Maine ASCD Weblog

Looking Back and Looking Forward

It’s that time of year when all of the media outlets are showcasing their “year in review” issues. What was the biggest box office smash, the biggest news story, even the biggest blooper in sports fills the newspapers, web pages and TV shows.

At the same time, many people look to the future, identifying those things that will be different in the New Year and postulating what might be. Indeed many people even formulate their New Year’s Resolutions in a usually vain effort to modify their own behaviors.

Perhaps one of the biggest events of the year, one that could potentially affect education dramatically, was the results of the national elections in November. With the Democrats winning a majority in both house of Congress, one might expect that things will be very different in the New Year. One can only imagine that wonderful, innovating, refreshing ideas and programs will start to be actively discussed in the halls of the Capitol and that new monies and resources will start to flow into schools and colleges around the land.

But not so fast.

According to an clip in Public Education Network's (PEN) on-line news, the education future may be mired by an all out slug fest as the Democratic leadership exercise their new powers in an effort to dole out retribution toward the White House. As reported in Ed Week:

Attention, Bush administration officials: Get ready to raise your right hand and swear under oath. That’s the message from congressional Democrats, who say the Republican-led Congress has been lax in overseeing federal agencies, including the Department of Education. The two veteran Democrats preparing to chair the education committees -- Rep. George Miller of California and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts -- say Republican lawmakers have largely looked the other way while the GOP administration has employed questionable practices for distributing federal grants, done little to gauge the effectiveness of tutors hired with federal dollars, and let states slide on some of the teacher-quality requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. Many observers expect Democratic-led House and Senate education committees to quickly launch investigations into the Reading First program, a signature Bush administration program that has provided nearly $5 billion in federal grants to schools to promote research-based reading instruction. Alyson Klein reports that other areas of inquiry could include the Education Department’s process for approving contracts and grants, student financial aid, teacher quality and gender equity.

The whole article is apparently on the Ed Week website, but was not available when I tried to read it. Could this be part of the plot?

Happy New Year from Maine ASCD!

~John Brandt

A Season of Giving

As we celebrate Hanukkah and Chrismas this week, this teaser in PEN caught my eye:

THE JOY OF GIVING: TEACHING CHILDREN TO GIVE In theory, if giving is part of a family’s core values, then children learn about giving by observing their parents’ giving behaviors. Unfortunately, in many families, the giving process is not transparent to the children, writes Enid Ablowitz. Year-end check writing or stock transfers, while important to the recipient organizations, rarely involves the next generation in the process. Whether children are involved in determining to whom the gifts will be given, or whether they learn something about our tax system and charitable deductions, learning about the process of giving can start early. However, these lessons are only process based. Teaching children to give can be so much more effective if there is a focus on impact and personal involvement. Making a difference almost always involves "time, talent and treasure." Helping children understand volunteerism, thoughtful engagement, and the real need for money to be applied to problem solving builds deep awareness of the role of each individual in building community. But parents aren't the only ones who can teach their children about giving. In fact, some schools have embraced formal curricular enhancements such as service-learning and experiential learning as applied to philanthropy using real-world situations either within the school or as part of a community outreach program.

Read the whole article...

Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" has always been one of my favorite stories. Why not read it again with your children this week.

And so he did and
Oh, the tree was happy.
Oh, the tree was glad.

Happy Holidays from Maine ASCD

~John Brandt

Small Districts Make Money with Technology

Having just ridden through the high anxiety wave of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), Mainers recognize the need to address high taxes and injurious effect they have on our economy. So it should not be a surprise to see how an entrepreneurial superintendent in Colorado (the only state to currently have a TABOR in effect) figured out a way to increase his enrollments – and budget – with the use of technology.

The story is a cautionary one, perhaps one that Maine superintendents may not want to jump into right away. But it does show come creativity, and should be reviewed.

Basically, the story revolves around the use of technology to create a series of on-line high schools and then market their programs to students in the larger districts. This seemed to work fine for some time in Colorado until the larger districts got wind of the idea and sent in the state auditors.

According to the story in the Rocky Mountain News, “The tiny school district of Monte Vista in the San Luis Valley opened the state's first diploma-granting online school in 1995, enrolling about a dozen students. Since then, Colorado's online enrollment has grown rapidly…” to over 8,000 students.

It’s not clear what the outcome will be in Colorado, but the hidden message in all this is that there is strength in numbers, and the only way for small districts in Maine to survive is to get bigger.

Read the whole article in the Rocky Mountain News

~John Brandt

Don’t Hit That Delete Key

The United States Supreme Court, in a ruling that took effect last week, just made life a little more difficult for organizations like Maine ASCD and schools like yours.

