A few days ago, Colorado’s AP of the year Ginny Vidulis received a visit from Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) as a follow-up to their meeting in April, when Ginny visited the congressman’s DC office to receive kudos for the award. Rep. Polis visited classes, fielded questions, and, most important, spoke with a real educator about real issues in a real school. Now, we have to note that Rep. Polis had his own school-nutrition agenda to promote—apparently pizza’s days as a vegetable are numbered. That aside, it’s clear that the AP of the Year award was the catalyst for a constituent relationship that will inform the decisions of a federal policymaker.

Fast forward to Friday morning. NASSP/Virco National AP of the Year Denise Khaalid delivered a featured presentation to a few hundred education reporters at the Education Writers Association (EWA) Annual Seminar in Philadelphia—an invitation she received by virtue of her new award. We were delighted to have Denise represent NASSP and the nation’s school leaders at this event, where she was able to share a bit about the kinds of day-to-day activities that will improve teaching in schools—not from a 30,000-foot policy view, but from a ground-level perspective. Likely, some of these reporters will remember Denise when doing stories on teacher quality and they might even draw in a local administrator to mix with the usual lineup of researchers and think tanks.

These two events, separated by a couple of days and a couple thousand miles, remind us that recognition programs are about so much more than recognition. The titles of assistant principal of the year, principal of the year, digital principal, Breakthrough school, and so forth provide access and invitation to message platforms that are not generally available to the typical hard-working, competent administrator. Those who bear one of these titles take seriously their responsibility to seek out platforms and promote sensible policies with appropriate support.  We have hundreds more examples like the stories above to prove it.

Unfortunately, we also have hundreds of examples of remarkable school leaders who the nation will never hear from because they’re just not inclined to tout their own success. So don’t think of these awards as recognition. Consider them instead a responsibility to share what you’ve learned with the largest possible audience and to agitate for the kinds of support that will allow your colleagues across the country to replicate effective practice.

Applications are now open for MetLife Foundation-NASSP Breakthrough Schools and the process will begin in a few weeks for the 2013 NASSP Digital Principal Award. Please contact your state association for information on state principal of the year and state assistant principal of the year, as NASSP selects from the pools of state winners for MetLife/NASSP National Principal of the Year and NASSP/Virco Assistant Principal of the Year.

The meeting agendas focus on NASSP’s agenda for a more reasonable ESEA that balances test scores with other factors to determine a school’s performance and the pending sequestration, which Mary Kingston, NASSP government relations manager, describes as

the drastic, across-the-board cuts to education that are scheduled to occur on January 2, 2013. These across-the-board cuts will occur-unless Congress acts to stop it-as stipulated in last August’s Budget Control Act. Congress put this measure of sequestration in place in case a 12-member Congressional committee was unable to approve a plan to reduce another $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit; this committee failed, triggering sequestration.
Sequestration would impose the largest education funding cuts ever, chopping funding for programs in the Department of Education by over $4.1 billion. Translated to specific programs, Title I would be cut by $1.3 billion, impacting more than 1.7 million students; and IDEA special education services would be cut by over $1 billion, affecting 536,000 students with disabilities.

You can read more about our legislative agenda on the Principal’s Policy Blog. Please don’t think we limit our legislative activity to just board members. We encourage all NASSP members to make their voices heard on those issues that will affect your school. Visit the Principal’s Legislative Action Center to send your elected officials messages on the topic that most concern you and consider joining the Federal Grassroots Network to help lead NASSP’s legislative efforts.

NASSP Board member Dick Snyder…a long way from his New York high school.

What attendees got to see was an overview of the work of a few dozen principals and superintendents that changed the lives of the children of the small town of Constanza in the Dominican Republic.

The 2011 Lifetouch Memory Mission, in cooperation with NASSP, NAEPS, and AASA, gathered a group of educators from across the United States to spend a week  in Constanza meeting people, learning about the Dominican education system, and lugging bricks and cement to build a school for the children of this impoverished town.

I can tell you the experience was moving,  but you’re better off taking a few minutes to watch the video and seeing for yourself.

