NNER Governing Council Meeting In attendance: Tom DeFranco, Josie Tinajero, Carol Sue Marshall (for Jeanne Gerlach), Betty Lou Whitford, Barbara Nourie (for Dianne Ashby), Nick Michelli, Kathe Rasch (for Mary Ellen Finch), Van Dempsey, Cindi Chance, Paul Chaplin, Deborah Shanley, Greg Bernhardt, Marilyn Hadley, John Anderson, Mike Moody, Michael Dantley (for Sally Lloyd), K. Richard Young, Jim Lowham, Bruce Field (for Geroge Johnson) Cori Mantle-Bromley, Ada Beth Cutler, Barbara Landau (for Randy Hitz), Pat Wasley, Les Sternberg, Carol Wilson, Vi Florez, DeBorah Zackery, Ann Foster Carol Wilson called the meeting to order and welcomed guests. She outlined the meeting procedures, noting that each setting has a designated voting governing council member, the tripartite chairs, elected members at large, and elected members of the tripartite council were also voting members. She also noted that the governing council is embarking on a new communication option, a Google group dialog room, with the intent of providing opportunities for conversation, raising questions, exchanging different perspectives prior to the governing council meeting. This option is being explored because the governing council has such limited time for discussion on items that require action. Materials to be discussed at the meeting are sent out ahead of time so that members can raise questions, ask for additional information, and provide perspectives prior to the meeting. Cori Mantle-Bromley provided an update on the IEI, noting that the current strategies for advancing the Agenda for Education in a Democracy (AED) by the IEI are research-oriented, focusing on studies of democratic practices in schools, examining more deeply the application of the AED in all aspects of schooling. This is a change in emphasis from providing leadership associates programs for NNER settings. She also updated the governing council on John Goodlad’s current health status. She indicated that he is recovering from after effects of illnesses that followed a fall in August. He is undergoing treatment, responding well to it, feeling well, and working on the IEI direction as indicated above. Bruce Field provided an update on the 2005 NNER conference to be held October 26-29, 2005, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Bruce noted that the hotel can accommodate a maximum of 300 people. He indicated that he would like to see a balanced number of presentations from all the settings and will work toward that goal. It was suggested that poster sessions be considered as well as presentations that may range from 45 minutes to 75 minutes in length. The conference will be called, “Education for Everyone?” using this title of the recent publication by John Goodlad, Cori Mantle-Bromley, and Stephen Goodlad as the spring board to emphasize the need for providing quality education for all. Bruce also indicated that he is still in the planning stages of identifying speakers and formats for the large group sessions. The Michelli and Clark awards will be presented at the conference and those who receive the awards will present a brief overview of their work at a general session. Bruce is working on schedules for the tripartite council and governing council meetings as well as other sessions including the ISR and SSR sessions. Nick Michelli provided an update on the McGraw-Hill publication; the series development is progressing with proposals being submitted. The proposal review committee will be meeting soon to review proposals and make recommendations. He also announced the release of a new book related to the AED that he and David Lee Keiser edited entitled, Teacher Education for Democracy and Social Justice. Cindi Chance provided an update on the research committee planning. She and Cindy Onore from Montclair State University are co-chairing the committee and will hold a planning session at AACTE. Their goal is to provide a strong comprehensive research agenda for the NNER that will allow all settings interested in participating to work collaboratively on research efforts. Ann Foster reminded the governing council that the Forum for Educational Leaders in a Democratic Society will be held in Bend, Oregon, June 26-30, 2005. Keynote speakers will include John Goodlad, Cile Chavez, Charles Haynes, Paul Houston, and Gene Carter. Teams from settings are encouraged to attend. The format is planned to specifically allow school district leaders to collaborate on ways to address the realities of the current educational climate while focusing on the larger public purpose of education in a democracy. Ann Foster distributed CDs containing the Setting Renewal Session (SRS) curriculum framework. The framework, a compilation of work done at the five SRSs held last fall, is designed to be adapted for individual settings to use for one or two-day long sessions related to the AED. The materials and activities are designed to provide options to overview the AED for those new to the NNER work. Ann Foster distributed copies of the book Fix Until Broken, provided by the author, Charlie Ksir from the University of Wyoming. The book is a practical guide for leaders to avoid behaviors that inhibit democratic leadership. John Anderson proposed an amendment to the by-laws that delineates the term lengths for members to the executive board elected at-large by the governing council. The amendment was seconded and passed unanimously. Carol Wilson lead a discussion on the NNER settings’ annual reports after copies of the 2004 NNER Annual Report was distributed. (Please note that the 2004 Annual Report is available on the NNER web page.) The discussion focused on how to make the annual reports as useful as possible to settings. It was noted that this year’s report was the first to ask that tripartite representatives collaborate to write the reports and that all settings were asked to respond to common areas—the priorities established by the tripartite council. In addition, the settings were asked to limit their reports to two pages. The discussion focused on the equity section of the annual reports submitted by the settings. As the governing council passed an amendment last year endorsing the equity report and requiring that each setting work toward progress on diversity and equity issues related to the setting, each setting report included a summary of initiatives and progress related to equity. The executive board reviewed the settings’ reports and developed a matrix to highlight the areas related to equity across settings. It was noted that there are many things going on in settings that were not included in the reports due to limitations of space and the difficulties in separating initiatives that are directly connected to the NNER work. The purposes for the matrix included providing a visual overview of what areas were being addressed and to serve as a resource for settings if there is interest in contacting colleagues in other settings who are addressing similar issues. Suggestions for the annual report included: allowing more pages per setting for broader and deeper coverage of work and asking settings to focus on one area where they feel they are making progress that should be shared and where input and interaction with other settings would be welcome. The matrix that identifies categories of equity issues being addressed in the settings as reported in the annual reports follows at the end of the minutes. Greg Bernhardt and John Anderson provided an update on the current NNER budget. They noted that the $30,000 allocated from the NNER for conference expenses was not used by St. Louis Consortium for the 2004 conference (please note that the $35.14 used was for costs to copy the video interview with John Goodlad as he was unable to attend the 2004 conference and was not used by the St. Louis Consortium). This sound fiscal management, and the fact that most settings that have hosted the conference have not used the entire reserve allocated per year to offset conference expenses, has put the NNER in a good financial position to support needed initiatives. In addition, the annual operating budget (excluding the conference reserve) is within the $120,000 provided by the settings’ dues. Carol Wilson led a discussion on possible initiatives for which the
