with Al Bertani - FALL 2011 -
October 5, 12, 19 and 26

As Charles Payne noted in his award winning book,  So Much Reform – So Little Change, school reform efforts across the United States have yielded incremental results – his analysis – we consistently fall apart at the implementation of our ambitious plans.

Across the four sessions of this webinar, participants will explore strategies for ensuring successful impact during the implementation phase of your improvement and transformation efforts.

Webinar themes will include: moving from planning to action, building ownership, monitoring and supporting implementation, and assessing your progress.  Participants will be able to use their current improvement efforts as their focus for the webinar.

Register online at www.asdn.org. 
No charge for RAPPS district staff to attend.  One optional university credit available for $90.

with Lexie Domaradzki
- FALL 2011 and SPRING 2012 -

Elementary teachers: November 30, December 14, January 11 and 25, and February 7

Secondary teachers: February 29 and March 14

This literacy webinar series is designed to support elementary teachers in ensuring that all children learn how to read and write at a high level; to access, synthesize and evaluate information and to communicate their findings and ideas effectively. Webinar content will include strategies for improving Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Comprehension and Vocabulary. Each webinar will address both core instruction as well as intervention strategies.

The webinar series will provide support and assistance with increasing teachers’ skill and effectiveness in delivering rigorous reading instruction.  Sessions will focus on the implementation of the Alaska State Literacy Blueprint.

The target audience is elementary teachers, literacy specialists, and principals.

Literacy instruction for secondary teachers will be addressed in 2 webinars this spring.  There will be separate registration forms for the fall (elementary) webinar series and the spring (secondary) series.

Register online with ASDN at www.asdn.org. 

No charge for RAPPS district staff to attend.  One optional credit available for $90.

with Randy Sprick - FALL 2011-
October 18 and 25, November 1 and 8. 

Discipline and motivation problems can create significant barriers to achieving academic excellence in any school. By implementing positive behavior support at the school-wide, classroom, and (as needed) individual-student levels, school personnel can reduce the degree to which discipline/motivation serve as barriers to learning.

When implemented well at all three levels (school-wide, classroom, and individual), a Response to Intervention framework for behavior emerges in which universal prevention is the primary focus, and when it comes to intervention at Tiers 2 and 3, that the intensity of the intervention and support matches the intensity of student need.

The goal of academic and behavioral RTI is always to insure that every student is successful. A major theme is how staff can learn to shift from reactive punitive procedures to proactive and positive strategies. The first webinar looks at the big picture and each subsequent session will provide more depth on each of the three levels. This webinar series will allow school personnel to identify strengths of implementation of positive behavior support, identify weaknesses, and develop strategies for addressing those weaknesses.

Required book:  Behavioral Response to Intervention: Creating a Continuum of Problem-Solving and Support

Register with ASDN at www.asdn.org

No charge for RAPPS district staff to attend.  One optional credit available for $90.

From Implementation to Impact:  Enhancing Skills for School and District Leaders
May 31-June 3, 2011
Captain Cook Hotel, Anchorage. 

Alaska School Leadership Institute Purpose
To build school and district leadership capacity to support high quality implementation by learning how to utilize tools, strategies, processes and protocols to maximize impact.

Institute Learning Outcomes
1.   To learn how to use tools and frameworks to build coherence and sustain energy during implementation.
2.  To examine classroom and school implementation issues including strategies for instructional grouping, progress monitoring, and curriculum pacing.
3.  To learn and practice processes and protocols for examining student work in order to increase rigor and heighten expectations for student learning.
4.  To engage in critical friends conversations to help colleagues address the challenges and issues they face in their respective leadership roles.
5.  To learn about emerging best practices from rural Alaskan schools and districts through the Festival of Ideas.

Participants
Core participants for the 2011 ASLI will include: principals, principal/teachers, teacher leaders, central office staff, and superintendents from RAPPS partner school districts. In addition, Technical Assistance Coaches (TAC’s), Content Support Specialists (CSS's), Alaska Comprehensive Center Staff, and ASDN staff will attend the Institute.

Institute Attendees – Continuing and New
On Tuesday, May 31, 2011 a day-long orientation session will be held for all new 2011 ASLI attendees (new scholarship recipients and all others who did not attend last year). Three voluntary, half-day special interest sessions will also be offered on May 31st: Alaska STEPP, Culture and Community Engagement, and Teacher Evaluation.

Our summer institute will build on the work we have done with collaboration and professional learning; using data to drive improvement; aligning curriculum, instruction and assessment practices; and sharing emerging best practices and analyzing problems of practice using Alaskan examples. Critical Friends Conversations and District Team Time will be components of this year’s institute as well.

Hotel reservations at the Captain Cook are available at the conference rate of $181 per night. The conference code is RAPPS, or click here to reserve with the group rate.  

