Under the Umbrella
Volume 1, Issue 8
March 2019
ALSO FEATURED:
School Redesign
School Safety
School Assessments
Best Hiring Practices
Upcoming Events
CONTENTS Volume 1, Issue 8
2 Upcoming USA-Kansas Conference, G.A. Buie
BEST HIRING PRACTICES
3 The Business of Best Practices in K-12 Hiring, Eric Hansen
4 When Hiring Teachers, District Leaders Prioritize ‘Cultural Fit.’
That Can Be a Problem, Madeline Will
4 Why Should Leaders Start Being Coached?, Peter DeWitt
6-7 Principals and AP’s: You’re Rich Already Without Mega
Billions, Mark Wilson
8 Using Resumes to Set Your Interviews, Jerry Henn
10-11 What’s the Blueprint?, Joe Sample
11-13 4 Steps Every School Leader Needs to Take This Year, Dr. Bill
Ziegler
14 2020 Kansas Teacher of the Year Nomination Packet
Available, KSDE
14 Whitney Morgan Named 2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year,
KSN News
SCHOOL REDESIGN
16-17 You Are On the Way in 2019 Toward Your Goal, Dr. John
Vandewalle
17 Redesign From Kingman-Norwich Schools, Bob Diepenbrock
18-20 It Is a ‘Perfect Storm’, Dan Whisler
SCHOOL SAFETY
22 More of the Same a Year After the Parkland Shooting, Doug
Parisi
SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS
24 A Better Way to Assess Oral Reading Fluency eBook, Kristie
Werner
25 Upcoming Events
NETWORK & STAY CONECTED
@USAKansas
Facebook.com/USAKansas
2018-2019 USA-Kansas
Board of Directors
Sean Cochran—President, KASEA
Ryan Jilka—President Elect, KAMSA
Pete Bastian—Past-President, KAESP
Mike Berblinger—Director, KSSA
Cory Gibson—Director, KSSA
Eric Hensen—Director, KASBO
Volora Hanzlicek—Director, KASCD
Ron Barry—Director, KASSP
Justin Henry—Director, KSSA
Christie Meyer—Director, KASCD
Bert Moore—Director, KASEA
Suzan Patton—Director, KSSA
Dennis Peerenboom—Director, KASPA
Jake Potter—Director, KanSPRA
P.J. Reilly—Director, KCCTEA
Donna Schmidt—Director, KASSP
Glen Suppes—Director, KSSA
Patrick Schroeder—Director, KAESP
Donna Zerr—Director, KASSP
G.A. Buie—Executive Director
Jerry Henn—Assistant Executive Director
UPCOMING USA-KANSAS CONFERENCE
G.A. Buie, Executive Director, USA-Kansas
As the familiar melody states,
“Oh the weather outside is
frightful and the snow is so
delightful.” Well, it might be
delightful in December and
January, but as we move into
March many of you may think
it’s just frustrating. So, let’s move forward and
think about warmer weather and happier days.
Your 2019 USA-Kansas Annual Conference is just
around the corner and we believe we have
planned relevant learning opportunities mixed
with just the right touch of relaxation. Beginning
May 29, Alan November will start us off as he
discusses instructional technology. This will be
followed by a vendor session with over 90
companies in attendance, heavy hors d’oeuvres,
drinks, and a chance to win a TV, Royals tickets (in
the All-Star Suite), gift cards, and a host of other
prizes all located at the USA-Kansas Got APP
booth. And, of course, golf will tee off around 7:30
a.m.
On May 30, we have scheduled over 60 breakout
sessions to run throughout the day. Our board
feels they have found multiple learning
opportunities for any administrator. We will be
introducing our new Innovative Classroom
Learning space located between the upper lobby
of the Hyatt and the Century II. We plan to finish
Thursday at the conference with our annual
President’s Reception hosted by Jostens, and later
in the evening we are excited to host Lifetouch’s
reception featuring Fun Pianos! Dueling Pianos
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Show. A full list of breakouts will be located on our
website soon.
As we close out May on the 31st and finish the
2019 conference, we are excited to host
Commissioner Randy Watson and Kansas City’s
own stress reliever and humorist Mr. Kent Rader.
Kent shares how he survived five years as a public
accountant and 12 years as a hospital C.F.O. and
C.E.O. Kent carries the title as the “Worlds
Cleanest Comedian.” He has been featured on
NPR, Sirius Satellite radio, and is a winner of the
Branson Comedy Festival. Okay, where else in
Kansas can you find top notch professional
development, relationship building opportunities,
great food and stress relief, and never have to
leave the hotel? The USA-Kansas – Uniting
Leadership Conference!
Please consider joining your peers in Wichita May
29-31.
Click Here for Conference Info!
BEST HIRING PRACTICES
THE BUSINESS OF BEST PRACTICES IN K-12
HIRING
Eric Hansen, Business Director for Bonner Springs/Edwardsville USD 204, USA-Kansas Board of
Directors
Each year, School
Administrators and Human
Resources staff wade through a
web of applicant tracking and
hiring processes that can, at
times, seem cumbersome;
especially in cases where
recruitment and onboarding teams are working with
minimal staff and tight budgets. Effectively blending
strategy and technology into your district’s hiring
plan can help you and your teams identify the best
candidates for your district while at the same time,
reducing administrative burden.
Workflows
Review your district’s workflow regularly. This will
ensure your applicants and internal stakeholders are
receiving notifications and updates as milestones
occur periodically throughout the hiring process.
