"This is a graph for the ages, and it comes from a presentation by the New Jersey Commissioner of Education given at the NJASA Commissioner's Convocation in Jackson, NJ on Feb 29." Notice of "Selected Schools"

"...reality is that Free/Reduced lunch alone explains about 2/3 of the variation in proficiency rates across schools." We want Education Transformation in Vermont...address this issue alone. Reach this population... This is both the hardest problem and the most obvious...why is our focus not 100% on this issue?

To Adam or any others out there...I'd like to observe a flipped classroom in action. Are there any pioneers in Vermont who are doing this well?

"There is a difference between personalization and differentiation and individualization. One is learner-centered; the others are teacher-centered."

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.

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.

Great resource on creativity, innovation, and change. Has implications for working with students, professional development, program design and implementation, and more.

Page 10 "Planning for Innovation" could be helpful to the 2012 Fellows.Tables 3 and 4 are great ways to assess the environment for change in any of our schools when "I" is replaced with "we" or "our school".

Hey Karen! Along these same lines I often think that schools should take advantage of the Vermont Senior Survey Part I: Planned Activities After High School that VSAC puts out.

To me I wish that we would think about ways to use this information across the curriculum so that our students can see the relevance of high school to their expressed college and career aspirations.

There are four big benefits of flex models: Competency-based: Students progress based on demonstrated mastery; they use cohort groups and teams when and where they are helpful. Customized experience: Flex models make it easy to customize the experience for each student. Portable and flexible: Students can take a flex school on the road for a family vacation or for a work or community-based learning experience. Productive operations: Flex models have the potential for more productive staffing and facilities solutions.

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?

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.

"Based on a review of the best educational research, the Toolkit is an independent and accessible resource which helps teachers and schools identify the most promising and cost-effective ways to support their pupils.Existing evidence shows that how money is spent in schools is at least as important as how much is spent."

Dr. Tony Wagner, co-director of Harvard's Change Leadership Group has identified what he calls a "global achievement gap," which is the leap between what even our best schools are teaching, and the must-have skills of the future:Critical thinking and problem-solvingCollaboration across networks and leading by influenceAgility and adaptabilityInitiative and entrepreneurialismEffective oral and written communicationAccessing and analyzing informationCuriosity and imagination

How are we assessing these skills? If we don't why not? What could be more important?

Shared this a couple of months ago...worth another look.

Vermont Communities in a Digital Age brings community leaders and learners together to share what they have discovered so far. Take away lots of new ideas about how digital tools and broadband can be used in your community to: create jobs, reinvent your schools, attract visitors, improve civic involvement, and enliven your community.Thursday, February 16th; 9am - 4:30pmVermont Technical College, Randolph Vermont

Education for Sustainability - A Public Lecture/Learning Series - Spring 2012" ...questions addressed in this lecture series seek to: clarify what we know about educational approaches to learning that can move people to authentically embrace sustainability (what is "education for sustainability"), share best practices and new approaches to engaging with the values and substance of sustainability (updates from the field), and provide opportunities for practitioners and educators to evaluate, integrate, and create new approaches to education for sustainability (learning next steps)."

Series ScheduleFeb 2: Lecture: A conversation with Bill McKibben about educational priorities in the 21st CenturyFeb 9: Panel: New concepts in engaged education for sustainability (Poleman, Kolan, Nordstrom)Feb 16: Lecture: Greg SmithFeb 23: Lecture: Taylor RickettsMar 1: Workshop: Understanding major themes in Education for SustainabilityMar 15: Panel: Student Voices on SustainabilityMar 22: Lecture: TBAMar 29: Lecture: Environmental Contamination (Paul Ligon and Jill Kauffman Johnson)(Tentative) Apr 5: Workshop: Practices that work - concepts and experiences(Tentative) Apr 12: Panel: Spreading Sustainability - A Programmatic Model (UVM Sustainability Fellows)Apr 19: Lecture: Tentative Debra RoweApr 26: Workshop: Sustainability futures - Ideas and collaborations

Sharing, and sharing online specifically, is not in addition to the work of being an educator. It is the work." Ewan Mcintosh

"For those who share this common commitment (and really, who among us does not?),there is, I am arguing, a moral responsibility, a strong one, to share our educational initiatives and innovations: to summarize them, share their key elements, show examples of them in practice, and, at best, reflect upon their successes and lack thereof."

