Presentations From The 15th  Education Trust

National Conference 

Thursday,

November 11, 2004

3:15 PM - 4:15 PM

Session 1: Cooking with Data

Presenter(s):

Daria Hall, Policy Analyst, The Education Trust, Washington, DC

The amount of education data available has never been greater.  Nor has the potential for educators and advocates to use this data to their advantage.  Data is the key to understanding what is in education, as well as what can be.  This session will explore simple yet effective methods of collecting, analyzing, and communicating about education data.

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Thursday,

November 11, 2004

3:15 PM - 4:15 PM

Session 4: Education Summit: Engaging Citizens in Support of Public Schools

Presenter(s):

Cyndi Soter O'Neil, Director of Communications & Research, Wake Education Partnership, Raleigh, NC

Susan Parry, Chairman, Wake County Board of Education, Raleigh, NC

Charlotte Turpin, President, Wake Chapter - N.C. Association of Educators, Raleigh, NC

The annual Wake Education Summit began in 1998 as a process for bringing together stakeholder groups from across the Wake County community-parents, teachers, administrators, community- and faith-based organizations, businesses, elected leaders, government officials and colleges/universities- to establish goals and priorities for the public’s schools.  This session will include an overview of the Summit as a community engagement process and strategies that have worked to build community involvement over the past seven years and will brainstorm ways to apply these strategies to generate action.

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Thursday,

November 11, 2004

3:15 PM - 4:15 PM

Session 6: School Counselors: Partners in School Reform and Student Achievement

Presenter(s):

Dr. Judy Bowers, President, American School Counselor Association, Alexandria, VA

Jill Cook, Director of Programs, American School Counselor Association, Alexandria, VA

Dr. Peggy Hines, School Counselor Program Director, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN

School counselors create systemic change by implementing school counseling programs that emphasize school reform and show results.  The ASCA National Model:  A Framework for School Counseling Programs gives school counselors the tools to create such programs. This presentation will highlight the National Model and provide data from schools where school counseling programs have influenced student achievement.  Attendees will learn about the different kinds of data available to them and how they can collect and analyze it to create actions plans and results reports.  Counselors use data to change systems, challenge the status quo, and support accountability.

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Thursday,

November 11, 2004

3:15 PM - 4:15 PM

Session 7: Teach for America: Effecting & Measuring Significant Academic Gains and Constructing a Selection Model for Highly Effective Teachers

Presenter(s):

Monique Ayotte, Director of Admissions & Assignment, Teach for America, New York, NY

Nicole Baker, Vice President for Training and Support, Teach for America, Washington, DC

Teach for America strives to eliminate the academic achievement gap by placing highly effective teachers in the schools where the need is greatest.  This presentation will address the efforts Teach for America has made to track the gains achieved by our teachers and how we have used this measure to identify potential teachers who are likely to make significant gains.  Part 1 of this session will discuss how we ask our teachers to hold themselves accountable for student learning gains that will put students on a different academic track – truly altering their life prospects.  Part 2 will discuss how we track which teachers make the greatest gains and use those findings to inform our candidate selection process.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Session 9: Moving All Students Toward Rigor

Presenter(s):

Dr. Trish Hatch, Director of School Counseling Program, Schools Counseling Program, San Diego, CA

Philip Peeples, Moreno Valley High School, Moreno Valley, CA

Julie Schillreff, Moreno Valley High School, Moreno Valley, CA

As a third-year under-performing school, Moreno Valley High School in Moreno Valley, California was under a lot of pressure to improve student achievement.  In this session, assistant principal Trish Hatch, counselor Philip Peeples, and teacher Julie Schillreff present the steps their school took to enhance student achievement by moving ALL students toward a more rigorous and challenging curriculum.  The team will discuss the importance of collaboration and teamwork, open communication, and dialogue while outlining the specific steps their site took and the challenges they faced in working to increase rigor in all core departments, the arts, and special education.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Session 14: Planting Seeds for Success: One Blue Ribbon School's Response to Improving Achievement and Closing the Achievement Gap

Presenter(s):

Merle Stables, Principal, Lancaster Primary School, Lancaster, VA

Alice Blackstone, Reading Specialist, Lancaster Primary School, Lancaster, VA

Pat Blagmon, 3rd Grade Teacher, Lancaster Primary School, Lancaster, VA

Lancaster Primary School, a 2003 No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon School, has increased student achievement of black and economically disadvantage students.  This small rural school in Virginia has 60% of the student population participating in the federal lunch program and 54% of the population is black.  Third graders at Lancaster Primary School have far exceeded the state pass rates in math and English for these subgroups.  Practices implemented to attain these gains include curriculum alignment, effective instructional strategies, data analysis, use of technology, enrichment opportunities, family literacy activities, student recognition, and character education.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Session 17: A Working Vision for Change:  The Challenge and Rewards of Increased Student Achievement in Small Urban Schools

