Posted on Tuesday, February 25, 2003
The Westminster College Department of Graduate Education and the Drinko Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning offers a series of education workshops for area principals and superintendents.
The workshops focus on student performance and accountability systems in response to the challenges of state-sponsored student achievements tests recently enacted in the "No Child Left Behind" legislation.
Education leaders from Cranberry, Ellwood City, Erie, Farrell, Greenville, Grove City, Lakeview, Laurel, Mercer, Mohawk, Neshannock, New Castle, Penncrest, Poland (OH), Sharon, Shenango, Southwest Butler, Union, Valley Grove, Warren (OH), and Wattsburg, as well as two Intermediate Units, have attended the first two workshops.
The third session, scheduled for March 6, will focus on issues related to the evaluation of student academic performance from the perspective of "high-stakes, single indictor tactic" and "multiple indicators." This session includes a presentation on the development and implementation of internal accountability systems.
"Development of Coherent Instruction Frameworks," scheduled April 10, will center on the changing instructional practices to address the challenges of "sustained improvement over time," and includes a review of scientifically-based research on teaching strategies, specifically a K-12 perspective in reading and mathematics.
The last workshop, "Development of a School or School District Marketing Plan," is planned May 1. The focus is on the need for school leaders to establish strategies to market their schools through more systematic and aggressive tactics. School districts will be shown how multiple indicators of student performance can be used to balance state performance reports.
Openings for the final two workshops are still available, and Act 48 credit applies for all participants. Lunch is included in the fee for each workshop. For more information, contact Dr. Samuel A. Farmerie, professor of education emeritus and coordinator of the event at Westminster College, at (724) 946-7053 or e-mail farmersa@westminster.edu.
