Category: School Board
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Why Share My Learning
In my application for this Board position, I noted that I had a strong interest in a topic called, broadly, Knowledge Management. While we may have entered a “digital” or “Internet” age, what we really have entered is a “knowledge sharing” age facilitated by our new digital suite of tools. …
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A Board As… A Tree
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Whence the School Board?
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Welcome PSBA…to the Blogosphere!
With little or no fanfare, the Pennsylvania School Board Association has launched a blog to share news and thoughts related to their mission of exploring leadership issues in Pennsylvania’s public schools. They are currently tracking progress on their recently proposed legislation regarding the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS). I…
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Act 1 Limits Start to Bite…And It’s Only the Beginning
When I applied for my position on the board, I responded to the single question on the application, a question about the single biggest challenge with education, with a short discussion of the vise that school boards have been placed within. On one side are the increasing demands to meet…
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Open Letter on PSERS Reform
Dear Legislators: At its meeting on Dec. 11, the Board of Trustees of the Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System released its latest projection of increases in the employer contribution rate paid by school districts and the commonwealth. The rate will increase dramatically from now to 2016 and remain high until…
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Under Review: Teacher Evaluation Strategies
Just saw this article on EdWeek: New Teacher-Evaluation Systems Face Obstacles While I am employed in the large-scale manufacturing business where production is relatively easy to measure and employee performance can be tied to some fairly clear metrics, I can fully appreciate that children are not widgets, even big ones,…
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How I Stay Informed as a Board Member
This is the second of my two-part discussion of foundational stuff… I’m sure I’ll update this over time, but here is a short list of ways I stay informed (obviously, in addition to listening to the community, which I will discuss later on). 1. Research (online and good old fashion…
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How I Am Becoming an Informed Board Member
This is the first of a two-part discussion of some foundational material that will allow me to discuss other ideas later on… A few folks were present my first evening as a new Board member. What was placed in front of me was a stack of books about 10 inches…
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FAQ: What’s it like being on the board?
I’ve already gotten this question enough, so I’ll post a note now and update it as I learn more. Answer: It’s fascinating, fun, scary, exhausting, frustrating, angering, confusing (already!), and I wouldn’t miss a minute. I’m very proud to serve our community in this way. Although I’ve only been in…
Jim McLaughlin's Blog 