TO:
Central Carolina RESA Board of Directors
CCRESA Council Members
CCRESA User Group Members
FROM:
Neil Pedersen, Executive Director
SUBJ:
Draft of a plan for the role that the CCRESA will play in 2014-15
DATE:
February 21, 2014
CC:
Region 3 Leads (Dr. Jim Coon, Gregory McKnight, Mary Russell)
After having served as your Executive Director for slightly more than two years and in
anticipation of the loss of Race to the Top funding in 2014-15, I am recommending that
the CCRESA Board of Directors revisit the role of the CCRESA and make plans for
better defining the support that members can expect to receive from the CCRESA in
future years. I have drafted this proposal and am sharing it with the Board, Councils, and
User Groups to solicit feedback, after which time I will make revisions. My intent is to
have a work session on this draft plan at the March Board of Directors meeting and to
seek the Board’s approval at its May meeting.
Background
The stated mission of the CCRESA is “to promote and support educational excellence in
the member districts through collaboration and professional growth and to facilitate
communications between the districts and state agencies, elected officials, and
educational leaders.” This proposed plan is consistent with this mission.
Prior to acquiring Race to the Top funds, the Central Carolina RESA’s role in offering
professional development was quite limited. It was dramatically expanded beginning in
2011-12 when the RttT funds more than doubled the annual budget of the CCRESA. Not
only is this level of professional development activity unsustainable once the funds are
phased out, but I would contend that the delivery system inherent in the Department of
Public Instruction’s professional development model is not the most effective. In most
cases, DPI staff have offered two, day-long sessions each year on a specific area (e.g.
math, ELA, 21st Century Learning). Too often there has been a lack of continuity in who
attended and, in my opinion, it is unlikely that participants had sufficient time, resources,
or training to take the information that they had acquired at the sessions to share it
effectively with other staff members such that it impacted classroom instruction and
student achievement. The recommendations that I make in this proposal, for the most
part, move away from one-day, face-to-face professional development programs to
processes that are more long-term, continuous, and consistent with the principles of a
professional learning community. The major components of the plan are outlined below.
7208 Falls of Neuse, Suite 104, Raleigh, NC 27615 • (919) 882-5951 phone • (919) 882-5952 fax • www.ccresa.net
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Councils
Currently, the CCRESA supports six councils: C&I, Technology, Human Resources,
Finance, Principals, and Public Information Officers. It is recommended that these be
maintained; however, the C&I and Technology Councils would become a joint council
and would meet more frequently and for a longer block of time. Other councils would
meet quarterly (they currently meet five times per year) for a two-hour meeting. The joint
C&I/Technology Council would continue to meet five times per year but for three hours.
The meetings would be structured such that some members may not need to attend for the
entire block of time. This recommendation is made because it is frequently the case that
instructional issues have implications for the use and support of technology. Furthermore,
we are recommending another User Group that will address technology issues in a more
granular fashion.
The Council structure provides a sound model for sharing information across districts and
engaging in problem solving and continuous, just-in-time learning. Over the past two
years, attendance has been fairly high at these meetings; however, it is my sense that
quarterly meetings will be sufficient for most of the Councils. In addition, we have other
means, such as using GoToMeeting, to communicate with a Council should the need
arise in between meetings.
User Groups
This year we initiated two User Groups: one to support districts that were heavily
engaged in curriculum development work using the Rigorous Curriculum Design (RCD)
model; and another for districts that subscribe to Discovery Education. The rationale for
the User Groups is similar to that for the Councils, but their focus is narrower and there is
a greater emphasis on sharing of resources and collaboration. I am recommending that the
RCD User Group be renamed the Curriculum Development User Group to expand its
scope and appeal. I’m also recommending that a Home Base User Group be formed,
which would include each district’s point person on Power School, School.Net and other
supplementary software associated with Home Base, and TrueNorthLogic. This User
Group would meet on an as needed basis to collaboratively resolve problems and to share
ideas about how to make the best use of these resources.
I will recommend to the Board of Directors in March that it approve a contract with
Discovery Education to offer a four-day program starting in the summer of 2014 and
running into the fall to enhance the understanding and skills required for using digital
instruction effectively. This proposal has been vetted with the Discovery Education User
Group and approximately nine districts are excited about participating.
Leadership Development Programs
I’m recommending that the CCRESA support two leadership development programs.
