Association for Career and Technical Education’s Post

THE APPLICATION PERIOD FOR THE 2024-25 MIDDLE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY OPENS TODAY! The Network's Middle Leadership Academy (MLA) is an academic, year-long, professional development opportunity for evidence-based projects, collaborative learning, and leadership development. We invite cross-functional teams of faculty, staff, administrators, and students from each campus to apply for the 2024-25 Middle Leadership Academy. The Academy is grounded in a problem-based learning model that motivates participants to “lead from the middle” as they explore and apply strategies to support equitable student learning, engagement, progression, and success on their campuses. Learning outcomes: *Equity – Examine inequities in student outcomes and understand the contributing sources at their CSU campuses.  *Knowledge – Apply research-based evidence to advance equitable student success efforts on campus via a project-based model. *Assessment – Apply knowledge of assessment measures to appropriately develop and implement a plan to assess project interventions. *Relationships – Build relationships with colleagues on their campus and from across the CSU who are involved in campus-level efforts supporting equitable student success. *Leadership – Build leadership identities, skills, and agency to help lead equity-driven change within the CSU.  Interested teams should identify a team lead that will complete and submit the application on behalf of your team. Applications for the 2024-25 MLA are due by September 20. APPLY HERE: https://lnkd.in/e6qFE2Fy

🌟 Empowering ECE Leaders with Practical Resources! 🌟 As an educational leader, your role is pivotal in shaping the quality of early childhood education. My ECE printable resources are designed with your success in mind, providing the tools you need to excel in guiding and supporting your team. ✨ Why Our ECE Printable Resources Are Essential for Educational Leaders: Aligned with National Quality Standards (NQS): Ensure your practices meet and exceed the NQS criteria, focusing on facilitating and extending each child's learning and development. Structured Reflection and Action Plans: Our templates guide educators through a comprehensive reflection process, helping them to articulate their decisions and improve their teaching strategies effectively. Supportive for Building Relationships: By promoting secure and respectful relationships with children and families, our resources help educators foster a positive and nurturing learning environment. Professional Development: Equip your team with the tools they need for continuous improvement and professional growth, ensuring they are confident and competent in their roles. Easy to Use: Designed for practicality, our printables can be easily integrated into your daily routines, making reflection and planning straightforward and manageable. 🎓 Take the Next Step in Enhancing Your Educational Leadership: Invest in resources that empower you and your team to achieve excellence in early childhood education. Together, let's build a future where every child receives the highest quality care and education. Check out my Etsy Shop: https://lnkd.in/gvpwgpsF

🚀 What an exciting month February has been🚀 1. We've dedicated a significant portion of February to refining our Curriculum and Assessment Framework. It's been fantastic to work closely together drawing inspiration from best practices across the trust and our own experiences. Together, we've crafted an example policy to guide leaders in defining excellence in the classroom and throughout the school. We presented this to leaders on Tuesday & I can't wait to dive into their ones and see the impact they'll have! 2. Feeling incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by fantastic primary science leaders. We've been hard at work codifying our objectives for the upcoming Summer term, culminating in the creation of our Primary go-to guides. These resources, have now been checked and uploaded onto our portal, are poised to elevate the science provision for our primary students. Excited to see the lessons come to life and witness the impact firsthand next term! 3. Our journey at the NPQEL has begun, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. The modules focusing on Implementation have been enlightening, and I'm thrilled to be connecting with fellow leaders. It's inspiring to exchange ideas and experiences, knowing that we're all committed to driving positive change in education. 4. Year 11 support remains a top priority across our secondary schools, and this month it has been on supporting foundation students in achieving a 4-4+. Team Science has been going above and beyond, and I'm hopeful that our efforts will be reflected in the outcomes. Together, we're empowering our students to reach their full potential. Exciting times ahead! Can't wait to see what March has in store. #Education #TeachingAndLearning #LeadershipDevelopment

🎙️ PD Training Thoughts…. 👉 How to effectively execute Restorative Practices 👉 How to empower student voice among student leadership 👉 How to build staff morale up not down Let’s have a conversation and see where JBL can add value to your staff, students, school & community.

Looking for a fall graduate course? How about FAB 500 Leadership and Organizational Behavior for Agribusiness? You can enroll through Morrisville's Center For Lifelong -Learning https://lnkd.in/en5QvJau FAB 500.  Leadership and Organizational Behavior for Agribusiness.  (3 Credits)   The purpose of this course is two-fold: for students to enhance their intrapersonal perspective of management and leadership as well as their understanding of individuals and teams within organizational systems. We adopt the viewpoint of upper-level managers, owners, and or board members; we explore human interaction through theory concepts and application. With the use of academic and live case studies, students will diagnose, formulate, and develop recommendations for complex situations to enhance organizational performance. Specific emphasis is placed on the fundamentals of organizational behavior with regard to agricultural cooperatives, family-owned businesses, family boards, and leadership within the food system. 3 credits, Fall or Spring, Online. Prerequisite: Graduate Standing or instructor's approval.

