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IN THIS ISSUE
End of Session Success
How Can We Do More Than Give?
Superintendent Castillo Visits Lebanon
Thank You, JPMorgan Chase!
Visiting Teacher Leader
Our Voices, Our Schools
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Welcome Back, Kate Dickson
After a year of traveling with her husband, Chalkboard is excited to have Kate Dickson, our former VP of Education Policy, back in the office. She will be exploring how teacher preparation connects with our work. Read more about Kate
and her work.
TAG Conference
The Oregon Association for Talented and Gifted Conference will take place on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at Reed College.
The Conference theme is "Assessing and Identifying Gifted Learners."
The keynote speaker wlll be Professor David Lohman, who is the co-author of the CogAT and a nationally recognized expert on identifying under-served gifted students.
A call for presenters can be found on the OATAG website here.
More Details
Check out some of the blog posts from the past month.
"Education Jargon: Are We Saying What We Mean?"
Liz Hummer
I was recently intrigued by a blog post on GOOD that posed the question: Is the Education Reform World Filled with Too Much Jargon? Being relatively new to the education world since joining Chalkboard two months ago, I could relate to the learning curve that is required to dive into edu-speak, as the author Liz Dwyer calls it. Read More
"Celebrating the CLASS Project: Districts Share Highlights from the School Year"
Abby Block
As the 2010/2011 school year comes to an end, the CLASS districts have a lot to celebrate! This past Wednesday, 14 Oregon school districts came together in Salem to share highlights about their creative and innovative work, connect with other districts and hear from two national leaders.
Read More
"Moving Mountains Under the Radar: Oregon's Path to Education Reform"
Dan Jamison
I believe there is a compelling and admirable story to be told within our state. This is not a headline story based in union bashing, erosion of contracts, or top-down directives from a governor; rather, it is a more subtle, compelling story of collaboration, hard work, and creativity in the midst of extreme economic hardship. Read More
"Let's First Ask: Where Is The Funding?"
Ruth Wallin
I hear all the talk about how we need to change the system. Meanwhile, the funding is held hostage-no one wants to pay for the children. It's funny, because in houses across the country and world, kids bring in no income and yet families will go to great sacrifices for their children. But as a society, we can't seem to do that for the education of our children. Read More
"Teacher Evaluations at a Portland Private School"
Heather Penner
Many of the current discussions around public school improvement have focused on teachers: How to evaluate them, and how to help them improve. I had the opportunity to meet recently with the principal of my son's school and ask her a few questions about how teacher evaluations are handled in a private school. Read More
"Wake Up, America, the Sputnik Moment in Public Education is Now"
Merry Ann Moore
The latest federal data show what parents who care about education in our state already know: Oregon is underfunding public schools compared to the rest of the nation, by a significant seven percent....here's what it looks like on the ground in our schools. Read More
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Greetings!
Summer is finally official and, soon, so will several bills that point the way to a better and brighter future for Oregon's education system. It will be incredible to see the results of hard work and meaningful collaboration signed into law. Read below for details on these new reforms.
Of course, there is still more work to be done--this is just the beginning. Even as we soak up the sun and share fun vacation stories, the summer is also an opportunity to reflect on our priorities and recharge to pursue inspired change. As you'll see in this edition, we're busy with visiting consultants, new research, and special events this season. We're especially excited about an evening celebrating catalytic philanthropy with the author of Do More Than Give. We hope you can join us next week!
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End of Session Success
It has been a truly historic session for education in Oregon. Legislators overwhelmingly supported measures to better prepare and support educators throughout our state. These bills are now on their way to the Governor's desk to be signed into law.
SB 252 (passed Senate 29-0; passed House 58-1) creates the School District Collaboration Grant Program, which will support teacher-led efforts to design and implement reforms that improve practice in the classroom and recognize and reward excellence.
SB 290 (passed Senate 25-0; passed House 56-2) asks the State Board of Education to adopt performance standards for Oregon educators. Those standards will incorporate multiple measures of student learning and be used in local teacher evaluations. Chalkboard collaborated with the Oregon Education Association and others to see this bill through.
The Oregon Mentoring Program was re-funded at $4.519 million for the biennium. The program provides targeted professional support for first and second year teachers and administrators.
Chalkboard partnered with Stand for Children and the Oregon Business Association to advocate for a number of bills this session. Read their joint statement on the legislative successes here.
The hard work now begins to ensure this legislation has a meaningful impact on student learning. We are grateful to legislative leaders and the Governor for putting Oregon on the path to becoming an educational leader.
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How Can We Do More Than Give?
We're excited to co-host with Social Venture Partners Portland an evening to celebrate and explore the meaning of catalytic philanthropy with the author of Do More Than Give and Forces for Good. It promises to be an inspiring gathering. We hope you can join us.
