District Administration - January 2011 - (Page 8)

From the Editor The Talk of the Nation There is no doubT from all perspecTives ThaT measuring The effecTiveness of teachers is key to improving today’s schools. during these fiscal times, no administrator can forget that salaries and benefits are typically over 75 percent of a district’s budget, and the recent pisa standings reaffirm that something has to change in u.s. education. Teacher quality is paramount. beginning in 2001 with the no child left behind (nclb) act, accountability was mandated by measuring student performance on state standardized tests. although high-quality teachers were part of the discussion, the practice of measuring teacher quality to award bonuses How best to assess or tenure did not come into play until the obama administration began conteachers has become a necting federal grants to this practice. some districts within states that won topic of national debate. federal grant money, however, may have bitten off more than they can chew. district leaders with good intentions promised to sign on to school reform, the requirement for winning rTTT grant money, but some are dropping out, claiming that teacher-assessment requirements are too drastic for their school culture. how best to assess teachers has become a topic of national debate, so we asked elizabeth duffrin to write about it in “What’s the value in value-added?” another topic that has become part of the national conversation is bullying. a recent rash of homophobic bullying has caused several students to take their own lives, eliciting strong reactions from politicians and organizations promoting their own agendas in response to these tragedies. We cover this in “The politicization of bullying” by victor rivero and in a sidebar on how to manage bullying in politically charged climates by da contributing writer Ken Trump. on another note, da is a finalist for an eddie award, part of an annual prestigious magazine-industry recognition program sponsored by Folio magazine. da was selected in the “best series of articles b-to-b” category for our three-part series states of debate (available at www.districtadministration.com), which highlighted three states renowned for their heavy influence on education in the united states. each article in the series included a profile showcasing one superintendent in that state who stood out from the crowd. although we feel this indicates that we’re on the right track, feedback from our readers remains our most important assessment. We couldn’t do this without you! finally, we at professional media group are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of our colleague and friend sales manager Terry nelson. over the last ten years, Terry has contributed greatly to the success of this company and has been a source of light and laughter to those who worked with her. Judy Faust Hartnett, Editor in Chief jhartnett@districtadministration.com 8 January 2011 District Administration http://www.districtadministration.com http://www.districtadministration.com http://www.oscworld.com http://www.oscworld.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - January 2011

District Administration - January 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Conversations
Crisis Response
Going Mobile
Online Edge
Professional Opinion
K12 Guide to Audio/Visual Solutions
Product Focus
What’s the Value in Value-Added?
The Politicization of Bullying
Holding On to Parent Voices
Tough New Issues Refocus Health Education
New Products
Books

District Administration - January 2011