Following the video, NASSP President Ken Griffith announced that Lifetouch will be sponsoring a return trip to the Dominican Republic in December 2012 to continue the work we started in 2011. Applications were distributed at the NASSP Conference–and to make it interesting, all applications submitted on site were eligible for a drawing to have the fundraising requirement waived, further courtesy of Lifetouch. (Congrats to the lucky winner, Maryland principal Christine Handy-Collins).

Interested in joining the 2012 Memory Mission? Download an application at www.nassp.org/memorymission. Participants will be selected in early September.

The MetLife Foundation–NASSP Breakthrough Schools program is in its fifth year and has recognized 50 exemplary schools and produced some of the best school stories I have published as the editor of Principal Leadership magazine. Those stories, written by program analysts Dianne Mero and Marlene Hartzman after their visits to the finalist schools, incorporate third-party observations as well as the perspectives of the principals and leadership teams in the respective schools.

Each year, a theme has emerged from the selected schools, and in 2012 that common thread was collaboration. During the NASSP Breaking Ranks Conference, collaboration and shared leadership were explored during a panel discussion with the principals and assistant principals of two of the 2012 schools, Lance Radford and Jada Kidd from Wade Hampton High School in Greenville, SC, and Skyles Calhoun and Angela Owens from Woodbridge Middle School in Manassas, VA.

Principals at both schools encourage teachers to accept leadership roles and have built in measures to do so. Radford elaborated on his initial response to explain that practicing collaborative leadership builds educators’ capacity so that when turnover happens—as it will in any school—there is already someone prepared to step up and step into a leadership position. He and Calhoun agree that collaboration encourages creativity and growth in people. Principals who inherit collaborative leadership cultures, walk in to schools filled with go-getters—capable people who know what they are doing.

Calhoun said that collaboration is a way of life at Woodbridge with teacher-led PLCs and seven different types of common planning time. He encourages teacher growth by changing leadership positions every year and encouraging all teachers to volunteer to fill those roles.

Both assistant principals focus on coaching to inspire growth, using growth-producing feedback to help teachers grow and including students in the collaborative leadership equation. They stressed that collaboration takes time, that it is sometimes harder than working alone, and that conflict is inevitable, but in the end it there are valuable rewards.

The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Parents, Teachers, and the Economy released in March, 2012, confirmed that teachers who work collaboratively are the most satisfied. Attendees left the session with the Breakthrough Schools administrators knowing that when you hire the best people and help them grow in a collaborative system where leadership is shared, you have a school filled with dynamic people who respect one another, are able to handle conflict and change, and are capable of coming up with creative solutions to problems. For more about the MetLife Foundation–NASSP Breakthrough Schools program, visit www.nassp.org/breakthrough.

During his presentation, Sheninger used the term “digital immigrant,” and I think it’s a great one, especially when it comes to education. As Sheninger noted, change is hard, and embracing new technology can present a particularly daunting challenge. As a “digital immigrant,” you may not feel like you speak the same language, you don’t belong, you are lost in a confusing new world. But the reality is, today’s students are “digital natives;” they are familiar with these technologies, they are comfortable with them. The key, according to Sheninger, is not to say “no” to the technology. The key is to demonstrate to the student that technology can be a valuable tool, a resource, a privilege. Make learning fun, says Sheninger.

When an awestruck “digital immigrant” asked Mike King, “where do I start, there is so much out there?”, his answer was simple. You start small, find something you are comfortable using. Talk to tech-savvy members of your staff. In fact, there are probably some students who are familiar with the technologies and can help as well, said King.

For Sheninger, the real “a-ha” moment was when he started using Twitter. His original impression of Twitter as a tool for celebrity gossip and oversharing quickly dissipated as he realized the potential of the service. Now Sheninger, aka @NMHS_Principal, has thousands of followers worldwide, including parents, teachers, students, school leaders, thought leaders, and more. Originally reluctant to use Facebook, Sheninger later embraced the social network because it was an effective, no-cost way to communicate with his students and parents. “Use the tools that are out there,” says Sheninger.

Both Sheninger and King have “rolled out the red carpet” for technology in their schools. These principals use the wide array of free, collaborative tools easily available on the World Wide Web to connect with skilled practioners nationwide. Throughout his presentation, Sheninger reminded us, “together we are better.”

