International Forum for
Distinguished Secondary
School Principals
The National Training Center for Secondary School Principals,
Ministry of Education PR China hosted the International Forum
for Distinguished Secondary School Principals in Shanghai in early
September 2014. The NTCSSP invited a delegation of UK and Kentucky
educators to present perspectives on educational reform and discuss
innovative ideas being implemented in Kentucky schools that focus
on balancing academic achievement and releasing students’ potential.
Dr. Lars Björk, professor at the University of Kentucky College of
Education’s Department of Educational Leadership Studies (EDL)
presented an overview of educational reform in the USA that lay an
historical foundation for understanding what is arguably the most
intense, comprehensive, and sustained effort to improve education in
American history.
Chris Smith, Kentucky Department of Education Consultant, discussed
professional development provided classroom teachers to support
implementation of Common Core State Standards in Kentucky schools.
And, Shannon Treece, principal of Eminence Middle School, presented
a “Framework of Innovation to Reinvent Education (FIRE).” Her school
is in one of four districts recognized as “Districts of Innovation” in
Kentucky.
Taken together these presentations provided insight into education
reform in Kentucky. The NTCSSP Conference invited delegations
composed of university deans, faculty, principals and executive directors
principal associations from the USA, Great Britain, South Africa,
Australia, and New Zealand as well as preeminent principals from
China. Dr. Shen Yushun, Deputy Director of National Training Centre
for Secondary School Principals Ministry of Education opened the
conference and Arri Pokka, president of the International Confederation
of Principals (ICP), and Robert Nairn, executive director of the
Australian Secondary Principals Association (ASPA), presented keynote
speeches.
Björk, Browne-Ferrigno
editors of journal issue
Drs. Lars G. Björk and Tricia BrowneFerrigno are editors of a special issue of the
journal Leadership and Policy in Schools,
“International Perspectives on Educational
Reform and Superintendent Leadership.”
The editors write, “This special issue of
Leadership and Policy in Schools is devoted
to the work of international scholars who
have conducted recent national studies of
educational reform and the superintendency
in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and
the United States. The articles not only capture
a collective sense of national commitment to
education as a means for advancing social,
economic, and political well-being, but also
provide a unique perspective on the context of
education reform—particularly with regard to
the dynamic interplay between the influences of
globalization and national education policy as
well as the centralization and decentralization
of authority for education. These studies are
unique in time and place.
“Each article in the special issue includes
brief descriptions of national education systems,
discussions of recent educational reforms, and
empirical findings from nationwide studies
(2009–2011) funded by the Finnish and
Norwegian ministries of education, national
research councils in Sweden and Denmark,
and the American Association of School
Administrators (AASA) in the United States.
These studies collectively contribute to the
scope, depth, and reliability of findings on how
educational reforms have influenced school
district superintendents.”
Rous invited to present
at Harvard event
Dr. Beth Rous was invited to author and
present a special topic on “Early Identification
for Children At-Risk for Developmental Delay/
Disability” in December 2014 at the Harvard
Graduate School of Education. The upcoming
convening is titled “The Leading Edge of Early
Childhood.” The purpose is to gather leading
scholars, practitioners, and policymakers for
a strategic, new discussion about high-quality
Pre-K and its expansion and is structured to
highlight the best of what we currently know
about healthy child development, high-quality
systems of early learning, and the challeng