Skip to main content

Home/ Rowland Foundation/ Group items tagged school choice

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Jason Finley

Commissioner Vilasec School Choice Memo - 2 views

education.vermont.gov/..._Vilaseca_on_School_Choice.pdf

school choice

shared by Jason Finley on 06 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Jason Finley on 06 Feb 12
     
    Important to know. What is your school doing to define its brand? Can you articulate in a sentence or two what your school is all about and has to offer students?As this progresses things may get even more competitive. How many students does your school need to lose to translate to reduction in staff? 10:1? 7:1?Under the progressive possibilities what would losing 35 or 40 students mean to your staffing, programs, and academic offerings?
  • Jason Finley on 06 Feb 12
     
    Under this interpretation, if a school has opted to limit transfers to the fullest extent permitted by law, the 5% or 10 students limit is calculated based on the school's current full 9-12 enrollment, which excludes those who have already transferred, but have not yet graduated. In determining how many transfer slots are available in any given year, the number is the lesser of 5% of the then-enrolled students, or 10. And this standard is cumulative over a four-year period. For example, a high school with 180 presently-enrolled students may limit transfers (during the following year) to 9 students (the lesser of 9 (5% of 180) or 10). In the following year, if enrollment at the school is 171, and if all of the 9 remained in other schools, the transfer limit for students participating for the first time would be 8, for a total of 17.
Jason Finley

Personalization vs Differentiation vs Individualization - 11 views

www.slideshare.net/...personalizedlearninchart

good teaching

shared by Jason Finley on 22 Feb 12 - No Cached
  • Jason Finley on 22 Feb 12
     
    "There is a difference between personalization and differentiation and individualization. One is learner-centered; the others are teacher-centered."
  • ...4 more comments...
  • Jason Finley on 22 Feb 12
     
    Great chart to make you think about how we do what we do.
  • Anne Bergeron on 24 Feb 12
     
    Jason, Excellent chart - I have long appreciated the learning styles awareness inherent in differentiated instruction, but providing instruction in this way is highly teacher centered - and group focused. Feeding, encouraging, and developing students' individual interests spark the desire to learn and engage. I printed this chart immediately. Really appreciating your posts...personalization could be a "brand" for a school increasingly willing to transform in this direction. Anne
  • Jason Finley on 01 Mar 12
     
    Thanks Anne, The "brand" thing sounds very Corporate America to some, but I think that is is extremely important for schools...and not just because of the looming school choice issue. There is also a connection to community piece to this. To some it might come across as selling the school, where in actuality it is just the school identifying and clarifying what it sees as its mission and role in educating its students. I think that this starts with the perceptions and expectations of the community. What are those? Do they match the schools mission and action plan? ...They certainly should. Ideally when a school has an established brand it gives a sense of identity and pride in the school system by all stakeholders, provides a foundation and rationale for professional development, informs the community about what the school does well, gives students an idea of "Why?" to their education, and much more. Identifying and building a brand really is about moving away from the ambiguous and esoteric way we often speak of education and makes what happens in our schools clear, approachable, and embraceable to our communities.
  • Adam Rosenberg on 05 Mar 12
     
    Having participated in several differentiated instruction trainings, and seen strategies executed successfully by trained teachers, I've found that sound DI includes much of the content listed under 'personalization.'
  • Jason Finley on 05 Mar 12
     
    Completely agree Adam! The chart is a little perplexing at times in its definitions/examples. How the first is Competency-based and the others must be Carnegie Unit based comparison…I just don't get. What I do like about the chart is that it makes me reflect on how I do what I do. And also on, "Do I do what I say that I do?" Sometimes I feel like I might begin implementing a strategy one semester only to have my application of that strategy drift as time goes by. Every now and then I think that it is necessary to take a step back and question each piece of my own professional practice. This approach comes from my belief that we need to question and challenge everything...especially those things we most believe in.
  • Adam Rosenberg on 05 Mar 12
     
    Excellent point! Beliefs are like clothes. If we don't regularly take them off to wash them, we often mistake our own stench for what we perceive as someone else's.
Jason Finley

