ASCD Leader to Leader (L2L) News is a monthly e-mail newsletter for ASCD constituent group leaders that builds capacity to better serve members; provides opportunities to promote and advocate for ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative; and engages groups through sharing and learning about best practices. To submit a news item for the L2L newsletter, send an e-mail to constituentservices@ascd.org.

This Month’s L2L News

•  Your To-Do List: Action Items for ASCD Leaders
• Leader to Leader Spotlight
• ThroughoutDecember and January on www.wholechildeducation.org: Assessment
• Mark Your Calendar
• Something to Talk About
• Association News

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Your To-Do List: Action Items for ASCD Leaders

• Register now for ASCD’s legislative conference in Washington, D.C., January 22-24, 2012. We are striving to make this year’s Leadership Institute for Legislative Advocacy (LILA) the best ever and hope you can join us at The Westin Georgetown hotel in Washington, D.C. (See travel and lodging information). You’ll learn about the Obama administration’s No Child Left Behind waivers and how they will shift education priorities in your state and affect your district and school. Congressional insiders will share their outlook for reauthorizing the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and discuss Congress’s education priorities. You’ll also get timely updates on Common Core State Standards implementation and the fate of education funding for programs like Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Act so you can begin thinking and planning for next year. Register online or by phone at 1-800-933-ASCD (2723), then press 1 (Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. eastern time). Questions? Contact ASCD’s policy team at policy@ascd.org.
   
• Register for ASCD Annual Conference now and save $100. ASCD Annual Conference takes place March 24-26, 2012 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Register by January 18, 2012, and receive $100 off your registration. Discounts also apply for purchasing a pre-conference institute registration or sending a team. Details regarding meetings and events for ASCD leaders will be available in December. Learn more and register for ASCD Annual Conference at ascd.org.
  
  
• Listen to last week’s webinar recording to get the inside scoop on ESEA. The ASCD policy team hosted a webinar on December 6 to update association leaders on the status of ESEA legislative developments, detail what it portends for possible reauthorization in 2012, what ASCD leaders can do now to help influence these deliberations, and answer attendee questions. If you were unable to join us, we invite you to click on the recording link and access the information shared at last week’s webinar.
   
• Sign up for the new ASCD e-newsletter Core Connection: The e-newsletter, sent every other week, includes information on the association’s Common Core State Standards resources and activities as well as common core updates from around the nation. We hope it helps you stay up-to-date on common core developments and supports your implementation of the standards. If you haven’t already signed up for Core Connection, subscribe here. Access additional common core resources from ASCD at www.ascd.org/commoncore.
   
• Interested in running for elected office? Go to www.ascd.org/nominations to access the application form and information on the open positions in 2012. Applications are due January 31, 2012.
   

An Accomplished Educator, Budget Cuts, and the Obamas: An ASCD Leader’s Personal Story

What do you do when you can’t share a teachable moment? Marnie Hazelton, 2009 Outstanding Young Educator Award Honoree and 2010 Emerging Leader, shared her powerful story in the December issue of ASCD Express. Read Marnie’s story, “After the Garden is Gone,” on ascd.org.

Emerging Leader Richard Katz’s Letter to the Editor Featured on ASCD Inservice

From ASCD Inservice:

“In a recent letter to the editor, I argue that current education reforms are misguided on several fronts: their high stakes, standardized testing focus is at odds with innovative, 21st century goals; they make teaching less attractive; and they do not pay enough attention to the influence of poverty.

“Why do we illogically continue developing new policies not employed and often discouraged by countries whose results we seek to emulate? Although there is nothing wrong with holding professionals accountable for performance standards, I argue that what we really need is to reposition conversations and focus actions on the real targets: implementing known, proven practices and addressing issues of poverty. —Richard Katz, superintendent/principal of Clinton-Glen Gardner School District, Clinton, N.J., and a member of the ASCD Emerging Leader Class of 2010.

Read and share your comments on Richard’s “Reforms Miss Real Targets” ASCD Inservice post, with excerpts from his November 15 Letter to the Hunterdon County Democrat Editor, “Proposed Education Reforms Misguided.”

ASCD Welcomes Three New Student Chapters

ASCD is proud to announce that University of Winnipeg in Canada, Lipscomb University in Tennessee, and Northeastern University in Massachusetts have all joined the ASCD Student Chapter Program. Northeastern University and the University of Winnipeg are the first ASCD Student Chapters to be formed in Massachusetts and the province of Manitoba, while Lipscomb joins Aquinas College ASCD Student Chapter in Tennessee. All chapters have developed plans for recruiting new members and are eager to become visible on campus while collaborating with their local affiliate. With the addition of our three new chapters, there are now 69 ASCD Student Chapters throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Learn more about the ASCD Student Chapter Program on ascd.org.

New Jersey ASCD Approves New Operational Format

The New Jersey ASCD executive board approved a new operational format for the organization based on value creation for the New Jersey affiliate and its constituents. The format is aligned with goals and activities in the strategic and biennial plans through the programs, resources and services New Jersey ASCD provides.  The board explored the issues of maintaining relevance, building relationships, and inviting professionals, outside of the executive board, to join them in planning offerings based on their needs and current issues in New Jersey.

