Some special recognitions
by Dr. Gaylord Tryon, SAI Executive Director
Don Gunderson selected to receive AASA Distinguished Service Award
We are pleased to report that Don Gunderson, former superintendent, Dike-New Hartford Community School District, has been selected to receive the prestigious AASA Distinguished Service Award. As an award recipient, Don will be recognized and honored for his distinguished service and exemplary achievement in education at the President's Awards Ceremony and Reception, during the AASA National Conference in New Orleans (February 19-22, 1999).
Don was nominated by SAI for this special award. Some of Don's many contributions include serving as president of SAI (1991-1992), Iowa Superintendents' Advisory Board (1990-1994), IASA Board of directors (1985-1987), President of Iowa Association of Secondary School Principals (1974-1975), Iowa Board of Educational Examiners (1989-1995), Iowa Professional Practices Commission (1972-1976), AASA Advisory Council (1991-1993), and NCA State Committee Member (1981-1987). Mr. Gunderson's experience as a school administrator includes superintendent of Dike-New Hartford Community Schools (1977-1998), high school principal at Red Oak (1967-1977), and high school principal at Milford (1962-1967).
Don is only the second Iowan to receive this award in recent years. E. Kelly Schlapkohl received the award in 1994. Other recipients of the 1999 AASA Distinguished Service Award include Gordon Cawelti (Alexandria, Va.), Robert Heller (East Amherst, NY), Alice Duckworth (Chester, Conn.), Glen Robinson (Bethesda, Md.), C. Reid Ross (Lillington, NC), and Karl Hertz (Thiensville, Wis.).
Four finalists announced for the 1999 National Superintendent of the Year
AASA has just released the names of the four finalists
for the 1999 National Superintendent of the Year:
· N. Gerry House, Memphis, Tenn.
· William Korach, Lake Oswego, Oregon
· Michael L. Kremer, Hopkins, Minn.
· Thomas Payzant, Boston, Mass.
Richard Christie, Council Bluffs, will be recognized as Iowa's 1999 Superintendent of the Year during the awards ceremony in New Orleans (AASA National Conference).
Final farewell to some great people
Each year, during our annual awards banquet, we conduct a Celebration of Life ceremony to recognize those colleagues who have passed away during the previous year. We do this to call attention to their many years of dedicated service to K-12 education in Iowa and to pause a few moments to just say thanks for a job well done.
We remember these people as friends, as colleagues, and as leaders among school administrators. We appreciate them for their dedication, for their compassion, and for their commitment to the kids they have served so well. We have great schools in Iowa thanks to the efforts of a lot of people, but in particular to those individuals who have gone before us.
We want to pay a special farewell to the following school administrators who have passed away during the 1998 calendar year. While we try very hard to make our list complete, we apologize in advance to the family and friends of anyone whose name we did not include in this publication.
January
Merle Wilson, retired elementary principal,
Ottumwa
February
Dick Pyner, retired secondary principal, Corydon
Charles Hartwig, retired superintendent, Deep River-Millersburg
March
Paul Knipe, retired elementary principal, Decorah
April
John Lee, secondary principal, Reinbeck
May
Ron Rubin, retired secondary principal, Davis County
July
Louis Sullivan, retired superintendent, Oskaloosa and Villisca
August
James R. Poulter, retired superintendent, Anamosa
September
Ross L. Speece, retired superintendent, Knoxville
Edwin Smith, retired superintendent, Sentral at Fenton
Wesley E. Young, retired superintendent, Ida Grove
Darwin Dean Curtis, retired superintendent, Fayette and Wellman
Joyce Bachman, curriculum director, Van Buren
October
Robert M. McCaulley, retired elementary principal, Oskaloosa
November
Bill Gowans, retired elementary principal, Waterloo
Michael J. Fitzgerald, retired middle school principal, Grinnell
Richard Glidden, retired superintendent in Ogden and elementary principal
at Fayette
James R. Nelsen, retired elementary principal, Adel-DeSoto-Minburn
December
Stanley J. Voss, elementary principal, Saydel
Thomas S. Engelbert, retired high school principal, North Mahaska
National teacher
certification: The administrator's role
by Kathy Lee Collins, J.D., SAI Director of Legal Services
As a former teacher (and a damn good one, I might add), I'm completely intrigued by the national teaching certification process. The more I hear about it, the more convinced I am that it's probably the most incredibly challenging but ultimately rewarding experience an educator can go through. Moreover, there's not a doubt in my mind that this process will have a significant, positive impact on those schools and school districts where the teachers work.
