Staff Use of Social Networking
Our My Two Cents question for this month is: Does your school or district have a policy about staff use of social networking (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.)? If so, what restrictions are in place? Read what some of your colleagues had to say:
Study: School Board Members’ Focus Shifting Toward Student Achievement
A national study that surveyed more than 1,000 school board members and superintendents found that a greater number of school boards are focusing on issues related to student learning and accountability instead of traditional operational issues.
A Principal on Capitol Hill
Pennsylvania Principal Melissa Patschke attended NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference and is sharing her experience in the Principals’ Office.
The Power of the Elementary Principal’s Voice
Pennsylvania Principal Melissa Patschke is attending NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference this week and will be sharing her experience in the Principals’ Office.
What we, as school principals, do each day to support schools, children, and families is valuable information for those influencing critical legislative decisions that promise to, and historically have, impacted our schools. Each principal’s story, whether it is related to progress, boundaries, or celebrations, deserves to be shared.
Principals on Capitol Hill; Support Their Efforts to Improve ESEA
In order to advocate for new policies that will give principals the tools they need to function as effective school leaders, K-8 educators from around the nation have gathered for a conference in the nation’s capital to discuss the upcoming ESEA reauthorization. During NAESP’s Federal Relations Conference, which takes place Jan. 30-Feb.
Nation-Building Through Education
“The future is ours to win” was a major theme in President Obama’s second State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Principal Magazine Recognized for Association Excellence
The September/October 2010 issue of Principal magazine has been honored with a Gold Award in the TRENDS 2010 All-Media Contest, which recognizes the national association community’s top media products of 2010.
Survey: Definitions of Effective Principals
In September, the Department of Education proposed definitions of "effective" and "highly effective" principals—a scant 200 words that, if enacted, could be used to determine which districts and schools are eligible for federal discretionary education grants. NAESP strongly opposes the definitions, which represent another attempt to hold principals accountable for outcomes far behind their control.
More important, our members oppose them as well. In a survey the Association conducted in September, 70 percent of NAESP members say it is inappropriate to define principal effectiveness in significant measure as "at least one grade level in an academic year" of student growth. NAESP heard you loud and clear, and we expressed your opposition in a formal letter to the Department of Education focused on four concerns:
- The definitions diminish state and local authority to set criteria for evaluating principals;
- The fail to address the intricate nature of a principal's job;
- They do not adequately account for school circumstances; and
- They still rely too heavily on student standardized test scores.
Download the full results of survey, and as always, please direct any questions to advocacy@naesp.org.
Teacher Takeover?
There’s a concept being tested in districts around the country to open teacher-run schools. Instead of a building principal in charge of the intricacies of leading a school, the teachers work together to address instruction, budgets, discipline, and other traditional aspects of a principal’s job. Consequently, the My Two Cents question for the January/February issue of Principal is: What do you think are the risks of teacher-run schools?
Mixed Emotions About Standardized Testing
The author of the Speaking Out article in the January/February issue of Principal feels conflicted about high-stakes testing because although NCLB requires it and principals are expected to use the resulting data to inform their decision-making, the process adds undue stress to students and the data from a single achievement test are not representative of a student’s abilities.