New Jersey ASCD is willing to share a diagram of the operational format and the accompanying narrative with interested affiliates. Please contact New Jersey ASCD Executive Director Marie Adair for a copy of the operational format narrative and diagram.

Events

• California ASCD presents Maximize Learning with Common Core and 21^st Century Skills with Sue Beers
  
  
• Wisconsin ASCD presents Connect the Dots: Implementing and Assessing the Common Core Standards

Other News

• Please welcome Ed Bailey, who recently replaced Pat Engblade as Student Chapter Faculty Advisor for the ASCD Baker College of Muskegon Student Chapter.
   
• Please welcome Susan Schiller, who now co-facilitates the Holistic Learning and Spirituality in Education Professional Interest Community with Gary Babiuk.
   
• Congratulations to Gerry Buteau, who was recently awarded full professor status and became chair-elect of the Plymouth State University Alumni Board of Directors. Buteau is the New Hampshire ASCD Immediate Past President and Plymouth State University ASCD Student Chapter Faculty Advisor.
   
• Congratulations to Clare Struck, who was recently named Iowa Elementary School Counselor of the Year. Struck is the school counselor at Price Lab Elementary, an ASCD Whole Child Vision in Action Award school.
   
• South Carolina ASCD announces a Whole Child Award Application. Award winners receive recognition and a $1,000 grant to implement whole child related activities.
   
• Please welcome William Jewell College ASCD Student Chapter back to the ASCD community. Located in Liberty, Mo., the chapter recently reinstated their active chapter status, and student leaders are now enthusiastically planning recruitment events and other activities for the coming semester.

Throughout December and January on www.wholechildeducation.org: Assessment

We focus extensively on test scores and far too little on the whole child. We often choose one-size-fits-all fixes while ignoring solid research about the infinite ways students learn and children develop. The true measure of students’ proficiency and college-, career-, and citizenship-readiness must be based on more than just their scores on state standardized reading and math assessments.

We shouldn’t simply teach to the test. We need to teach for understanding, and assessments are tools to gauge that understanding. When used effectively, assessments can facilitate high levels of student achievement by providing ongoing information about students’ grasp of key concepts and how to enhance their learning to help them meet or exceed academic requirements. States, districts, and schools should provide a more comprehensive picture of student achievement through multiple assessments of and for learning. Join us throughout December and January as we take a look at how assessments can serve a whole child approach to education and inform—not drive—school improvement efforts.

Download the first in a series of Whole Child Podcast episodes on assessment, “Assessment 101,” to hear from Nancy Frey, professor of literacy in the School of Teacher Education at San Diego State University and co-author of several ASCD books; Tom Whitby, adjunct professor at St. Joseph’s College and founder of #Edchat; and Peter DeWitt, principal of Poestenkill Elementary in New York, consultant for the International Center for Leadership in Education, and author of the Finding Common Ground blog for Education Week. As always, visit the Whole Child Blog to read engaging posts from diverse writers, leave your comments, and get free resources on multiple sources and measures of assessment.

Something to Talk About

• Report Card Design – What Should Be Reported?, ASCD Inservice  post by Susan M. Brookhart
• How to Create Independent Thinkers, ASCD Inservice  post by Florida ASCD President and Emerging Leader Alina Davis
•  Caught Between Common Standards and Assessments, Education Week
• ASCD EDge included in Tech & LearningTop 100 Sites of 2011 feature and the blog Technology Tidbits top 100 sites list.
• Check out the most-clicked stories from ASCD SmartBrief.

Association News

• ASCD Announces GlobalScholar as Lead Partner for 2012 Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, Provides Details on Special Sessions—GlobalScholar, a provider of innovative education solutions, has joined Discovery Education as a lead partner for ASCD’s 2012 Annual Conference and Exhibit Show. From March 24 to 26 in Philadelphia, Pa., the association’s 67th Annual Conference and Exhibit Show, "A Collective Call to Action," will explore what committed educators are doing to support the success of each learner. Read the full press release on ascd.org.
  
  
• Latest ASCD Policy Priorities Newsletter Explores How Policy Lags Behind Social Media Adoption and What That Means for Today’s Students—ASCD’s latest online issue of Policy Priorities focuses on the role of social media in education. Exploring everything from the teacher on Facebook to the student using Twitter for a project, this issue, available at no charge, delves into the need for government and district policies to keep pace with social media innovations and their evolving use. Read the full press release on ascd.org.
  
  
• Two Free Institutes Headline ASCD’s 2012 Annual Pre-Conference Professional Development Events—ASCD announces two free professional development opportunities among a series of pre-conference institutes leading up to the 2012 Annual Conference and Exhibit Show in Philadelphia, Pa., March 24–26. Read the full press release on ascd.org.
  
  
• ASCD Appoints Additional Staff to Support Association Initiatives—ASCD announces two new staff appointments. Megan Wolfe has joined ASCD as the association’s new manager of public policy advocacy, and Lori Schulman has joined the association as general counsel. Read the full press release on ascd.org.