No doubt you've heard that Congress and our legislature have created an incentive program for the pursuit of this recognition. There are 145 Iowa teachers who have been selected for financial assistance (receiving either $1,000 or $2,000 towards the fee registration process) this year. Iowa teachers who meet the national certification standards are to receive a $10,000 stipend for five years thereafter, assuming appropriations as promised. But even before the financial incentives were put into play, 14 Iowa teachers "passed the test" and were given the honor and status of being nationally certified.
SAI and ISEA have partnered in support of the process. The purpose of this article is to highlight what you can do as an administrator to support a member of your teaching staff who has chosen to go through this rigorous experience. Those of you who have no teachers who have opted to try for this form of recognition may wish to encourage your best teachers to "go for it."
By way of background, The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) was created following the issuance of the Nation At Risk Report by the Carnegie Foundation. The National Board comprises 63 members, predominantly classroom teachers and administrators but including other stakeholders such as board members, elected officials, community and business leaders. Twenty sites, including the University of Northern Iowa, were initially chosen and given two-year grants to conduct the first field tests in 1992-93. Between that school year and this one, fourteen Iowa teachers "passed" and were awarded the honor of National Certification. I spoke with just a few of them-and their principals-in an attempt to learn more about the program and how their administrators helped (or hindered) them in their endeavor.
First, you should know that the actual national teaching standards are printed in a 41-page booklet which, according to Anne Lundquist, former teacher and now administrator at Clarke Community, contains approximately 10-12 points on each page that are to be addressed by the teacher in his/her portfolio. While the booklet suggests the entire process will require a mere 80-100 hours out of a teacher's life, Anne said it's more like 150-200 over a six and a half month time period. (This year the time constraints are even shorter.) Every action taken, every lesson taught, every form of assessment, and every reflection about the learning experience revolves around the prescribed standards for quality teaching. Most impressive to me was Anne's comment that in all her years of teaching, taking courses, and attending in-service training, this experience was unequivocally, "absolutely!" the most valuable professional development opportunity she had ever undertaken. This would be true, she said, whether the teacher achieved national certification or not. That excited me. (Alas, we know that all too often our "professional growth" is a hit-and-miss proposition involving shallow exposure to the latest teaching "gimmick" or the hottest new trend rather than a sustained, methodical, personalized, accountable, validated approach to improved teaching and increased learning for students.)
With respect to administrative support, there was considerable common ground among those whom I interviewed. The teachers' most frequently cited means of assistance from their principals and superintendents was in the area of moral support and verbal encouragement. That's easy enough! In addition, several of them encouraged you to become familiar with the requirements and the process so that you can offer relevant assistance and advice. Because the operation is so time-consuming for the teacher and because there are meetings held with Dr. Vickie Trent at UNI during evenings and weekends and occasionally over the ICN, another way you can support your teacher is by granting permission to leave early, covering his or her class yourself or providing a substitute, and, if necessary, interpreting the Master Contract to recognize this type of activity as professional development-which it clearly is whether the candidate passes or not.
Some teachers mentioned minor forms of district financial support such as providing blank videotapes and access to the computer, purchasing a certain type of microphone required to be used in the taping, and supplying technical assistance (someone who knows his or her way around a video camera). Another nationally certified teacher said that her principal helped her by engaging in informal dialog about methods and lesson plans, and together they brainstormed ideas and classroom strategies. A truly involved administrator might volunteer to proofread the teacher's written work and reflect with the teacher on his or her strengths and areas of growth. (It is clear, however, that this "cooperative reflecting" bears little or no resemblance to the evaluation process as it is described and often prescribed in the Master Contract.)
