Introduction

With the call for school improvement by national, state, and local constituencies, the demand for school improvement leaders to guide schools through continuous school improvement efforts has risen tremendously.  The North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) responded to the demand by identifying partners that could provide assistance with the training and increase the number of professionals knowledgeable about school improvement.  Therefore, a partnership was born. 

The Partners

The first partner, NCA CASI, is an independent accrediting agency for kindergarten through grade twelve.   A school voluntarily chooses to meet the rigorous membership and school improvement standards set forth by NCA.  NCA accredits approximately 9,000 schools in nineteen states, the Navajo Nation, and the Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS).  The second partner, the Educational Administration Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), offers multiple masters and doctoral degrees in educational leadership.  The programs provided by the department address pre K-12 schooling, higher education, and leadership.  The third partner, the Division of Continuing Studies (DCS), is also located at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  This division offers campus support with technology and the preparation of distance education course work for departments and colleges within the University system.

The NCA/UNL School Improvement Partnership was created to increase the number of professionals trained in the school improvement process by offering web-based learning opportunities and specialized certificates to professionals in K-12 education.  Like Sanford (2000), the members of the partnership “realized that the future of education was all about lifelong learning—anytime, anywhere, for anyone” (p. 64).

The Birth of the Partnership

Not unlike many other projects, the NCA/UNL partnership emerged as a result of a single conversation about the need for increased numbers of educators with training in the school improvement process.  As an outcome of this brief conversation, it was decided that a design team would be established, and UNL would host a meeting to share the opportunities available using a web-based approach to develop course work to train school improvement leaders.

Design Team Meetings

The “design team” members from UNL and NCA CASI met for the first time in Lincoln, Nebraska, in September 1999.  Needless to say, on both sides of the table, there was both enthusiasm and anxiety about whether or not this project would materialize and if the people who were currently around the table were those who could be instrumental in its success. 

Partnerships that are successful aren't just formed; they evolve over time and require nurturing.  Those within the partnership must search for ways to build relationships with the other parties involved and to develop a sense of trust among and between the individual members of the group.  There was no doubt that all of the parties at the table agreed with Norman's (2000) premise that “it makes sense to have the K-12 and higher education communities communicating and collaborating” (p. 28).  What was unclear was whether the people at the table could form a bond strong enough to enable the partnership to grow and develop.

The UNL team members recognized that NCA CASI had approached them because of their vast experience with distance education.  The Department of Educational Administration identified, as early as ten years ago, that it was “moving away from the factory university, a place-bound, product-oriented institution that provide(d) educational services . . . to its clients at the time, place, and pace desired by the institution” (Dunn, 2000, p. 37).  It was moving toward being an institution that will deliver educational services at the time, place, pace, and style desired by the student.  Dunn (2000) reminds us that “the virtual university has been born and is growing rapidly; it will be the predominant mode of higher education by the year 2025” (p. 37).  There is no question that technology is changing the way business is done, and the NCA/UNL partnership is one example of how technology can facilitate new partnerships and relationships.

As the conversation about the partnership began and each member of the design team participated and shared personal experiences related to school improvement, one could sense the keen interest and commitment that was building around the table.  The following items were discussed in detail:     

Several meetings were held to define the most important attributes of the school improvement program.

As the design team continued its work, members identified some critical questions that were in need of answers.  These questions and responses have served as a framework for the four-course school improvement program that is now available. 

First Course Introduced

It was determined by the partnership that the four courses should be offered on a pilot basis the first time they were introduced.  This would allow the design team to follow the piloting of the courses and make changes as needed before opening the courses to staff in NCA member schools.  A discussion of how participants would be selected and notified for piloting the courses ensued.  It was determined that representatives from each of the nineteen states served by NCA CASI would be invited to recommend one person for participation, and the NCA CASI staff would identify the remaining participants.

In April of 2000, the design team shared the first glimpses of some of the features of the initial course and highlighted some of the unique characteristics of the course.   The first course, “Developing Readiness for a School Improvement Process that Works,” focuses on the following ideas:

An on-line learning journal that serves as a desktop notebook was introduced for the first course along with a web-based School Portfolio and Student Portfolio.  The School Portfolio was designed to house all elements of the school improvement process relative to the school setting of each participant in the class.  Items such as the school's goals, timelines, action plans, school profile, baseline data, and post data are maintained in the portfolio. The Student Portfolio contains samples of the student's work over time that matched specific standards that would be expected of a school improvement specialist.  One of those activities focused on identifying a school improvement leader that the class participants have met over the course of their years in education.  The members of the class were asked to share the attributes of such a leader.  The thoughts of one student envisioned the school improvement leader as follows:

Attributes of a Successful School Improvement Leader

I have chosen a school improvement leader in a school from my past.  She was a local hire, with one year of experience in the school before becoming the new school improvement chair.  She was an excellent teacher who knew her subject matter and was invested in finding ways to helps students master the content and become proficient in the skill areas her discipline demanded.  In addition to her content knowledge she had a thorough understanding of effective instructional practice.  She was not afraid to ask questions and was interested in increasing her own knowledge base.  Already I have identified several attributes of a successful school improvement leader——-a strong instructional background, the desire to increase current knowledge and skills, and the ability to ask questions.  In addition, she possessed integrity, stick-to-itiveness, good communication skills (both speaking and listening), and an overall understanding of school improvement.  Each one of these skills was needed and in combination made her and her school successful in their school improvement efforts.  (Sheryl Frascht, Iowa, Course one participant)

