Minutes for the Executive Board Meeting
December 13-14, 2003
Institute for Educational Inquiry

Present: Carol Wilson, John Anderson, Greg Bernhardt, Ada Beth Cutler, Vern Henshaw, Nick Michelli, Deborah Shanley, Ann Foster

1. Annual meeting feedback

Discussion

Costs are not in yet from the BYU-School partnership

Conference feedback has been very positive

The exhibits and common areas promoted dialog and networking was well as learning about the NNER

Action

• Arts and Science participants continue to ask for ways to include their research into the conference and John Anderson will work with the conference planning committee arts and science members (Linda Pacini-Pitelka and David Alley) to build strands to support their participation.
• Vern Henshaw will work with the school representatives of the planning committee to continue and increase school district engagement as well. (Carol Hall-Whittier, Connie Donvito, Paul Chaplin, Diane Bath)
• Ann Foster will Contact BYU to get definitive information on the video and brochure distribution costs.
• The EC will ask the Governing Council to look at alternative to meeting places and times to ensure all three partners will be likely to attend the meetings, i.e. AACTE may not be the best venue for a GC meeting with school and A&S people not being able to attend

In summary, the EC agreed that we need to continue to increase diversity in attendance and presentations at the annual meeting, clearly represent all three partners, expand to community groups as communities become more active partners, and use the strengths of settings to highlight initiatives inclusive of various partners.

While school visits are rewarding for those who participate, the attendance is low and the gains from this activity do not offset the cost and stress on schools when visitors don’t show up. Highlighting the work in partner schools is crucial to advancing the Agenda so alternative presentations should be explored.

2. Tripartite Council (TC) report and recommendations

Discussion

The task at hand is to see that the work done by the TC in October will lead to action.

EC supported the three areas that the TC identified as strategies for NNER; policy influence, collaboration with other organizations, and expanding the research agenda.

EC recommended that policy is best addressed at the local not national level, the NNER needs to provide support for local efforts but not become a national policy influencing group.

Use the annual conference to further conversation and learning from the settings on policy issues and responses.

Other options to address these topics across the settings included:

• Develop on-line publications to further disseminate policy information from the settings.
• Convene groups at the various conferences that tripartite members attend.
• Next actions
• Tripartite Council chairs will get feedback from groups on inclusion

Action

• Ann Foster will get the TC chairs their tripartite membership lists electronically.
• TC members will have further conversations in their settings on the findings from the October session for the GC meeting in February.

2. Financial Well-being

Discussion

Long term financial well-being

Greg Bernhardt, Deb Shanley, Carol Wilson, Ann Foster will work on long term budget strategies and analysis of the financial picture.

Issues to be addressed: What do we want the NNER to be? What infrastructure do we need to support the vision of NNER in the future? How can we fund it? How can we generate ways to have cross-setting interactions that forward the work and provide resources to do so? How can the EC best communicate with the TC program planning committee?

Action

Short term decisions

• Continue the 5 free conference registrations through this coming conference in St. Louis.
• Keep the registration fees at around $200 to encourage attendance.
• Support Mary Ellen Finch and the planning committee on these issues.

3. AACTE

Discussion

The EC agreed that NNER presence and connections at AACTE are important. However, the A&S and public school partners do not attend this conference so we need to explore additional options for dissemination of the work and to have activities relevant to the work of all partners. One suggestion was to have NNER-related sessions at the conferences that are attended by public school and A&S faculty.

Additionally, the EC discussed the timing of the open meeting and reception and agreed that having them on Monday late afternoon and evening would result in low attendance. A poll of the settings indicated that many participants would not be able to attend the Monday open meeting and/or reception because of session conflicts or their travel schedules. The EC agreed to cancel the open meeting for only this year if the AACTE program was not already printed and move the reception to Saturday after the Governing Council meeting. Additionally, there was discussion that we need to plan formats and topics carefully for the open meetings at future conferences to ensure attendance and promote interaction.

Action items

• Cancel the Monday open meeting if it is not already on the AACTE printed schedule.
• Cancel the Monday evening reception.
• Add a reception open to all immediately following the Governing Council meeting if the room can accommodate the numbers and be reserved for a longer period of time.

4. Equity Committee Report

Discussion

The report was discussed with John Goodlad and Cori Mantel-Bromley present for some of the interaction. The report was examined in relation to the mission statement and the discussions at the settings. The EC agreed that the intent of the paper is to have settings take the necessary steps to forward equity, to study their local settings’ policies and practices, and take action to implement equity policy and practices where inequities are found.

Action

After thorough discussion and review, edits were agreed upon (included in the minutes).

• With input from Montclair State University, threaded discussion on the web page that Maughn Gregory set up will continue so that settings can have additional dialog on the report before it goes to the GC in February. The EC continues to stress that the setting leaders have this report on meeting agendas and get setting level feedback.
• The report with a preface will be distributed to the GC with recommendations that it will be adopted by the GC.
• The preface stresses the need for all settings to address local equity issues and include progress toward them in the annual NNER report.
• The theme of equity and progress toward addressing equity issues will be included in future annual conferences and other NNER activities.

5. Strengthening and Sustaining Teaching (SST) Update

Discussion

Pat Wasley provided background on the SST initiative. She asked how we may initiate interest from additional NNER settings. Conditions necessary for this work include good school district, teachers’ union, and university relations and interest in cooperative pre and in-service mentoring

Action

Carol Wilson and Ann Foster will work with Pat to provide time at the AACTE conference for NNER settings who might be interested in this initiative to meet with Pat and other SST participants.

6. February 7 Governing Council meeting

Items for the agenda

• Equity Study Committee report and action
• Financial Well-being update
• Tripartite Council update on the work done at settings using the strategies from the scenario process
• Annual meeting in St. Louis
• Other items

The EC needs to finalize dates and location for the June meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 a.m. Sunday, December 14, 2003

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