NNER could provide seed funding. With the availably of the $30,000 in
NNER carry-over reserved for the 2004 conference, six possible initiatives
were proffered for consideration by the governing council. The proposal
is to allocate the $30,000 to be used over the current and next fiscal
years to implement some or all of the proposed initiatives. The governing council members worked in small groups to discuss the
suggested initiatives from the document provided. Notes from the small group discussions follow: -Fund everything Priorities Research critical All important action items Spend money to make money It was noted that if the IEI is not going to engage in the Leadership Associates Programs to the extent that it has in the past, the capacity for this work has to be developed by the NNER as a network and locally. Settings new to the NNER have not had the opportunities long term settings have had to have leadership associates go through IEI led programs and who therefore can come back to settings and provide leadership in applying the AED to the local work. Arts and Sciences and school partners have expressed a need to have more opportunities to engage in the AED activities and to have these opportunities recognize their roles and contributions in authentic ways and new settings have asked for support to strengthen the knowledge base at their settings at the tripartite council meeting. Initiatives or Action items 1, 2*, 5, 6 directly support the tripartite recommendations from the past two meetings where issues of new and ongoing setting support, authentic arts and science participation, and research were raised. * The third possible initiative in Action 2 is a direct outgrowth of the hybrid educators’ session and proposed as a possible way to broaden a local initiative to one that is network-wide. Action 3 is a direct response to the long range goal of the current iteration of the NNER to increase membership and a direct response to the change in IEI direction. Action 4 is a response to the requests from settings for more support to develop local leadership development options. The governing council members discussed the options but no decisions were made. Continued conversation will take place on the Google dialog that has been set up for the governing council. In additional activities, Hawaii and the two Ohio settings (Wright State Partnership and Miami Partnership) have volunteered to host the 2006 NNER conference. Conversation is underway with all settings and a decision will be made within a week. West Virginia will host the 2007 conference. The Potential NNER Work document follows: PRIORITIES: To focus work so that it is clear to participants and prospective participants what “they get out of participating in the network.” To focus on work that addresses the needs identified by the tripartite council to strengthen the NNER. To maximize the return on the resources the NNER has available to advance the AED in the current context for education. BENEFITS OF PARTICIPATION Opportunity to participate in projects funded through the IEI
Opportunity to participate in conferences – to make presentations and to learn from others engaged in similar work
Access to publications related to the Agenda
Participation in special study sessions/task forces
ISSUES FACING EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES Significant numbers of students, particularly those in urban communities and “poor” rural areas, are not acquiring the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to function effectively in a social and political democracy, as evidenced by:
Shortages of highly-qualified teachers, particularly in selected areas such as science, math, and special education. These shortages are compounded by debate over the best way to educate teachers with the old quarrel between the need to prepare prospective teachers in content areas vs. the need to provide professional courses dominating the debate. Because of emphasis on testing student performance in math, reading, and writing (and sometimes science) there is evidence that learning opportunities in the fine and applied arts, humanities, history, and the social sciences are receiving too little attention. There is growing competition among educational providers (public, private, and quasi-public) without a clear policy or set of assurances as to how society’s needs for well-educated citizens are to be met by this diverse group of providers. There is considerable conflict over who will “control” schooling with local, state, and federal agencies vying for more authority and a growing number of people seemingly advocating that the individual parent should determine the kind and source of education for a child. Much of the debate regarding education today centers on a lack of agreement regarding the purposes of education that should receive the highest priority. Those who argue that the end-product of a good education should be a productive worker seem to be dominating policy making at state and federal levels. Although there is some variance from state to state the ever present problem of obtaining adequate financing for both higher education and P-12 continues to be one of the key issues facing education. (See Education Week’s latest issue of “Quality Counts.”) RESOURCES AVAILABLE NNER member partnerships pay $5,000 in annual dues. With 24 current members, dues generate an annual operating budget of 120,000 to cover the cost of a part-time executive director, part-time secretarial support, travel for the director, chair, and for members of the executive board to regular meetings, miscellaneous expenses related to two meetings of the governing council and a single annual meeting of the tripartite council, seed money for targeted initiatives, and office expenses including such items as accounting, phone, copying, office space, publication of annual reports and newsletters, etc. In addition the governing council of the NNER decided in 2001 to use carry-over funds of approximately $130,000 to guarantee support to settings hosting the annual conference by reimbursing those settings for expenses they incur that are not covered by registration fees or other local support up to $30,000 through the 2005 annual conference. Because these conferences have been well-managed, it is anticipated that at the end of the current fiscal year there will be a carry-over of between $113,000 and $133,000. This is contrary to the 2001 assumption that the carry over would be reduced to zero by 2006. The NNER has not raised any funds through grants. All grant supported
activity has been as a result of the IEI seeking and obtaining grants.
