|
|
Latest News
|
ArkASPA Hosts HR Boot Camp
The Arkansas Association of School Personnel Administrators will sponsor a Boot Camp September 9 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. at the AAEA Building for individuals who will be serving as district-level personnel administrators for the first time this year. There is no cost for the Boot Camp and lunch will be provided. This workshop will occur the afternoon before the New Superintendents Workshop on September 10.
As one of the constituent groups within the AAEA that focuses on this important area of school operations, ArkASPA can provide important information that will enable you to more effectively deal with the important decisions you will face.
Topics to be discussed could include state and federal laws dealing with personnel, the annual school and district accreditation report (Cycle 2 report in APSCN), the Statement of Assurance, course codes, highly qualified teachers, records retention, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, sexual harassment and other topics of interest.
For those who are planning to attend the New Superintendent’s Workshop on September 10, ArkASPA hopes you will come a bit early and attend the Boot Camp. So that we can get an idea of how many attendees to prepare for, please RSVP no later than August 31 by faxing the registration form (below) to AAEA at 501-372-2807.
Name__________________________________________
Position _____________________________________
School District_______________________________
Email_________________________________________
Nominations Solicited for Elementary Principal of the Year
The National Association of Elementary School Principals has developed a program to recognize the important role of elementary school principals. In Arkansas the program is administered by the Arkansas Association of Elementary School Principals (AAESP). The program recognizes an outstanding principal in each state who has truly made a difference and brought about positive change in his/her school.
Ideal candidates demonstrate leadership and organizational skills that have reached beyond their buildings. They instill in others a sense of purpose and move all in the school community close to fulfilling the school's mission.
These candidates demonstrate exceptional skills in communicating with others in an effective and open manner. They recognize the importance of helping others realize their potential.
A National Distinguished Principal serves as a symbol of the work of all elementary principals who pursue excellence and exceed the requirements of their jobs.
Nominations are solicited from school districts throughout Arkansas. Any principal, superintendent, teacher, principal’s organization, parent group or citizen’s group who feels that a particular principal exemplifies quality leadership may nominate that principal for consideration.
The nominee must be a practicing elementary principal, have at least five years of experience, is an active member of AAESP and is involved in professional organizations. Principals who hold a state office of president, president elect, immediate past president, NAESP representative or who have been recognized previously as a National Distinguished Principal cannot be nominated.
All nominations must be submitted by August 29, 2008. Return the form below to: AAESP, 815 Bishop Street, Little Rock, AR 72202 or fax to 501.372.2807. Each nominee will receive an application form that must be completed and returned to AAESP by September 12, 2008.
The outstanding principal will be selected by a committee of principals appointed by the AAESP board and chaired by the NAESP state representative. The committee includes past recipients of the award and other principals.
The membership of this committee will remain confidential until the date of the selection meeting.
The principal with the highest rating will be recognized as the Arkansas Elementary Principal of the Year at the AAESP fall conference October 10, 2008, and will represent AAESP at the 2009 National Distinguished Principal Awards program to be held in Washington, DC.
To nominate a principal please send his/her name, school district, address and the name of the person, group or association submitting the nomination to AAESP, 815 Bishop, Little Rock, AR 72202 no later than August 29, 2008.
NASSP Seeking Nominations for Top Asssistant Principal
NASSP seeking nominations for top assistant principal
For the fifth consecutive year Virco Inc. and the National Association of Secondary School Principals will sponsor a recognition program to honor the nation’s top assistant principals.
Any assistant principal, vice principal, associate principal or dean of a public or private high school is eligible for nomination as a state assistant principal of the year candidate. Colleagues, students or members of the community can nominate an assistant principal by encouraging the completion of an application. Applicants must be members of NASSP and their state affiliate association.
All applicants must have been an assistant principal at one or more high schools for a minimum of two years. Each candidate must be an assistant principal at the time of selection as state assistant principal of the year and through February 1 of his or her term.
Each candidate will demonstrate success in the following areas: collaborative leadership, curriculum, instruction and assessment and personalization. It is not recognition of service at retirement or a program to reward current state or national leaders. Current members of the NASSP Board of Directors are ineligible.
Candidates must fully complete the Virco Inc./NASSP State Assistant Principal of the Year Application. Please contact the Arkansas Association of Secondary School Principals at 501.372.1691 for an application, or it may be downloaded from the NASSP web site (http://www.nassp.org). All applications should be typed and received by the AASSP no later than October 15, 2008. Send completed applications to AASSP, 815 Bishop Street, Little Rock, AR 72202.
