Conference

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Kapono Ciotti
Executive Director, What School Could Be
Head of School, American International School-Egypt

Jennifer D. Klein
CEO, Principled Learning Strategies

The industrial-era of education, where we presumed a common starting and ending point for all has never served students or teachers. While such systems may have helped schools standardize education and make it more efficient, they can make students feel perpetually behind, hold back our most talented, and ignore the "middle." Furthermore, it excludes, by definition, those who do not conform to the norm and are taxing on teachers. Rather than aspiring for simply access for all students, authors Jennifer D. Klein and Kapono Ciotti have developed The Landscape Model to help schools ensure the highest levels of personal success possible for all students. Recognizing that students are positioned across a landscape when it comes to their learning and growth, the model provides strategies for developing an asset-based understanding of what each student brings into the learning ecosystem. The entire model hinges on student protagonism, or agency, and the goal is a level of "inclusive prosperity" which leverages talents and passions to ensure all students reach their own highest possible level of success.

This session will provide an overview of the three elements of the Landscape Model. Participants will have an opportunity to experience inclusive strategies, and to start thinking about how they might use the model to build more inclusive prosperity in their classrooms and school communities. Participants will engage in a rich design session, and leave with an action plan to implement in their schools.

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Diane Ullman, PhD
International Accreditation Leader, NEASC

Kelly Lyman
Commission Member, NEASC

Achieve transformation in learning and develop future ready learners by leveraging multiple systems within your school or district. 

In this interactive session, participants will begin by defining the future ready learners they seek to graduate from their schools and learn about the four lenses – Conceptual Understanding, Commitment, Capacity, and Competence – that support developing organizational strength. Looking through these lenses, participants will examine seven systems that are intentionally activated to create lasting transformational learning. Together we will explore strategies and actions within each system that can bring about transformation and result in future ready learners. The journey of one Connecticut school district engaged in this work will be highlighted. Participants who have already created a Portrait of the Graduate or shared understanding of high-quality learning are asked to bring these to the session.

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Athena Gerochristodoulou, MEd
International Accreditation Leader, NEASC

"From compliance to improvement to transformation"
NEASC Visitors are excited about the future of education and interested in helping other schools gain traction for their improvements and transformations. Visitors are flexible thinkers, caring collaborators, fluent communicators, and generous with their time and talents. This one-day training to serve on visits for the Commission on International Education will include many activities to get participants thinking deeply about what makes learning effective in schools.

Participants should have at least two years of leadership experience (experienced teacher leaders are welcome) in an international school. Previous accreditation experience is not required, and participants are not required to be currently working in a NEASC member school. The session is beneficial for those whose own schools are following NEASC accreditation process using the ACE or Standard pathway as well as those who wish to be considered to serve on accreditation teams. Participants will be sent 2-3 hours of pre-training work in advance of the December 6 in-person training. After the training, participants will be invited to participate in a virtual Top Up Training session and complete a written task for review by NEASC before qualifying to conduct visits on behalf of NEASC.

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Presented by NEASC staff and school leaders

Schools are preparing graduates for a future that will require them to have not only content knowledge and understandings but also transferable skills and dispositions that will allow them to be flexible and adaptable in the rapidly changing world. As schools develop a vision for their graduates, they must determine what opportunities and experiences students will have to learn, practice, and demonstrate the transferable skills and dispositions in the vision and establish a process to assess and give feedback to students on their progress.

Join NEASC staff and New England educators to discuss the creation and implementation of a vision of a graduate for your school or district. We will outline the Vision of a Graduate (or Portrait of the Graduate) creation process and then spend the majority of the day giving examples of performance assessment systems and concrete ways to integrate the vision to make it the driving force of your school or district. Suitable for school or district leaders and teachers.