Keep in mind, this segment of the process can also
serve as a candidate’s first experience with your
district. A dysfunctional and fragmented workflow
can lead to poor first impressions which can
eventually reduce interest on the part of potential
prospects. Analyze the effectiveness of your hiring
software. At a minimum, your HR Director should be
able to determine how customizable your system is
and whether or not you are being forced to
compromise best practices due to incompatible
technology.
Timeline
It is no secret that as a district’s hiring process drags
into the summer months, a pool of less qualified
applicants will materialize while more qualified
candidates accept job offers elsewhere. A poorly
designed hiring process can also lead to desperately
trying to fill positions at the last minute. These
ingredients will undoubtedly leave your district with a
subpar staff which can dovetail into lower
achievement, high turnover, and poor morale.
Unless you are offering contracts by the end of the
school year, there's a good chance you are losing out
on some of your better candidates.
Onboarding
Keep in mind that the onboarding process presents
new employees with another “first impression” of
you and your district. Redundant paperwork,
processing delays, and a lack of clear and timely
communication can set the stage for frustration
before your new teachers step foot into their
classrooms. Where do teachers have to go to fill out
their paperwork? How much paperwork is there?
Are there any unnecessary steps in the process?
When reviewing your hiring process, don’t neglect
the final stage – the transition from “candidate” to
“team member”.
The most effective
hiring and
onboarding
technology
programs should
offer a smooth
transition from
“applicant record” to “employee record”. This will
minimize redundant steps and save HR staff hours of
manual data entry while at the same time, facilitating
a positive experience for new hires. Hiring and
retaining quality staff for your schools can be time
consuming and expensive, but the long-term savings
of an effective and efficient hiring process can be
significant for district leaders.
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WHEN HIRING TEACHERS,
DISTRICT LEADERS PRIORITIZE
‘CULTURAL FIT.’ THAT CAN BE
A PROBLEM
WHY SHOULD LEADERS START
BEING COACHED?
Peter DeWitt, Education Week
Madeline Will, Education Week
When hiring teachers,
district leaders
prioritize "cultural fit"
above all else,
including training and
experience. But most
are unable to measure what exactly that means.
That's according to a new study from the Frontline
Research and Learning Institute, which asked 594
school and district hiring managers from across the
United States to describe their hiring preferences.
Slightly more than half of the respondents were
involved in recruiting and hiring decisions at the
school level (like principals) and the rest served at
the district level, mostly in human resources. Most
of the respondents were from urban and suburban
school districts. (The institute is a division of
Frontline Education, which is a K-12 software
company.)
Researchers from the institute have previously
found that district hiring managers prefer candidates
who are recommended to them via word of mouth,
even though the majority of candidates come from
sources like commercial job boards. The researchers
were concerned that this could hinder teacher
diversity and increase teacher turnover, if the
personal connection is prioritized over fit.
Click Here to view full story.
4
Many leaders agree that coaching is an important way
to grow.
Let's rewrite that…
Many leaders believe instructional coaching is a great
way for their teachers to grow. They understand how
instructional coaches will work on a co-constructed
goal with teachers, and can easily see how the
relationship is beneficial because those leaders often
see the impact of instructional coaching when they
walk into classrooms to do their "learning walks,"
"walk throughs," or..."rigor walks."
What's interesting, is that when the coaching
relationship is offered up to leaders, their openness to
working with a coach isn't always immediately
evident. And it's often for the same reasons that
teachers aren't always open to being coached. Some
of those reasons may be:
• Insecurity sets in. They suddenly become insecure
that they're doing something wrong or are no
longer good enough for the position
• They don't want others to know they are being
coached because of the perception that may
create...are they now seen as a bad leader?
• They don't have time to be coached. They have
much more important things to do.
• What could the coach offer them, that they as the
leader, don't already know?
Click Here to view full story.
PRINCIPALS AND AP’S: YOU’RE RICH ALREADY
WITHOUT MEGA BILLIONS
Mark Wilson, The Principal Matters!
Our ice-breaker question for professional learning
over the past week has been a fun one: If you win the
$1.6 Billion lottery prize, what will you do?
Some of my favorite answers heard across my travels
include: Start an early-childhood program for our
county; give a check for $15,000 to all of the teachers
at my school; buy a villa in Italy; get my hair dyed; go
off the grid.
Have you had fun thinking about what you might do
with nearly-unlimited financial resources? A story
about this topic on the radio captured my
attention. According to the psychologist who was
being interviewed, most of the people who were
buying tickets knew they were extremely unlikely to
win (same odds as being struck by lightning WHILE
being attacked by a bear); nevertheless, millions of
people purchased tickets, in great part for the
experience of exploring limitless possibilities.
The endorphins that are released as we think about
such things are feelings that we enjoy and are, for
most people, worth the two dollars to enter.
The radio story concluded with the idea that
mammoth jackpots (I think I'd be happy with the base
amount?) serve a positive effect by creating positive,
happy feelings as a result of our dive into our dreams,
hopes, and wishes if money were not a
consideration.
Here's the thing you should consider as a school
leader: you don't HAVE to win (or even play) the
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Lottery to have the euphoria of amazing possibilities;
they are around you every day!
Two dollars is a cheap
price to pay for the
chance to think about
"what if...?" But, you're
a school leader: you
don't need a ticket to
Awesomeness
surrounds you... if
you let it.
explore infinite possibilities. Awesomeness
surrounds you... if you let it.
