National Network for Educational Renewal

July 13, 2009

To: Members of the NNER Governing Council
Subject: Request for $5,000 support,
CO-NE-WY Regional Leadership Institute, 2009-2011

Colleagues,

Attached, you will find a proposal requesting $5,000 to assist the Colorado State University, Colorado Partnership of Educational Renewal, Nebraska Network for Educational Renewal, and the Wyoming School-University Partnership launch a collaborative regional leadership institute for 30 participants. Each of the settings we represent would provide matching amounts for a total of $25,000. The institute would include many of the features of leadership associate programs hosted in Seattle: readings, site visits, discussion, and reflective inquiry, drawing on the experiences some of us have had as AED scholars.

NNER’s Leadership Associates Program and Summer Symposium were designed to prepare a cadre of leaders immersed in the cultureof democratic education. Many in our settings benefitted from those experiences. Now, however, those cadres have been depleted. In one setting, the cost of participating in the Seattle-based NNER Summer Symposium has been prohibitive. Thus, the goal for this proposal is to provide a high quality regional leadership experience. We believe that the collaborative approach we are proposing is a strength. As facilitators, we will apply the perspectives of the Agenda for Education in a Democracy to pressing, practical challenges in our schools.

This idea is not new. Over the last few years, several of us have talked informally about the potential power of a regional collaboration. After email exchanges this spring, the five of us met via conference call to formalize our thinking and draft a proposal. We invited Ann Foster, NNER Executive Director, to join the call. At that time, she encouraged us to submit a proposal for the Governing Council’s July 22 meeting in Seattle.

We believe that a regional focus addresses several purposes. First, by thinking regionally, we can take advantage of the energy, enrichment, and fresh perspectives that come from collaborative efforts. Second, each of us sees the need to increase capacity for leadership in the local setting. We think we can accomplish both through the project proposal that is attached.

Thank you for considering our proposal. We will look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully submitted,
John Anderson, Nebraska Network for Educational Renewal, andersonj@unk.edu
Donna Cooner, Colorado State University, Conna.Cooner@ColoState.edu
Robert Hoffert, Colorado Partnership for Educational Renewal, mbhoffert@comcast.net
Audrey Kleinsasser, Wyoming School-University Partnership, dakota@uwyo.edu
Dennis Potthoff, Nebraska Network for Educational Renewal, potthoffd@unk.edu

Proposal to the NNER Governing Council for Consideration at its July 22, 2009 meeting
A CO-NE-WY Leadership Institute,
Fall, 2009 – Spring, 2011

Purpose
To support an 18-month leadership institute for 30 participants representing a K-12, education, general education, and the community. The institute will feature two strands: a) mentor teachers in partner schools who are interacting with teacher education faculty and student teachers; and b) P-16 leadership capacity development for K-12, higher education, and community members.

Request from the NNER

We request $5,000 from the NNER to supplement $5,000 contributions from each of four sites for a total of $25,000. See the attached budget. We hope, also, that Ann Foster and others from the NNER will serve as advisers to our initiative.

Institute Facilitators

The five of us proposing the institute will plan, implement, and evaluate, assisted by others from our sites.

Overview

We propose a regional leadership institute for 30 participants, approximately 10 participants each from Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming. We would begin with a three-day institute at a retreat-like location. Following this intense face-to-face set of meetings, we would work regionally and locally, using a combination of social media tools. We will also use the annual NNER meeting as a time for participants and facilitators to meet.

The team of facilitators has extensive experience within the NNER. Each of the facilitators has considerable experience facilitating national, state, and local level associates projects. Several are engaged in AED scholar activities.
University and Continuing Education Credit
K-12 and other participants would be able to earn university graduate credit or continuing credit from one of the sponsoring institutions.

Timeline

Planning would begin during the last half of 2009. The three-day face-to-face session will occur spring or summer 2009. The group would continue to meet, interact, and study together using social media. The institute would run for 18 months, into the spring of 2011 at which time we would evaluate and report out to the NNER.

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