September 13th EditionFive Actions for Improving Classroom Observationsby Max Silverman, Associate Director, University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership Principals are spending more time than ever in classrooms. Again and again, they hear that being an instructional leader means being in classrooms. Whether it is for the purpose of teacher evaluation or one of the many types of learning walkthroughs or instructional rounds, principals and other school leaders are out there in force. For the most part, it is a positive development that school leaders are getting out of their offices and into classrooms. However, even an informal canvas of these same leaders tells a story of people who are putting in the time, but often lack a clarity of purpose and requisite skills to use this time to further student learning outcomes or support the improvement of teaching practice. In essence, as a field, we have done a great job at challenging principals to cross the seemingly impermeable barrier at the classroom door, but have yet to provide them the clarity of what to do during and after these visits. ACP in the 2017-18 School Yearby Tahira R. Chaudary, Wisconsin DPI Welcome back to school! The Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) Academic and Career Planning (ACP) team is looking forward to the 2017-2018 school year and is continuing to develop resources needed for successful Academic and Career Planning implementation with school leaders around the state. DPI and the ACP Team recently held a successful Academic and Career Planning (ACP) Conference on August 21-22 under the theme “Ready, Set, Go” focused on preparing schools for statewide ACP implementation this fall. The two-day conference featured many inspiring speakers and powerful keynotes. The conference provided teams with an opportunity to learn more about ACPs, strategies for successfully involving community members, and gaining insight on how other districts are delivering ACP services. The information provided will help school districts implement ACP at their districts as well as improve ACP programs that have already begun. Supreme Court Rules On Open Meetings Caseby Malina Piontek, AWSA Legal Counsel In December 2016, AWSA joined as an amicus party in support of the Appleton Area School District in its position in a case involving a curriculum committee and the Open Meetings Law. Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the parent in Krueger v. Appleton Area School District. This Update will advise you about the outcome of that case, and what it means for principals leading or serving on committees. In July 2011, as John Krueger’s son prepared to enter ninth grade, Krueger became concerned about the ninth-grade Communication Arts course curriculum. He and the parent group Valley School Watch asked the school district to offer an alternative freshmen Communications Arts course because they opposed references to suicide and sex in the young adult book, The Body of Christopher Creed. The school board refused to offer an alternative course, in part because the book was not required reading for the class. Students could choose which books they wanted to read. Furthermore, concerned parents could opt their children out of reading a book they considered inappropriate. Initial Sign-Up Period for WSDLC has begunThe Wisconsin Schools Digital Library Consortium (WSDLC) is now accepting sign-ups for the consortium! The intent of the WSDLC is to develop a shared collection of school library ebooks and other materials that will be available to all participating districts and schools in the state. The expectation is that the collection will maximize the effectiveness of expenditures on digital library materials and addresses the inequity across districts through a shared digital library collection. The cost per student to participate will be $1.50. Common School Funds can be used to buy into the collection. The initial sign-up period will continue through November 1. Those who sign up by November 1 will have access to the collection beginning on its opening day, January 2, 2018. The Interim Board has begun selecting titles for the opening day collection. Potential title lists will be available by September 15. The number of schools that choose to participate and any feedback from those who join could result in changes and additions to the list. After the opening-day collection is established, all future selection will be done by a committee of Consortium participants. School district leaders are encouraged to collaborate with their school media specialists to explore how the Consortium membership can facilitate higher academic achievement for students by building a more robust library media program. To sign up, visit the How to Sign Up page on the WSDLC website. An FAQ webinar will be offered Wednesday, Sept 20th at 3:00 p.m. and will be recorded. To sign up please see Registration for Sept 20th Webinar. 2017 Associate Principal of the Year AwardThe 2017 Associate Principal of the Year award is now accepting nominations! The Wisconsin Associate Principal of the Year program recognizes Associate Principals whose leadership has resulted in improved student learning, instructional collaboration, and a safe and positive school environment. Nominations are accepted from teachers, parents, principals, and others across Wisconsin. Specific information regarding the Associate Principals of the Year award is available here. To nominate an associate principal please fill out the nomination form and have it emailed to Jena Sebald at [email protected] by October 1, 2017. The 2018 Outstanding Wisconsin Leadership Award is Open for Nominations
AWSA and the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation is celebrating its third year of providing fellowships for principals and their schools. The 12 public school Kohl Leadership Award recipients and the 12 schools of those principals will each receive $6,000 grants from the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation and will be recognized at a spring banquet. August 29th Poll ResultsIn this week's edition of the AWSA Update, principal checklists were shared. Which of the following have you already prioritized?
September 27th EditionFive Budget Provisions That Directly Impact Secondary School LeadersThe 2017-19 State Budget includes several AWSA/SAA priorities, including a comprehensive package addressing mental health and increasing per-pupil aid by $200 in 2017-18 and $204 in 2018-19. This article highlights five provisions that every school leader should be aware of. Happiness as a Leadership Leverby Tammy Gibbons, AWSA Director of Professional Development & Information In the early 1900’s two shoe salesmen went to Africa to assess opportunities. One sent a telegram back stating “Situation hopeless. They don’t wear shoes.” The other read, “Glorious opportunity! They don’t have any shoes yet.” What this tale reveals is that we can choose to see opportunity or declare hopelessness in our work situations. Sonja Lyubomirsky, a researcher at UC Riverside found that 50% of our happiness comes from our genes, 10% from life circumstances and 40% from intentional activity. This is probably not the kind of data most of us are studying these days but it does have implications for our work. As a leader, you’ve learned a lot of strategies to employ for building a high-performing organization and to lead a school of equity and excellence. It takes energy, passion, and persistence. Sometimes, these intentional strategies are called levers and we remind ourselves to be thoughtful about when to use what lever. What if there was a lever that can, and should, be employed regularly and that lever was called HAPPINESS? It Takes A Village to Protect a Child: Why K12 Cyber Security is Everyone's Businessby Brian Casey, Ed.D, Director of Technology, Stevens Point Area Public School District It has never been more important than now for schools to look at their cybersecurity practices and data privacy policies. Schools collect, store and use data from students, parents and employees. If one compared the total number of users in any given school district, they would often outsize most local businesses. Schools are dependent on computer systems and most could not function for more than a day without them. In 2016, a Minnesota school district closed for an entire day to remove ransomware installed by an employee downloading an email attachment (Hollingsworth, 2016). Another school in Minnesota paid over $25,000 for identity theft protection for all employees after an employee fell for a phishing scam and set personal information to a cyber-scammer (Dupay, 2017). There have been over 200 cyber-attacks on schools since January 2017 (EdTech Strategies, 2017) and if the rate of attacks continues it will make 2017 the biggest year ever for cyber-attacks on the education sector (Chang, 2017). Schools are under threat from phishing, ransomware, denial of service and even from telephone fraud using vishing. |