One of the greatest
parts of your job as
school leader is the
freedom to
imagine. You can
ask "what if" to
things you see
every day. What if you complimented that student
on her work? What if you give the feedback your
teacher needs to make the changes he needs to
make to reach his students? What if you lead a
team of students and teachers in strategizing how
to get more students involved in school activities?
As powerful as it is for you to explore possibilities,
it's even greater still for you to lead a school whose
culture is about 'what if?' In that culture, a teacher
asks, "what if we do more to meet the needs of this
group of students who are struggling?" Another
teacher asks, "what if we connect virtually with a
school on another continent?" A student asks,
"what if we had a skateboard club?"
There are amazing ideas in the heads of students,
teachers, staff, and parents at every school.
Unfortunately, all schools don't have the same
attitude towards possibilities. Schools are too often
seen as places where the answer is usually
'no.' Schools where possibilities are highly valued
are places of inspiration where ideas come from all
directions and students grow accustomed to
dreaming, imagining, and thinking creatively. And
then, they take those attitudes and skills with them
with they leave, where they are as valuable as nearly
anything else they take with them from their
schooling days.
Schools that are too busy to dream, too busy to
think about 'what if', too busy to create and imagine
are schools that are skipping an important part of
the learning experience. It's the possibilities that
fuel the passion for learning and lead to better ways,
better days, and better school experiences.
Don't squander the opportunities you have every
day as someone privileged enough to lead a
school. Challenge others to do their best; encourage
students to stretch their learning, to compete at the
highest levels in their areas of passion. Push your
best teachers in the building to be the best teachers
in the county, the state, and the world. Raise their
gaze and let them amaze. Show others what
greatness lies inside them.
Remember before they drew the winning
numbers? You had a ticket and despite the odds, for
a moment, you dared to dream like anything might
be possible. With that same spirit, look at your
school, your teachers, your students. Look at
yourself. See the endless possibilities in you and
around you and get busy making those ideas come
true.
COMMUNICATION
CORNER
Using a Team Approach to Enhance Your
Hiring Process
Submitted by Jake Potter, Director of Public Relations,
Leavenworth USD 453
Even before a candidate has submitted an application for
an employment vacancy, they are likely searching the
internet for news stories, visiting your web site, reaching
out to current staff members, and collecting as much
information as possible to determine whether or not your
district is a right fit for them.
It is important to have relevant information to your hiring
process, quick and easy to find, available on a variety of
messaging platforms. You might consider dedicating a
standalone ‘tab’ to Human Resources that is searchable
from the main page of your organization’s web presence.
This page can be updated to reflect current openings,
starting salary and benefits, upcoming recruiting dates,
and frequently asked questions. For districts that also
maintain a robust social media presence, “Now Hiring” job
postings can be shared via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn
to help widen your search for qualified applicants.
Efforts to retain and celebrate your current staff can also
have an indirect, yet positive, effect on increasing the
number and quality of your future candidates. Providing a
welcoming and supportive environment to your newest
team members will leave them with a good first
impression that they are likely to share within their own
personal networks.
Recognizing your veteran staff as they experience personal
and career milestones and hosting special events (e.g.
teacher of the year recognition, years of service awards,
retirement banquet, beginning and end-of-year lunches,
picnics, and BBQ’s, etc.), is a continuous effort to let
employees know they are valued throughout the school
year. Individually, these may seem like small acts of
thoughtfulness. However, the better your staff feels about
continuing to work for your district, the more likely they
are to speak favorably if/when asked.
In summary, don’t discount how critical of a role your
entire organization can play when helping your district to
identify, recruit, and employ future staff members. Hiring
great candidates is a total team and school community
effort.
7
USING RESUMES TO SET YOUR INTERVIEWS
Jerry Henn, Assistant Executive Director, USA-Kansas
This issue of Under the Umbrella
is to be focused on best hiring
practices. I have chosen to look
at one small area of the hiring
practice, resumes. What should
you look for when trying to
choose the best candidates to
interview? This is a very important part of the hiring
process to get the best possible candidates to
interview.
1. Is the resume clean? By clean, I mean is
everything in order. Neat lines, spacings, same
font and size throughout the document.
2. Is it easy to read? Some resumes are difficult to
read because of the font used, or terminology is
not consistent with educational jargon.
3. Is education in chronological order? If dates are
not in order or there is a break in service, this
might be a red flag.
When I became an administrator, we would have 40
to 50 resumes to look at for most openings in
secondary. At the elementary level, they could have
100+ just for one job. It was a very time-consuming
chore to look at all the resumes just to pick 4 to 5
candidates to interview. Now there are much fewer
candidates for each position. In some cases, there is
not even one resume submitted.
4. Experiences they have listed. Since I believe
relationships are a major key to having a
successful classroom, I want to know what they
have been doing towards building relationships
within the classroom. If the candidate did not
list anything about relationships with students, I
did not interview them (If I had other
candidates, there were always exceptions).
So, what to look at? Everyone will have their own
style of going through the process, but there are a
few things that stand out for each resume.
8
It is amazing when you look for just a few major
items how quickly you can narrow the field down to
get the right people to interview. What is your
style? Everyone is different and you will look for
different things. Good luck in finding the perfect
candidate for your position(s).
WHAT’S THE BLUEPRINT?
Joe Sample, Superintendent, Marais Des Cygnes Valley USD 456
Contained in
countless mission
and vision
documents for
school districts in
Kansas,
superintendents are being asked by their boards to
"recruit, hire and retain high-quality teachers." Now,
the question becomes, what does this really mean?