The students are also expected to develop a School Improvement Planning Tool Kit (SIP Tool Kit) designed to be a resource to them when they complete the course work.  It is a box that sits beside their desk at home or work where they can collect all of those items that would be valuable to them when working with their staff.  Such items as articles that they might share with the staff at different stages of the school improvement process, activities that would be valuable when demonstrating the process to staff, or perhaps an annotated bibliography for use when working on the school improvement plan might be included.  This is the only tool in the course that is not web-based. 

Course One Goes On-Line

The waiting was finally over and eighteen students registered for the pilot program.  Fortunately the students were from many locations in the US, and five students were from the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Italy, Japan, Korea, Guam, and Germany.  The remaining students were from Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, Wisconsin, North Dakota, New Mexico, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. The students brought a variety of backgrounds and experiences to the course.  Many of the students had NCA Ambassador Training or had been a leader of a district or school improvement team. 

Initially, students were asked to introduce themselves and tell a little bit about their work with school improvement. They were teachers, assistant principals, and principals in both public and private settings at all levels of K-12 education.  Some of the students serve as school improvement specialists to as many as seventeen schools.  Others travel great distances to serve as external leaders for their schools. 

Most of the students became interested in the program because of the technology used to deliver the program.  The students are busy professionals who are working in schools every day and are faced with great demands on their time and energy.  When checking the postings in the discussion forum, the instructors found that most of the students did their class work in the evenings or on weekends.  At times this was frustrating for students who posted ideas during the week and received little response until the weekend. 

Palloff and Pratt (1999) captured our thoughts about this new venture when they stated, “Institutions entering the distance learning arena must be prepared to tackle new issues and concerns and to develop new approaches and new skills in order to create an empowering learning process, for the creation of empowered learners is yet another desired outcome of computer-mediated distance education” (p. 6).  As with any new web-based program, there have been some computer glitches that have required solutions.  Some of these problems come from the systems that students have at home or in their place of business while others are internal and must be worked on by the university.  An e-mail recently received from a student says it all, “Total home computer-crash-awaiting replacement hard drive from Gateway.  Office computer finally restored and I have regained access to the course site.”

Fortunately, as with every new course, finding solutions with the help of students and technicians is normal operating procedure.  Midway through Course one, telephone interviews were conducted with all participants to identify what they perceived as strengths and areas needing improvement within the initial course.  Based on these interviews, the following strengths and areas of improvement were noted:

Strengths

The course material supplied a valued resource in the implementation of school improvement within participants' districts.

Prior knowledge with technology played a major role in the students' level of anxiety particularly at the beginning of the course.  The participants felt great appreciation towards the support staff in meeting their technology needs.

The telephone interviews were a good idea.  Many students appreciated the opportunity to associate a voice with the text within the web site.

Areas To Be Improved

The need was expressed for specific technological changes that focus primarily upon navigation and posting within the course site.

A concern about the level of participation within the discussion section of the course was identified.

Students suggested that the instructors create a biographical section within the course where students could view information about individuals contributing to the group discussions.

Participants shared thoughts about the school improvement processes in their schools and what the future holds for students.  We are experiencing and recognizing the meaning of one participants' statement when she said, “Nothing remains status quo if it is to continue.  Our students can't be taught all the new information while they are in school, but they can be taught to adapt to changes and to integrate new knowledge and techniques into their abilities and talents.”  Right now, the students participating in the classes are proof that educators want to adapt to changes and integrate new knowledge and techniques into their abilities and talents. 

What's Next?

A review and revision of the first course is in process and is based on the students' comments and suggestions collected during the interviews.  The second course was introduced in January 2001 and will undergo the same scrutiny throughout the semester with revisions to follow in the summer of 2001.  This process will continue until all four courses have been thoroughly reviewed. 

In the fall of 2001, all NCA schools interested in training a school improvement specialist are welcome to enroll interested staff members in this program. Hopefully, as we move forward, we will continue to glean information about how we can improve the coursework and the school improvement processes within schools while learning more about what makes web-based courses successful.  But the very best outcome of the partnership will definitely be the increased number of professionals that are knowledgeable about school improvement and available to work on improving schools for the students that we serve. 

References

Dunn, S. L. (2000).  The virtualizing of education.  The Futurist.  34(2), 34-38.

Norman, M. (2000, February).  Education improvement:  A partnership approach.  Converge. 28-30.

Palloff, R. M. & Pratt, K. (Eds.) (1999). When teaching and learning leave the classroom. 

Building learning communities in cyberspace: Effective strategies for the online classroom. Chapter one.

Sanford, S. (2000, September).  Terry Crane:  Inspiring connections.  Converge.  64-65.