One, which we are calling “Leadership for Change Agents,” would be centered around
the four programs developed by the VitalSmarts Corporation. This year we have
convened our first cohort that is composed of principals. They are scheduled to complete
the Crucial Conversations and Influencer programs by the end of March. Our facilitator,
Lynn Williams, and I are considering following up with Crucial Accountability for this
cohort. We also intend to start a new cohort over the summer. It is our intent to expand
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the scope of the Leadership for Change Agents program to include other categories of
administrators and instructional leaders.
I’m also recommending that a second leadership program be supported that focuses on
instructional leadership. Some possibilities are a program that would be designed by
Brian McNulty (who has conducted two well-received sessions for us), a collaborative
program with NCPAPA, or a series of sessions on Literacy-Focused Schools (We had a
one-day session this year by Marie LeFort that was very well received.).
Support for DPI-sponsored Professional Development and Meetings
DPI will be carrying over some RttT funds into 2014-15, and we anticipate that the
RESAs will be asked to provide logistical support for a scaled-back number of DPIsponsored professional development sessions. Certainly, we expect to receive additional
funds to support these meetings. In addition, DPI has often asked the RESAs to support
regional meetings of superintendents and other staff, and we anticipate that such requests
will continue. One of the purposes of the RESAs is to facilitate communications between
DPI and the LEAs; therefore, we would intend to continue to provide a modest level of
support for such meetings. We should not, however, lose sight of the fact that, with the
exception of RttT funds, the RESAs receive no other funding from the state to support
meetings of this nature. For the past two years we also have had a good working
relationship with the Region 3 Roundtable, headed up by Jim Coon, and we would
continue to provide a meeting place for the Roundtable, and I would continue to
participate in the Roundtable.
One-day programs or mini-conferences on specific topics TBD by Board and
C&I/Technology Council
A proposed new service would be to design and conduct one-day mini-conferences on a
specific topic that would be of interest to many districts within our region. I would not
anticipate more than two or three per year. The topics would be determined, in most
cases, by the Board of Directors and/or the C&I/Technology Council. Examples of the
types of topics that might serve as a focus are recommendations that grew out of the
recent Emerging Issues Forum related to the teaching profession, the implications of the
growing number of charter schools, or dealing with virtual charter schools. These would
be topics that deserve more concentrated attention than can be accommodated by the
Councils or User Groups.
In addition, we will continue to offer some half or full day, face-to-face professional
development sessions in response to specific requests from Councils. An example might
be a session on implementing CCSS Math I, II, and III in our high schools. The purpose
of these normally will be to inform decision-makers as opposed to train trainers.
Use of social networks, GoToMeeting sessions, or other tools to facilitate ongoing
communications across districts
The CCRESA has not been very innovative in promoting communications outside of
face-to-face meetings. F2F meetings are time consuming and expensive. There are many
tools and resources that are available to promote collaboration. On the other hand, there is
not a lack of opportunity for educators to share ideas and learn from webinars, Twitter,
Facebook, MOOCs, blogs, and modules developed through DPI. I’m recommending that
the CCRESA explore and experiment with some electronic or virtual means for
collaboration and communication.
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Advocacy positions for the CCRESA as requested
Some other RESAs have been more active than ours in taking a position on issues that,
typically, arise from deliberations or actions taken by the State Board of Education or the
General Assembly. One of the stated purposes of our RESA is to advocate for what we
believe is best for students and staff in our members’ districts. To a certain extent, Jack
Hoke and the Superintendents Association have assumed this advocacy role. However,
there may be times when the Central Carolina RESA wants to communicate a stand, and
the Executive Director could facilitate this process.
I also am making an assumption in these recommendations that there is not a strong need
among superintendents and Council members for me to share a great amount of
information with you about educational issues arising in North Carolina or around the
nation. I am assuming that you already receive more than you can process; however, if
this is not the case I would ask for your feedback. Currently, I occasionally bring articles
of interest to your attention, but I am sensitive to the number of emails that you already
receive.
Liaison between a limited number of recommended school products and LEAs
There are times when I am approached by organizations or vendors who would like to
have the opportunity to share information with the Board or Councils. In addition, I
sometimes become aware of products or services that you or I believe could be of benefit
to your districts (Discovery Education would be an example of this). Although I don’t
have time to screen very many products, I believe that some time could be devoted to
investigating promising resources and bringing them to the attention of leaders in our
RESA.
I would greatly appreciate it if Board and Council members could give me some feedback
on this proposed, draft plan by Friday, February 28th. You can simply send me an email
with any reactions, comments, or suggestions. We will process the plan and the feedback
at our March 7th Board of Directors meeting. Thanks for taking the time to read this far
and giving consideration to how the Central Carolina RESA can be of service to you.