As administrators, we know what the outcome is,
districts get teachers into the classroom that can
effectively engage, instruct, and enhance the
education of their students. However, how to
districts really perform this task? What are the
insights administrators possess that really allow them
to effectively recruit, hire, and retain?
To answer this question, I enlisted the help of a
number of superintendents across Kansas. To
guarantee a wide variety of perspectives, I needed to
include the feedback of large school districts and
small school districts, as the level of pay between
those types of districts can vary widely. I also wanted
to ensure that I was getting the perspective of our
different geographic regions in Kansas, as recruiting
and retaining in Finney County is going to be different
than in Douglas County. Therefore, I chose three
large school districts (Haysville, Gardner-Edgerton,
and Pittsburg) and three small school districts
(Lacrosse, Solomon, Ness City) to speak to about this
issue.
After identifying the school districts I wanted to
survey, I informally put together a quick three
question list. My three questions were: “What is your
10
school district's best strategy in recruiting
teachers?” “What do you see as the biggest
persuading reason prospective teachers decide to
commit to teaching in your school district?” “Once
having attracted high-quality teachers to your
school district, what approach do you take to
ensure long-term employment?”
What I found intrigued me. In reading through the
responses I received, I immediately found that no
matter the location of the school district or the size
of the school district, we all seem to employ similar
tactics in ensuring we recruit, hire, and retain
teachers. Answer after answer it became inherently
clear that there seems to be a formula all
superintendents utilize to make their teaching staff
the best that it can be.
First, school districts seem to rely heavily on
familiarity or knowledge of their district through
either previous experience of their prospective
teachers or word of mouth from their current staff.
Jody Marshall, USD 231 Gardner-Edgerton, cited
“having pre-service teachers in our district” as their
best strategy, reflecting that a large number of their
current staff come from teachers who have spent
time during their collegiate experience in the
district’s buildings. Bill Keeley, USD 395 Lacrosse,
stated that his biggest recruiting tool is “my own
teachers calling their friends and relatives.” In
either instance, experience or close knowledge of a
school district proves to be the biggest asset in
recruiting teachers to their district.
Second, it does not
seem to matter the size
or location of district,
overwhelmingly,
administrators provided
feedback that teachers
commit to their district due to their location and
culture. Richard Proffitt, USD 250 Pittsburg, reflected
that their staff appreciates the community they are
living in, with their “proximity to the university” being
a nice tool that keeps candidates local. Derek
Reinhardt, USD 303 Ness City, commented that
teachers “see what we are trying to do here, they see
the culture they will get to work and live in, and they
want to be in Western Kansas.” This feedback shows
districts greatly rely upon seeking out those quality
candidates in their local area who want to be there
and getting them in the classroom.
Third,
relationships
between teachers
and their school
districts
consistently seem
to drive the longterm
viability of staff members. John Burke, USD 261
Haysville, relayed that through their mentoring
program for new teachers, the foundation for their
work is relationships, “we make a special effort to
make all teachers and employees feel appreciated in
ways that are meaningful to them.” Justin Coup, USD
393 Solomon, stated that he believes that through
the usage of recognition programs, relationships are
strengthened, “let them know you appreciate them.”
Administrators seem to be finding that if a bond is
developed, the chances of making that staff member
a long time pillar within the district increases
significantly.
It was very insightful gathering this information as I
believe it strengthens what superintendents already
know through the course of their work. If boards of
education ask their superintendents to “recruit,
hire, and retain” high quality teachers, the best
chance they have is to look within their own
buildings or connections, identify the skilled
teachers who want to be there, and develop a
relationship of support and appreciation. Although
that is still a tall order considering the pool of
teachers available, there certainly seems to be a
consistent blueprint for administrators to follow.
4 STEPS EVERY SCHOOL
LEADER NEEDS TO TAKE THIS
YEAR
Dr. Bill Ziegler
A new year brings a rebirth, a time to start new and
to challenge ourselves to stretch and grow. As a
school leader, I work to use this time to challenge
myself to discover and learn new things. Plus,
school leadership is not meant to lead alone; this is
why I make sure I take time to connect with my
professional learning network. We must be leaders
who are fiercely committed to learning and
growing; we need to keep moving forward, one
step at a time. We must be willing to take the
necessary steps forward to challenge ourselves and
to model what we want to see in students and
staff.
11
Check out these four steps to move forward as a
leader
1. Discover
Kids embody the spirit of curiosity and discovery like
none other. We can learn alot from the curious nature
of kids as we work to lead our schools in times of
change and flux. Be sure to work your curiosity and
discovery muscles as a leader. That’s right, I called
them muscles because being curious and having a
spirit of discovery takes effort, energy, and endurance.
We can stretch these muscles by learning something
new.
Nothing helps us to
break out of the status
quo like learning
something new. When
we are brave enough
to learn a new skill,
knowledge, practice, or
wisdom, we open
ourselves up to growing and developing. I recently
attended a workshop on how to use Garageband, an
Apple app to design music for student podcasting and
learning. This Apple session stretched me as a learner
and challenged me to use learning muscles I haven’t
used in a long time. I challenge you to attend a Corwin
Institute to learn something new and to learn practical
and research based strategies you can immediately
implement in your school. Click Here to enroll in a
Corwin Institute.
