September 12th EditionStudent Voiceby Jon Bosworth, Principal, Richland Center High School How much voice should students have in how a school operates? Should students be allowed to express their opinions and included in decision making? As the 2017-2018 school year began and I was entering my seventh year as building principal at RCHS, our high school student council was turning to its fourth adult advisor in those same seven years. As all of you leaders know full well, it is difficult to sustain momentum and achieve accomplishments when leaders (any employees really) turn over frequently. Fortunately, our student council had a blueprint they had been following, which may not be too different from your schools. They organized all of our homecoming activities. They had a couple of fundraisers and did some positive activities, for example organizing blood drives and sponsoring a family at Christmas time. Their year concluded with a selection process for the following year’s members. Our students and adult advisors followed that blueprint almost exactly for six years and were successful at it. Heck, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Right? However, as I looked at our student council, our student leaders, it was very difficult to distinguish them and the products of their organization from any of our other clubs. Educator Preparation and Licensing Changesby David DeGuire, Director, Teacher Education, Professional Development & Licensing Team, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction After more than a year's work, the rewritten chapter of the Wisconsin Administrative Code that covers educator preparation and licensing, PI 34, went into effect on August 1, 2018. Overall, the changes should provide additional flexibilities for school and district leaders in staffing their schools, as well as allowing preparation programs options in preparing new educators. 2019 Principal Leadership Awards: Nominate a Principal You Know Today!
AWSA and the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation is celebrating its fourth 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.
These awards recognize the importance of exceptional school leaders who help provide successful school environments for students and faculty members. Specific information regarding the Principal Leadership award is available here. For any questions please contact Jena Sebald at [email protected]. Nominations are due Monday, October 8, 2018. If you know a principal who has positively influenced their community, please consider nominating them today! 2018-19 Associate Principal of the Year AwardThe 2018-19 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. To nominate an associate principal please fill out the nomination form that can be found attached below or in the link above and have it emailed to Jena Sebald at [email protected] by October 1, 2018. September 26th EditionPractice What You Preach: Personalizing Professional Learning for Continuous Improvementby Danielle Bosanec, Chief Academic Officer, Pewaukee School District “Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or in the same way.” This quote by George Evans emphasizes the incredibly important work of teaching and learning. Teaching and learning, however, does not only apply to students in today’s education systems. While personalized learning has been a popular topic in classrooms for a number of years, it is only recently that many school districts have begun to apply similar personalized learning practices to the adult learners in their organization. This article provides research background on adult learning and shares insights learned by the Pewaukee School District in our journey toward personalized learning for staff. |