Free Secondary Content Resources

HippoCampus is a project of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (MITE) that provides high-quality, multimedia content on general education subjects for high school and college students. All of the resources are free for students and teachers.

Homework Helper

Homework Helper is a free service to all Kansas students sponsored by the State Library of Kansas. Students can connect to tutors from 4:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., seven days a week. HomeworkKansas is also available in Spanish, Sunday through Thursday, from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Help is available in the following subjects:

Math: elementary, algebra I, algebra II, geometry, trigonometry and calculus
Science: elementary, earth science, biology, chemistry, physics
Social studies: American History, World History, Political Science and more
English: spelling, grammar, book reports, essay writing and more

Early Childhood Parent Training Modules

As we create a mutli-tier system of support for our students, supporting children's development before they get to kindergarten is crucial. The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) has created Parent Training Modules which provide information for families on promoting children’s social and emotional skills, understanding their problem behaviors, and using positive approaches to help them learn appropriate behaviors. The modules are available online at http://www.vanderbilt.edu/csefel/parent.html

Kansas Career Pipeline

Several counselors, CTE staff members, specialists, and I met with Steve Wyckoff to review the Kansas Career Pipeline. Below are a few highlights from the meeting.

1. Colby, KS has a process in place where all ninth grade students have a career plan and add to that plan during their 9th-11th grade year. During their junior year of high school, they have a parent night where the counselor shares with parents the KCP and then students walk their parents through their career plan and they explore options for post-secondary training.
   


2. The Kansas Career Pipeline is a tool that districts can use to help students prepare for post-secondary training (college, trade school, community college, work, etc.). The site offers three, free assessments for students and adults. The assessments include the Career Search with People Match, Skills Assessment, and Work-Values Inventory.
   


3. It is recommended that districts get someone trained to be a Career Development Facilitator (CDF). Train the trainer model can then be used so that more staff members are involved in the process of helping students prepare for life after high school.
   


4. There is a Kindergarten through adult planning timeline that shows important behaviors and possible tasks for schools to help prepare students for life.
   


5. Tools like Skype (a free, web-conferencing tool) can be used to help students and staff partner with business and bring experts into the classroom.