Plenary Sessions

CHARLOTTE DANIELSON
The Danielson Group
FOCUS AREA: Evaluation of Classroom Instruction

Making the Most of Teacher Evaluation
In all schools, teacher evaluation is an important component of ensuring teacher quality, with the additional purpose of promoting professional growth. But most educators acknowledge that their approaches fall far short of those objectives and, in truth, achieve neither purpose very well. How can teacher appraisal be improved? How can it be designed in such a way that it ensures teacher quality, and represents a process that teachers find professionally rewarding?

This session will provide a model of differentiated teacher appraisal, based on clear standards of practice and an approach that engages teachers not only in demonstrating their skill, but in those activities that promote professional learning: structured opportunities for self-assessment, reflection on practice and professional conversation.

Charlotte Danielson, an educational consultant based in Princeton, N.J., has taught at all levels, from kindergarten through college, and has worked as an administrator, a curriculum director, and a staff developer. She has specialized as a consultant in aspects of teacher quality and evaluation, curriculum planning, performance assessment, and professional development. Danielson has also trained practitioners in aspects of instruction and assessment and the design of instruments and procedures for teacher evaluation. She holds advanced degrees (in philosophy, economics, and educational administration) from Oxford and Rutgers Universities. He books include: Enhancing Professional Practice: A framework for teaching; Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice; Enhancing Student Achievement, a Framework for School Improvement; and Teacher Leadership that Strengthens the Profession.

ANTHONY MUHAMMAD
New Frontier 21
FOCUS AREA: School Culture

Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff Division
This session provides the framework for understanding dynamic relationships within school cultures and ensuring a positive environment that supports the changes necessary to improve learning for all students. Anthony Muhammad explores many aspects of human behavior, social conditions, and history to reveal best practices for transforming toxic cultures into healthy ones. Drawing from an extensive study of 34 schools from around the U.S., he introduces readers to four typical groups of educators:

• The Believers are those who are committed to the learning of each student and who operate under the assumption that their efforts can make an enormous difference in that learning.
• The Fundamentalists are preservers of the status quo.
• The Tweeners are members of a staff who are typically new to a school and are attempting to learn its prevailing culture.
• The Survivors are those who have been so overwhelmed by the stress and demands of the profession that their primary goal becomes making it through the day, the week, and the year.
  
  

TODD WHITAKER
Bayh College of Education
FOCUS AREA: Leading for Change

Leading for Change: Nine Strategies to Bring Everybody on Board
Change is inevitable; growth is optional. In a rapidly changing world, educators and their leaders must choose growth—for themselves personally and for the organizations they serve—and determine how to achieve that growth. The journey can seem daunting, whether following a well-worn path or venturing into new territory. It helps to remember that others have made similar choices and taken similar journeys, and we can learn from them. Learn from Todd Whitaker why the odds of success are greater when everyone—each person on the school improvement team, each member of the curriculum committee, and every teacher working to improve classroom instruction—understands the dynamics of change.

A leading presenter in the field of education, Todd Whitaker’s message about the importance of teaching has resonated with hundreds of thousands of educators worldwide. A professor of educational leadership at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., he is one of the nation’s leading authorities on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness and has spent his career researching and studying effective teachers and principals. Whitaker is a former principal at the middle through high school levels. He has written 24 books, including the national best seller, What Great Teachers Do Differently.

ALAN NOVEMBER
November Learning
FOCUS AREA: Technology Supporting Accountability and Communication

Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning Through Technology
A powerful new culture of empowered teaching and fearless learning is emerging. Access to more timely information and communication tools can empower educators to focus on the individual learning needs of their students. These same tools can lead to more collegiality, build stronger community relationships and empower students to be more self-directed. This workshop presents clear examples of how this new culture has been achieved.

Main points include:

• Increased collegiality: shared best practices
• Increase student ownership of learning
• Technology aligned to curriculum
• Authentic work
• More rigorous and motivating assignments
• Classroom to learning community
  
  
  

For Alan November, what’s important is the way we use technology, not the technology itself. His ideas about global communication, collaboration, assessment, and critical thinking have inspired schools, governments and corporations around the world to rethink and redefine their approach to education and technology. November’s personable and friendly nature, coupled with astute observations about the economy, education and technology make him an extremely popular, entertaining and engaging presenter. With an uncanny ability to tap into the needs and energy of his audiences, November’s presentation will be thought-provoking, creative and motivating. His background as a dorm counselor for at-risk students, classroom teacher, technology coordinator, alternative school director, city planner, new school designer, university lecturer and years of consulting around the world give him a breadth of understanding and educational experience.

DOUGLAS REEVES
The Leadership and Learning Center
FOCUS AREA: Leading for Change

Finding Your Leadership Focus: What Matters Most for Student Results
One of the most respected experts in the field of assessments and standards, Douglas Reeves will address a major challenge faced by today’s school leaders: an ever-growing load of programs and initiatives. Drawing on recent research findings, Reeves will provide you with explicit guidelines for how school leaders can improve their most critical leadership decisions by simultaneously engaging in three essential strategies: monitoring teaching and leadership practices, building high degrees of efficacy among staff members, and focusing on a smaller number of priorities.

Douglas Reeves, who has worked with education, business, nonprofit, and government organizations throughout the world, is the founder of The Leadership and Learning Center. He is the author of more than 20 books and many articles on leadership and organizational effectiveness. He has twice been named to the Harvard University Distinguished Authors Series and the Brock International Laureate for his contributions to education. Reeves also received the Parents Choice Award for his writing for children and parents. He is author of The Learning Leader: How to Focus School Improvement for Better Results, Making Standards Work: How to Implement Standards-Based Assessments in the Classroom, School, and District, and Assessing Educational Leaders: Evaluating Performance for Improved Individual and Organizational Results.

NAESP | 1615 Duke Street | Alexandria, VA 22314 | 800-386-2377 or 703-684-3345 | Corporate Partners | Home | Contact Us