2. Connect
We can’t do this work alone; we need to be
intentional in building a connection and network with
other school leaders. By doing this, we are
encouraged, empowered, and equipped to take on
the plethora of challenges that regularly come our
way. Plus, we are inspired to move beyond our own
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When we are brave
enough to learn a new
skill, knowledge, practice,
or wisdom, we open
ourselves up to growing
and developing.
understanding and learn new things from others. An
ancient proverb says, “Though one may be
overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of
three strands is not quickly broken.” This proverb
reminds us to stick together; we are stronger
together. School leadership is not meant to lead
alone; be sure to get connected with a professional
learning network that can elevate your leadership
and empower you to be the leader your students
and staff need. I have a very strong network of
school leaders whom I connect with regularly to
work through problems, come up with solutions,
brainstorm ideas, and dream about possibilities.
Without this network, I would be a weaker school
leader who struggles to move beyond my own lens
of leadership. My professional learning network has
empowered me to connect and grow as a leader.
3. Grow
Everytime I think of growing, I’m reminded of my
wife, kids, and I planting our garden in our backyard.
Our family works throughout the year to grow our
small patch of crops that we can or freeze to keep
throughout the winter months. This gardening
requires constant attention and work; we must be
intentional in growing vegetables or the garden
becomes overgrown by weeds and overtaken by
animals.
Much like a garden, our leadership requires
nurturing and fertile soil. We need to prepare our
minds and hearts to learn and grow. By doing this,
we are intentional in our focus to read, listen, watch,
and develop new skills. Just like the need to weekly
get out and garden, we must regularly work to learn
and grow. Develop a reading list at the start of the
month, follow and listen to podcasts for school
leaders, or visit other schools to see how they are
innovating and learning.
Click Here to check out these Corwin new releases in
Administration and Leadership. Select a book to
work through as a leadership team or professional
learning network. By doing this, you grown and learn
through collaboration and networking.
Here are five powerful podcast for school leaders.
Subscribe to these podcasts and watch your
leadership grow through these practitioners sharing
insights and strategies for school leadership.
Lead the Way, a Podcast for School Leaders
Transformative Principal
Better Leaders, Better Schools
Principal Center Radio
Principal Matters
85 - A Veteran Educator’s
Favorite Number!
Most KPERS 1 educators know about the
rule of 85 points (Age + years of service =
85 points)
4. Go
Go share what you learned and lead others by
inspiring them to be relentless advocates for kids. By
doing this, your leadership grows exponentially and
you expand your influence. The Go step is a big one to
take because I am going to encourage you to go and
share what you know, what you are learning, and how
you are growing. By going, I want you to begin to
share your work with other school leaders. This can be
done by starting to blog, posting consistently on social
media, beginning a podcast, or simply working to
mentor other leaders in your school district. However
you do it, you need to do it. School leadership needs
your input and insights. When you share, you
empower others to grow and develop as
leaders. Consider writing a book for Corwin or
contributing to Corwin Connect. Feel free to reach out
to me, I’d be happy to walk through how to get
started. To connect, email me
at drbillziegler@gmail.com, @drbillziegler on Twitter,
or visit my website at www.chaselearning.org
I recently read a quote that made me chuckle: “If I
worked out as much as I talk about it, I’d be the Rock.”
The same is true for school leadership; it’s time to
stop talking about getting to it and start doing it. Take
85 points is the earliest a KPERS 1
employee can retire with the full
multiplier.
What if 85 points seems too far away?
Did you get in education later in life? Stay
at home with children?
Did you know that (Age 62 + 10 years) and
(Age 65 + any years) also gets the full
multiplier?
If you have additional questions, please
visit our website below.
http://www.ameritimeks.com/
Securities offered through Securities America, Inc.,
member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through
Securities America Advisors, Inc. Ameritime, LLC and
Securities America are separate entities.
one step at a time, but begin to take steps now
toward growing and developing as a school leader.
13
2020 KANSAS TEACHER OF
THE YEAR NOMINATION
PACKET AVALIABLE
WHITNEY MORGAN NAMED
2019 KANSAS TEACHER OF
THE YEAR
The Kansas State Department of
Education (KSDE) is accepting
nominations for the 2020 Kansas
Teacher of the Year. Every
school district is encouraged to
nominate one exemplary
elementary classroom teacher
and one exemplary secondary
classroom teacher for this
prestigious award.
Not only does participating in this program
demonstrate that your district values exceptional
teaching, you will be providing critical professional
development opportunities for your nominees.
Participants tell us year after year that this program is
life-changing and has made them better teachers.
The 2020 Kansas Teacher of the Year nomination
packet is available on the KSDE website at https://
www.ksde.org/Portals/0/Communications/2020%
20KTOY%20Nomination%20Packet.pdf.
While district nominees may begin work on the
application now, all nominations must be submitted
using KSDE’s Kansas Teacher of the Year online
application program, which will open April 1, 2019,
and close May 3, 2019.
For more information about this program, please
contact the KSDE by email to sbukovatz@ksde.org or
phone at (785) 296-2551.
14
Whitney Morgan, an English language arts and
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)
teacher at Wyandotte High School, Kansas City,
Kansas, Unified School District 500, was named the
2019 Kansas Teacher of the Year on Saturday, Nov.
17, during a special ceremony in Wichita. She was
selected from a field of eight finalists, and more
than 100 total nominees.
Morgan began her career as an English and ESOL
teacher at Wyandotte High School in 2013. She
received her bachelor’s degree in secondary
education with a minor in nonprofit leadership in
2012 from Kansas State University. She currently is
working on obtaining her master’s degree in English
from the Middlebury Bread Loaf School of English in
Middlebury, Vermont.
