JESNA - Coaches Training Institute Blog

Small as an Asset

skraus@jesna.org — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Just recently published, Learning and Community - Jewish Schools in the Twenty-first Century is the ethnographic study of ten supplementary Jewish schools that deliver a "reasonably effective Jewish education," edited by Jack Wertheimer. It is the follow-up to and a deeper, fuller description of the 10 schools that formed the basis for Wertheimer's, "Schools that Work:What We Can Learn from Good Jewish Supplementary Schools 2009." One chapter I foun [...]

One Man's "Duh" is Another Man's "Ahah!"

skraus@jesna.org — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

Despite my gentle prodding, most of you prefer to comment privately to me about issues raised on this blog. I hope that over the course of time blogging will become less daunting? and more of you will share your good thoughts publicly.

In a recent post I asked readers to share their comments about Jack Wertheimer's newest report on Complementary Jewish Education, "Schools that Work:What We Can Learn from Good Jewish Supplementary Schools 2009." [...]

A Clarion Call

skraus@jesna.org — Wed, 06 May 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Friends,

I urge you to look at the home page of the JESNA website:

www.jesna.org

You will find, front and center, a statement from JESNA calling for the Jewish communal leadership of North America to preserve the important agencies working in Jewish education.

Perhaps you will be able to make use of this article in some way in your communities; at the very least, you will know that JESNA stands behind you and the work you do and will contin [...]

Another Good Resource on Leading Change

skraus@jesna.org — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Another new book I received during Pesach was a copy of Douglas Reeves' "Leading Change In Your School." Any book about change that begins with

"Here is a simple recipe for leading change. First, pour a truckload of evidence into an ungreased container. Stir in a crockful of inspirational rhetoric. Add two heaping portions of administrative imperatives. Finally, dump into the mix precisely one ton of fear. Bring to a boil.& [...]

Schools that Work: What We Can Learn from Good Jewish Supplementary Schools 2009

skraus@jesna.org — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

It finally arrived in the mail on the seventh day of Pesach. Many of us have been waiting for a long time for the latest report authored by Jack Wertheimer titled, Schools that Work: What We Can Learn from Good Jewish Supplementary Schools 2009.

In 2007 a team of ten researchers--five academics and five experienced educators with backgrounds in school administration--observed 10 complementary schools reputed to be effective, "as defined by the quali [...]

The "M" Word

skraus@jesna.org — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

Marvin Schick, in the executive summary of his census of Jewish Day Schools in 2003-04 writes, "One-sixth of all day schools have fewer than 50 students and many of these enroll fewer than 25. Nearly 40% of all day schools have fewer than 100 students...The existence of a great number of small schools has
educational and financial implications." Since this blog is devoted to the issues of Complementary Jewish Education, let's turn to that world.

Jack W [...]

Thoughts from beyond the Hudson

skraus@jesna.org — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

I recently had the opportunity to facilitate a series of discussions about complementary school change initiatives during regional ADCA meetings in Cleveland and Los Angeles. Although all communities are unique and geography is an important contextual factor, I heard about many similar challenges being faced in the diverse central agencies of Pittsburgh, Detroit, Columbus, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, San Diego, Orange County and Los Angeles. In this posting I [...]

Web 2.0 and the Business World-Anything to Learn?

skraus@jesna.org — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I recently came across an article from the folks at McKinsey in which they summarized their study of more than 50 early adopters of Web 2.0 who are using technologies such as blogs, wikis, information tagging, prediction markets, and social networks. McKinsey drew six insights on how companies can best use these technologies and after each of their insights I have offered my questions or comments in bold and italics about how this relates to the world of Jewish education and school change. [...]

Updating our Program Innovators List (With Your Help)

skraus@jesna.org — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 05:00:00 +0100

One nice thing about being located in Manhattan is that it is a center and travel hub for many creative, innovative people and program providers in the field of Jewish education. JESNA is proud of its central role in the creation of Bikkurim, an incubator for new Jewish ideas that helps to nurture these ideas and programs into organizational sustainability. I remember seeing Matisyahu walking the halls of our office suite before he was "Matisyahu" and watching "Stor [...]