Conservative education reform: The Floridian school of thought | The Economist - 1 views

www.economist.com/21548268

school change

shared by Jason Finley on 10 Mar 12 - No Cached
  • First Florida started grading its schools from A to F, based on the proficiency and progress of pupils in annual reading, writing, maths and science tests. The state gives extra money to schools that get an A or improve their grade, and children at schools that get two F grades in four years are allowed to transfer to better schools.
  • Second, Florida stopped letting third-grade pupils who could barely read go on to fourth grade (a practice, common all over America, called “social promotion”).
  • Third, it created a merit-pay system in which teachers whose pupils pass certain exams get bonuses.
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • Fourth, it gave parents much greater choice, with state vouchers, between public, charter, private and even online schools.
  • Fifth, Florida set up new methods of certification to draw more talented people into the profession, even if those people have no college degree specifically in education.
  • Controversial at the time, these reforms now have bipartisan support in Florida, where black and Hispanic pupils in particular have made huge gains.
  • Jason Finley on 10 Mar 12
     
    Debatable, but interesting reforms.  While I may not agree with all of the pieces I do like that they are taking a multipronged approach...and that they are not just talking about transformation, but taking real and decisive actions.
Jason Finley

Why K-12 school districts need a PR strategy and how to build one - 4 views

www.schoolwires.com/...default.aspx

technology leadership school_choice

shared by Jason Finley on 08 Feb 13 - No Cached
  • Jason Finley on 08 Feb 13
     
    As school choice evolves in Vermont having a PR strategy and "brand" recognition will be a necessity. If a school doesn't define its brand...it will be defined for it. What is yours?
  • ...1 more comment...
  • Jason Finley on 08 Feb 13
     
    "A public relations program must incorporate public engagement, website content development, crisis communication, community partnerships and strategic PR counsel," ... "That's in addition to news media relations and regular publications." I'd add the need for at least one or two Social Media streams. (Twitter, Facebook)
  • Jason Finley on 08 Feb 13
     
    "While that sounds like a lot to manage, a good PR program can help you gain support for your district initiatives in some key ways: *Taxpayer support: ... *Demonstrate economic impact: ... *Ensure public engagement: ..."
  • Jason Finley on 08 Feb 13
     
    Districts must manage their own PR and push out information through channels it can control, such as websites, direct mail, social media and email." "Social media has enabled anyone to become a 'citizen journalist' with the ability to sway public opinion - regardless of accuracy or intent," said Nichols. "Not only do we need to embrace these new technologies and opportunities, but we must master them to ensure that we can successfully operate our PR programs in all situations." Kleinz adds that today's mobile technology means that school districts must be prepared to respond immediately in a crisis to help manage the situation and ensure that the community receives accurate and timely information."
Ellen Repstad

Schlechty Center - 1 views

www.schlechtycenter.org/...free

education engagement school change innovation leadership

shared by Ellen Repstad on 01 Jun 12 - No Cached
  • Below you will find free articles, case studies, and position papers to help you think about, understand, and articulate the need for change in your community. We offer many useful tools to school and district leaders; however, we know that leadership, more than our tools, is the key to transforming schools.
  • We understand that making the conscious choice to transform districts into learning organizations will require not only vision and courage but also support and tools. It is for this reason that the Schlechty Center has developed a suite of tools to aid school leaders through the redefinition of key leadership roles. In addition, the major Schlechty Center ideas, frameworks, and tools developed over the years are brought together and organized in a single document, A Strategy for District Transformation, to give leaders a comprehensive view of the work of transformation, including guidance in charting their district's progress on the journey.
Jason Finley

Gender and the Career Choice Process: The Role of Biased Self-Assessments - 1 views

sociology.stanford.edu/...of_biased_self-assessments.pdf

PLPs Gender_Bias Growth_Mindset

shared by Jason Finley on 18 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • Jason Finley on 18 Nov 14
     
    Implications for PLPs around bias engrained in unconscious mental models and in commonly accepted practices for guiding students in their interests/choices around coursework in high school, college majors, and career interests. "Cultural beliefs about gender are argued to bias individuals' perceptions of their competence at various career-relevant tasks, controlling for actual ability. To the extent that individuals then act on gender-differentiated perceptions when making career decisions, cultural beliefs about gender channel men and women in substantially different career directions."
Jason Finley

Benefits of Student Participation in Community Service - 1 views

sitemaker.umich.edu/...ts_of_participation_in_service

Service Learning The How and Why: Using ELOs and Service Learning

shared by Jason Finley on 13 Sep 11 - No Cached
  • Jason Finley on 13 Sep 11
     
    "...research indicates that service learning can: *increase students' personal, interpersonal and social development (Billig 2000) *increase motivation, student engagement, and school attendance (Billig 2000) *and, lead to new perspectives and more "positive lifestyle choices and behavior." (Civic Literacy Project 2005)"
1 - 7 of 7
Showing 20▼ items per page