Workshop Offers Abundant Learning Opportunities

Workshop Offers Abundant
Learning Opportunities

Workshop 2007, to be held Oct. 24-26 in Atlantic City, will feature 180 training programs for local school officials – including 25 group sessions and 42 action labs.

These programs are designed to meet the learning needs of school board members, whether they prefer smaller, hands-on participation or a large, formal setting.

Action Labs Action labs are 90 minutes long and take place in small group rooms. Attendance is limited to 24 to 48 participants in order to allow for a highly interactive, hands-on session. Admission is only by ticket on a first-come, first-admitted basis. Ticket distribution, which takes place on the third level of the Atlantic City Convention Center, and seating begins 20 minutes prior to the start of each session.

The topics for some of this year’s action labs include the achievement gap; grant writing; facility planning and community involvement; the challenges of school finance in 2007; best practices for gifted education; understanding the role of a board president; negotiating your superintendent’s contract; and security standards for K-12 schools. There is a two-part action lab on Thursday dealing with analyzing salary guides.

Group Sessions The group sessions, which are also 90 minutes long, take place in a lecture hall setting.

The presentations, which incorporate a variety of media, also include time for questions from the audience. Workshop attendees do not need tickets to participate in group sessions.

Some of the topics of this year’s group sessions include administrative accountability; maintaining effective facilities with limited funding; autistic student inclusion through technology; overcoming the limitations of statewide testing; board-superintendent relationships; current issues in school law; using professional development to obtain reading success; and strategic planning. There will be two different group sessions on NJQSAC, the state’s new monitoring and evaluation system. Group sessions take place all three days of the conference, including three on the morning of Friday, Oct. 26: effectively handling special education cases; harassment-free hallways; and leadership that transforms.

Board members earn .5 Board Member Academy credits for each action lab and group session they attend.

Besides group sessions and action labs, Workshop 2007 will feature question-and-answer roundtables, a curriculum fair, forums with legislators and state policymakers, and addresses by keynote speakers.