ACCESS

The point of ACCESS is that "the State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning opportunities." Alabama is one of the lower ranked states in the country when it comes to academics, and they really are looking to provide new things for their students. ACCESS is fundamentally going to help out because people can access it from anywhere and they will have references from many different places, not just specifically their district, city, or state. One problem with ACCESS however is that many of the districts are lower income and they do not have the funds, because the base of ACCESS is new technology. If that technology is not accessible, then how will the students learn. Even though this is a slight set back, the overall plan of ACCESS is ingenious. Students who are above average will finally have their chance to be challenged, while the other students are still learning everything they need to know also at a high level.

I believe that ACCESS is just one of the many new building blocks of Alabama state education. In the past, the state has not had the best reputation for public education, but with the new programs like ALEX and ACCESS, they are making huge strides. Coming from Illinois, Alabama's public education system was a lot different, because certain states were ahead of the times. With new improvements, Alabama is slowly closing the gap, which is a positive for everyone in the state. I thought the great thing about ACCESS was that it really looks like it will help the AP students and really challenge them, and I feel like that was not as much as of a priority before. Also, as said above, it just doesn't focus on the "gifted" students, because it has something for everyone. By bringing different settings, places, and resources it will really challenge the students and help them have a better learning experience.

ALEX

ALEX or Alabama Learning Exchange is a new concept that the state has come up with to help students with their academics. Not only is it focusing on the students but also the teachers, administrators, and parents that are in students lives daily. When they all succeed together that is when the states scores will improve and it will do better in national standings. ALEX has courses of studies for every subject, and it also shows the improvements from different years. There are courses of studies from the years 1999, 2003, and 2007 therefore we can see the benchmarks the state is making to attain their goal. ALEX is really just another thing that Alabama can do to slowly improve the education. Other than courses of studies on the website their are also web links, lesson plans, and a special "personal web page" on the site. These are just more resources that can help teachers. In the past 10 years the state has been making huge strides and ALEX is slowly helping the process.

Also on the ALEX webpage, there is a professional learning link. There is a page that says Alabama Learning Development and they talk about different programs professionals can be involved in to help. For example, "The Alabama Leadership Academy (ALA) was established to increase the achievement of all students in Alabama by supporting the growth and development of superintendents, principals, and teachers as instructional leaders." The Learning Development really helps the schools be more efficient, because they are taking care of the administrators and teachers first, because those are the people who take care and teach the students. The Alabama Learning Exchange has really started to have a large impact on the progression of Alabama school systems with the help of different links and pages and different developmental programs. It will slowly help everyone in the long run.

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Mi Vida

Hi! My name is Taylor Irvin, and I play volleyball here at South. I was an elementary education major, but then i switched over to physical education because what I really want to be is an Athletic Director. I am from Chicago, and I have lived there my whole life but I moved down here because of the chance to play Division I athletics. That was hard to do because it is about fourteen hours away and I am very close to my family, but it was something I knew that I should do because not many people can have that accomplishment. I love to read, lay out, and really just be with my friends. My true love however is Notre Dame football. I have been a huge fan since I was in 7th grade. Its great down here in the south, and I did not know that I would love Alabama this much when I first came down here, however, I am not sure how I feel about all the Alabama and Auburn fans (just kidding)! Have a good day!

Hey!!!

Hey everyone!!! This is my blog i hope you really enjoy reading everything! Have a fabulous day!!!