Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center

Printed from: http://nwrcc.educationnorthwest.org/enews/archive/21

Online Community Login

What is OpenID?
Home › e-newsletter › August 2008 E-newsletter

August 2008 E-newsletter

Below is a listing of our archived monthly e-newsletters. You can view the resources we mentioned in each issue by clicking on the link or Search Resources to find any resource from an e-newsletter or event.

  1. Eight Elements of High School Improvement: A Mapping Framework

    Updated: January 2011

    The National High School Center recently developed a framework that consists of eight core elements and provides a lens for mapping school, district, and state high school improvement efforts. The eight elements include:

    1. Rigorous Curriculum and Instruction
    2. Assessment and Accountability
    3. Teacher Quality and Professional Development
    4. Student and Family Supports
    5. Stakeholder Engagement
    6. Leadership and Governance
    7. Organization and Structure
    8. Resources for Sustainability

    The process of mapping should inform strategic planning and implementation efforts by highlighting the connections
    among elements, revealing strengths and gaps in current state and district policies, and identifying the stakeholders
    who should be aware of and involved in future improvement efforts.

  2. Developing Early Warning Systems to Identify Potential High School Dropouts

    The National High School recently released two resources to assist educators at all levels of the public school
    system in building data systems that identify probable high school dropouts before they leave school.

    Resource One: Early Warning System Guide
    This guide discusses the factors that help predict the probability that individual students will eventually drop out of high school prior to graduating and includes step-by-step instructions for building an early warning system.

    Resource Two: Early Warning System Tool (Excel file)
    This tool allows educators to input student-level data and automatically calculate whether individual students are on track to graduate or at risk of dropping out.
    For additional information visit: http://www.betterhighschools.org/pubs/EWStool.xls

  3. Paving the Path to the Urban School Principalship

    This policy brief from the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality (TQ Center) explains the increasing difficulty of finding talented and experienced individuals aspiring to become urban school leaders and offers strategies to meet this challenge. Based on a review of the literature and data from four focus groups of 74 prospective principals, the brief outlines the steps of the path to the principalship and the necessary supports along the way.

  4. Federal Guidance on Coordinated Early Intervening Services

    The National Center on Response to Intervention has made available on their website copies of the July 28, 2008 guidance from the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) on the appropriate use of IDEA-Coordinated Early Intervening Services funding. This guidance is intended to provide states with information regarding the use of funds provided under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to develop and implement coordinated early intervening services (CEIS) for students who are not currently identified as needing special education.

  5. How Can State Education Agencies Support District Improvement? A Conversation Among Educational Leaders, Researchers, and Policy Actors

    In the summer of 2007, The Education Alliance at Brown University and The Urban Education Policy Program convened over 50 state education leaders, superintendents and district leaders, researchers, and other educational actors to collectively consider the challenges and possibilities of state education agencies to catalyze and support district improvement. More than a traditional proceedings document, this report contains a detailed analysis of the themes and ideas that were generated by participants. The cross-stakeholder discussions resulted in the identification of multiple strategies that can be utilized by state education agencies to leverage their capacity and provide meaningful support to districts and schools. (Abstract from the Education Alliance)

  6. It Takes More Than a Hero: School Restructuring in Ohio Under the No Child Left Behind Act

    The Center on Education Policy has recently released a report describing Ohio's school restructuring efforts under the No Child Left Behind Act. The report includes findings from interviews with state officials and case studies of nine schools in four school districts: Cincinnati Public Schools, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Mansfield City Schools, and Mount Vernon City Schools.

    Kelleher, M., & Scott, C. (2008). It takes more than a hero: School restructuring in Ohio under the No Child Left Behind Act. Washington, DC: Center on Education Policy.

  7. High School Exit Exams: Moving Toward End-of-Course Exams

    The Center on Education Policy has recently released a report examining the new developments in the implementation of state high school exit exams in the 26 states that currently implement or plan to implement these tests. The report specifically focuses on the states’ move away from minimum-competency and comprehensive exams toward end-of-course exams.

  8. National Math Panel Forum Announcement

    In response to a National Math Panel recommendation, the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences, is hosting this Forum to bring together various organizations and other interested parties to discuss ways to use the findings as a platform to improve mathematics education in the United States. The forum will be held Monday, October 6 to Tuesday, October 7, 2008, at the Marriott Wardman Park, Washington, D.C.

    The Forum in October, planned to be the first in a series, will focus on four of the seven areas in which the National Math Panel makes recommendations:

    • Teachers and Teacher Education
    • Learning Processes
    • Instructional Materials
    • Standards of Evidence—Research Policies and Mechanisms
Education Northwest | 101 SW Main St, Suite 500, Portland OR 97204 | 503-275-9500