One area in which I detected a weakness in the support given some of those 14 teachers was the kind and degree of celebration at the conclusion of the process and when the announcements were made that they had passed. (I believe the statistics from the first few years of this program indicate that on average, only 4 of 10 pass.) That's believable; we educators seldom take time to celebrate our successes in meaningful ways. You could issue a press release to the local media. (Don't forget to include your own school publication!) The superintendent, principals, and board members could call or write notes of encouragement and congratulations. Give the teacher(s) a forum at staff and board meetings to explain the process and encourage others to undertake it. Brag to your community at every turn that your school or school district has one (or more) of the best in the nation. Let them know that yours is a quality educational system. As Lois Irwin, middle school teacher from Marshalltown, indicated, the national certification process says to your constituents that your educational professionals reflect the district's priorities for teaching and learning. You can't buy that kind of positive P.R.
I was curious as to whether such an award had created petty jealousies among the staff, but almost every teacher and administrator with whom I spoke indicated that it had not. For one reason, the teachers working towards national certification tended to do so in a low-profile way. For another, the individuals themselves tend to be well respected within their ranks so there was a lot more admiration than detraction from colleagues. I was pleased with this. I'm sure we've all worked in buildings where such admiration is the exception rather than the rule.
Each of the administrators I interviewed tended to downplay their role,
giving full credit to the teachers themselves. It was almost an admission
that the teachers had survived and succeeded despite the level of support
from administration. I hope this year and in the future principals and superintendents
can more readily provide answers to the question "How did you support
your teacher when s/he went through this?" Frankly, I don't think there's
a down side to having a classroom teacher attempt to attain this honor and
distinction.
1999 legislative preview
by Dr. Marcus Haack, SAI Associate Executive Director
Before sitting down to write this month's column I took a look at what I wrote for my column one year ago. Here's the first paragraph from the January, 1998 article: Legislative leaders promise this will be a session in which education is a top priority. We can only hope for the best. Of course we ALL know what happened during the 1998 legislative session. It turned out to be an educational fiasco at best.
So what has changed to provide us any additional hope for positive results from the 1999 General Assembly? Obviously any progress on the education front will have to be a result of a committed, bipartisan effort. Last year the Republican-controlled legislature and the Republican governor got caught up in internal party politics resulting in little substantive school-related legislation.
As we enter the new legislative session with a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature (more Republican than in 1998, I might add), there is hope that the lessons learned one year ago will help the executive and legislative branches of government build a few bridges for a change. Proposals coming out of the Vilsack and Corbett camps sound strikingly similar.
Since the November elections Governor-Elect Tom Vilsack has spent an amazing amount of time with representatives from a variety of education groups discussing his agenda and seeking input and suggestions for change. Groups involved in the ongoing dialogue included: SAI, Iowa Department of Education, Iowa PTA, private and parochial schools, urban schools, ISEA, community colleges, independent colleges and universities, IASB, and the Iowa Board of Regents.
During the dialogue sessions, Governor-Elect Vilsack presented (and refined, based on reaction and input from the group) eight education goals which will frame his agenda for the legislative session. Here are those goals, along with selected items discussed within each area:
Every Child Will Begin School Ready To Learn
· Expand Community Empowerment Boards (re: early childhood programs)
· Expand parent education programs
· Provide optional in-home visits for new parents
· Eliminate at-risk waiting lists for students/parents/families in
need
· Improve quality of and access to child care
Every Child Will Have A Strong Foundation In The Basics
· Reduce K-3 class size
· Improve student achievement
Every Child Will Have A Safe And Secure Environment In Which To Learn
· Establish a "Rebuild Iowa Schools" fund
· Develop a "bond bank" to assist with school construction
· Enhanced technology
· Deal with disruptive student behavior
· Assure violence-free and drug-free schools
· Improve allowable growth funding
Every Iowan Will Have The Opportunity To Obtain The Skills Necessary
To Succeed In The Workforce
· Improve vocational-technical training
· Convene a lieutenant governor's conference
· Establish a forgivable loan program for Iowa workers
· Actively pursue emerging opportunities
Every Qualified Iowan Will Have The Opportunity For Higher Education
· Create a "Retaining Our Achievers" forgivable loan
program
· Provide additional resources for higher education
· Provide community college enhancement incentives
Continue To Enhance The Skill And Knowledge Level Of Iowa Educators
· Establish an "Iowa Teachers Corps" program
· Improve teachers' ability to assess student achievement
· Improve teacher performance
· Provide stipends for national certification
Attract And Retain A Quality Workforce For Iowa's Future
· (Bullets included in previous goals)
Ensure All Iowans Have Access To Top-Quality Library Collections And
Services
· Establish and fund the Enrich Iowa Libraries
So far there seems to be a fair amount of agreement among legislators in the importance of these goals. The problem will be in the approaches proposed for meeting them.