So to all of the “digital immigrants” who are struggling to find their place in this new high-tech, interconnected world, I urge you take the small step of connecting with these amazing Digital Principals on Twitter. They are a friendly face welcoming you in!

Eric Sheninger (@NMHS_Principal)
Mike King (@digitalsandbox1)
Patrick Larkin (@bhsprincipal)

Originally from the United Kingdom, Robinson now lives in Los Angeles, where he learned that, despite common international perceptions, Americans do understand irony. “I knew Americans got irony when I came across that piece of legislation named No Child Left Behind (NCLB), because it is leaving behind millions of children behind,” said Robinson. While ESEA was “well-intentioned,” it is a “completely false diagnosis of the problem.” Robinson pointed out that approximately 30% of high school students in the United State don’t graduate, but the blame cannot be placed on the students, teachers or principals, “it’s a systemic problem.”

As a nation, we face unprecedented challenges, such as rapidly developing technologies and population growth that is unparalleled in human history, said Robinson. We need to begin to think differently if we are going to overcome these challenges and move forward.

For Robinson, the key is creativity. He describes our current system as one that encourages “conformity, not individuality.” He lamented that NCLB can force schools to cut the very programs that promote creativity, such as the arts and music. All humans are born with “immense creative capacities,” and students need the opportunity to find the “thing” where they have a natural aptitude, something that gives them a “creative spark.”

Most notably, Robinson reminded the audience that they have more freedom than they even realize. Echoing the comments of NASSP Executive Director JoAnn Bartoletti earlier in the session, Robinson explained that the education system is not the federal government; it is teachers, principals, students, administrators. “There is nothing in the curriculum saying that you have to have seven periods,” he said, adding that when schools look inward to find solutions fit specifically for their students, success comes naturally.

“We don’t have a plan. We create our lives. Creativity is our gift and our birthright,” said Robinson.

At the Assistant Principals General Assembly, sponsored by Virco Inc., Sue Gendron, who is with the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium and the International Center for Leadership in Education, got specific about some of the ways that curriculum and instruction will change to meet the CCSS.

School leaders must begin to prepare for increased rigor, particularly in literacy. Lexile data from Metametrics indicates that the standards will shift the lexiles of reading materials by more than 100 points at most grade levels, an increase of one to two years in some cases. More information is available at www.lexile.com/analyzer.

The mix of literature and informational texts will also change. Beginning in elementary school, students will be required to read and interact with more informational texts. By high school, the ration will be 30% literature and 70% informational. Students will also be expected to analyze and intergrate information from multiple media to meet the new standards. No matter where your state is in the implenation process, you can begin to put a greater focus on schoolwide literacy and incorporate writing across the curriculum to prepare students and teachers.

Gendron also alerted attendees to the pending science standards, which she said are strongly aligned to the PISA science standards Those standards can be viewed at www.oecd.org, where sample items are available to help teachers understand what changes are coming.
Both English and Math have 10 anchor standards that align from kindgergarten to 10th grade. Gendron drilled down into some of the standards and helped attendees work through some of the requirements at various grade levels.

With only four states not adopting the CCSS, the information provided by Gendron–and NASSP, through its webinar series with College Board– is invaluable. Read an interview with Sue Gendron in the March issue of Principal Leadership magazine at www.nassp.org/pl0312riddile.

Westlake took the bold step of acquiring 1,600 iPads and handed them all out to students. When Principal Linda Rawlings brought the idea to the school district, she reminded them of their mission to support a “robust digital age learning experience,” and emphasized the device’s potential to increase student engagement and motivation. The district agreed, and a subsequent bond issue brought the Westlake Initiative for Innovation (WiFi) pilot to life.

The first step was to develop the forms needed for insuring the devices and preventing any loss or theft. A coordinated roll-out during the first few days of schools put the iPads in the hands of students. Teachers had little lead time to prepare for the new WiFi pliot, but Westlake administrators were pleasantly surprised to find that a number of teachers were quite willing to jump in. In fact, throughout the year, pilot teachers continued to refine their iPad skills in “lunch and learn sessions” and “Appy Hours.”

