District Administration - July 2008 - (Page 10)

Letters Notiﬁcation System Needs Recognition I read the Problem/Solution story (“Calling Home in Any Language,” June 2008) and am extremely dismayed that the story did not mention the country’s foremost school-to-parent communications system, Connect-ED (Blackboard/NTI), (Bla which is used by whi more schools and mo ts Cutting Cos Out from the Inside school districts sch than any of tha those identiﬁed in th your article. yo Blackboard/ Bl NTI serves over N 14,000 client sites 14 nationally and na enjoys the highest level of satisfaction j h hi h l l among users, with more than nine in 10 of those who use the system saying they were very satisﬁed with the product. Your magazine’s omission of Connect-ED as the premier parent notiﬁcation system is a disservice to your readers. I have used two of the systems you cite in your article and I can tell you, they don’t hold a candle to what I’ve experienced since signing on with Connect-ED last fall. Please have your writers/reporters do a better job of research when compiling stories. It will serve you and your readers better. THE MAGAZINE OF SCHOOL DISTRICT MANAGEMENT June 2008 s an ls ca t ials can ildi build buildi buildin ri building mater right building materia h Choosing Choosing the right other beneﬁts 36 produce savings and Transporting Special Needs Students The laws you need to know to avoid costly litigation 61 m, DimDim, MeBea r Skype, and Twitte Are you keeping on top of the latest Web technologies? 49 New Literacies: Entering the Future A superintendent’s vision to teach critical skills for the next century 44 www.DistrictAdministration.c Sex Ed Abstinence-Only21 The debate heats up Phone Home languages 73 Notiﬁcations in 170 right on track and very helpful to the cause of small schools in South Dakota. I have been waging this otherwise lonely war for nine years. The legislation you refer to—closing schools with less than 100 students—is just one example. Of course, the magic minimum school size number was much higher to begin with. A group from Rutland went to the capitol in Pierre recently to oppose the higher number and I guess we “won,” though it was a hollow victory at best because one of the schools was forced to close. I felt like they got sold down the river. Another story in the Aberdeen American News, from October 2007, revealed the post-high school data of how graduates of small schools fare compared to graduates of larger schools in the state. This data paints an absolutely stunning picture of the need to maintain support for small schools, yet this data, and other things that I have put out, has largely been ignored. Carl Fahrenwald, superintendent, Rutland (S.D.) School District 39-4 century skills that most of us know need to be stressed. I would like to add skills that involve all forms of digital citizenship, like cyberbullying prevention and audience awareness. Thanks for this post. I am referencing it on my blog. Brandi Caldwell, educator and blogger Math Lessons I am writing to comment on a recent article by Carl Vogel (“Algebra: Changing the Equation,” May 2008). I thoroughly enjoyed the article and totally agree with the author. I would like to make one recommendation about resources. The HOSTS (Helping One Student To Succeed) Learning company, www.hosts.com, applies the principles om Tech Skills Still Lag In response to Zach Miners’ blog on www.DistrictAdministration.com (“How Do You Deﬁne 21st Century Skills?” May 15, 2008), I have to say that, sadly, many schools are a couple of centuries behind. I just entered a school system that just got district e-mail in January. The reason there is this push for these skills is because so many educators would see the skills you were talking about as jobs that the “computer teacher” is in charge of. Also, the unfortunate reality is that the high stakes testing that most states mandate is not aligned with the 21st Rick J. Kaufman, executive director of community relations, Bloomington (Minn.) Public Schools Supporting Small Schools Dan Kinnaman’s editorials in District Administration (“500,000 Schools,” May 2008, and “Small Schools, Big Beneﬁts,” November 2007) have been and points of view for teaching and reaching children in the area of math that were expressed in the article. I have been on our district’s school board for 12 years and have used the HOSTS program to teach math to students in summer camp for eight years. (Professionally, I’m a pharmacist who loves math and I want to pass on this passion to our community students.) Thank you for the article and for making a diﬀerence in children’s lives. Marsha Ingram Craddick, school board member, Hinton (Okla.) Public Schools Letters to the Editor may be sent to jhartnett@districtadministration.com, or mailed to Judy F. Hartnett, District Administration, 488 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851. Selections that are published may be edited for length and clarity, and become the property of District Administration. 10 July 2008 District Administration http://DistrictAdministration.com http://www.hosts.com http://www.DistrictAdministration.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - July 2008

District Administration - July 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
Conversations
Getting Mobile
School Supplies on a Budget
The Silent Issue
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
New Products
Management Books
Speaking Out
Calendar of Events
Research Center

District Administration - July 2008