NASSP holds two competitions for dissertations focused on leadership research at the middle and high school levels. VASSP is proud to recognize the middle level winner for the 2013 NASSP Dr. Ted Sizer Middle Level Dissertation Award Winner, Dr. Ken Nicely. Dr. Nicely is the Director of Secondary Instruction and Technology for Roanoke County Public Schools. …
May 2013 archive
May 30
Do Your Teachers Still Have BEEP?
A blog posted earlier this month on the ASCD blog site “Four Teaching Challenges and Strategies” provides information regarding the reasons why teachers leave the profession. Although most beginning teachers enter the profession with BEEP (belief, energy, enthusiasm, passion) the reality of working with adolescents/teenagers, parents and changing guidelines causes approximately one in five teachers to leave …
May 29
What Happens When A Student Refuses SOL Testing?
So a student does not want to or refuses to take an EOC assessment or the parent refuses to have their student take the assessment…can the student opt out? According to a recent Superintendent’s memo, there is no opt out policy. In addition, there are steps to be taken if a student/parent makes the decision to …
May 28
Legislation Update for Administrators
The VDOE through Superintendent’s Memo #136-13, Final Legislative Report on the 2013 General Assembly, has released a list of legislation that will go into effect July 1, 2013. Several of the pieces of the legislation that will affect middle/high schools are listed below. http://www.doe.virginia.gov/administrators/superintendents_memos/2013/136-13.shtml HB 1858 Requires the Board of Education to develop, by July 1, …
May 24
One Big Family of Administrators
A meeting at Richmond this week in the State School Board room of the DOE brought together the three major school professional leadership groups and others as one big family of educators. Perhaps not as a happy family, but rather a family of education administrators trying to make a point to the State School Board members and in turn to …
May 24
Give Some Thought About the Way We Talk
Recently, Abe Jeffers, principal of Robert E. Lee High School in Springfield brought my attention to an article he prepared for staff and colleagues regarding students and the content of their conversations. Either by electronic means or in conversations or comments as they walk through your hallways, the types of comments and the unacceptable terms used …
May 23
Student Emotional Issues and Natural Disasters
If you have been in education for more than twelve months, then you are very familiar with tornado drills and the recommended safety procedures. It seems however, that most of the time they were just a routine practice and not taken very seriously. I can recall stepping over legs/feet protruding into the center of the hall and …
May 21
VASSP Summer Conference & Exposition Fees Are Due…Soon!
Just a reminder that the room rates for the Homestead and the VASSP conference registration rates will change effective Tuesday, May 28, 2013. The reservation rates for the rooms at the Homestead will rise to $230 per night which is a significant increase. Please be certain to register now to avoid this cost increase. Also, the Early Conference …
May 19
Principal Evaluation Institutes
If your travel plans include a trip to Roanoke this summer or to Fredericksburg in September, you are in luck. The VADOE has just released Superentendent’s Memo #130-13 with information regarding two separate sites for Principal Evaluation Institutes in July and September. The July 24th Institute will be held at the Hotel Roanoke and the …
May 19
Probationary Term of Service For Teachers
During the 2013 Virginia General Assembly Session, a bill in the Senate (SB 1223 Public Schools: evaluation policies and grievance procedures) sponsored by Senator Norment passed and will bring changes to the process by which teachers and certain administrators (assistant principals and principals) are evaluated. While formal and informal teacher evaluations will continue to be utilized, evaluations …
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