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Leadership for Student Success



Wednesday, Jan. 23
8:30-9:45 pm

Steps to a Healthier School through Community Partnerships

Discover how your school can combat the obesity epidemic by engaging and energizing your community to create a culture that supports student health both in and out of school.
Cumberland School District

Learning Board Leadership from the Iowa Lighthouse Research

In this session, you will get an overview of the Lighthouse Research Project conducted in Iowa that identified what school boards are doing in high-achieving districts. In addition, you will hear from districts participating in the WASB multi-state Lighthouse Research Project. Learn how board beliefs matter and how, through governance, you can affect conditions for school renewal that lead to higher student achievement.
Green Bay Area, Kaukauna Area, Elk Mound, Brown Deer and Wauwatosa

Conducting a District Self-Assessment

The five characteristics of successful districts make up the foundation of the district self-assessment process, which is used to focus a reflective lens on multiple aspects of district functioning. The five characteristics are strongly connected to research and were cooperatively created by a joint team of DPI, CESA and district personnel. Districts that have conducted a self-assessment have highlighted strategies for supporting their neediest schools, improved communication among stakeholders, developed tools for strategic planning and found ways to prioritize funding for schools not fully meeting district goals.
Department of Public Instruction

WASB New Delegate Orientation

School board and Cooperative Educational Service Agency (CESA) delegates who are serving for the first time are invited to participate in an orientation session to discuss their role as delegates and the procedures of the WASB Delegate Assembly.
WASB Legislative Services

Introduction to Facilities Management and the Facility Manager Certification Program

The management of school facilities is more than changing a light bulb. Learn what your school facilities director needs to address in today’s educational environment and how the WASBO Facility Manager Certification Program can provide professional development to stay on top of current mandates and regulations.
Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials

Facebook, MySpace, Internet Plagiarism: Keeping Internet Use Policies Current

Are your district’s Internet use policies up to date with today’s changing laws and student trends? Hear about applicable legal considerations and learn what to include in your district’s acceptable use policies. Learn about online blogs and social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook and find out how you can be on the cutting edge of policymaking by including Internet cheating and plagiarism in your district’s policies.
WASB Policy Services

Wednesday, Jan. 23
1:30-2:45 pm

Public Schools and the New Economy

Discover how the Southeastern Wisconsin Schools Alliance (SWSA) has worked with economist David Ward to examine the economic contributions of schools in Southeast Wisconsin. Find out about the investment in public schools, the economic impact of that investment and the human capital contributions to the New Economy. Learn about the direct and critical link between schools and a vibrant regional economy.
Southeastern Wisconsin Schools Alliance

SAA Legislative Update

The fallout from the recently concluded state budget session is still fresh in our minds. The challenges facing public education are not getting any easier, and legislators are always proposing legislation that affects school management. Attend this session for a thorough and current briefing. Time will be provided for questions and answers.
Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials

High Poverty, High Achievement: Effective Practices for Results

Learn how goals established by the board of education led the Adams-Friendship Area School District to help low-income students reach new levels of achievement. Discuss research that has identified the factors and effective school practices that have a positive effect on student achievement.
Adams-Friendship Area School District

District Accreditation: Be Sure Your District is Excellent by Design

Learn the importance of a systems approach to ensure that all district staff, processes and operations are working in concert to support student learning. Discuss how accreditation can move your leadership beyond compliance to excellence and validation of the connection between leadership and results.
Wisconsin North Central Association, a division of AdvancEd

Selection of a District Administrator/Superintendent:
A School Board’s Strong Influence on a School District

The selection of a district administrator is one of the most important decisions a school board will make. The WASB search services can assist you in this process by addressing your district’s unique local circumstances while helping the board prepare for a new administrator. It is important you take time to learn about the search services provided by your organization and other groups.
WASB Search Services

21st Century Skills: Is Your District Preparing Students for the Demands of the Future?

Learn about gaps that exist between the state’s current educational model and the demands of the 21st century. Discuss efforts to identify and quantify these gaps in student expectations and prepare districts for the future.
CESA #1

Personnel Files-Legal Access

What are the three key variables to identify in regard to every request for access to personnel information? What are the legal lines on “rights to access” clearly drawn and where are the gray areas? Should school board members have any concerns about their access to and review of material in personnel files? Learn answers to these compelling questions.
WASB Employee Relations

Thursday, Jan. 24
9:00-10:15 am

Confronting the Ethics of School Boards and Superintendents

The Ethics Committee of the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators (WASDA) surveyed district administrators throughout the state to identify ethical issues confronting administrators and school board members. The survey specifically identified ethical issues that school administrators and school board members deal with on a regular basis and the best ethical practices of school administrators and board members. The focus of this presentation will be on confidentiality, board roles and personal agendas. The presentation will include a panel of school district administrators and school board members.
WASDA

Relationships, Rigor and Results

Discover how high-performing leadership teams build an urgency for change, a strong network of support for students and adults and strategically align resources to realize learning results. Learn how the West Bend School District is using the Baldridge Framework to realize its vision for learning excellence while sustaining efficient operations.
West Bend School District

Policy Governance 101: A Panel Discussion

Gain an overview of Policy Governance by listening to school board members and administrators who use this model as a guide for governing. Panelists will present the benefits of aligning disciplined board governance with student performance. School leaders will leave with a general understanding of the components of Policy Governance and how they can use policy to directly influence student performance.
Chetek School District