Morgan is involved in several leadership roles and
professional organizations, and she is a Stanford
Graduate School of Education Hollyhock Fellow.
Be sure to catch Whitney at the 2019 USA-Kansas
Conference in Wichita!
*Source: https://www.ksn.com/news/kansas/wyandotte-teacherwhitney-morgan-named-kansas-teacher-of-the-year/1605302289
SCHOOL REDESIGN
YOU ARE ON THE WAY IN 2019 TOWARD YOUR GOAL
Dr. John Vandewalle, CEO Lumen Touch, johnv@lumentouch.com
Navigating the complex education environment is like
moving through space when every moment becomes
a challenge and someone’s future is in your hands.
It is that time of the year when you are embroiled in
planning, RFP’s, new contracts, reading about
teachers strikes, dousing the everyday fires,
representing your constituents, fighting for more
resources, presenting to Boards and on and on. We
are asking you to create UNUSUAL CLARITY when
you feel like you are driving through storms or just
trying to keep your head above water.
We are changing our practice and taking on a new
responsibility.”
Some of the challenges you may be pondering are
fairly generic to most schools and the only way to
make a change is to address the system. Most of
our encounters with schools indicate efforts to
tinker rather than to change. Most of the tinkering
is occurring in the class room and the fix is around
the teacher and the curriculum with the hope the
magic wand of technology will shine the stars and
brighten the moon.
If you do not
have a clear
picture of
where you
want to be,
then continue
working on it and create your goals.
You may want to conduct an organization selfassessment
to see how your profile stacks up to a
model of excellence. As shown here, this school
district assessed itself as being a fairly low performer
on all parameters and at first were amazed and
perturbed by their mediocrity.
As the agents of change and the leadership of
education, for students of the Kansas education
system, we have to bring about change that is
magnanimous yet uncomfortable.
This magnanimous
journey has been
embarked on by Dr.
Kelly Arnberger and his
co-driver Leighton Rudd
from Dighton School
District. They have
embraced the challenge
and are impatiently
making some big moves
that will exemplify the
calling.
This was the catalyst for them to say no more! “We
have a responsibility to give our students the best.
16
We took some time off their road time to find out
their WHY and their WHAT so far.
Why have you embraced this opportunity to be a
Gemini District and lead the way in Kansas? We felt
we had a calling and the opportunity to match students’
opportunities to the realities of the world. We had to
change course and create a new reality.
What are the road blocks you have encountered so far?
The old model is comfortable.
Do you have a clear picture of your destination? Yes and
no. We feel like we are building the plane while we are
flying it. We realize there is no instant pudding and this
a journey of endurement.
What are you doing to overcome the road blocks and
keep the momentum? Engaging anyone that will listen,
assist us and celebrate success. We feel we cannot do
this alone and we are constantly leveraging resources
to join us on the journey.
Do you have a message for others undertaking this
journey? Oh yes! There is no perfect time for change. If
you see the opportunity jump on it. Get messy, get
uncomfortable and reach out for expertise to fly the
plane with you.
REDESIGN FROM KINGMAN-
NORWICH SCHOOLS
Bob Diepenbrock, Superintendent, Kingman-
Norwich USD 331
USD 331 Kingman-Norwich has been
working hard to provide appropriate
and engaging educational
opportunities for their students for
several years. Providing 1:1
Chromebooks from 3rd through 12th
grade schools, digital curricular
resources and always looking for ways to differentiate
and personalize learning made it easy to decide to apply
to become a Redesign School. Not only were
administrators excited to seek the opportunity to go
further for our students, but our dedicated teachers
were anxious to innovate, share with each other and
get assistance from other school districts and state
consultants.
Being selected as Gemini I Schools initially created
some challenges of what to do and in getting started.
KSDE provided webinars, but getting subs for teachers
and not being interrupted while at the school put the
planning behind. A decision was made to change to a
5-6 intermediate grade configuration and semidepartmentalize.
There was concern for the
curriculum and for a digital platform that would make
it easier to personalize learning. KSDE brought the
Summit Learning Platform to Kansas and it seemed to
be what we needed. Therefore, after only the first
year of planning, 5th and 6th grade teachers for both
Kingman and Norwich and administrators went to the
summer Summit training held in Kansas City.
We have been largely successful using the Summit
platform as there was careful planning to choose
teacher volunteers who would work hard to make the
new approach work. The teachers report they have
never worked harder in their careers, yet also found
the work very satisfying mostly because of student
successes. Furthermore, they feel most students are
excited about their learning and setting goals. It’s not
unusual to hear students talking about their progress
during recess or PE class. There certainly were some
issues when starting the Summit platform including
learning the curriculum, starting the mentoring, and
understanding all the tools to help personalize the
learning and provide immense data. The results, too,
have been excited for two major reasons; 1) students
showed great gains on MAP testing and 2) all students
are learning and making progress with the support
they need.
Once again, the teachers are the most important
ingredient. Luckily, we have superstars who have
made the implementation successful and that is the
KEY! The district’s current plan is to expand the
Summit Platform to 7th and 8th grades next year and
to 9th and 10th grades the following year. 17
IT IS A ‘PERFECT STORM’
Dan Whisler, Educator in Residence, Trane
• An aging workforce that is retiring at increasing
rates.
• Aging buildings and a deferred maintenance
backlog waiting to be addressed.
• Aging energy grid and strategic focus on energy
efficiency.
• Rapidly advancing technology and a skills gap in
the workforce.
• Limited local availability to industry-recognized
training facilities.
