Vol. 10, Winter 2005
The QLD team welcomes in the 2005 year! And with the advent of the New Year, we are pleased to usher in new products, resources and ideas to help educators build effective, engaged professional learning communities. We hope that you will enjoy this issue of QLD Connections, a FREE quarterly electronic newsletter that provides insights and ideas for creating and sustaining vibrant, results-oriented school cultures. Please read on for new solutions and insights — from QLD, our clients and our colleagues — for implementing long-term, sustainable, continuous improvement.
Here is what you'll find in this issue...
QLD Announcements...
- NEW! SMARTTools™ v2.1 — a dynamic data-driven web environment for integrating curriculum, instruction, and assessment with SMART Goals for continuous school improvement.
- For more information and a classroom teacher's perspective, visit the Announcements page (link below).
- Introducing NEW QLD consultants and the great skills they bring in support of SMARTTools™ and SMART process implementation.
- NEW! opportunity to support your leadership capacity building work as Linda Lambert retires and refers clients to QLD.
Visit the Announcements page for all the details.
Upcoming Events...
- Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA) Midwinter Conference; February 1, 2005, Austin, Texas. Jan O'Neill presents "From Data to SMART Goals." QLD will be in booth #342.
- AASA; February 18 & 19, 2005, San Antonio, Texas. Come see us in Booth #175.
- Brigham Young University Leadership in the 21st Century Conference; March 10, 2005, Salt Lake City, Utah. Jan O'Neill presents "SMART Teams Collaborate for Results."
- PREP Center; May 17 & 18, 2005, Plymouth, Minnesota. "Building Leadership Capacity for Sustained Improvement." Anne Conzemius presents a two day leadership workshop based on Linda Lambert's work.
- South Dakota Northern Interior Staff Development Conference; April 29 - May 1, 2005, in Custer National Park, South Dakota. Anne Conzemius presents a "SMART Schools Workshop."
- SMART Schools Data Retreat — Monroe BOCES — June 1-2, 2005, Rochester, New York. Anne Conzemius and Candi McKay co-present a data retreat for school improvement leadership teams.
- NES SMART Teams Institute; April 28-30, 2005, Langley, British Columbia. We present what NES calls "the curriculum for building professional learning communities."
- SMART Facilitator Training — a new cohort group begins in Alexandria, Minnesota, August 9-11, 2005.
Tips from the QLD Learning "Toolbox"...
Checklist for Effective Teams from The Handbook for SMART School Teams
Questions and Answers...
Question: I've been hearing about professional learning communities, SMART goals, leadership capacity, and data driven decision making. How do all these things fit together? DO they fit together? The answer is here.
Featured...
Featured in this issue is a new look at data-driven support for professional learning communities through the combined implementation of QLD SMARTTools™ and SMART professional development. We highlight Cedar Springs, Michigan, a district of approximately 3400 students, that has been committed for the past four years to building professional learning communities, and is a showcase site for use of SMARTTools™ to support continuous improvement efforts.
Recommended...
The Journal of Staff Development published an article by Jan O'Neill describing Burleigh Elementary School's commitment to using assessment FOR learning practices with student and teacher-team SMART goal setting. (summer 04, vol 25, number 3, pp.32-37) The article was featured in "Ideas That Work."
Excerpt...
NEW book in 2005 from QLD
Click for an excerpt from this upcoming book by Jan O'Neill, Anne Conzemius, Dr. Carol Commodore and Carol Pulsfus on the power of goals, to be published by the National Educational Service (www.solution-tree.com) early summer 2005.
The Newsletter
We developed QLD Connections as a service to our colleagues, clients, customers, and friends, and look forward to hearing how well we're meeting your needs — and what we can do to improve. Use the form HERE to let us know!