*New* blog from my recent visit to Gary Headland DL and his senior team at Activate Learning with Claire Nicholson-Clinch. Activate Learning stands out for its approach to innovation and its steadfast commitment to nurturing the leaders of tomorrow. A dynamic learning philosophy places emphasis on adaptability, creativity, and critical thinking. Gary Headland, the Group CEO, takes an all-college approach, bringing together students, faculty, staff, and administrators in a vibrant community of learners. https://lnkd.in/eFi7-AW4

If you're connected to high school students (or know someone who is) and want to support youth to inquire, investigate, build college and career skills, and learn to lead change efforts, youth participatory-action (YPAR) research oughta be a key tool in your toolchest. If you need inspiration and guidance on how to build a YPAR program, check out this resource I helped develop with colleagues at KnowledgeWorks, WestEd, and Springfield International Charter School (SICS) in MA. It's a fully comprehensive guidebook, curriculum, and set of curated resources for a yearlong YPAR high school course, ready to download, share, and implement. It's an "off the shelf" handbook designed to support educators and school/community leaders as they plan academic and leadership opportunities for students next year and beyond. Also supplied here is a link to a quick article detailing what we learned when we piloted the YPAR curriculum at SICS in 2022-2023: https://lnkd.in/gSskV8Kb. Let me know what you think!

↓ How can we improve the retrieval of prior knowledge? ↓ Reading time = 1.5 mins   When we are introducing new knowledge to pupils, building on prior knowledge is key. It helps us to avoid overload of working memory (Willingham, 2009).  However, simply accessing prior knowledge is not enough – the learner may not make the necessary links between what they already know and what they are being taught now.  This shows us why it is important to begin a lesson by accessing prior knowledge, before we teach anything new. PKC has been carefully sequenced so that foundational knowledge is taught before pupils move on to more complex knowledge.  There are two important points to consider at the prior learning stage of a lesson: 1. We want to recall prior knowledge, but pupils may have a lack (or varying levels) of knowledge 2. We want to check for understanding of prior knowledge as pupils may have misconceptions We must think carefully about the questions we ask pupils. If we ask, ‘what do you know about WWII?’ – the question is too broad, and we won’t get pupils recalling the knowledge well. Instead, we should be more specific - ‘what role did Bletchley Park play in WWII?’ This provides a retrieval cue that allows pupils to recall what they know and tell the teacher. The teacher then assesses this against what pupils need to know for the lesson. If knowledge is not secure, the teacher will spend some time re-teaching it.  It is important to check for the understanding of all pupils at this stage, so that misconceptions or misunderstandings are addressed.  We must not fall into the trap of trying to start from where we expect pupils to be, and instead start from where they are currently at. To check the understanding of all, we can use checks that enable all to participate: • Talk partners • Mini whiteboards • Multiple choice quizzes How do expert teachers approach prior learning? Expert teachers take the entire PKC journey into account. When teaching a unit, they look at the curriculum map, subject rationale, unit rationale and the prior learning part of a lesson plan.  They will reflect on these two questions: • What knowledge have pupils already learnt that can help them to understand the new knowledge? • How can I link the new knowledge to their prior knowledge? Mini task – think about a unit you will teach soon. Write down the prior knowledge pupils need to have to learn the new knowledge within the unit. Find our upcoming CPD here:

Our team had a great time participating in the California Charter Schools Association conference last month! Highlighting the transformative power of strategic planning, we delved into Elevate Charter Schools' journey with Executive Director and Founding Principal Ryan Elliott and Third Plateau Senior Associate Katy Lardaro. Session participants gained valuable insights from a compelling strategic planning case study, with practical and applicable takeaways, including... 🔍 Why did Elevate School embark on strategic planning when it did? Persistent strategic questions lingered for years, lacking concrete answers. Caught in day-to-day urgencies, Elevate's leadership craved space to envision the school's future. 🛑 What challenges did Elevate encounter along the way? Balancing great ideas with practical feasibility was key. Adjusting timelines and priorities, and deferring certain initiatives to ensure sustainable progress. 🎯 What did Elevate gain from the process? An external perspective proved invaluable, pinpointing strengths and growth opportunities and bringing a new level of clarity. Strategic visioning enabled Ryan and the team to recognize and leverage all of their unique assets that otherwise may have been taken for granted -- and equipped them with a practical roadmap to guide their future. Our team loved connecting with so many charter school leaders during the conference and witnessing the community's enthusiasm for approaching education through a strategic lens. Thank you for having us! #Education #StrategicPlanning #CharterSchools #LeadershipDevelopment #SocialImpact

Did you know… 72% of teachers say they aren't getting the professional development they need to succeed. 🧑🏫 At mission based charter school I was working with, generic professional development sessions failed to meet the specific needs of the teaching staff. The result? Teachers struggled to adapt to new educational standards, and student achievement plummeted. What was once a common issue—lackluster PD—became critical as the school’s performance declined and staff morale hit an all-time low. Empower your teachers with the right tools for success. Allow them to practice and personalize these new skills. In my book, The 10 Indicators of High Performing Charter Schools, I share how tailored professional development can transform your school. You can my book at TenIndicators.com.