We are stepping forward into a new developmental phase at the Affton School District. As I have written before we will need the support of staff, students, parents, and the rest of the community to be successful. To use a farming analogy, up to this point we have cultivated the ground and planted the seeds. [...]
See how Affton and Bayless School districts scored on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s new system. School districts in Affton and Shrewsbury got a sneak peek at the new accreditation system that will determine school rankings in a few years. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s new system—which evaluates academic achievement, college [...]
A new rating system for Missouri’s school districts will intensify pressure on low-performing school districts to improve, while exposing even the best schools to new scrutiny from parents and the public. For struggling schools, the changes — which begin rolling out this summer — could mean more districts statewide won’t meet minimum standards for state [...]
I am attending the Missouri School Board Association’s annual conference and I am a bit overwhelmed by the volume of quality information being presented. I have been attending this conference as an exhibitor, presenter or participant since the mid 1990′s, and the last couple of years have been the most relevant that I have experienced. [...]
We have had a great start to the 2012 school year! From the opening of the Early Childhood Center to the Missouri Teacher of the Year award, the good news keeps coming. We are very excited about what has been accomplished, but we are even more excited about what is to come. I would like [...]
Most engineers in my generation will not have direct experience with what I will be describing, and that is the shame of technical education in the latter part of the 20th century. Early last century the progression into a productive career was clear. You needed to walk yourself down to a business that built things, [...]
In 2009-2010 our local school district went through an extensive process engaging 44 members of the community in building a Comprehensive School Improvement Plan(CSIP). This process, required for accreditation, can either be an investment, creating a substantive and useful tool as it was for us, or simply another bureaucratic pile of paper sitting on a shelf. What [...]
Refusing To Be A god, part I Check out this article by Rick Reilly on ESPN.com. This young man, Tim Tebow, deserves our respect and support if only 25% of this story is true. I am not talking about rooting for the Denver Broncos in some silly football game. I am talking about supporting a [...]
I have learned to assess educators in my life by a simple but powerful criteria. Are they good for kids or not? The subtlety by which behavior is not good for kids was brought home to me by an experience I had in my professional development. I have a pretty full plate. Trying to finish [...]
It is said that knowledge is power. While this is true, without information there is very little knowledge. In 2008 we were collecting very little information that was not federally or state mandated. This left the board, its curriculum committee and the administration with very little power to change. Without the knowledge of what is [...]
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