School may be out, but work continues on the Empowering Effective Teachers Initiative.  I wanted to share an article that I think you'll find interesting.  It's always good to keep in perspective why the school districts' efforts are focusing on teacher effectiveness and the aspects being addressed to measure and encourage it.  There was a great summary of this concept with some discussion around why the concept is getting traction.  It's called The Widget Effect - here is the link to the Executive Summary.  From the summary you can go to the full article if you'd like to read more. 

Since our last communication the district has put out its first "E-zine" on the teachers initiative.  Our Community Engagement Group's own Al Ward is quoted on the cover page with comments about his experience with his mentor.  To read the E-zine, go to this link.  I think you'll find it full of useful information about current efforts.