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Summer learning — July 18

By Megan Gildow | Friday, July 18, 2008, 09:40 AM

While research indicates that good self-esteem will not have a direct impact on student achievement, studies show that it will improve children’s social skills and happiness. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, children with good self-esteem act independently, assume responsibility, take pride in their successes, handle frustration, emotions and peer pressure well, try new things and help others.

We’re just about a month away from the start of the school day and partnershipforlearning.org, a non-profit group dedicated to encouraging collaboration between schools and communities, can help you build you child’s self-esteem in thirty days.

Write each of the tasks on a slip of paper and choose one each day for the next month. Some of the tasks are very easy, like a hug and an “I love you” each day, and they all encourage quality family time.

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What do they do?

By Megan Gildow | Thursday, July 17, 2008, 10:17 PM

Ever wondered what the state board of education actually does?

You’re not alone. A lot of residents don’t understand the functions of the 19-member board. Heck, a lot of people have no idea who their representative to the state board is. And it wouldn’t shock me to learn there are people out there who don’t know the state board exists.

There isn’t a lot of media coverage unless the board is doing something really significant because its functions can sometimes seem very removed from local districts, students and residents. A lot of the state board decisions aren’t covered in mainstream media until it trickles down to the local level and we see how it will affect districts.

Two of the state board members, Susan Haverkos (who represents the region that includes Montgomery and Butler counties) and Colleen Grady (who represents the region that includes Holmes and Medina counties) have launched a blog.

So far, the two board members have done a good job of explaining their functions clearly and leaving out the jargon.

I’ve thought for a while now that the state board should be more proactive with letting constituents know what they are doing. Most people have no idea what goes on the second Monday and Tuesday of every month in Columbus at the state board meetings. And I blogged earlier about how crucial good communications are.

What do you think of the state board blog?

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Commenting issues

By Megan Gildow | Thursday, July 17, 2008, 10:15 PM

I’ve had a couple people tell me recently that they are experiencing trouble commenting on the blog.

If you are unable to comment, please send me an email with a description of what happened so I can pass it on to our Web team and hopefully get this sorted out.

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Schools and communication

By Megan Gildow | Thursday, July 17, 2008, 09:23 AM

In three years of covering education, I’ve been the primary reporter for 15 public school districts and worked with about 10 other districts occasionally.

Communications is one of the most common complaints in almost all of these districts — rural, suburban and urban, rich and poor.

In today’s paper, I wrote about Springfield City Schools’ decision to contract with a local marketing consultant firm after about three years without a communications director due to budget woes. Over the next six months, Kaleidoscope, Inc. will develop and implement communication strategies for the district. The district will pay the company $14,000 over the life of the contract.

That’s a bargain. Springfield is one of only two urban school systems in the state that does not have a communications position. Having someone on staff would run the district anywhere from about $35,000 to $70,000 in salary, plus the cost of benefits.

It’s difficult to estimate how common it is for districts to have someone on the payroll responsible for communications specifically because those positions do not require a license. I’d estimate at least one-third of the districts in Ohio have a communications officer.

Typically, that person would be responsible for press releases, answering media questions, community relations like newsletters, internal communications with staff and, in some districts, marketing.

Twenty years ago, communications was much simpler for districts and a lot of systems didn’t have need for a communications officer.

Not anymore. Taxpayers and parents are holding schools accountable for results and spending more than ever before. Good communication is crucial for district’s to get the community’s support.

Yesterday I talked to Karen Kleinz, associate director of the National School Public Relations Association, who said that stakeholders are demanding more communication today.

“Technology’s making it so much easier for people to communicate so that has also added a whole new level to what we do in communications,” she said.

And while technology is certainly a major force behind the call for more and better communication, there’s more at work here than just that.

Continue reading "Schools and communication"...

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Summer learning — July 17

By Megan Gildow | Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 11:09 PM

Education is constantly evolving. Take, for example math requirements for students. When I was in high school the requirement was three years of math. The Class of 2014 will have to complete four credits to graduate. And I graduated just six years ago.

Because requirements are getting tougher and students are learning materia, like Algebra, at a younger age than in previous years. That can make it tough to determine what skills are at the appropriate grade level for your child to practice to avoid the summer slide. The Ohio Department of Education offers downloadable guides on academic content standards for parents. The guide is available for grades K-8 and covers a variety of subjects (math science, social studies, etc.) and provides concrete skills to work on with your child. You can choose the guide for the grade your child was in for 2007-08 to review last year’s lessons of skip ahead to next year’s for a head start.

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ODE administrator resigns

By Megan Gildow | Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 10:31 AM

A top level administrator announced Wednesday he will resign from the Ohio Department of Education, the fourth to do so this year.

Paolo DeMaria, associate superintendent of the Office of School Options and Finance, has accepted a position as the vice chancellor of higher education. He announced his resignation in an email sent to ODE staff.

DeMaria follows state superintendent Susan Tave Zelman who announced In May that she resigned her position effective Dec. 1, after Gov. Ted Strickland publicly criticized her management of the ODE.

Mitch Chester, senior associate superintendent, resigned in January to take a position as state superintendent in Massachusetts. Executive Director of the Office of Community Schools also resigned in January to take a post with the Franklin County Educational Services Center.

So DeMaria is going to work in the office of higher education Chancellor Eric Fingerhut — the man Strickland called a “visionary leader” in between his jabs at Zelman and the type of leader he wants to see heading up the ODE.

As I mentioned yesterday, the turnover at the state level will likely affect local districts across the state in one way or another. Especially if it is a “visionary leader” like Fingerhut, who has proposed significant changes to Ohio’s higher education network to be implemented over the next four years.

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A superintendent to call their own

By Megan Gildow | Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 10:31 AM

Lots of superintendent searches happening in the region right now.

In Clark County, Northwestern is about halfway through its superintendent search with interviews scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday for the five finalists. And as I mentioned previously, Springfield schools will launch its national search in the fall.

Dayton Public, one of the Big Eight urban school districts in Ohio, is also looking for a new superintendent and another Big Eight, Cincinnati, just started its search over again after determining that neither of the finalists selected were a good fit. The board there had originally planned to have someone in place Aug. 1 then decided to hire an interim with a new goal of having someone in the position by the end of 2008.

And with Ohio Superintendent Susan Zelman’s announcement last spring that she would leave her post — which came as no surprise after the oh-so-public complaints of Gov. Ted Strickland— the state board of education has launched a search as well.

According to a release from the state, the board has determined through interviews with “stakeholders” that they are looking for these qualities in the next superintendent:

The search firm also presented that the next superintendent must:

Build consensus for education reform
Be “student centered” and have a strong understanding of public education, and have the desire, passion, energy and charisma to be a visible statewide advocate and “cheerleader” for public education;
Have strong administrative skills to manage a department of 650+ people and an operating budget of $11.2 billion;
Be an independent thinker capable of building consensus and possess the necessary political skills to negotiate compromise to bring together stakeholders on key education issues; and
Lead and effectively build trust and confidence in Ohio’s public education system among many key groups such as citizens, local boards of educations, teachers and superintendents.

A lot of people don’t pay much attention to the state board or the state superintendent position.

But this search is definitely something to watch.

Continue reading "A superintendent to call their own"...

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