Presenter(s):

Linda Keller, Co-Director, Model Secondary School Project (MSSP), Renton, WA

Ron MacDonald, Co-Director, Model Secondary Schools Project Organization, Renton, WA

Lisa Phillips, Principal, Detroit Technology High School, Detroit, MI

Mary Skipper, Principal, Tech Boston Academy, Dorchester, MA

Small High Schools are changing the horizon for urban High Schools.  This session will explore how two schools in Dorchester and Detroit in partnership with the Model Secondary School Project and their public school districts were designed and developed to serve poor and minority students and close the achievement gap.  The session examines both schools strategies for accelerating student achievement and presents the efforts of these two models to share this success with other districts, schools, and school reform organizations.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Session 23: Data + Technology = A Powerful Advocacy Tool

Presenter(s):

Dr. Peggy Hines, School Counselor Program Director, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN

School counselors, as the eyes and ears of the school, have a moral imperative to advocate for effective instructional programs that will improve achievement and close gaps between students groups.  This session will demonstrate how school counselors can pair data with technology to create powerful advocacy tools that can spur change within schools.  Using real data provided from elementary, middle and high school participants will learn:  What data to collect, how to analyze and interpret data, and how to use data and technology to provide a direction for school improvement efforts.  Implications for university training programs will be discussed.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Session 26: Statewide Initiative to Recognize, Reinforce and Replicate Ohio's Schools of Promise

Presenter(s):

Jamie J. Posgai, Schools of Promise Program Manager, Ohio Department of Education, Columbus, OH

Douglas Walker, Research Associate, RMC Research Corporation, Arlington, VA

Linda McDonald, Research Associate, RMC Research Corporation, Arlington, VA

In over 100 Ohio schools where poverty levels exceed 40%, at least 75% of all students, including minority and low-income students, passed the state’s assessments in reading and/or mathematics.  In this session, participants will learn about the statewide Schools of Promise initiative, designed by the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) to identify and highlight schools that are closing achievement gaps.  Presenters will share lessons learned and describe the best practices of these schools.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Session 28: Planning for Change: Teachers Take the Lead

Presenter(s):

Cheryl Krehbiel, Staff Development Teacher, Montgomery County Public Schools, Gaithersburg, MD

Holly Searl, Staff Development Teacher, Montgomery County Public Schools, Gaithersburg, MD

Mary Doran Brown, Teacher of Gifted and Talented, Montgomery County Public Schools, Gaithersburg, MD

This presentation defines the professional learning community structures and the subsequent increased academic achievement, established within an urban school identified for school reform.  Collaboration is based on current research knowledge of best practices for the purpose of improving teaching and learning as measured through student performance on state and local assessments.  Participants will learn about Curriculum Implementation Sessions, Looking at Student Work Tuning Protocols, and Data Meetings for analyzing student progress.  These professional structures serve to involve staff in shared decision making and engaged each staff member as an integral part in analyzing student data and defining what changes need to occur to promote student achievement.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Session 33: Broad Prize Finalist: Norview High School, Norfolk, VA

Presenter(s):

Adrian Day, Assistant Principal

Council for Educational Change, Florida

Shanon Blumenthat, Department Chairperson

Bruce Brady, History Department Chairperson

Norview High School became engaged in a school redesign effort in the early to mid 1990’s in an effort to improve academic achievement in one of the lowest performing schools in the city of Norfolk. Norfolk also faced higher accountabiluty for academic achievement as the state of Virginia moved towards standardized testing in high school courses.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Session 39: Community and Business Partnerships: One State’s Story for Building Leaders and Improving Student Achievement

Presenter(s):

Dr. Elaine Liftin, President & Executive Director

Council for Educational Change, Florida

Successful initiatives that began in South Florida as part of the South Florida Annenberg Challenge (SFAC) are being implemented statewide through its successor organization the Council for Educational Change.  This session highlights those initiatives and demonstrates how community, business and educational organizations are working together for improved student achievement and systemic educational change.  Programs and strategies that have clearly demonstrated the capacity to cultivate and sustain leadership skills in principals will be emphasized.  This session will also highlight best practices and tools for empowering and motivating teachers to take charge of their own learning, improve student performance and close achievement gaps.

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Friday,

November 12, 2004

10:30 AM - 11:30 AM

Session 45: Broad Prize Finalist:  Aldine Independent School District, Houston, TX

Presenters:

Mrs. Nadine Kujawa, Superintendent of Schools