A two day recognition program will take place April 24-26, 2009 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA where honorees will participate in professional development and networking activities with their peers.
State and national winners will be honored at a black-tie event during this program. The national winner will be awarded $5,000 which can be used in their school or for personal professional development.
Fulbright Exchange Program
The U.S. Department of State's Fulbright Teacher and Administrator Exchange Program invites applications from U.S. administrators and teachers at K-12 schools as well as from two-year and four-year colleges, who wish to participate in teacher exchange abroad during the 2009-2010 academic year.
The Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers these exchanges under the Fulbright program, the flagship exchange program of the U.S. government that promotes mutual understanding between citizens of the United States and other countries. Hundreds of thousands of Americans and citizens of other countries have participated since the inception of the Fulbright Program in 1946.
This year, the program is offering teacher exchanges in many countries worldwide and administrator exchange opportunities in Mexico and Argentina.
The program features direct one-to-one exchanges and offers advantages to participating institutions. Schools and communities gain the expertise and perspective of the visiting exchange teacher and, subsequently, share the experiences of their returning faculty members.
Approximately 400 educators take part in the program each year. U.S. and international teachers continue to be paid by their home institutions while exchanging classrooms, usually for a full academic year. For the individual educator, this is the ultimate professional development opportunity.
Administrator exchanges consist of reciprocal three- to six-week visits to each administrator's institution. The U.S. administrator works with his or her foreign counterpart as a team in shadowing and sharing information on administrative duties. The program also offers three summer seminars for faculty of Latin, Greek, Italian or the classics. Participating countries for the academic year 2009-2010 include Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and Uruguay.
U.S. educators interested in participating must be U.S. citizens, have a full-time teaching or administrative position, be in at least the third year of full-time employment (for teaching and administrative exchanges), be fluent in English and have not participated in a Fulbright program longer than eight weeks in the past five years or an eight week or shorter Fulbright program in the past two years. In some countries, demonstrated fluency in the appropriate language is required. The Presidentially appointed J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board will select participants.
Applications must be postmarked no later than October 15, 2008. Requests for applications and general information should be directed to Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program, Attention: FCS, 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Suite 320, Washington, DC, 20024; phone 800-726-0479; e-mail: fulbright@grad.usda.gov; Website: www.fulbrightexchanges.org
AAMLA Annual Conference September 21-22
Whether you are a middle level administrator or a middle level classroom teacher, we’ve got a
conference for you! Bring your school team and join us in Little Rock September 21-22 for the ninth annual conference of the Arkansas Association of Middle Level Administrators.
Back by popular demand, Dr. Scott McLeod will lead the conference sessions. For those of you who missed his earlier visit to Arkansas, Dr. McLeod is coordinator of the Educational Administration program at Iowa State University and director of CASTLE, the nation’s only center dedicated to the technology needs of school leaders. In the past year alone McLeod has been named as a Leader in Learning by the cable industry; an Emerging Leader by Phi Delta Kappa International; and one of the National School Boards Association’s 20 to Watch.
Beginning Sunday, September 21, at 1 p.m. McLeod will discuss what data-driven schooling looks like by revisiting the themes from his last visit of data, instruction, leadership and change. If you missed his previous presentations, this session is an excellent way to catch up quickly. If you were in attendance last year, it should serve as a great review and a reminder of the things you’ve forgotten that you should be doing! Bring your school team so everyone can be on the same page Monday!
Monday’s session kicks off at 8 a.m. with a look at data-driven and beyond. McLeod will spend the morning and early afternoon diving deeper into the themes and concepts from the day before, with a particular emphasis on aligned assessment and technology tools to support student progress monitoring. Several Arkansas schools will present on how they are using data-driven technologies to improve student learning outcomes. The afternoon will conclude with an eye-opening presentation and conversation on the need to move beyond current data-driven accountability paradigms.
Make plans now to be at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Little Rock September 21-22 for this outstanding professional development activity. There will be ample opportunities for discussion and interaction with Dr. McLeod, your school team and other conference attendees.
Registration information will be provided to middle level administrators a little closer to the event date.
Spring Into Action, Join AAEA
Forms are in the mail to renew your membership in the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators for the 2008-2009 school year. We know that membership blossoms when we reach out to our colleagues. Help us grow stronger—join now and recruit a new member!
Don’t miss this opportunity to take advantage of this supportive network of school administrators!
|
|
|