Change is in the Air

skraus@jesna.org — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100

Today being Inauguration Day, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about the word "change," but in the context of Complementary School Change. In one of our recent JESNA publications, Making Jewish Education Work: Complementary School Change Initiatives - Lessons Learned From Research & Evaluation in the Field, we showcased the broad lessons learned about the process of Complementary School Change that were gleaned from 10 evaluations conducted by JESNA's Berman [...]

The Panacea of Technology?

skraus@jesna.org — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0100

I may be showing my age, but how many of you remember when DAVKA burst onto the scene in the 1980's? It was an exciting time. Some argued it was going to be the start of a revolutionary time in Jewish education.

What was, and is, DAVKA? It was/is a Jewish software company that developed Jewish educational games that many of us flocked to use. I remember being one of their "field testers." We were somewhat naive to believe that "Bracha Boxes&q [...]

The Burning Research Questions

skraus@jesna.org — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

The first draft of the chapter on "Congregational Education" that I wrote for the recently published, What We Now Know About Jewish Education, was completed in early 2006. Back then I suggested the following as the additional research questions required to assist the field:

What are the demographics of congregational education?How many students are enrolled by grade, by movement, by region?What do the consumers, students and parents, seek from a quality [...]

PDP PowerPoint Now Available

skraus@jesna.org — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

We have added another tool to our CTI Online Resource Center. I am pleased to announce that you can now download a generic version of the PowerPoint presentation that we have prepared in conjunction with our publication of Making Jewish Education Work: Complementary School Change Initiatives.

It can be found on the JESNA website at the following location:

http://www.jesna.org/our-work/pdp

Two thoughts about the PowerPoint. First, I would [...]

The Communal Impact of Change Initiatives

skraus@jesna.org — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

Stories go a long way to make any presentation come alive. They often help to translate an abstract idea into a practical understanding. Some of us, when making presentations about the potential or real successes of Complementary School Change Initiatives, have encountered initial skepticism from some in our audiences.

I believe that JESNA's latest PDP publication, Making Jewish Education Work: Complementary School Change Initiatives-Lessons Learne [...]

A Publication Just For You!

skraus@jesna.org — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

Our most recent PDP publication, Making Jewish Education Work: Complementary School Change Initiatives-Lessons Learned from Research and Evaluation in the Field is easily accessible on the JESNA website. We have also written a companion Discussion Guide.

The aim of this report is to add to the conversation by identifying lessons learned from Berman Center evaluations of community/congregational school change efforts. By offering a [...]

Incremental or Radical Change?

skraus@jesna.org — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

As many of you are aware, I am trying to compile information about "non-traditional,"/"alternative" forms of complementary Jewish education. We want to publish this information in conjunction with our regular publication about "traditional" school change models/projects.

Knowing that you are trusted and loyal professional colleagues and are not the types to withhold information, I turn to you with the following observation and question: It appears to [...]

CONTACT - The Journal of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life

skraus@jesna.org — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

It's clear that complementary/supplementary/Hebrew School/part-time/non-day school/zed education is once again coming to the forefront of communal discussion. The Autumn, 2007 edition of Contact is devoted to the topic. Titled, "Supplementary Jewish Education: What Can Be Done," the magazine offers a series of editorial perspectives and details of extant programs. Read it and let us know what you think, and more importantly, how you in your agencies could/should use [...]

Welcome to the CTI Blog

skraus@jesna.org — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 05:00:00 +0100

Chevre,

Welcome to our Coaches Training Institute blog. For those of you unfamiliar with the blog world, a blog is often described the following ways:

Journal metaphorGenerally one-to-many, but can have multiple authorsUsually reverse chronological orderEntries are generally static (fixed)Good for communications, personal knowledge management, journaling, connecting to others on related topicsThis is not to be confused with our Coaches Training Institute wiki. You reme [...]