As of 2005, the IEI has a small amount of support that it is using to
complete work with the Developing Networks Project; the Journalism, Education,
and the Public Good program, the Hybrid Educator work, and the League
of Small Democratic Schools. Otherwise the IEI has no funds at this time
that are dedicated to NNER related initiatives. KEEPING IN MIND THE PRECEDING BENEFITS, ISSUES, AND RESOURCES WHAT SHOULD BE THE FOCUS OF NNER WORK? Action 1: NNER funded and operated leadership program. Several options exist for this. One approach would be to use the format developed during the summer of 2004 for a week-long symposium. Participants could be invited to attend the symposium and pay for it so that it is self-funded. (Data are available as to the income and costs for the IEI symposium.) The NNER could select a site to pilot this effort. The site could be guaranteed reimbursement for expenses not covered by registration up to a specified amount ($10,000) from carry-over funds. If they were able to break even on the symposium no NNER money would be required. The summer symposium held at the IEI last summer made a profit of $10,571. This did not include staff costs. IEI staff and the NNER executive director could work with the settings to identify people to facilitate the session and to serve as expert presenters as appropriate.
Action 2: Support a Research Agenda. Three parts are suggested:
Action 3: Use leadership group to build a plan for the long view of the NNER and encourage new membership. In spring convene the executive board (or significant portions thereof) in Seattle for a two-day meeting that would overlap with a meeting of potential NNER settings. The schedule for the meetings would be somewhat as noted below:
Funding for the meetings would come from carry-over from IEI and from NNER travel and additional NNER budget allocation. Prospective settings would pay their own travel costs—IEI and the NNER carry-over funds would be used to pay for lodging, meals, and meeting costs.
Action 4. Provide support to settings to enhance their ability to conduct ongoing leadership and renewal sessions. Setting Renewal Sessions that were piloted through a call for proposals were successful and three settings that applied were not able to be funded by the limited Carnegie Corporation funds. All presented strong supporting data for the sessions. Other settings have requested support for renewal efforts. Using the curriculum that was developed from the five setting pilot program and two co-facilitators from other settings to work with local setting contacts, the three settings who applied for SRS would have the opportunity to conduct one if there is still interest. This could be expanded to two additional settings with the requested budget and the call for proposals reopened.
Action 5. Provide a forum for A&S partners to plan strategically the best and most effective partnership connections between A&S, COE, and schools. A session for A&S representatives will support the needs identified by A&S tripartite council and further the hybrid educator inquiry work. This could be held at one of the NNER settings to include twelve NNER representatives, most of whom will be from A&S. The group will meet for two days to answer the following questions: What are the most authentic roles for A&S partners in advancing
the AED?
Action 6: Provide a pre conference session for those attending the NNER conference for the first time and/or interested in introductory background on the NNER mission and work. Last year at the NNER conference, it was noted that many people were attending for the first time and had had little interaction with the AED and, in some cases, with the NNER work in general prior to attending. There were requests for a session at the conference to introduce participants to the NNER concepts. A day-long pre conference session would provide a better background than a one hour session at the conference and allow people who do not attend the conference regularly nor participate in local NNER leadership development an opportunity to learn more about the NNER work and meet colleagues with whom they can interact at the conference. The day-long session could be facilitated by NNER setting members who have completed leadership associates’ programs, orientation facilitation, or other leadership training. Their travel and conference registration would be provided in return for this work. Participants would pay a small fee for materials.
These proposals require the expenditure of available funds from the
$10,000 allocated in the operating budget for initiatives, there is approximately
$7,000 of that available, and in addition, would require authorization
to draw from the carry-over. |
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