Students in the pilot program were encouraged to personalize their iPads. They were allowed to load their own music, videos, books, etc. (as long as they are appropriate for school, of course), with the intent of promoting increased ownership of the devices. To be extra safe, the WiFi program iPads are still etched with a unique barcode and contact phone number.

Initial concerns regarding the iPads’ potential for distraction (a certain car-racing app was particularly popular at first) quickly dissipated as students began to see the iPads as a valuable learning tool, not just a toy. Administrators saw a big jump in collaboration, especially when students were absent from class. The quality of student work increased, along with student motivation. Using tools such as Face Time, students were connected to each other, to teachers, and to the class. Students reported that they felt less stressed knowing that they
always had access to the resources they needed. They literally felt a weight “lifted off their backs,” as heavy traditional textbooks gave way to electronic texts on the much lighter iPads.

Perhaps the best moment of the presentation came when Westlake Director of Education Technology Carl Hooker took a Face Time call from a brave student in front of the whole room. The great success of Westlake’s Wifi program was immediately evident in his smile and excitement as he described all he can do with his school-issued iPad. In fact, he was so excited that Hooker had to remind him his principal was in the room and he needed to get back to class.

You can read more about Westlake’s nationally recognized pilot on the Wifi website and on www.whschaps.com. You can also follow the program’s development on the Wifi pilot blog, http://eaneswifi.blogspot.com.

Noble has goals of personalization and equity in a fully heterogeneously grouped school, and teaming is the strategy that enables its educators to achieve those goals. The school devotes 80 minutes every other day for common planning time in an alternating day block schedule. Teams enable the teachers to know their students well enough so that instead of making assumptions about them, teachers are able to know and understand their needs. Presenter Heidi Early-Hersey, director of the professional development center, also stressed that teaming was the best professional development she ever received as a young teacher.

At Lincoln, principal Edwin Quezada employs finely-tuned ninth-grade teaming to create a safe environment for learning for the students in his school, who face multiple challenges presented by living in an urban environment. When Quezada became principal the graduation rate was about 43% and the attendance rate was 80%. The ninth-grade team is the mechanism by which the school implemented strategies to change the culture of the school and improve the graduation rate to more than 70% and the attendance to 91%.
The interdisciplinary teams have a daily common planning period that is carefully guarded. Quezada is not willing to compromise the focus on instruction; teachers have no administrative duties so that they can concentrate on students. One teacher said that the teams are highly focused on the work and when the meeting starts, business begins. Monday through Thursday are run by the teachers who set the agendas but each Friday is set aside for professional development. Teams identify their needs with the help of Quezada and draw on their own expertise to provide challenging in-depth training for their colleagues. All teachers identify their strengths and share them as needed with other staff members.

At Park View, principal Virginia Minshew uses common planning for department and other teams to focus on the data that can be used to improve education for her students. With minority population that has doubled in recent years, the challenge is to use both soft and hard data to investigate why students are struggling and determine how to make learning relevant for them.

Like Lincoln and Noble, common planning time is accompanied by the expectation that instruction and data analysis will be the subject. Teachers are exempt from any other administrative duties so they can concentrate on what’s going on with students and how they can improve.

All three leaders are committed to their goals and willing to model what they expect from their staff members. Quezada perhaps summed it up for all three when he said there were no compromises when it came to doing what needed to be done for students.

In the statement, the board asserts that states should offer robust support services and ongoing professional development for principals, assistant principals, and teacher leaders to build the capacity of schools around the new requirements that will ensure that all students leave college and career ready. School leaders are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the CCSS and how they compare to current state standards and begin working with their staff on transition plans. They should also begin to implement schoolwide literacy and numeracy initiatives that reinforce these skills across all content areas and assess and align their school’s technology capacity to accommodate the requirements for computer-based assessments.

While CCSS is not a federal initiative, NASSP identifies a role for the federal government and encourages Congress to abandon the punitive provisions of No Child Left Behind and provide significant financial resources for states to implement the CCSS and the related assessments with fidelity.

NASSP has been a leading voice in supporting the school leader as CCSS implementation gets underway. Visit www.nassp.org/commoncore to view all of NASSP’s CCSS resources.