• New goals and expectations for schools to work
toward.
• School budgets have been stretched thin.
Yes, the challenges are real and all involved certainly
acknowledge these realities.
schools with the responsibility of providing “a more
student-focused system that provides support and
resources for individual success.” The how is
provided in the second part of this vision where it
clearly states, this “will require everyone to work
together to make it a reality. Together, Kansans
Can.” (https://www.ksde.org/Agency/Fiscal-and-
Administrative-Services/Communications-and-
Recognition-Programs/Vision-Kansans-Can)
So what does all of this have to do with Career &
Technical Education, the Energy Pathway and all of
the other pathways, too? Everything! The pieces of
the puzzle are all there. It is now up to all of us, in
both public and private sectors, to work together to
bring these pieces together to turn this vision to
reality for our students.
If I could emphasize just one thing right now, it would
be this – there is hope as the team of partners is
growing and ready to address the needs. With a
perspective gained from 33 years as a Kansas high
school science teacher and coach, instead of a
“perfect storm”, I see this as the “perfect
opportunity” for all involved, especially, and most
importantly, for our students. Like facing a
formidable opponent in an athletic competition, if we
focus on the challenges and problems the outlook is
bleak. By developing a well thought out game plan
and focusing on the strengths of all of the team
members, though, it was always my belief that we
had a chance to come out on top. I believe that now,
too.
Through the Kansans CAN School Redesign Project,
the Kansas State Department of Education has tasked
18
Energy is the ability to do work. It is the life-blood of
our society, the key to our economy, standard of
living and our way of life. It also happens to be one
of the larger budget items in every school district.
Involving virtually every subject area in school, I
can’t imagine a better topic for STEM & Project-
Based Learning. During my last ten years in the
classroom, “Energy” was the focus of projects for
our Environmental Science classes, leading to
opportunities and learning experiences for our
students I never dreamed possible. It was just the
tip of the iceberg, though, compared to what is now
a possibility for students in schools all across
Kansas. Our signature project involved tracking the
economic costs and environmental impact of using
our school’s Chevrolet Volt. While students in most
schools don’t have an electric car to study, they do
have something even better to learn from…a
building. Not just any building, though, but THEIR
building.
Buildings are an important component of our society
and they impact the sustainability of our world. They
have energy coursing through their veins – heating,
cooling, lighting. Buildings are responsible for 40
percent of the energy consumption in the U.S.
(Source: EIA 2016). Using energy wisely is everyone’s
responsibility—and young people can make a big
difference! That is why we created the Trane BTU
Crew curriculum – to engage students in using their
campus as a living energy lab.
An Interactive, Flexible Educational Curriculum
The BTU Crew
curriculum uses handson,
interactive learning
to help students
entering 4th-7th and
8th-12th grade and
getting ready for high
school to explore ways
to make their schools
and homes more energy efficient. The program is
designed to:
• engage students, teachers, parents and the
community
• create interest in various science, technology,
engineering and math (STEM) careers
• support critical thinking and analytical skills
strengthen presentation and interviewing skills
So, what is the key to providing learning experiences
that can lead to fulfilling career opportunities for our
students? Teamwork. Overcoming the challenges
creating this “perfect storm” can be done by utilizing
the power provided through Public-Private
Partnerships (P3). By working together and utilizing
the strengths of each member of the team, our
students can grow through engaging learning
experiences that guide them from career exploration
to Individualized Plans of Study.
Transitioning from the
classroom to my role
now serving as Trane’s
Educator in Residence,
it has been exciting for
me to see how all of
the developing Public-
Private Partnerships
are creating a “Career
Ready” model for
students in classrooms
all across Kansas. This isn’t just “theory” or “talk”, it
is happening right now. Currently being piloted in
several school districts, Trane's BTU
CrewTM combines two of the fastest growing
career fields (Energy & Data Analytics) in one realworld
PBL experience that can lead students from
fun career exploration to industry-recognized
certificates for high-tech, high-demand, high-wage
careers. It is quickly catching the attention and
interest of students, as experienced at Beloit
USD#273:
“The students seemed to be intrigued by the data
and were excited when we started pin pointing
specific days that we used a lot of energy and then
we went back to our school calendars to see what
we did on those days. They enjoyed that the
most! The activity was definitely age appropriate
for junior high.” - Christie Fouts, Beloit MS
Technology Teacher
In February, Beloit students from grades 6-12
presented their BTU Crew projects to their Board of
Education and to a larger audience at the Kansas
CTE Conference in Manhattan. The feedback from
these presentations for the work these teachers
and students are doing has been exceptional.
19
“I have been so
impressed with the
BTU Crew program
and the opportunities
it has created for our
teachers and
students. It has brought Project Based Learning to
our classrooms that has Relevance, Real World
Applications, Appropriate Rigor, and allowed us to
build a Relationship with a Global Business and
Industry partner, Trane.” - Jeff Travis, USD#273
Superintendent
curriculum that
can engage
students and lead
to career
opportunities at
the same time.
Doing far more
than just providing a substantial energy savings, this
real-world technology turns buildings into “Living,
Learning Labs”, the foundation for the BTU Crew,
creating learning opportunities not possible using a
textbook.
The “Perfect Storm” is drawing closer. The
expectations of a redesigned learning experience
are on the horizon. The workforce development
team is ready. The career opportunities are here.
Now it is time to take action.
Following these presentations, members of the
audience had the opportunity to visit with the
students to ask questions and get more details about
all they are learning through the BTU Crew program.
