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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

 

Rural Reminder

National Public Radio ran two stories this weekend about policy recommendations from various rural advocates to the president-elect. The reports can be accessed via these links:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97307012

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97309054

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Wednesday, November 19, 2008

 

Rural Reminder

The Regional Educational Laboratory-Northeast and Islands is hosting a webinar on teacher retention strategies and distribution of highly qualified teachers. Because rural districts and schools often struggle to recruit and retain teachers, and to ensure that teachers meet NCLB's "highly qualified" requirements, this webinar should prove to be illuminating. Details are as follows.

Webinar: Exploring Teacher Retention Strategies and the Distribution of Highly Qualified Teachers

DATE: Thursday, December 4, 2008 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

HOST: Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) administered by Education Development Center, Inc.

PRESENTERS: Michelle LaPointe, REL–NEI, ModeratorPamela Ellis, Abigail Levy, Coauthors, Developing the "Compendium of Strategies to Reduce Teacher Turnover in the Northeast and Islands Region": a companion to the database Sarah Guckenburg, Susan Mundry, Coauthors, An Analysis of State Data on the Distribution of Teaching Assignments Filled by Highly Qualified Teachers in New York schools

OVERVIEW: Retaining high-quality teachers and reducing turnover are key issues for education policymakers across the Northeast and Islands Region. In this webinar, REL-NEI researchers present findings from two recent research reports. The first identified a sample of programs and policies to increase teacher retention in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont. The second examined the distribution of high-quality teachers in urban, suburban and rural New York State. The webinar places a special emphasis on connecting this research to the work of field practitioners. After a brief presentation of the findings, LaPointe will facilitate discussion about how these findings might impact policy and practice locally. Two special guests representing the Maine Department of Education – Daniel Conley and Barbara Moody – will participate in this dialogue to provide personal reflections on how they hope to apply the findings to their work.

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE: National, state and local policymakers, state education leaders, district and school administrators, representatives of professional associations and unions, teachers, parents and students interested in engaging in conversation about teacher quality issues facing the Northeast and Islands Region.

TO PARTICIPATE: Simply e-mail relneiwebinars@edc.org indicating your interest in attending the session. You are invited to forward this invitation to colleagues. Space is limited, and early registration is encouraged. Registrants will receive a confirmation and directions about logging into the Webinar.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2008

 

Rural Reminder

The Carsey Institute just released a policy brief on rural economic development in the "new economy" (the globalized, volatile one, I assume). The authors, Anita Brown-Graham and William Lambe, propose four tenets for contemporary rural development:

1. Innovation is key to driving growth and prosperity in today’s global economy.
2. Significant capital investments are required to put innovations to use.
3. Development efforts must seek to protect valuable natural assets.
4. Development is a “contact sport,” best pursued through dense networks of personal contacts.

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