AASA: Educate the ‘total child’

Duncan is focusing on rural schools as stimulus funds flow to districts nationwide.
Duncan is focusing on rural schools as stimulus funds flow to districts nationwide.

Three days after his confirmation as U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan reportedly called Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, to arrange a conference call with 15 rural superintendents to hear what their needs were–and how the federal stimulus package could help meet those needs.

“We’re excited that we have a Secretary of Education who listens to us,” Domenech said at AASA’s annual conference Feb. 19. He noted that Duncan–a former superintendent of the Chicago Public Schools and AASA member–said the conference call wasn’t a one-time occurrence and would happen again throughout his tenure as secretary.

Domenech’s story illustrates how AASA once again has been given a place at the national policy-making table under the Obama administration. And that’s important, Domenech said, as Congress prepares to reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind Act later this year.…Read More

Report urges U.S. to look abroad for ed lessons

In a report titled "Benchmarking for Success," high-level state officials call for action to ensure that American students are globally competitive. Education leaders, the report advises, should renew the focus on international benchmarking and look toward other countries for help in drafting state achievement standards.

The report’s advisory group, which consisted of governors, state education commissioners, business executives, researchers, and other officials, identified five transformative steps the U.S. education system should take to produce more globally competitive students. The group was convened by the National Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and Achieve Inc.

Here, according to the report, are the five steps American education should take to produce more globally competitive students:…Read More

AASA hears what’s about to disrupt schools

Disruptive innovations are based on the idea that every so often, a new innovation comes along that completely changes the marketplace.
Disruptive innovations are based on the idea that every so often, a new innovation comes along that completely changes the marketplace.

If Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen is right, half of all instruction will take place online within the next 10 years–and schools had better get into the online-learning market or risk losing their students to other providers.

Christensen was at the American Association of School Administrators conference in San Francisco Feb. 19 to discuss his book Disrupting Class, which looks at why schools have struggled to improve through the lens of “disruptive innovation.”

Disruptive innovation is the business idea that, every so often, a new innovation comes along that completely changes the marketplace, knocking the old market leaders from their perch and giving rise to new ones.…Read More

2009 Tech-Savvy Superintendent Award winners honored during AASA conference

Ten superintendents who are among the nation’s most successful in leading their schools into the 21st century were honored in a special ceremony Feb. 20.

The occasion was eSchool News’ Ninth Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards, sponsored by Promethean, the Pearson Foundation, and K12 Inc. This year’s award winners were honored during a private ceremony held in conjunction with the Century Club 100 meeting at the American Association of School Administrators’ annual conference in San Francisco.

“Research shows that if you start with a clear vision for how to implement technology effectively, and you provide strong leadership in sharing this vision with stakeholders, and you make sure your staff is well supported and receives professional development that is relevant and sustained, and you seek to change instructional practices to take advantage of technology’s potential, then technology really can empower more effective teaching and learning,” eSchool News Managing Editor Dennis Pierce said in presenting the awards.…Read More

What it means to be ‘tech savvy’

At our Ninth Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards ceremony in February, we asked the winners what technology-related programs they were most proud of in their districts–and what it means for them to be a “tech-savvy” school leader. Here’s a sampling of what they said.

“Right now, our one-to-one laptop initiative has my attention, because we’re trying to make sure we have some baseline data to show our community that the investment of those dollars is really going to pay off in terms of student achievement. …Students have access to the technology 24-7, [which enables] a just-in-time kind of learning. I was talking to a teacher who was saying, ‘If we want to look up some information, we don’t have to schedule into out computer lab–I can just have the students open up their laptops and look up this information right away.’ …Our media specialists are moving ahead with all sorts of ideas and innovations; I’m just really fortunate that our community, the staff, and the school board are all behind this.”

Margaret Anderson, Knob Noster School District, Mo.…Read More

Crisis survival tops agenda at AASA meeting

AASA keynoter Donna Brazille urged school leaders to make lasting investments in education.
AASA keynoter Donna Brazille urged school leaders to make lasting investments in education.

The tanking economy and its devastating effect on education budgets, as well as the freshly signed economic stimulus package that promises billions of dollars in new money for cash-strapped schools, dominated the conversations on Day One of the American Association of School Administrators’ annual conference in San Francisco.

“In times like this, it’s important to remember there have always been times like this,” said Carlos Garcia, superintendent of the San Francisco Unified School District. “We’ll get through it. We always do.”

Of course, the $106 billion pegged for education in President Obama’s economic stimulus plan is sure to help.…Read More

Saving school budgets in a recession

Buying from large group contracts, aligning budgets with school improvement plans, starting an educational foundation, and mastering the art of passing school bond issues were among the strategies for surviving the current fiscal crisis discussed at the American Association of School Administrators’ annual conference in San Francisco Feb. 19.

AASA Chief Executive Daniel Domenech said this year’s conference includes 14 hours of sessions devoted to managing school systems during a tough economy.

Despite an influx of $106 billion in federal funding from the recently signed stimulus package, “we are all experiencing an economic situation the likes of which we’ve never seen–and as a result, we’re going to be forced to make several changes,” Domenech said.…Read More