blogging from the conference

School Board blogging is no big deal. There are stations of computers set up called Blog Centrals to encourage this type of communication. Just finished a session called "Raising the Floor, Raising the Ceiling" by a State of Ohio DOE Administator. I will add some website links to this post later.

Showed that we are doing good things in MA and Barnstable. The BCAS, short cycle assesment, integrated with School Brains is very, very current. We need to do a better job communicating that specific time sensitive data with parents.

Best part of the session was that I sat next to Dr. Phil Kelly, a Boise SC member. He also happens to be an educational policy professor for Boise State University. He is the proverbial fox in the hen house.

So, here are some questions that I need to continue asking.
1. What are we doing well in the classroom?
2. What are we not doing well?
3. Causes?
4. Graduation rate versus drop rate over 4 years.
5. How many kids are taking AP courses? Are they taking the AP test? How are they doing? How many kids are taking SAT or other similar assessments?
6. Are advanced classes open to all kids? Can we encourage kids to take advanced classes even if they have underperformed in the past?

On to another session.