"This is also an essential element of educational leadership. Leadership is showing the way to others and making it easier for them to follow, it is empowering others to benefit from your example, take inspiration, and improve upon your advances- to stand on your shoulders."

Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana, authors of the book, Make Just One Change, explain why teaching students to ask their own questions just may revolutionize the classroom. Audio clip.

"The simple shift in practice, from teachers asking questions of students to students learning to generate and improve their own questions, leads to significant cognitive, affective and behavioral changes in students."

Do you teach to inform...or to facilitate learning? jf

Tony Wagner, of the Change Leadership Group at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will be the keynote speaker at the September 27, 2012 Rowland Foundation Conference on High School Transformation.

"...argues that education policymakers should take a closer look at another accountability system-on-site inspections."

"...detailed look at the methods school inspectors use to evaluate schools. The process is thorough and rigorous: '[I]nspectors observe classroom lessons, analyze student work, speak with students and staff members, examine school records, and scrutinize the results of surveys administered to parents and students,' he notes."

Articles like this are interesting. But, they are powerful when we take a critical look at own practices and really evaluate if our classroom actions match the work we promote and speak so highly of in the teachers' lounge.

Becoming a master teacher takes continuous effort.1) Understand Your Reasons for Teaching2) Cultivate Ethical Behavior in Your Students and Yourself3) Pool Both Patience and Perseverance4) Design Curriculum That Works5) Perfect Instructional Practices and Assessment Skills6) Connect Positively to the Whole-School Culture

"Generally teachers don't like traditional observations and they don't often result in significant improvements. Video transforms lesson observations, turning them on their head."

"...the most important thing about using video for CPD purposes is to get away from the idea of video as a management tool, and embrace it as something that you as an individual teacher can have control of."

"The idea is for teachers to start by self-reflecting, and once you are confident in doing so you can share videos with colleagues and develop coaching and mentoring relationships which are more productive and genuinely result in classroom based improvements."

"Those who hold leadership roles within our schools must come to terms with the fact that standards, curriculum, instruction, assessments and accountability will only get you so far in improving student achievement. If you do not address the underlying issue of the student experience, these efforts might not have a discernible impact." "...if students felt as if they belonged to the school community, the more likely they would be confident of succeeding in college." "...students who feel a sense of psychological connection to their school community are more likely to be engaged in their learning and are more likely to behave in ways that promote self-development and socialization."

Simple article with profound implications for students and for working with faculty.

Here are five resolutions from the article...with my personal take on them.

1. Find a trustworthy mentor. (Regardless of your position or how successful you are there will always be others out there who you can learn from.) 2. Form a leadership development group. (Why not two? One among leaders from multiple schools and another among the leaders and potential leaders within your school.) 3. Volunteer in a civic or service organization. (How have you formed connections between your school and the community in ways that the school isn't the primary beneficiary? How do you know the perceptions and expectations of the community unless you are truly engaged with them?) 4. Work in or travel to one new country. (Or, simply visit schools in your district. Have you visited with the admin and teachers from your sending schools? What could you learn from them? What could you learn from other high schools in Vermont that are similar to yours?) 5. Finally, ask more questions than you answer. (If you think that have all the answers…then you aren't even aware of all the questions.)

"Attention provides leverage. The more people we can attract and motivate to join us on a challenging quest or initiative, the more impact we are likely to achieve. So, what are effective ways to attract and retain the kind of attention that helps us to address the challenges we face? Here are five steps that build on each other."

1. Embrace mystery 2. Focus inquiry 3. Excite the imagination 4. Limit availability 5. Be authentic

I don't believe that every successful lesson learned in Corporate America translates well into education, but this article has some very applicable points. jf