Forum for New and Aspiring School Leaders

Mel Riddile

Associate Director, High School Services, NASSP, Reston, VA 

The Common Core Standards Are Not So Common

NASSP in cooperation with Herff Jones

Today, many schools are struggling just to meet the challenges posed by state assessments—helping every student reach the "proficient" level. In the near future, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) will significantly increase the rigor of current assessments, assess students in a skill that is rarely practiced, and force schoolwide changes in classroom instruction. The Common Core State Standards call on all school leaders to ensure that all students graduate ready for college and the workplace and represent the supreme test of our skills as instructional leaders. Learn why schools must begin to prepare today what specific actions must be taken to meet the Common Core challenge.

J. Lloyd Trump Lecture

J. Howard Johnston

Professor of Secondary Education, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL

Raising Student Achievement and Test Performance: A Schoolwide Model and Plan

Frustrated by flat test performance in your school? This session delivers a comprehensive, research-based, practical, schoolwide model and plan for enhancing student test performance. It includes specific strategies for creating a culture of achievement, aligning curriculum and testing, refining test-taking strategies, and enlisting community support. Participants will receive a Power Point presentation to use in their own schools, access to the presenter's website for additional strategies, and links to an interactive resource for test-enhancement, graduation, and college-preparation strategies.

Assistant Principals General Assembly

Susan Gendron

Senior Fellow, International Center for Leadership in Education Inc., Rexford, NY, and Policy Coordinator, SMARTER Balance Assessment Consortium

Common Core StateStandards: Begin with the End in Mind

NASSP in cooperation with Virco, Inc.

The Common Core State Standards aim to prepare all K–12 students to be successful in college and careers. Upon graduation from high school, students should be ready to take credit-bearing, academic college courses in English, mathematics, the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. To that end, it is essential that students be able to apply their knowledge to complex tasks that may have more than one solution. This session will unpack sample formative assessments that are aligned to Common Core State Standards to help school leaders begin with the end in mind.

Technology Issues Forum

Justin W. Patchin

Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

Pause Before You Post^TM:  Combating Cyberbullying in Education

NASSP in cooperation with Jostens

The web has opened limitless opportunities for learning—but it has also provided a new venue for bullying. Cyberbullying and the responsible use of social media is a growing concern in high schools and middle schools, and educators are often behind in addressing the issue. Patchin, a leading authority on cyberbullying and social media, will lead participants through the myriad social media; explain cyberbullying; provide valuable insight; and offer practical solutions and tools, such as Jostens Pause Before You Post^TM.

High School Leaders General Assembly

Ray McNulty

President, International Center for Leadership in Education, Rexford, NY

Future Ready Today, Where Best Practices Meet Next Practices 

The future is not some place we are going to; rather it is one that we are creating with our everyday actions. If we focus only on the practices that have been successful in the past, the system will never transform. Today educators must be the agents of educational transformation and that can’t be accomplished by just responding to the everyday challenges we face. It requires leaders to not only have a future-focused vision and agenda but also to behave their way into the future. McNulty will share why some educators and schools are leading their way into the future; share a glimpse of emerging educational near, mid- and far-term trends; and push your thinking about leadership and learning in the years ahead.

Middle Level Leaders General Assembly

Nancy M. Doda

Educational Consultant, Teacher to Teacher, Springfield, VA

From Ordinary to Extraordinary: A Middle School Worth Doing

Middle school is an educational concept with an established and illustrious history. Backed by substantial theory and research, there is now considerable consensus on what constitutes exemplary middle grades education. Creating such an education for our young adolescents, however, requires overcoming challenges and demands deep and abiding changes in the way educators conceptualize, organize, and execute middle grades schooling. What is a middle school really? How can middle grades educators make the rhetoric of middle school a reality? Join me for a multilayered look at important questions and take home powerful perspectives and practices that will help you lead in the middle.