Speakers:

* Cindy Presnell, Principal, Scott Elementary School, Scott Air Force Base, IL

* Judy Greer, Assistant Principal, Ellen Smith Elementary School, Conway, AK

* Gordon Goodman, Principal, Burwell Elementary School, Burwell, NE

Transcript: Community Connections

Speakers:

Sue Wilson, Principal, United North Elementary, Alexis, IL

Beth Ann Bader, Principal, Chandler Traditional Academy-Liberty Campus, Chandler, AZ

Darlene Braun, Principal, St. Joseph’s School, Pierre, SD

Cindy Scwec, Principal, Fair Oaks Elementary School, Marietta, GA

Transcript On Teachers and Teaching

Speakers:

  Craig Menzel, Seoul American Middle School, Department of Defense Education Activity

  Arlene Wallace, Principal, Mayo High School for Math, Science, and Technology, Darlington, SC

  Mark Abramovich, Principal, Harmon Middle School, Aurora, OH

Transcript: Rigor and High Expectations

 

Before the 2013 National Blue Ribbon School Recognition Ceremony officially began, several hundred 2013 school  representatives gathered for a networking session. Aba Kumi, NBRS Director led the session with Elizabeth Williamson, USDE Region III Communications Director, and Helen Littlejohn, USDE Region VIII Communications Director. Principals, teachers, and superintendents and shared ideas in open discussion and posted more than 70 practices on sticky notes. Read a compilation of 2013 Ceremony Networking Notes.

Participant comments about successful practices were also recorded and arranged into five brief podcasts: Rigor and High Expectations, Student Supports and Relationships, On Teachers and Teaching, Professional Learning and Invention, and Community Connections.

Participants listen to descriptions of best practices. Photo: Paul Wood

Helen Littlejohn opens the networking session. Photo: Paul Wood

Elizabeth Williamson confers with a participant. Photo: Paul Wood

More than 70 notes were collected. Photo: Paul Wood

L_R" Sheri Davies, Academic Manager; Kim Wooden, Deputy Superintendent; Jhone Ebert, Chief Technology Officer; Pat Skorkowsky, Superintendent; Katie Decker, Principal; Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education; Andre Densen. Chief Educational Opportunity Officer; Carolyn Edwards, School Board Trustee; Dr. Linda E. Young, School Board Trustee

Principal Katie Decker and Superintendent Pat Pat Skorkowsky

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan used a visit to a 2013 National Blue Ribbon School, Walter Bracken STEAM Academy in Las Vegas, NV, to highlight the role of high standards and expectations. Duncan  called Bracken’s story of transformation from a low-performing school to a national model “profound.”

View a slide show of Secretary Duncan’s visit to Walter Bracken STEAM Academy.

Read coverage of Duncan’s visit in the Las Vegas Sun.

Learn more about Walter Bracken STEAM Academy.

Listen to a podcast interview with Katie

Decker on working with the business community, evaluating teachers, and creating a STEAM school (6:17).

Customization is the byword at PS 172, Beacon School of Excellence. Led by Principal Jack Spatola and Assistant Principal Erika Gundersen, Beacon teachers revisit and revise curricula throughout the year to meet students’ needs.

Instructional coach Teresa Sanders and colleagues describe how the adoption of a rigorous, intensive Word Study program to teach decoding and understanding words has propelled student achievement to high levels.

Direct Interactive Instruction, kinesthetic learning, and peer tutoring have helped raise student achievement at Sundance Elementary School

Students at Piedmont Open Middle School learn to use Argumentative Literacy across the curriculum.

Intense, ongoing observation and coaching of teachers help ensure that students, many of whom enter North Star below grade-level peers, recover lost academic ground and prepare for college.