Creating a Strong Governance Team

Transformative Board Development Start with the end in mind.  – Stephen Covey A shift in thinking I started out to write about the details of onboarding new members – transactional – how to impose lots of new learning in a short period of time.  But if our goal is to grow a strong governance team…

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Community Voice

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Creating Equitable Community Voice  “A master class” in equity.  “On fire.” “Bringing justice.” “Concrete and Precise.”  Those are a few of the accolades for Dr. Gloria Henderson’s presentation, Advancing an Equity Policy, at a recent conference.   In a time of intense conflict, Dr. Henderson creates an open and honest community wide dialogue on racial equity. …

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Student Voice

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Know better … Do Better … Listening to Student Voice Want to build back better? Listen to student voice. Students are in class all day every day.  Their wisdom will astound you.  And hopefully change you for the better.   Those are some of the take-aways from this interview with Jenn McDermott, Director of Innovative Initiatives…

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Just Schools – a review

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A Review – Just Schools: building equitable collaborations with families and communities Author: Ann M. Ishimaru, Associate Professor of Educational Policy, Organizations, and Leadership at the University of Washington College of Education. Equitable Collaboration To oversimplify, parent collaboration improves school climate, equity, sustainability, and achievement. Chicago schools with high levels of collaboration were 6 to…

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The Superintendent as Instructional Leader

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21 ways to become a learning leader Superintendents and District Leaders Matter Teachers matter most in improving student learning.  Principals are a close second and are now expected to be instructional leaders.  What about superintendents and district level leaders.  Their role, though less visible, is every bit as essential in growing the culture and the…

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Growing Your Own … Diversity

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Growing Our Own Teachers of Color: Diversity: Teachers of color have a life-changing impact on the success of students of color.  Black Female students who have at least one Black Teacher are 29% less likely to drop out Black Male students who have at least one Black Teacher are 39% less likely to drop out.…

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How We Can Support Paraeducators in Improving Student Learning

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10 ways we can help Paraeducators improve student learning Professional Training for Paras Paraeducators provide much of the service to high needs students.  Washington State now supports and requires professional training for paras. Washington State has 27,000 paraeducators Much of the remediation support students receive comes from paraeducators Two days of paraeducator training are provided…

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