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

The Simulated School from the NYC Leadership Academy can significantly boost the authenticity of your program. The Simulated School is a content-rich resource that is packaged and delivered in a mock school website. The school leadership experience is brought to life through role plays, activities, assignments, and videos as well as data and artifacts of a typical school. The aspiring leaders, who serve as the principals of the Simulated School, are presented with realistic circumstances and asked to make decisions to advance school improvement priorities. As leaders of aspiring school leadership programs have told us over the years, the Simulated School adds great depth and complexity to the learning experience.

Wanted: Furloughed Federal Workers Who Can Step Into the Classroom  Routinely short of substitutes to fill in for absent teachers, a number of large school systems are appealing to furloughed federal workers to step in and earn some extra cash amid the longest partial government shutdown in the nation’s history. (Chalkbeat)

Illinois Teacher Leadership Summit…an ECET2 and Powered by Teach to Lead Event  April 5-6, 2019, Decatur Conference Center and Hotel, Decatur, Illinois.  We are excited to announce the Illinois Teacher Leadership Summit.  The summit is a great opportunity for teachers to develop concrete plans to solve local problems in their districts and network with other teachers in the state.  Educators from across the state will work to collaborate, problem solve, and develop action plans to put their own expertise into action. Our hope is to attract exceptional educators from across the state to use teacher leadership as a vehicle to change the face of education.

What Educators Want From Governor Pritzker  Listen to Robin Steans, President of Advance Illinois, provide her thoughts on important education issues facing Illinois students and what she thinks the Pritzker administration should focus on for the next four years. (The 21st)

The Human Element in Improving Education  While there is a lot of attention to the relationship between social and emotional learning for students and student outcomes, we hear little about adults’ SEL–especially leaders–who set the tone for the district and school and are responsible for fostering healthy organizational culture and climate for teachers and students to thrive. In Fall 2018, GLISI launched a new research endeavor to understand the extent to which school and district leaders in Georgia value social and emotional learning (SEL) for themselves; the extent to which schools and districts support social and emotional development for incumbent leaders; and the particular social and emotional competencies that leaders are interested in fostering in themselves and the teams they lead. The Human Element in Improving Education: Building Leaders’ Social and Emotional Skills to Elevate School Success reports findings from a survey of hundreds of Georgia school leaders, explores the connection between school improvement and leaders’ social-emotional skills, and provides recommendations for school leaders, district leaders, and policymakers for building education leaders’ social and emotional competencies.

Watch Livestream Recording: Improving Principal Preparation Programs Panel Discussion – In December, the Wallace Foundation hosted a livestreamed discussion on Improving Principal Preparation Programs as the culmination of a two-day event for members of its University Principal Preparation Initiative Professional Learning Community (UPPI PLC). AACTE’s Caitlin Wilson provides highlights of the panel discussion and information on how you can access the recorded session.

Making Questions Count: How To Build Leadership Capacity Through Inquiry Webinar – February 7th @ 2pm EST Effective questioning is a key pillar of sound leadership coaching. Education leaders who provide coaching or deliver professional learning must be equipped with high-quality questioning skills if they are going to impact the leaders they support. But what is effective questioning and how can it help you keep coaching conversations forward-thinking and constructive?  This webinar will demystify the art of questioning by exploring the tactics we’ve developed and refined over the last fifteen years. Join Dr. Francis Yasharian, Vice President of Leadership Coaching, who is a nationally-regarded thought leader in this area. He will provide you with tips and tools that you can put into practice immediately and share real-life examples from his own experience training leadership coaches and coaching school and district leaders across the country.  If you are looking to build critical leadership development skills that can immediately inform your daily work, this is one webinar you won’t want to miss.

District ‘SHARE THE SUCCESS’ PRESENTATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2019 Joint Annual Conference, November 22-24, 2019. The 2018 Joint Annual Conference is a fresh memory, but it is not too early to begin thinking about the 2019 Conference. In fact, school districts and related education organizations are being invited now to submit their proposals (RFPs) for “Share the Success” panel presentations. Proposals for the 2019 Joint Annual Conference are due in the Springfield office by Friday, February 22, 2019.

Transforming State Teacher Licensure Systems to Support Ongoing Learning and Growth  This post was written in collaboration with Melissa Tooley, director of educator quality at New America. As with the professions of medicine, law and many others, most states require educators to show proof of engaging in continuing education to retain their license. More than half of states also encourage teachers to go above their minimum professional development requirements by offering an advanced license that provides additional status, compensation and/or responsibility. As such, states can use teacher licensure renewal and advancement systems to encourage meaningful ongoing professional learning and growth — but in most cases, states don’t.

Teach to Lead will be hosting the 17th Teacher Leadership Summit in Philadelphia, March 29-31, 2019.  As with previous “open topic” Summits, the Philadelphia Teacher Leadership Summit will bring teacher leaders and other stakeholders together to collaborate, problem solve, and develop action plans to benefit students and schools. Teams must include at least one practicing classroom teacher, and idea submissions can address any perceived area of need in schools, as long as the plan leverages teacher leadership as a key strategy for meeting that need.

Transforming State Teacher Licensure Systems to Support Ongoing Learning and Growth  Take a look at teacher licensure policies that go beyond traditional check-the-box types of professional development in this new Ed Note post.

New Bill to Help Illinois Teacher Shortage  The Illinois Education Association pushes legislation to repeal 3 percent salary limit law to help with teacher shortage.