PRE-CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES Tuesday, May 31 
(Lunch will be provided to everyone enrolled in a pre-conference session from 12:15-1:00 in the Aft-Deck Room)

• COHORT 2 - New STEPP  Districts - 9:00 am-12:15 pm
  
• COHORT 1 - Continuing STEPP Districts - 1:00 pm -3:15 pm
  

CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES - Tuesday, May 31
The conference will start Tuesday evening with a reception at the Mid-Deck Room from 5:00-5:30
A welcome and orientation session will be held from 5:30-7:30 (required).

CONFERENCE ACTIVITIES  - Wednesday, June 1 - Friday, June 3 
(Breakfast and lunch provided every day in the Mid Deck Room.  Breakfast starts at 7:30)
Wednesday, June 1 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  (all groups meet in the Mid/Aft Deck Room)
Thursday, June 2 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Friday, June 3 - 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

AGENDA
A pdf file of the agenda is available to download at bottom of this page.

FESTIVAL OF IDEAS

DISTRICT TEAM TIME
We have set aside time for districts to meet every afternoon.  District teams will meet for 90 minutes on Wednesday and Thursday and for one hour on Friday.  We will provide copies of your school improvement plans.  Please bring a copy of your SY 2011-12 school district calendar. 

MEALS
Breakfast and lunch are provided Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Breakfast starts at 7:30. 

Lunch WILL be provided on Tuesday in the Aft-Deck room for people who are enrolled in any of the the pre-conference sessions. 
Breakfast will NOT be provided on Tuesday.  Nearby breakfast options for Tuesday morning:  the Pantry Restaurant in the Captain Cook (full service breakfast), the Whale’s Tail Cafe in the Captain Cook (pastries and to-go items) or Snow City Cafe on 4th and “L”. 

PARKING
No parking passes are available in conjunction with this conference. There are a number of pay parking lots close to the hotel and some metered street parking is available.

UNIVERSITY CREDIT
One-500 level professional development credit will be available.  Participants must attend all sessions and submit a festival of ideas proposal to receive the credit.

Click here for more information and online registration>>

RAPPS UAA Aspiring Principals
The UAA Aspiring Principals will meet at the Captain Cook at the same time as the ASLI conference.  If you have a RAPPS scholarship you will attend the UAA Aspiring Principals Institute.  This is the once a year, face-to-face meeting for all scholarship recipients to work with UAA instructors. Aspiring Principals will join the ASLI throughout each day: every morning for the Critical Friends Conversations, at lunch, and at the end of the day for district team time.

UAA Students with RAPPS Scholarships have a separate registration form.

The agenda for the UAA program is attached to the bottom of this page.

UAA Students - Click here to register for your Summer RAPPS conference>>

April 15, 2011
Downtown Marriott Hotel, Anchorage.
Across the United States, teacher effectiveness and teacher quality are hot topics with a number of states making significant changes in their policies and procedures regarding teacher evaluation. Improving student learning and public education outcomes in the United States is heavily reliant on improving teacher quality.  This workshop will explore the current trends and issues in evaluating teacher effectiveness.  Workshop objectives include:
1.  Identifying the components of high quality instruction that produce learning results drawing on personal and professional experiences of participants working in classrooms and schools.
2.  Examining leading teacher evaluation frameworks including the Framework for Teaching by Charlotte Danielson, the i-Observation by Robert Marzano, and The Skillful Teacher by Jon Saphier.
3.  Analyzing trends and issues reflected in policy and procedural changes regarding teacher evaluation across the United States.
4.  Discussing implications of these trends and issues for local district and state-level policies and procedures in Alaska.
RAPPS registration fee is $50.  Lunch is provided.
Click here for more info and registration »

with Al Bertani  
April 14, 2011
1:00-4:00 – Downtown Marriott Hotel, Anchorage.

Globalization is placing an intense spotlight on our ability to adequately prepare our students for the 21st century.  In order to transform our schools and districts into 21st century learning environments, we need leaders who can articulate a strong vision, mobilize members of the community, sustain momentum in the face of adversity, and marshal the resources needed for support.  Leaders have to examine their own orientations as 21st century learners, and school districts need to assess their conditions for supporting 21st century learning.  This session will explore the emerging learnings from an Executive Leadership Development Program sponsored by CISCO Systems.  Developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of 21st Century Leaders should be priority for districts and states across the U.S.  No cost.

Click here for more info and registration »

March 9, 16, 30 and April 6, 2011.  This four part webinar series with McREL outlines the most effective research-based instructional strategies to maximize student achievement.  These strategies are appropriate for grades K-12 and form the basis for McREL's Power WalkThrough program. 
No fee for RAPPS district staff.  One optional credit available for $60.