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Superintendent Castillo Visits Lebanon
The Lebanon Community School District invited Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction, Susan Castillo, to attend a meeting of their CLASS Project design team. The district is in the process of designing new systems to recognize and reward educational leaders and support every staff member to do their best work.
On May 23rd, Castillo was able to watch the design work progress. She commented, "I am inspired by the leadership here to take on this challenging process. They are so compassionately committed to this work. It is a genuine partnership."
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Thank You, JPMorgan Chase!
Last week, JPMorgan Chase demonstrated their support for teacher-led reforms through a $50,000 grant to the Chalkboard Project. The generous gift will
go toward the expansion of the CLASS (Creative Leadership Achieves Student Success) Project.
Read the Press Release.
Pictured at right (from left to right): Dan Jamison, Chalkboard Vice President of Education Policy; Brian Stewart, JPMorgan Chase Vice President, Community Relations Officer; Phyllis Campbell, JPMorgan Chase Chairman of the Pacific Northwest; Grant Word, JPMorgan Chase President, Middle Marketing Banking for Oregon and SW Washington; Eric Beasley, Sherwood School District Assistant Principal; Sue Hildick, Chalkboard Project President
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Visiting Teacher Leader
 Todd Jones, High School Social Studies Teacher and Chalkboard Advisory Council Chair, is spending a few weeks of his summer vacation sharing his expertise with the Chalkboard staff.
Todd will be working on a number of special projects, including doing research on legislation in other states and offering guidance on engaging more educators in Chalkboard's work.
Why do you serve on the Chalkboard Project Advisory Council?
I believe in what Chalkboard's doing. Like Chalkboard, I am convinced that if great teaching is fostered, student achievement will follow.
I serve on Chalkboard's Advisory Council to lend a practitioner's voice to discussions of educational policy. I trust that it's helpful to Chalkboard to hear from a teacher how various educational policies do and do not impact classroom practice.
Also, serving on the Council is a great experience for me professionally. I work with some exceptional educators who are committed deeply to student growth, and I learn a lot at our meetings and in our communications.
What is the value of Chalkboard's Advisory Council?
I hope it's that the Council provides Chalkboard meaningful feedback to inform its directions and improve its policies. Some advisory bodies are little more than window dressing, existing only so the organization can claim to solicit outside input. That is not how I perceive Chalkboard's Advisory Council. Staff comments at council meetings and in emails after meetings tell me that Chalkboard hears and benefits from council input.
Chalkboard's been careful to build a council that is a blend of education advocates and practitioners, including district superintendents, teachers, business representatives, school board members, representatives of education agencies, deans of schools of education and representatives of advocacy organizations. I sense that Chalkboard is serious about knowing how the programs and policies it promotes impact education.
How do we build bridges between education policy and classroom practice?
By linking policy setters with classroom practitioners, I think, which is exactly what Chalkboard strives to do. The Advisory Council is one tool for achieving that. Chalkboard's website, workshops and teachers corps are others. I appreciate witnessing over the years Chalkboard's sincere efforts to engage teachers in conversations about education policy.
How do we get more teachers involved in policy conversations?
Well, there's always chocolate.
Short of that, we need to go where teachers are, not wait for them to come to us.
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Our Voices, Our Schools
After completing an MAT at Pacific University in 2008, Melissa Cantwell is now certified to teach Middle and High School English. She has been a substitute teacher for two years in Oregon City, Reynolds, David Douglas and Gresham Barlow School Districts and plans to continue substitute teaching until she finds a full time teaching position.
What are some of your favorite aspects of being a substitute teacher?
My favorite aspect of being substitute is the variety of educational experiences I have in any given week. One day I am a Band teacher in Oregon City and the next day I am an English teacher in Southeast Portland. Having the opportunity to work with different kids, districts and see different approaches is so valuable to me as I begin my teaching career.
What are some lessons that you have learned while being a substitute teacher? Being a substitute teacher has taught me to think on my feet, be flexible, and not be afraid to try different approaches to classroom management or instruction. Most lesson plans left by teachers leave room for me to add my own style to the instruction. I do not show as many movies as people might think.
How has your experience as a substitute teacher inspired you to influence public education?
As a substitute and new teacher, I often feel like an educational nomad in the world of public education, searching for a permanent classroom of kids to teach and a school community that will help me be the best teacher I can be. I hope to influence public education by focusing on the importance of community in public education. Schools are the foundation for strong communities, and I want to find ways to show kids what they can do in their community with an education. I believe it is equally important to show people in the community the value strong schools can bring to their community. In order to achieve this, teachers have to work together to build the community within the school. We must always be open to new ideas and be willing to try new approaches when old ones are not effective.
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