The following is a list of recent resources for those focused on the professional improvement of teachers, principals, and other educational leaders.

2017 Quincy Conference  Quincy Public Schools and the Adams County Academic Success Initiative (ACASI) are hosting the 2017 Quincy Conference on October 5 and 6 in Quincy, IL. This educational conference will provide local, regional, state, and national educators the opportunity to engage in professional learning opportunities. The website will give you more information about the upcoming conference for presenting and attending.

How to Help Kids Move Up the Economic Ladder  The percentage of Americans earning more than their parents did at the same age has plunged over the past 50 years, especially in Illinois. For Chicago-area residents to improve their ability to move up the economic ladder, we must change our education and employment systems, says Lazaro Lopez, chair of the Illinois Community College Board. How can we help kids move up the economic ladder? (Chicago Tribune)

2017 National Forum on Education Policy Videos and Resources Now Available  The 2017 National Forum on Education Policy brought education leaders from across the aisle and across the states together to collaborate, learn from one another, and examine issues impacting education policy across the U.S. Education Commission of the States is pleased to share a comprehensive collection of videos from this year’s event, including Ed Talks, interviews with education leaders, and panel discussions exploring a broad-range of education policy issues on our YouTube channel. Resources are also available from the plenary and concurrent sessions exploring six key issue areas: School Choice, Achievement Gap, ESSA, Teaching and Leading, Career Readiness, and Funding.

Building principal pipelines is worth the price – and might cost less than you think  School systems need strong leadership pipelines, yet many shy away from the hard work and, more to the point, the expense of creating systems that will develop and support school leaders. The RAND Corporation released a fascinating analysis of just how much it costs to develop and maintain a principal pipeline. My hope is that these findings grab the attention of districts and states and shows them that creating a principal pipeline is a sound, and potentially affordable investment.

Racial Equity Matters: Here’s Why  This infographic begins to address how we can achieve racial equity, and an accompanying handout also explains more about it.

Time to Act 2017: Put Data in the Hands of People  This report lays out a set of recommendations for state policies and practices to ensure that data is used to support student learning. The identified priorities were developed with a broad coalition of partners representing state policymakers, educators, parents, school and district leaders, and advocates. According to the authors, states must measure what matters, make data use possible, be transparent and earn trust, and guarantee access and protect privacy. Furthermore, the authors argue that the perception of data should change from being seen solely as a tool to punish and shame (a hammer) to a tool to shine a light on what’s working and where to improve (a flashlight). To further this change, students’ needs must be central, people need to be empowered, data need to be tailored to the user and purpose, and stakeholders must be engaged.  (Data Quality Campaign)

Leadership Academy premieres new short film, “The Power of Leaders”  We believe that high-quality school leaders are the catalysts for creating equitable learning opportunities for all students. Our short film, The Power of Leaders, features the voices of a dozen New York City students talking about the impact their principals have had on their lives. The film was premiered at our recent celebration of 14 years of developing leaders, and features graduates of our Aspiring Principals Program (APP)  Dr. Reggie Landeau of George J. Ryan Middle School 216, Wanda Vazquez of El Puente Academy, and Seung Yu of Academy for Software Engineering.

Fix the School Funding Formula and Open Schools This Fall  John Edwardson and Marin Gjaja, co-chairs of Advance Illinois, discuss the significance of SB1 for education equity and why Governor Bruce Rauner should sign the bill. (Crain’s Chicago Business)

Teacher and Principal School Report  The Teacher and Principal School Report series showcases the results of a national survey of more than 4,700 public school Pre-K–12 educators on critical issues affecting schools and districts across the country. The report explores equity in education and literacy and includes individual state-level reports. Ninety percent of Florida teachers and principals agree that many of their students face barriers to learning from outside of the school environment. Teachers report having students in their classrooms who face myriad situations that can impede learning. The top five funding priorities among Florida teachers include higher salaries, high-quality instructional materials, technology devices, and digital resources in school, academic, or social-emotional intervention initiatives and programs, and additional high-quality staff to reduce student-to-teacher ratios. Nearly all Florida educators say that involving families in children’s learning is important for student success (98%), but many educators need help engaging families (77%). Florida teachers indicate that the most effective formats for professional development include workshops conducted by outside consultants, authors, or experts (67%), professional conferences (54%), and observing other teachers in their school or district (54%).  (Scholastic)

CCSSO Releases Principles of Effective School Improvement  CCSSO released a set of principles to inform how states design effective systems to improve low-performing schools and provide an equitable education for all students. While continuous improvement in all schools is critical, state education leaders are taking the lead to create change that will drive dramatic improvement for students attending lowest-performing schools and those with the greatest achievement gaps.

One thought on “Teaching and leadership resources

  1. lpasqualis says:

    Thank you. This is a very informative post. I especially liked the How to Help Kids Move Up the Economic Ladder part. I wonder how to find that kind of information for other states as well.