McREL responds to Nebraska’s needs
Through its federally funded North
Central Comprehensive Center (NCCC),
McREL is helping the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) develop
statewide capacity to support the state’s four-step Continuous
Improvement Process (CIP) for low-performing schools.
Nebraska’s Continuous Improvement Process helps schools identify
and build on current strengths while using research on effective schools,
such as that produced by McREL, to make changes that improve student
achievement.
In 2006, McREL facilitated several meetings at the Nebraska Department of Education to help the state agency develop a Web-based toolkit that supports schools undertaking CIP. The toolkit, which went online in August 2006, provides schools with research and tools to help them implement the Continuous Improvement Process.
“The toolkit is a great example of how Nebraska is innovative while being responsive to the needs of its educators, parents, and students,” said Kim Malenoski, a senior consultant at McREL and NCCC liaison to Nebraska. “Nebraska works at the speed of light,” Malenoski added. “They work hard, get things done, and look ahead to the next challenge.” The toolkit is available online at www.nde.state.ne.us/CIPToolkit.
Developing tomorrow’s school leaders today
With large numbers of school administrators retiring and too few new applicants entering the field, NDE asked McREL, through its NCCC contract, to provide research-based leadership development to current and aspiring principals from across the state.
“While working with Nebraska’s school leaders, I heard the same thing we hear from others around the country. Fewer people are entering the educational leadership area, and among those that do, many lack an experience base,” said McREL consultant Cherie Lyons, who has been delivering training to 80 principals from across the state.
The training that Lyons and others from McREL have provided in Nebraska
is built on McREL’s Balanced
Leadership program, a series of
10 professional development courses based on McREL’s nationally
recognized meta-analytic research on the effect of school leaders on
student achievement. The Balanced Leadership sessions help principals
learn how to focus school improvement efforts on changes that research
says are most likely to have a positive effect on student achievement,
manage these changes effectively, and create school communities committed
to success.
To scale up this program across the state, McREL also teamed up with
NDE and the Nebraska Council of School
Administrators (NCSA) to help
24 Nebraska-based staff developers become Balanced Leadership trainers.
In addition, McREL has begun training 125 principals and central office
staff members from Lincoln Public Schools, through work contracted
with that district.
In 2007, McREL will work with NDE to expand the joint leadership development efforts by developing and conducting a Leadership Academy based on the Balanced Leadership program.
“McREL and Nebraska are partnering to realize Nebraska’s vision for 21st Century education leadership. It is a strong and rich partnership that will benefit Nebraska teachers, administrators, state department professionals and ultimately, students,” said Polly Feis, Nebraska’s deputy commissioner of education.
Improving instruction for English Language Learners
As the percentage of Nebraska students who are English Language Learners
continues to rise (as of the 2005-2006 school year, more than 6 percent
of the state’s students were English Language Learners), teachers
need to learn new knowledge and skills to address the needs of these
students, many of whom are taught in traditional “mainstream” classrooms.
In 2006, McREL created through its publishing partner ASCD, a new research-based manual for educators titled, Classroom Instruction that Works for English Language Learners. In 2007, McREL’s North Central Comprehensive Center will work with the Nebraska Department of Education to provide professional development to educators throughout the state based on this manual.