The 88th WASB State Education Convention

WASB * WASDA * WASBO
REPORT ON THE
88th State Education Convention
January 2009

A Few Comments and Meeting Notes from my experience as the Wisconsin Association of Sschool Boards, MMSD Board Liaison & 2009 Delegate.

The state education convention is a convention for the state of the state on education from those working, breathing and living K-12 education.

I found it more than a series of seminars and presentations; more than a formal meeting of delegates debating resolutions. I personally found it an integral part of my commitment to professional development as a member of our board of education. In fact, it’s much like an open window in the dreary days of January - both refreshing and stimulating at the same time.

The conference had funny, motivational speakers like the 2009 WI Superintendent of the Year, CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and speaker/educator/world cross country ski champion Murray Banks.

On another note, a large school district such as ours may benefit from continuing to build relationships with the smaller school districts and those like Milwaukee. I had too many conversations where folks were surprised that a Madison board member had shown up.

Simply put, we talk about access to opportunities for our students, and yet as a board, have limited our own access to opportunities to school board professional development. In the future, I would hope we might have a conversation on how we can support and plan for our professional development as a board in the future. I truly believe it is worth the investment ($) for the community.

Finally, when I talk about access, some of the opportunities I enjoyed most during my time in Milwaukee were those presentations by the young students. Students set up with actual bio-fuel initiatives for their schools and were there to educate us! Performances between keynote speakers consisted of wonderful musical interludes. Each was a reminder of why we do what we do.

A Few Notes of Interest:

Data Points for Boards to Measure Success
Ft. Atkinson School District

Discussion on “Just 5 Clicks” program and the data presented to the Board of Education by the district.

Key Points:

• Anticipate and Communicate with all stakeholders on “What You Expect to Achieve.”
• Know what you want to measure (WKCE, SRI, NAEP, district measures, BOE measures) BEFORE you direct administration to purchase or create the IT software.
• The BOE must ask itself: What do you want kids to know? How will you measure this? ASK, What if you have kids that are not meeting these goals?

Pros/Cons:

• The big question: How do you get “buy-in” from teachers? Doesn’t this take away from teaching?
• Some Answers: 1. It must be understood that this ultimately should help teachers get better at teaching. 2. Use prep-time for some of the data input and gives immediate feedback that a teacher can use. 3. Teachers need to either write the individual assessments or need to be in from the beginning. 4. The message to staff must be, “This data will help those who need help or more information. It is not a measure of whether teachers are doing their job.”

How Could This Benefit Madison?

1. Ft. Atkinson supplied a great chart that shows exactly what they measure and go over with the BOE. I like the format. The data is also broken down by demographics and multiple test results.
2. One other measure that may assist the board is a regular update of Intervention Data – data on WHAT courses are offered by the district; and, measures for HOW we know the intervention is working.

Ft. Atkinson Contact:
School Board President, Kent Koebke and several staff.



Special Issues Forum: China – Implications in Preparing Students for the World Market.
West Bend School District

Discussion and analysis on visit to several schools in China by several members of West Bend business community and school district to better understand the “global marketplace” and “international education.”

Note: This was a very dynamic, information-rich session and my notes cannot do it justice. I would like to have Pat Herdich talk some time in front of the Dane County School Board Consortium – if she would be willing to speak. Her presentation is available on the web in powerPoint - I highly recommend this.

Key Points:
• West Bend is similar to MMSD in that it has ACT scores and is recognized as ranking in the top 5% of high schools.
• West Bend differs in that it is very conservative – they are the 19th largest school district in WI and the 6th lowest in revenue collected.
• The state of WI has many factors influencing our future economy including an increasing aging population, a strained public infrastructure and an economy looking increasingly like Mississippi.
• The top 5 jobs in WI are forecast to be: #1. Registered nurse and #2-5. Service Sector jobs. In contrast, Minnesota’s top five jobs are all forecasted to be in IT.
• Transition time is low for students during the day and high for teachers. The idea is to limit transitions for children (who it affects most) and have teachers move through the classrooms for different subjects.
• In China, heat in schools is optional; access to technology is not. In China, only 20% of the population of children has access to formal education. Every classroom has a Smartboard.

Pros/Cons:
• We need another name for “professional development.” Adult learning or adult development for too long has been cited as “fluff.” It is an essential investment.
• Ideas to consider that are offered on the world stage: International diploma; foreign language starts in Kindergarten and programs supporting students to travel abroad.
• Current attitude throughout country (Madison?) is that the investment in K-12 public education is a “necessary evil” as opposed to (China & others) an “economic driver for the state.”
• We need more support from state for applied math and science standards.




How Could This Knowledge Benefit Madison?
1. We are on the right track with Project Lead the Way and AVID.
2. We are on the right track regarding professional development and investing resources in it.
3. National standards/assessments are absent and place challenges for large districts like MMSD. It might be beneficial to advocate for more universal standards.
4. Ideas that have been percolating were mentioned as ways to make MMSD more competitive: career academies (health services, entrepreneurial, technology); partnerships with technical colleges; world language expansion; virtual classes/school and, emphasis on learning through summer school sessions.
5. Raise standards for all – not necessarily “college-bound” but access to “post-secondary options.” West Bend has begun to implement guidance strategies to match each student with a “post-secondary option.” Similar to field trips or conversations with employers, university, tech schools, etc.

West Bend Contact:
School Board President & President of Lakeside Manufacturing, Joe Carlson
Superintendent, Pat Herdich


Editor’s note:

I have taped some of the speeches presented which were very topical and thought provoking. I will post them on my podcast as soon as I get them cleaned up.

Next year’s convention dates - January 20-22, 2010 in Milwaukee.