As for SAI, our major focus during the legislative session will be on assuring that the legislature provides adequate and equitable funding for schools during its rewriting of the school funding formula. We will also work vigorously to change the seven-year average currently in the IPERS legislation, and to change the Rule of 88 to the Rule of 85.
How much progress will actually be made during the 1999 legislative session? How long will the post-election bipartisan spirit survive? Will education continue to be the focus of the legislature and the governor? Will schools and kids come out the winners during this session? I go back to last year's column and repeat what I said 12 months ago: We can only hope for the best.
Communicating with Legislators: It's About
Kids
by Kay E. Graber, Supv. of Communications, Grant Wood AEA (AEA 10)
This year's legislative session is certain to focus on education. And who is better able to provide information and data to legislators than school administrators who spend every day analyzing and making education-related decisions.
Once the legislative session is in progress, however, there are many groups wanting to influence legislators. How can you be sure your recommendations are heard? Here are some tips:
Build Relationships!
You not only want your legislators to listen to you, you want them to rely on you as well.
· Be sure they receive a beginning-of-the- session letter from you, stating one or two issues that particularly interest you and why they are important. Enclose a card with your name, position, school district, and phone number or e-mail for school and for home.
· Attend legislative forums, Saturday morning coffees and other political events in your community. Offer your views both privately and publicly to your legislators.
· Don't overdo your contacts. Select a few issues and become a powerful resource on them. A phone call or e-mail message is perfectly fine. You will be surprised how quickly a legislator will return your call.
· Always be positive and courteous. In politics, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies. Keep the door open in the future.
· Everyone likes a pat on the back. Remember to thank your legislators for jobs well done.
Be Knowledgeable!
· Pay attention to your legislators' backgrounds, committee assignments and voting records on issues that are important to you. Legislators rely on each other's expertise since they can scarcely be informed on all issues. Committee leadership is extremely important in influencing legislation.
· Read the newspapers, listen to TV and radio and monitor those issues that are most important to you. If you belong to organizations that track legislation, be sure to read their newsletters.
· Call the Legislative Information Office (515) 281-5129 for a complete legislative schedule, copies of bills or to find out the status of a particular piece of legislation. Or check out the Iowa Legislature Home Page on the Web, http://www.legis.state.ia.us.
Provide Data and Tell Stories!
When legislators speak on the floor of the House or the Senate, they need two things: facts and compelling, persuasive examples. You are in a great position to provide both.
· Have at your fingertips statistics on your district's budget, enrollment projections and the implications of various positions the Legislature might take. The Dept. of Education, SAI, IASB, and other education organizations are helpful resources.
· Translate the impact of their decisions on kids and classrooms. For example, school districts have been advocating for legislation to allow a simple majority to pass bond issues. You can describe for them the classrooms with exposed wiring, crumbling ceilings, children cramped into tight quarters, no classroom telephone to call a parent, and no place to plug in computers.
The Iowa Legislature has historically supported education very well. You as school administrators have tremendous credibility with your legislators. It is a noble calling for you to influence legislators and translate their decisions into a genuine understanding of how state policy affects kids.
(Adapted with permission from IASB's On Board, Jan. 1997 and Jan. 1998.)
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