Diet Coke and Mentos make learning fun, challenging, and engaging for students. (download video file)

KnowHow2Go - October 5, 2009 (4:07 minutes): A new program from the Lumina Foundation will extend college counseling for students in grades 8-10, helping more students prepare for and attend college. Take a peek into a planning retreat held recently at PEF.(download video file)

Dustin Dotzler's Excellent Classroom - September 16, 2009 (6:14 minutes): Dustin Dotzler teaches music at Hardy Elementary School. Through his music he also teachers math, language arts, science, and social studies. There is clearly a lot of fun - and a lot of learning - going on. (Download video file)

College Needed to Fight Fires? - July 8, 2009 (4:16): During the month of June, PEF's college access student mentoring program has arranged for 100 high school students to visit 8 area businesses in small groups to learn about "what's out there" - career opportunities and qualifications employers are seeking from job candidates. (Watch on YouTube, Download video file)

Camp College - August 2009 (10:17 minutes): Guest videographer Christopher Jones reports on Camp College 2009 from Sewanee-The University of the South. (wmv)

What's going on in the resource room??? - May 21, 2009 (5:43 minutes): Snow Hill is one of twelve Hamilton County schools which were awarded funds from PEF for a Leadership Book Club designed to help educators learn more about school leadership and improvement. Snow Hill teachers chose to study the book What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker. (Watch now on YouTube, download video file, audio only)

Volkswagen Interview - January 28, 2009 (8:50 minutes): VW Director of Corporate Communications Jill Bratina speaks with PEF about Hamilton County schools and the skills needed to work at VW's new Chattanooga assembly plant. (Watch now on YouTube, download video file, audio only)

School of Second Chances - December 2, 2008 (9:56 minutes): This video podcast features students and administrators from Hamilton County (adult) High School, which was established in 2004 as part of the high school reform initiative implemented through a partnership between Hamilton County schools and PEF. The adult high school provides a second chance for students who have fallen behind or dropped out of traditional high schools. (Watch now on YouTube, download video file - may take several minutes, audio only)

Higher Standards, Higher Scores - October 29, 2008 (12:05 minutes): Video podcast; Academic standards for K-12 education in Tennessee are changing. State Comptroller John Morgan, School Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales, and PEF President Dan Challener outline what impact these changes will have on Hamilton County schools. (watch now on YouTube - 2 parts, download video file - can be slow, audio only)

Middle School Reform - July 29, 2008 (14:44 minutes): Featuring Brown Middle School language arts teacher Romona Goines and four of her students who moved from proficient (or below) to advanced. (mp3, wmv, subscribe)