The little known ruling approved last April requires organizations to keep all electronic communications including e-mails, instant messages and documents. The exact amount of time these materials need to be kept is not clear, but the ruling is related to the legal procedure called “discovery” related to both civil and criminal litigation.

An article in eSchool News online, details the following:

The ruling--which states that any entity involved in litigation must be able to produce "electronically stored information" during the discovery process--the process in which opposing sides of a legal dispute must share evidence before trial--could have significant implications for school technology departments, especially in places where technicians routinely copy over backup discs and other information housed on school servers.

In an interview with eSchool News, Alvin A. Lindsay, a partner with Hogan & Hartson LLP, said that while the law has always required schools, corporations, and other entities to produce certain kinds of documentation as evidence in the discovery process, the latest ruling is an affirmation that eMail messages and electronic documents are part of that mix.

An expert on issues concerning technology and the law, Lindsay has called prematurely deleting or copying over eMail documents a matter of "virtual shredding."

Lindsay says the rules will require schools and other organizations to think about how and where they store digital information in advance of potential legal skirmishes. Schools, for example, might want to conduct technology inventories to better understand what types of eMail storage and data backup systems they have in place; establish guidelines for the kinds of information that must be saved and for those that can be deleted; and decide where to store critical data, so the information is easily accessible in the event of a problem, he said.

While the general requirements are not new to schools and nonprofits, the ruling will add a considerable burden to small organizations that lack the resources, equipment and technology to retain this information. Keeping files of electronic documents is relatively easy, but keeping copies of e-mails is more difficult and can be fairly expensive.

What’s more chilling in this decision is the implication that you shouldn’t delete any document or communication. Ugh.

Read the whole article in eSchool News
Here is the actual ruling (PDF) 

~John Brandt

NEAC – Final Day

The sun shone brightly in Boston today as the dawn rose on the final day of the 2006 Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference. Many of the participants were talking about last night’s wild weather which had high winds blowing Bostonians from corner to corner and showers and record breaking warmth preceding a strong cold front.

This morning’s keynote presenter was Dr. Richard Elmore from Harvard. Delivered with dry New England wit and master-professor style, Elmore’s keynote “School Leadership as the Practice of Improvement" was described by many conference goers as deep and thought-provoking. I personally had a chance to hear his presentation in Florida last year and think Richard Elmore is one of the best thinkers in Education today. Here is the posting of a sound clip (download 1 MB) from the presentation. Dr. Elmore’s presentation slides will also be made available to conference attendees soon.

The remainder of the morning included the second half of the yesterday’s presentations. Most of the participants I spoke to raved about the quality of the speakers and the organization of the conference. And an initial review of the feedback forms confirms the anecdotal evidence.

Many participants availed themselves of the phenomenal resources the NEAC offers including the always-popular NEAC Bookstore (see pictures below) and exhibitors' room. And quite a few had a chance to enjoy some of the shopping and dining experiences that only Boston can provide.

One of the things we do on last day of the conference every year is to meet as a planning committee to discuss next year’s event. I can report that the speakers for the 2007 NEAC include the return of Rick and Becky DuFour and Mike Schmoker. We also discussed a number of other speakers including a return by Doug Reeves who has agreed to do a keynote. Watch the conference website for more details in the months ahead.

I’d like to thank all of the wonderful folks from the Northeast affiliates who worked so hard at the conference and those who attended and helped to make this the best NEAC ever.

Now to bed and a long needed rest.

~John Brandt

NEAC – Conference Day One

It’s hard to believe it is December 1st, particularly considering the temperatures outside are in the mid 60’s.

We have over 635 people here today to enjoy the first day of the full Northeast ASCD Affiliate Conference. Our keynote speaker was Carol Ann Tomlinson who spoke on "Differentiated Instruction as a Vehicle for Achieving Equity and Excellence." Her comments were very well received and I have included a very brief clip from her presentation below. I had hoped to have a nice quality “podcast” but since I’ve never done that before, we’ll have to stick with a simple mp3 sound bite.

Download Carol Ann Tomlinson sound byte

Featured sessions included a presentation by Brian McNulty who is a co-author, with Bob Marzano “What Works in School Leadership: Research to Results,” an ASCD publication. His presentation today was “The Learning Leader.”

Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe presented the workshop “Connecting Content and Kids: Differentiated Instruction and Understanding By Design” which drew the largest audience of over 400 participants.

After a wonderful luncheon that included several special Author Luncheons with Doug Reeves, Susan Villani and Lynn Stuart, the afternoon was filled with Breakout Session delivered by the same three featured speakers.

Nearly 200 conference attendees gathered at 4:00 pm to help celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the NEAC. Below are some pictures from the festive gathering.

~John Brandt