As schools continue to settle in following the winter break, I extend to you and all principals across the nation our best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2016. This year is a special one for NASSP—2016 marks the 100th anniversary of NASSP’s founding by a small group of principals who gathered in Detroit to create a network of support for school leaders facing common challenges. This mission has remained a constant through a century’s worth of events and evolution. The effects of the Great Depression, World War II, the “happy days” of the 1950s, the civil rights movement, the Cold War, the digital revolution, and 9/11 all reverberated in schoolhouses. They prompted school leaders to provide reassurance and optimize teachable moments and they worked to build the future one student at a time. (more…)
School of Thought Blog
NASSP at 100: Let the Celebration Begin!
Why Are You Proud to Be a Principal?
Help celebrate NASSP’s 100th anniversary by entering our selfie contest! Starting this month, we’re asking school leaders to participate by sharing on social media what being a principal means to them.
To enter the contest, principals can take a photo of themselves with a written answer to the question, “Why are you proud to be a principal?” and #NASSP100. The photo should be shared on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using #NASSP100.
Photos must be shared on social media by March 31, 2016. (more…)
Advocacy Update
Supreme Court
Principals in the Central states may now be a bit more confused about their responsibility to report suspected child abuse. The Supreme Court declined to review a 6th Circuit decision allowing parents to sue principals for reporting suspected abuse at home. The allegation by the administrator, the court concluded, was retaliation for a dispute over the student’s IEP. NASSP signed an amicus curiae brief for the case, indicating that “mandatory reporting” now results in mandatory vulnerability to civil suits. NASSP members, remember that your membership provides you with up to $10,000 in legal coverage. Let’s hope you won’t need it, despite the court’s decision. (more…)
New Scholarship Search Tool Launched to Support NHS Members
A Google search for “college scholarships” yields 112 million results. What if a student could narrow that search to generate options that were more focused on his or her attributes and aptitudes?
This week, the National Honor Society (NHS) introduced NHS Scholar Dollars, a scholarship search tool powered by College Board. Now, NHS members will be able to more efficiently explore scholarship opportunities. The tool provides members with filtered results based on the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. (more…)
Advocacy Update
Inside the Beltway
What’s going on in Washington?
Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania introduced the Educator Preparation Reform Act (S. 2419), aimed at better preparing teachers, principals, and other educators to be effective and profession-ready on day one. The bill is intended to be part of the conversation on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which is expected to come up this year. NASSP endorsed this legislation in the 113th Congress and offered recommendations to Sen. Reed’s staff for the current 114th Congress version. (more…)
Principals, School Counselors, and U.S. Army Gather for Leadership, Professional Development
It was a meeting of great minds in education this past fall at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Thirty-seven secondary school principals and school counselors joined senior Army leaders and education experts for the third annual U.S. Army Leadership and Professional Development Symposium, a collaboration between the U.S. Army and NASSP. During the three-day meeting, Army and education leaders (including former NASSP president G.A. Buie) discussed best practices in leadership development and exchanged ideas about improving the state of education for students and schools.
New to the 2015 symposium were representatives from the American School Counselor Association. As the school counselors joined the ranks of their principal colleagues, the group of educators drew energy and new ideas from their peers, also drawing on the perspective and experiences of Army leaders in attendance. (more…)
Higher Education Act Reauthorization Expected in 2016
Just before the New Year, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced the Educator Preparation Reform Act (S. 2419) aimed at better preparing teachers, principals, and other educators to be effective and profession-ready on day one. In announcing the introduction of the bill, Senator Reed cited the body of evidence that shows the impact teachers and principals have on student achievement and also warned of the looming shortage of teachers and principals prepared to serve in high-need schools. Senator Casey also discussed the correlation between what students learn and what they earn later in life.
NASSP endorsed this legislation in the 113th Congress, and after submitting minor policy recommendations to Senator Reed’s staff that were included in the updated version, NASSP again supports this bill. (more…)
Climate, Culture, and the Urban Assistant Principal
Guest post by Baruti K. Kafele
Over the years, I have found the role of the urban assistant principal to be the most intriguing role in schools. In my role as a consultant, I see this role being played out so differently in so many schools—ranging from school disciplinarian to instructional leadership, and everything in between.
I often reflect back on my own tenure as an urban middle school assistant principal, when my responsibilities were relegated to school disciplinarian, cafeteria duty, bus duty, hall monitor, and staff supply inventory clerk. (more…)
Advocacy Update
100th Anniversary of NASSP
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL) introduced a House resolution recognizing 2016 as the 100th anniversary of the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Read more about the resolution on the School of Thought blog.
Inside the Beltway
What’s going on in Washington? (more…)
Congressional Resolution Honors NASSP’s 100th Anniversary
Everyone is getting in on NASSP’s 100th anniversary. Principals are celebrating the history of their profession and NASSP’s continued growth into a new century. Student leaders from several generations are fondly remembering how NASSP helped them amplify their voices and build their leadership skills.
And now, Congress is joining the celebration.
H.Res.570, a resolution recognizing 2016 as the year of the 100th anniversary of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, was introduced on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and into the federal record on December 17—just in time for NASSP’s 2016 celebration. (more…)