Class Notes:
11/14/97
NESDEC
Goals of Study
Promote effective and stable school board and superintendent
leadership
Help establish clear understandings of the roles and
responsiblities of schoolboards nand superintendents.
Enhance school district governance teams so that school board &
superintendent can raise student achievement.
Four Fold Thrust for Leadrship in Educaion
Vision
Structure
Accountability
Advocacy
These four work together with both Board and Superintendency.
Both are working in tandem on these
Partnership between Bd and super
Stable Leadership
School Board Elections & Service
Candidate orientation workshop
Is board appointment a step to higher office
could be good or bad
let cand know what they are getting into
Elections at large
instead by prescint
Staggered terms
like lower house of rep: 3 year term 1/3 expire
each year so all not replaced at once
Reimbursement NOT compensation
Avoiding conflict of interests
family, business, students
Stability in Board leadership
not everyone is a good leader, so you may lose a
powerful person
Continuity in Board membership
term limits?
Superintendent Selection and Service
Selection process is a top district priority
Match is critical
create a spec of what is wanted
Agreement on job description and evaluation process
Long term contract for superintendent
Goal #2
Help establish Clar Understandings of Roles and Responsibilities
by Board Members and Superintendent
Recruit and support a superintendent
Establish a long term vision
Operate as a "committee of the whole" not holistic
Focus school board meetings on policy issues
Special Board Activities
Board orientation workshops with staff
Team building activities with the superintendent
retreats
Building and adopting the budget while delegating its admin
Goal settings for collective bargaining
Advocating for students
Becoming familiar with student needs and achievement
Delegating personnel issues to the superintendent
Roles & Responsibilities of the Superintendent
Serving as an educational leader and model
Providing leadership to the Board in policy making, goal
setting, and budget development
Increasing Board understanding of current eductional issues
Working closely with the Board chair in setting Board
meeting agendas, communicating on leadership issues and
encouraging a long-term vision for the Board
Providing leadership support to principals on curriculum and
studnet achieveement matters.
Encouraging parent participation
Developing effective media relations
Expecting high student achievement
personalized,
Evaluating the effectiveness of school programs
Facilitating the effective conduct of Board meetings
Serving as liason with the community
Visiting schools often to become
Local:
should plan for teamwork
Establish strong trust relationships
STATE:
Establish a blue ribbon task force
Amend "sunshine laws"
NATIONAL:
Provide development activities for local Board/Superintendent
teams
11/15/97
KEEP YOUR FLAG AT THE TOP OF THE POLE.
Faculty and student modeling team approach
use of cohort (size) system is a good one working in teams
in and outside class simulation
5 P's the theory to practice
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Practice and simulation (diversity in the thinking
components/listening, debate)
don't rely only on written products
Alert studnets to land mines (do's/dont's)
Tapes of board meetings
Analyze politics, communications, cultures, making choices.
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go out into the field more often
bring in experts
Internship emphasizing development of a vision and structure
Board member training
Analysis of supt contracts
Practice board educator role
Collective bargaining, NSPRA,
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Univ faculty modeling of effective teaching
politics analysis emphasis
team work, building board relations
evaluating prospective employers
support change and effective practice
deepen theoretical understanding
School Board meeting is just the tip of the iceberg
theater
three envelopes
hire a consultant, form a committee, prepare three envelopes
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Education is non-Political
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Do not call John Fallon
create a powerbase
11/15/97 pm session
three years of foriegn language hs requirement
Big 3 Imperative:
SOME JOBS ARE ON THE LINE!
what is said to Ray?
Paxton is upset! late nights and data collection for
presentation. Explain data about their schools and what
other data can be collected.
Identify new construct:
give another test, portfolio to show success, longitudinal,
pre/post tests; compare schools demographically, make clear
how this school has had its successes in light of poor
record. clear goals for school and how to assess new goals.
documanet attendance, parent involvement
realign?
yes, but try to stay away from teaching to the test, prepare
them to at least take it, the public looks to the tests to
evaluate, because tests do drive curriculum. tie teachers
performance to students performance, somehow these need to
be linked.
how should all be involved?
share and come up with plan and inform parents help them
with hw help, after school programs, come in to read in
school, short term to inform and plan for long term; if we
are doing a good job with long term kids how about the newer
kids which requires the faculty, team building for long term
may develop collaboration and assist in more ownership by
staff to improve the school's performance. SDM, less
vertical and more horizontal.
cooper ross: death and dying
Change as Fowler sees it:
Out with the Old:
School & Program Process Evaluations
Middle States accreditation: a snapshot
Identified "best practices"
replication dosn't work
National schools of excellence and other "contests"
Teacher Process Evaluation
Observation of the the teacher process: snapshot, aided and
abetted by Union
Summarize of "professional activities" again process
oriented, snapshots
Test-checking the classroom "envionment": furnture
arrangement
Admin Activity Evaluations
How s/he spent time this year
Which administrative "activities" were completed
How staff, students, and parents "feel" about the
administrators
School and Program Product Evaluations
Normed test results
Clasroom evidence of student skills, knowledge, and
attitudes
Formalized customer feedback on school services
NEEDED:
Longitudinal Rather than Cross-Sectional Measurement
look to long range and not just short term of a snapshot.
What measure tells the Most about School of Program Impact?
The average 3rd Grade Score?
Compare last year Avg to this year?
Percent of students making appropriate progress?
The percent of students with a low score?
Better might be to collect data on how individual kid improves,
continual progress of each kid, not school average.
As a Parent I want to know:
Is my chlid making progress appropriate to age, academic
background, and the exit level standards?
Is my child in a class/school where progress is being made?
Teacher Performance evaluaion:
% of kids making appropriate progress
customer feedback (student & parents)
peer evaluation
Admin performance evaluation
% of kids making appropriate progress
customer feedback (staff, student, and parent)
school/personal goal accomplishment (make it product
oriented and provide method to achieve it)
Board Role in supporting Product Evaluation
devoting meeing time to studying data
provide fiscal resources needed to implement product
evaluation (normative assessment, customer feedback
costs, data collection)
set clear and reasonable goals for product and staff
products
insure an environment of "empowerment" rather than
punishment.
provide the resources necessary for self-development
activities
model positive, product-oriented evaluation through Board
self-evaluation activiies
Childen will meet higher standards of learning when we all focus
on the products of our work and the progress of our efforts.
Sputnik caused the largest federal involvement in education -
1957. Ugly American
In 1965 Civil Rights Act influenced by Bd of Ed 1954 and Colman's
work, even from Plessy v Ferguson.
SEE "Separate and Equal"
Technological solutions to education:
There are an abundance of "solutions" - do we know the problem?
to understand the problem we must envision a future
Cassandra team = create a team of people who poke holes in
everything.
11/16/97
Read Separate and Equal & Where's Our Neighborhood School for HW
Sun Morn.
equal access to all
bring facilities up to snuff
create other magnet schools
Umbrella of choice
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Magnet School/Program: implies choice in face of local school,
test to get in
Open enrollment: w/ or w/o transportation,
Charter School:
Voucher: