October 2012 archive

Rethinking Principal Evaluation

Gail Connelley , the executive director of the National Association of Elementary School Principals in Alexandria and JoAnn Bartoletti, executive director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals in Reston have collaborated to produce this report on principal evaluation. Due to its length, a link to this post is provided below. www.naesp.org/rethinking-principal-evaluation.    

Reflection Opportunity for All of Us

The Importance of Each Day: Yesterday afternoon, I had a guest speaker for one of my graduate classes. Mr. Bob Gillette spoke to the class about experiential learning. During his forty year career in public education, Bob taught and directed an experiential learning program in Connecticut. He took students on week-long hikes up the Adirondack …

Continue reading

Are You Ready For BYOD?

If the title of this blog did not make you think twice, then congratulations,  you have encountered this educational trend. If you needed to think twice when you first read it due to mis-interpretation, then you are in need of staff development. BYOD, Bring Your Own Device, is the catchphrase for the use of technology in business …

Continue reading

VASSP Conference Call with Senator Mark Warner

This summer in early August, Government Relations specialist Bet Neale spoke with Senator Mark Warner. Listed below is the summary of her conversation with Senator Warner. Senator Warner: It is a tough time to be an educator; recognize you are under assault. Stimulus helped but sequestration could mean an 8% cut in federal funding for …

Continue reading

NASSP Reports From Capitol Hill

Elementary and Secondary Education Act Status of ESEA Reauthorization Congress left for August recess with no movement on ESEA reauthorization, and are now on recess until November 13, or after the elections. As a result, there’s no chance ESEA will be completed during the lame duck period (before the 113th Congress assumes their posts in …

Continue reading

Virginia On-Time Graduation Rate Rises to 88 Percent

    Eighty-eight  percent of the students who entered the ninth grade in the fall of 2008 earned  a diploma within four years and of those, more than 55 percent earned an  Advanced Studies Diploma, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) reported  today.  The statewide dropout rate fell to 6.5 percent for the class of  …

Continue reading

What Does It Mean To Be Career Ready?

As educators, we frequently use the terms “college and career ready” when talking about our school programs and our goals for students.  College ready is fairly straight forward:  good grades, good SAT scores and good recommendations. What about “career ready” and has the description of what entails being ready for a career changed over the …

Continue reading

Department of Education Staff Shadow Local Principals for National Principals Month

Last week, several staff from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) got a close-up view of the daily life of a principal when they shadowed local principals in Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia as part of NASSP’s celebrations for National Principals Month.  Proposed  by NASSP staff to ED officials, these shadowing visits culminated in a …

Continue reading

Governor McDonnell’s Education Initiatives

Within the months of September and October, Governor Bob McDonnell has issued two initiatives related to public education in the Commonwealth that recognize the efforts of educators and leaders in our public schools. On September 18, the Governor’s office issued a document designating  September as “Education Appreciation Month.” Part of his proclamation included the statement.. “our Commonwealth …

Continue reading

Emergency Regulations for the Standards for Accrediting Public Schools

Dr. Jones is a former VASSP president, Professor and Chair, Leadership Studies Director, VASSP Center for Educational Leadership at Lynchburg College and author of the annual VASSP publication Changes in School Law. The following article encapsulates important changes to the SOA that will affect every student in the Commonwealth and is also a reminder of …

Continue reading