The State Department of Education is hosting “The Future of Public Education” tour across the state of Alabama, including a stop in Shelby County at Helena High School on September 25. The event will feature a presentations from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., followed by a question and answer session from 7:00 to 7:30 p.m.

Hosted by State Superintendent of Education Dr. Tommy Bice, the 12-stop tour will highlight important topics for students and families in Alabama, including PLAN 2020, the Alabama College- and Career-Ready Standards, student testing, accountability, and the importance of parental and community involvement.

“PLAN 2020 is transforming our classrooms into learning environments where instruction is individualized and personalized in order to better prepare our students to be college or career ready when they graduate from high school,” Bice said. “We are no longer preparing children to take a test, rather, we are teaching them how to think and solve problems using real world application. In essence, we are redefining the high school graduate.”

In addition, Bice said, “PLAN 2020 is shaping education reform in our state by identifying problems with specific schools and developing plans of action to address those unique situations; evaluating teacher and principal effectiveness; and providing support and/or corrective measures when needed.”

“I am looking forward to visiting with members of communities throughout the state to share, firsthand, the great work educators and students are doing and discussing the exciting work taking place in the 2014-2015 school year and beyond.”

“The Future of Public Education” tour will include stops at schools in each of the eight State Board of Education board districts.  It kicked off off at Lee High School in Huntsville on August 26.  During each visit, Dr. Bice will be joined by business and industry partners and representatives from Alabama’s Community Colleges, as well as other education stakeholders.