Professional Development Accountability: Considerations for School Board Members

Find out how school board members can oversee quality professional development. Learn the foundational knowledge and skills necessary in planning, implementing and evaluating professional development programming that can have a positive effect on student learning and teachers. Discover effective strategies to strengthen your leadership role in advocating for quality and professional development results.
CESA #9

Consensus Bargaining

Some refer to consensus bargaining as “win-win” bargaining. Although consensus bargaining can produce “win -win” results and can be a means to accomplishing your district’s bargaining goals, consensus bargaining is not for every school district. This session will examine whether the consensus bargaining process is right for your district, strategies and tactics that work in consensus bargaining and when and how your district might be able to use consensus bargaining to achieve a “win-win” settlement.
WASB Employee Relations

Leading Schools into the Future During Uncertain Times — Implementation Begins

Are schools designed to keep pace with the challenges of a global economy, equipping students for success in the 21st century? Kettle Moraine spent 17 months engaged in scenario planning as they worked to transform their educational delivery system to better and more efficiently meet the needs of all students. Hear an overview of their process and engage in a lively conversation regarding roadblocks and next steps to educational transformation.
Kettle Moraine School District

School Board Authorizers of Public Charter Schools

School boards have choices, too. Those school districts that expand educational choices and become open platforms for development of innovative learning models and new schools will have a distinct advantage. Learn in this session why and how school boards are embracing chartering to strategically position their district to better serve every student. The session will address such topics as school-site autonomy and accountability, interplay between open enrollment and charter school laws, a school board’s oversight role as a charter school authorizer, and finances
and budgets.
Waukesha School District, Sparta Area School District, Appleton Area School District, Department of Public Instruction and the Wisconsin Charter Schools Association

Thursday, Jan. 24
3:45-5:00 pm

Wisconsin’s Public Schools: Past, Present and Future

Learn how enrollment decline will affect school districts across the state. Find out about the demographic trends behind recent enrollment changes and learn about future scenarios for public school enrollment over the next 10 years.
University of Wisconsin-Madison Applied Population Lab

Strategic Priorities in a Site-Based Governance Model

School boards and superintendents in districts where site-based governance is practiced face particularly difficult challenges in establishing district-wide priorities. Hear how one such district was able to gather community support around shared priorities while respecting site-based decision-making.
Verona Area School District

School Law Information

This is your opportunity to ask your school law questions. Listen to the discussion or come with questions.
Wisconsin Association of School Boards and the Wisconsin School Attorneys Association

Special Education Update

Get the latest information on special education rules, regulations, requirements for reporting claims, court decisions and mandated services. Take this opportunity to get a comprehensive briefing.
Wisconsin Association of Sschool Business Officials

The KEYS to Effectiveness in Your Schools: The Green Bay Experience

The Green Bay Area Public School District has collaborated with the Green Bay Education Association and the Wisconsin Education Association to use the NEAKEYS process in all 38 Green Bay public schools. It is well established that school environments explain a significant portion of the variance in students’ achievement. Yet there have been few efforts to define high-quality school environments and still fewer rigorous methods for measuring and enhancing them. The NEAKEYS initiative, which includes an Internet-administered survey, provides concise, reliable information about school-wide organizational and instructional climate as well as district-wide information.
Green Bay Area Public Schools and Wisconsin Education Association

What Research Does (and Does Not) Say About Education

Administrators and school board members are often presented with educational research to support or dispute a local policy or classroom practice, but it is often difficult to determine the quality or value of the claims purporting to be drawn from research. Also, research often presents conflicting conclusions.
School leaders are meanwhile encouraged by federal policies to employ “scientific, research-based” programs and practices. This session will explore educational research from its academic origins to its practical applications and political manifestations. This lively discussion will help school leaders pose more probing questions and better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the research they
are asked to consider in making decisions.
Jeff Braden, director of the school psychology program at North Carolina State University

Straight Talk: Elections 2008

State legislators made a mockery out of the state budget process in 2007, nearly breaking the record for the latest state budget in Wisconsin history, missing their own deadline to increase general school aids this year, and unexpectedly hiking local levies in most districts.

The state-level decisions have been made. The focus now turns to the 2008 elections and the local debates. Hear from a panel of top political analysts on what is happening at the Capitol and the future of school funding. This session will give you the background to help get past legislators’ spin and hold them accountable.

Friday, Jan. 25
8:30-9:45 am

The Ethical Considerations of Open Enrollment

Open enrollment has moved from novelty to institutional standard in Wisconsin. The enrollment franchise schools enjoyed until nearly the end of the 20th century is gone. Leaders can stand on the sidelines or develop a comprehensive plan to address this reality. This is a case study in how to ethically overcome open enrollment issues, brand a school district and change your policy and revenue paradigm for the 21st century.
Nekoosa School District

Board Evaluation and Student Achievement: How Do They Connect?

Conducting a board self evaluation provides a tool for improving leadership. In this session, you will learn how to evaluate your board based on what boards are doing in high-achieving districts. The session will cover the criteria to be measured and will include: clarifying the role of the board; reviewing effective operating procedures; improving teamwork and defining governance principles.
WASB Governance Services

Legislative Advocacy: Moving the Agenda Forward

The Legislature’s delay in passing the 2007-09 state budget had major ramifications for school boards across the state. Get an update on legislative activity and progress toward legislative goals to support local student achievement efforts. Participants will have an opportunity to discuss strategies for engaging the public and state lawmakers to move the legislative agenda forward.
WASB Legislative Services

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