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Ideas
for discussing your
No
Child Left Behind results
(Information selected from a KSBA communications
workshop)
Before talking to reporters or the
general public
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Data will be
available to news media outlets and the general public the afternoon
of Friday, Aug. 11 via the KDE Web site. Media inquiries will
begin immediately for some districts. KDE is expected to issue
a news release that afternoon, which will also be linked to from the
KSBA Web site.
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Prior to
talking to a reporter or the public, break down your test scores,
asking where are the positives and the negatives, so you are
familiar with both.
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Compile a list
of activities completed prior to this school year that are aimed at
raising student achievement. Note targets for achievement and
what impact these activities had to reach them.
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Compile a list
of current year activities aimed at raising student achievement.
Note any activities that have the potential to address any negatives
from your NCLB report.
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Develop your
talking points along these lines:
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Progress point
(where your school(s) have improved
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Work to do
point (where your focus for further improvement is)
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Credit point
(who you should pat on the back for success)
Delivering your message
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Explain what
"adequate yearly progress" means under NCLB, especially with regard
to the all-or-nothing progress that may result in a school or
district being labeled as "failing to meet" the federal goals.
Consider using an analogy such as this: Let's say the
government set the measurement of success or failure as a parent as
all children in the family attaining a college degree. A
family with four children has three college grads and one high
school grad. Under this all or nothing measurement, those
parents are failures. (Or a better analogy you can devise.)
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Draw attention
to your success stories. If you don't, don't expect the media
or public to give them their due attention. Discuss what
actions or new resources made (or honestly may be credited for
having made) the difference.
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Give examples
of actions taken in the past or being take this year to improve
areas where AYP goals have not been met.
Going beyond the news media
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Develop a fact
sheet, newsletter article or handout on your schools' NCLB results,
including what AYP means and requires.
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Get the
information to your staff, post it on your Web site and print it in
any district publications.
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Discuss the
information at your board and council meetings.
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Use the
information in upcoming civic meeting presentations.
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For
schools/districts not meeting AYP, develop an improvement plan.
Upon completion of this plan's details, get that information to the
board, councils, news media and general public. Look for an
opportunity during the school year to draw attention to activities
designed to help meet next year's AYP.
For more
information, contact Brad Hughes at KSBA:
brad.hughes@ksba.org or
800-372-2962.
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