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Vermont School Boards Association
Vermont Superintendents Associations
2007 Annual Fall Conference
Capitol Plaza Hotel,
Rural
Schools in a Global Society
AGENDA
Thursday,
8:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast
VSA Fall Business Meeting
2007 Annual Fall Conference
Capitol Plaza Hotel
Rural
Schools in a Global Society
AGENDA
Friday,
7:30 a.m. Breakfast Registration and Continental
Breakfast
Jump Rope Demonstration
Team
Conference Welcome and
Recognition of Conference Partners
a. Policy
Governance Networking: Progress Report and Opportunities for Interested
District Leaders – Policy Governance Facilitators
b. What’s Working for Wellness
in Schools? – Jill Goodroe, New
England Dairy & Food Council - Dorigen Keeney, Vermont Campaign to
End Childhood Hunger
c. Highlighting New VSBA Model Policies and Procedures –
d. Negotiating
a Single, Supervisory Union Teacher Contract - Attorneys Dennis Wells and Chris Leopold
e. Superintendent
Evaluation and Board Self-Assessment –
Bob McNamara, Laura Soares, John Everitt, June Rosenberg,
Jane Low, and Winton Goodrich
Conference Workshop Descriptions
Building Learning Communities – Keynote Address Thursday
We now have tools to build and
strengthen our learning communities. We have the opportunity to provide our
students with authentic assessment relationships over the web that can help
dramatically improve student motivation. We can take advantage of the
communication tools the Internet provides, such as blogs, Instant Messenger,
video conference or email. Research suggests many students are more willing to
ask for help and accept criticism when they are online.
Cultivating
a World-Class Work Ethic – Thursday 1:15pm
In an economy where global
outsourcing is commonplace, students must be prepared to participate in an
increasingly competitive job market. In many ways they are in competition with
bright energetic, hardworking students from all over the world. In this
workshop Alan discusses some of the ways we can empower our students, help them
build a strong work ethic and develop self-directed learning skills. We should
not underestimate what our students are capable of achieving.
Conversation with the Commissioner - Vermont Education Commissioner
Richard Cate will discuss the Report on Governance,
statewide calendar, the future of education in Vermont among other timely and
important topics
What the
Research Says About Rural Education in America - Keynote Address Friday
This presentation will provide a
broad overview of research findings about key factors influencing the
effectiveness of rural education.
Following the overview, we’ll draw on current data to consider the
context and status of rural education in Vermont, relating characteristics of
the state’s public schools and districts to the research literature and making
comparisons with rural schools and districts in other states. Results of the data review will be used to
suggest that there are educational virtues in rural Vermont that should be
intentionally supported and sustained by policymakers.
Rural
Education Research and the Vermont Policy Context: What Does Consolidation
Really Bring?
- Friday 10:00am
In this interactive session,
we’ll work to develop more explicitly the links between research-based
conclusions about effective rural education and the current educational policy
context in Vermont. Attentive to the
Vermont context, we’ll narrow our focus to look closely at policy issues
relevant to school and school district consolidation. Specifically, we’ll review the research
literature investigating the influence of school and district size on student
achievement outcomes; we’ll consider the extent to which cost savings have (and
have not) been realized in states that have sought increased fiscal efficiency
through consolidation; we’ll look at how district consolidation has served as a
shoehorn to school consolidation in these states; and we’ll explore the
implications of consolidation for local governance and the well-being of rural
communities.
What’s Working for Wellness in Schools? – Friday 11:00am - Noon
A team from Vermont’s Action for
Healthy Kids will present highlights from their 2007-2008 goals and objectives
with a focus on the new “Healthy Schools Resource: Nutrition and Physical
Activity.” A panel composed of
administrators in schools where wellness is working will share examples of how
easy it is to integrate nutrition, physical activity and wellness across the
curriculum and throughout the school day.