Webinars

Content provided by: Innovation for Diverse 21st Century Learning Environments Omaha Public Schools, under Executive Director of IMS Rob Dickson, strengthens innovation through technology integration to serve 52,000 diverse students and improve learning. The district's new strategic plan places an emphasis on the "why" to make purposeful decisions regarding needs assessments and classroom 21st century skills to focus on what is best for the student and bring real change. This webinar walks attendees through key components of the plan and shares best practices for other schools embarking on similar journeys. Key areas addressed include: How technology-based solutions evolved to support a data-driven approach to professional learning and delivered school learning improvements. How Microsoft Innovative Educators throughout the district can serve as a pipeline for professional learning to support adoption of tools that enhance collaboration, communication, efficiency, and innovative classroom instruction. Advancing the use of blended-learning environments and enabling educational opportunities through new devices including Surface Pro for students and staff. Guests: Rebecca Chambers, technology coach, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Melissa Cleaver, instructional technology trainer, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Rob Dickson, executive director of IMS, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Eileen Heller, innovation facilitator, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Keegan Korf, digital citizenship lead teacher, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. Kelly Means, innovation facilitator, Omaha public schools, Omaha, Neb. This webinar will be moderated by Preston Peine, Microsoft Corporation

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Join Learning Forward and AASA for a FREE Webinar How Can Supervisors Shape Effective Principals? Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 Time: 1-2 p.m. ET Register: knowledgecenter.webex.com Today's school principals need support for their development and growth as society places higher expectations on them to be instructional leaders who improve student learning and achievement. A new first-ever set of standards, developed by a committee of 12 educators led by the Council of Chief State School Officers whose work was supported by The Wallace Foundation, is intended to assist state education agencies and local school districts to help recruit, select, support and evaluate supervisors of principals. The standards emphasize shifting the supervisor's role away from the traditional focus on bureaucratic compliance toward fostering the growth of effective principals who improve both teaching and learning. Participants will: Learn about the standards cited in the Model Principal Supervisor Professional Standards 2015 and ways in which they could adopt and internalize these new standards within their districts. Hear how High School District 214 in Illinois is applying Standards 1 and 2 to improve the effectiveness of its school leaders. Learn about resources from Learning Forward and other organizations that support principal supervisors in meeting the needs of their principals. Presenters: Frederick Brown, Deputy Executive Director, Learning Forward Mary Canole, School Leadership Consultant, CCSSO David Schuler, Superintendent, High School District 214 (IL) and AASA President MODERATOR: MaryAnn Jobe, Director, Education and Leadership Development, AASA

Resources on Improving School Climate

Department of Education Releases Resources on Improving School Climate

Free, First-of-Their-Kind Tools Will Support Enhanced Learning Environments for all Students

The U.S.Department of Education today released new school climate surveys and a quick guide on making school climate improvements to help foster and sustain safe and supportive environments that are conducive to learning for all students.

The ED School Climate Surveys (surveys) and the QuickGuide on Making School Climate Improvements will enable states, local school districts, and individual schools to collect and act on reliable, nationally-validated school climate data in real-time. These new free and adaptable resources will enable educators, administrators, and school system leaders to understand and create environments where every child can be successful.

“All students deserve schools that work to ensure safe and supportive school climates in which they can reach their full potential,” said James Cole Jr., General Counsel, Delegated the Duties of Deputy Secretary of Education. “These new surveys and quick guide will support any school that seeks to make significant improvements in all students’ safety and sense of respect and connectedness at school. We owe it to our children to ensure that school is not only safe and engaging, but that we are also working to continuously improve school climate by using resources like these.”

Research shows that students learn best when they are in environments in which they feel safe, supported, challenged, and accepted. Positive school climates foster trust, respect, communication and cooperation among students, school staff, parents and the community at-large. By improving school climate, schools lay the foundation for improving daily school attendance and high achievement by all students.

These new resources build on two Administration initiatives: President Obama’s Nowis the Time Plan, and his MyBrother’s Keeper Taskforce, which recommended that the Department work on the issue of school climates. As part of Now is the Time, the Department announced efforts to place a high priority on helping schools create safer and more nurturing school climates. One result was that the Department funded its NationalCenter for Education Statistics to develop the surveys to create a school climate measurement platform in coordination with theOffice of Safe and Healthy Students.

The new school climate surveys, which are on a web-based platform, are designed for middle and high school students, instructional staff, non-instructional staff, and parents and guardians. Moreover, the platform can process real-time data and provide user-friendly reports. Education agencies and schools administering the survey can store school climate survey data on their state, local, or school-based data systems. The federal government is planning to conduct a sample-based study using the surveys for benchmarking but will not collect or store data generated by the schools using the surveys for any other purposes.

In addition to the Quick Guide, a series of tools will be released later this this spring and summer as part of the SchoolClimate Improvement Resource Package, a web-based suite of action-oriented, research and evidence-based resources to help create and support positive school climates.