“The kids were amazing! I was very impressed with
their self-directedness, engagement, and
cognitive abilities. Their work and this project should
be what school looks like all day every day!”- Dr.
Steve Wyckoff, ESSDACK Leadership and School
Improvement Specialist
Download the
USA-Kansas App!
Search for USAK in the
app store or use this
QR code for fast
access!
Instead of just paying the district utility bill each
month, imagine if that same money could be used for
an energy efficiency program AND be part of a
20
SCHOOL SAFETY
MORE OF THE SAME A YEAR AFTER THE
PARKLAND SHOOTING
Doug Parisi, SafeDefend
The solution to school security is
not more of the same.
With the anniversary of the
Parkland shooting there have
been a lot of articles about the
changes over the last year. The
interesting observation is that
nothing has changed but rather a double down on
more of the same. The response to these events
usually ends with the same options being put out as
enhancements. These options portray the
impression to the public that our schools are safer
without resulting in improvements that address the
threat from an active shooter.
A recent Wall Street Journal article on the Parkland
anniversary mentioned several expenditures over the
last year. The school added fencing to several
schools. The 45-acre Marjory Stoneman Douglas
campus was fenced in at the time of the shooting.
Upgrades and additions to the security system were
purchased. The school has a robust camera system
and the shooter’s every movement is captured on
video. A recommendation was made to have more
armed personnel at all Florida schools. One district
hired combat veterans to patrol the grounds with
rifles. We forget that there was an armed officer on
the grounds that was at the scene in roughly 1
minute 45 seconds but failed to confront the shooter.
The other armed responders were given confusing
information and didn’t make entry until 11 minutes
into the incident which was long after the shooter
fled. So the solution is to continue doing what we
have been doing for years hoping for fewer
casualties.
A true solution comes from looking at what has
happened in the past and figuring out what will make
a difference. Not hypothetical solutions but thwarted
attacks or attacks where the shooter was interrupted.
The 2017-2018 school year was the worst year for
the number of school shootings. Outside of the three
major shootings there were others with minimal
casualties. While the intent of the shooter appeared
to be a mass casualty incident the impact was
minimized by two things. Notification to the
buildings occupants to lockdown saved countless
lives. Actions by teachers to thwart or stop the attack
was just as impactful. If the new strategies for
security don’t improve notification or empower
teachers then your readiness for a hostile intruder or
no better off with a hardened building.
We have
had the
same
approach to
school
shootings
since the
1980s when
we started
some of the current measures. There have been
improvements to the technology for locked doors
and surveillance. These have never stopped an active
shooter, they were not effective in Parkland,
attempting to address a threat with these
improvements will have similar ineffective results.
22
SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS
A BETTER WAY TO ASSESS ORAL READING FLUENCY eBOOK
Kristie Werner, Senior Product Marketing Manager, NWEA
message about reading – that reading faster is
reading better.
In honor of National Reading Month, we are sharing
a FREE eBook – A Better Way to Assess Oral Reading
Fluency. Learning to read is such a major milestone
for early learners and sets the foundation for all
future learning. As young kids develop reading
fluency, they typically move toward greater and
greater comprehension of what they read.
But not all kids have enough of what they need to
get to reading comprehension. Some kids have
strong phonics and word recognition skills, but fail to
comprehend. Others show solid, insightful
comprehension when you read TO them, but
struggle in comprehending what they read on their
own. So, what can teachers do?
Our eBook starts by diving into where teachers can
start – with a healthy understanding of the three key
elements of reading fluency – rate, accuracy, and
prosody. And, it’s not all about words correct per
minute (WCPM). Oral reading fluency is a key
indicator of reading proficiency, but it has some
issues as it’s currently implemented. One of these is
that there are kids who are getting the wrong
24
NWEA expert Cindy Jiban, PhD, shares what’s
wrong with the current reading assessment model
and how a better solution can actually return
precious instructional time to teachers. Enter MAP®
Reading Fluency, the first and only K–3 computeradaptive
oral reading fluency assessment using
speech recognition technology with automatic
scoring.
The 20-minute assessment of oral reading fluency,
comprehension, and foundational reading skills is
delivered online, enabling group administration and
saving teachers hours of time. At NWEA, we’re
excited to bring this new K–3 oral reading
assessment to educators because it helps address
many early reading assessment challenges.
Download the FREE eBook A Better Way to Assess
Oral Reading Fluency today by following the link
below:
http://info.nwea.org/map-reading-fluencyebook.html
Professional development Schedule at a Glance
USA Drive-In Event
No Cost to districts who are PLN Members,
$100 for USA members, and $200 for non-
USA members. Events run 9:00-2:00.
School Safety One Year Later-What’s
Changed? - G.A. Buie
4.1.2019—Topeka
4.2.2019—Lenexa
4.8.2019—Maize
4.9.2019—Garden City
48th Annual
Conference
May 29-31, 2019
Hyatt & Century II Convention Center
Wichita, KS
Opening Speaker
Alan November
CLICK HERE
for
Registration
Closing Speaker
Kent Rader
& Conference
Information!
KAESP—Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals
KAMSA—Kansas Association of Middle School Administrators
KASBO—Kansas Association of School Business Officials
KASPA—Kansas Association of School Personnel Administrators
KASCD—Kansas Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development
KASEA—Kansas Association of Special Education Administrators
KASSP—Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals
KCCTEA—Kansas Council of Career and Technical Education Administrators
KanSPRA—Kansas School Public Relations Association
KSSA—Kansas School Superintendents Association
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