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Legislative Education Staff Network

Putting An Effective Leader in Every School:  A Role for State Legislatures

LESN Fall Seminar
Hyatt Regency Hotel
San Antonio, Texas
December 8-9, 2006

Program Agenda -- Presentations and Handouts

All sessions held in the Pecan Room 

Friday, December 8

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm	Welcome and Opening Comments Julie Bell, Education Group Director, National Conference of State Legislatures Charles Merritt, Vice President of External Relations, Education Commission of the States  Jessica Schwartz, Senior Communications Officer, The Wallace Foundation Doug Berg, Co-Chair, Legislative Education Staff Network Fiscal Analyst, Minnesota House of Representatives Wes Keller, Co-Chair, Legislative Education Staff Network Legislative Aide, Senator Fred Dyson, Alaska
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm	View from the States Policymakers and stakeholders often learn the most about emerging issues, including what issues states are facing and strategies for tackling the inevitable challenges to problem resolution, through direct conversations with their colleagues from other states. This interactive session will provide each state with the opportunity to share its experiences and perspectives on important issues related to school leadership. Moderator: Katy Anthes, Partner, The Third Mile Group
3:30 pm – 3:45 pm	Break
3:45 pm – 5:15 pm	Changing Role of School Principals and Superintendents The role of the school principal is vastly different than that of even 10 or 20 years ago, changes that have rapidly accelerated since standards-based reform began in the early 1990s. Principals are increasingly required to meet state expectations and satisfy public confidence.  This session explores the new demands on school principals and the necessity for state and district policymakers to support high-quality school leadership. Facilitator: Doug Berg, Co-Chair, Legislative Education Staff Network Fiscal Analyst, Minnesota House of Representatives  Speakers:  Katy Anthes, Partner, The Third Mile Group [PowerPoint Presentation] Linda Paul, Superintendent, Aztec School District, Aztec, New Mexico  [PowerPoint Presentation] Melonie B. Iglehart-Hammons, Principal, Sam Houston High School, San Antonio, Texas [PowerPoint Presentation]
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm	Dinner and Discussion Building A Cohesive Leadership System Can school leaders really make a big difference in improving teaching and learning?  Landmark research tells us that leadership is second only to classroom instruction among all school-related factors that contribute to what students learn at school – and a critical element in making school reform succeed.  What has been less clear, however, is what it takes to develop, place and support qualified leaders in our nation’s schools. Since 2000, The Wallace Foundation has worked closely with a select number of states and districts to help them develop more effective training for leaders, and more supportive policies that allow them to succeed in improving student achievement.  Richard Laine will discuss what the Foundation has learned and how these lessons can help states establish a more coordinated approach to develop leadership policies that benefits all students. Speaker: Richard Laine, Director of Education, The Wallace Foundation

Saturday, December 9

8:00 am – 8:30 am	Breakfast
8:0 am – 10:00 am	Resource Allocation The focus of this session is to identify strategies, policies and practices for more effective use of resources and incentives. Discussion will also focus on how to minimize those strategies and actions that currently exist that are counterproductive to effective leadership.  This session is designed to prompt staffers to consider state and local policies that may either enhance or restrict education leaders’ ability to make effective decisions to maximize student success or offer incentives for productively allocating fiscal or human resources.  Facilitator: Richard Laine, Director of Education, The Wallace Foundation Speakers: Sarah Kirby, Program Officer, Education Leadership and Evaluation, Texas Ann Duffy, Director, Leadership Institute for School Improvement, Georgia
10:15 am – 11:45 am	Assessing Leadership Effectiveness Growing pressure to increase student achievement, particularly the passage of No Child Left Behind, has generated new thinking about the role of principal evaluation and assessment in boosting individual and school performance.  A wealth of information has been published on certification policies regarding licensure requirements that both certify and prepare highly qualified school leaders. While still unstudied and unproven, these "best practices" reforms offer promising avenues for improvement. This session will highlight the growing need for a principal evaluation and explore some of the principal assessment instruments. Facilitator: Jan Yamane, Steering Committee member, Legislative Education Staff Network and Deputy Auditor, Hawaii Legislature Speakers: Erika Hunt, Director, State Action for Education Leadership Project, Illinois  [PowerPoint Presentation] Lee Ann Dumas, Ed. D., Director of Educator Excellence, Division of Educator Quality and Standards, Texas Education Agency  [PowerPoint Presentation]  Jerel Booker, JD, Office of Educator Excellence, Division of Educator Quality and Standards, Texas Education Agency    [PowerPoint Presentation]
11:45 am – 1:00 pm	Lunch and Business Meeting Moderators: Doug Berg, Co-Chair, Legislative Education Staff Network Fiscal Analyst, Minnesota House of Representatives Wes Keller, Co-Chair, Legislative Education Staff Network Legislative Aide, Senator Fred Dyson, Alaska
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm	Data-Driven Decision-Making for School Leaders and State Policymakers The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to develop sophisticated data collection systems to track student progress.  Are they collecting relevant, useful data?  Are they making it available to policymakers and school leaders in a timely way to better inform their decisions?  This session focuses on how state and school leaders can be better armed with relevant, credible data to improve student achievement and teacher performance. Facilitator: Frances Ramirez-Maestas, Steering Committee member, Legislative Education Staff Network Deputy Director, Legislative Education Study Committee, New Mexico Speakers: Aimee Guidera, Director, Data Quality Campaign  [PowerPoint Presentation] Ann Duffy, Director, Leadership Institute for School Improvement, Georgia [PowerPoint Presentation] Peter Winograd,  Director, Office of Education Accountability at the Department of Finance and Administration, New Mexico  [PowerPoint Presentation]
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm	Closing Discussion Sara Vitaska, Education Policy Associate, National Conference of State Legislatures Charles Merritt, Vice President of External Relations, Education Commission of the States Doug Berg, Co-Chair, Legislative Education Staff Network and Fiscal Analyst, Minnesota House of Representatives Wes Keller, Co-Chair, Legislative Education Staff Network and Legislative Aide, Senator Fred Dyson, Alaska