The 6th National Principals’ Forum was held in Washington, D.C. on October 12–14, 2005.
At this invitation-only forum, distinguished school principals met to discuss how principals could create better alliances to increase student achievement through school and district professional learning. The forum was hosted by the Laboratory for Student Success, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Educational Laboratory at the Center for Research in Human Development and Education at Temple University, The Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, The Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, and the Regional Educational Laboratory at SERVE. These organizations are part of a nationwide, 10-region educational laboratory system that is supported by federal funding and that works together to conduct research and assist schools.
The conference theme was “Principals as Professional Learners: High-Quality Learning Within and Across School Districts and Networks for Increased Student Achievement.” Approximately 70 educators heard speakers describe current educational research and educational equity. These same participants reacted to panels of teachers and principals on such topics as building leadership capacity, supporting teacher leadership, leading to improve student achievement, sharing leadership through collaboration, and equity in education closing the achievement gap.
The forum provided maximum opportunities for participants to work in small groups in many settings so they could discuss ways in which the information could be used in their schools.
Download the Powerpoint presentations from the Forum:
>> National Principals' Forum 2005
>> National Principals' Forum Working Policy
>> Petal School District Principal Leadership Growth & Assessment
>> Petal School District Core Business
Meritorious New Teacher Designation Launched by LSS project
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Teachers Project (MARTP) has established the designation of
Meritorious New Teacher Candidate (MNTC) as a symbol of excellence to acknowledge highly qualified
teachers when they graduate from their teacher preparation institutions. A MNTC seal will appear on the teaching certificates of selected teacher graduates as a result of a joint project begun by LSS in 1998, and currently funded by the Maryland State Department of Education, the Heinz Foundation, and the Education Commission of the States.
This designation is not a new certificate, but rather an optional
designation, similar to the Merit Scholar designation or Distinguished Diploma for high school students. It is not to be used as a requirement
for employment or license, but instead is an innovative step forward in the drive to ensure a highly effective teacher in every classroom. By
removing barriers for the best and brightest new teachers and providing much-needed recognition and professional status for excellence, it acts
as a lever to increase both the supply and quality of teachers. The MNTC is fully certified to teach in any MARTP state (Delaware, Maryland, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) and in the District of Columbia.
To be nominated, candidates must have a 3.5 GPA or better; have completed an approved teacher preparation program, and scored in the upper quartile of the verbal portion of the SAT, ACT, or GRE. The MNTC designation seeks to attract the best and brightest into teaching, and to encourage excellence in education to enhance the quality teacher supply on the region.
>> MARTP is managed by the
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).
LSS principal investigator, Kenneth Wong, gets quoted
The article
"Efforts to rescue struggling districts center on takeovers," quotes LSS Principal Investigator Kenneth Wong. His quotes, stemming from his studies of state and mayoral takeovers of school districts, are in an article concerning a rift between school administrators and the board of education.
What Works Clearinghouse releases reports on Middle School Math curricula and Peer-Assisted Learning
The
What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) on July 1, 2004 released a series of user-friendly study reports reviewing the evidence of effectiveness on Middle School Math curricula and Peer-Assisted Learning interventions, after reviewing thousands of studies. According to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, "This marks another important step in meeting the Department's goal to transform education into an evidence-based field. The What Works Clearinghouse will further support educators' efforts to implement No Child Left Behind."
>> read the
Press Release
The middle school math reports focused on studies of the effectiveness of semester-long mathematics curricula developed for Grades 6 through 9. Of the hundreds of studies gathered, only a handful met the WWC standards. The first set of peer-assisted learning studies show positive effects for some peer-assisted learning strategies, but no effects for others
An initiative of the U.S. Department of Education's (www.ed.gov) Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the WWC reviews the findings on the effectiveness of educational interventions (programs, products, practices, and policies) intended to improve student outcomes. The WWC evaluates the quality of research on educational programs, but does not endorse or rate the programs themselves.
CCSSO releases new report: "Meeting NCLB Goals for Highly Qualified Teachers: Estimates by State from Survey Data."
For a description and information on how to obtain a copy, visit the reports webpage on the
Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)'s website.
The ED REVIEW Newsletter, a bi-weekly update on U.S. Department of Education activities relevant to the
Intergovernmental and Corporate community and other stakeholders, discusses new e-Lead website in it's November issue.
LSS and partnering organizations establish a new resource center to empower parents; Consortium for Parent Information and Education (CPIE).
>>Read the Press Release on the RELNetwork.org website.
SAFE AND SOUND:
An Educational Leader's Guide to Evidence-Based Social and Emotional
Learning (SEL) Programs
>>Order Print Copies (includes companion CD-ROM) or
>>Download documents from the CASEL website
"What We Know About Successful School Leadership," a brief prepared by LSS and the Task Force on Developing Research in Educational Leadership for Division A of AERA
