AFTER YOU REVIEW THE BLOG POSTINGS: PLEASE GIVE US FEEDBACK

  Since this was the first attempt at blogging as a way to connect leadership in SPEAK UP HUNTSVILLE, we'd like to have your comments from those experienced (and not so experienced) bloggers and participants. 

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW ABOUT 
FORMAT,
THE BOOK ITSELF,
INFORMATION,
EASE OF USE,
NOTIFICATION,
VALUE OF QUESTIONS TO THE DISCUSSION, ETC.

(SAVE YOUR COMMENTS ON CONTENT FOR THE INDIVIDUAL BLOG POSTINGS)

Also, feel free to visit the Schools Foundation website for more details about the Schools Foundation initiative SPEAK UP HUNTSVILLE.  There are plenty of flyers available from the Schools Foundation office to promote the initiative and get everyone involved.

Need to contact the Schools Foundation?  Visit their "contact page"!

LAST POST - HAVE YOU READ ALL THE OTHERS FIRST? When Will It Get Hard?

IF YOU ARE SEEING THIS POST FIRST, SCROLL DOWN TO THE INITIAL POST TITLED INTRODUCTION  
READ THE POSTS FROM OLDEST TO NEWEST FOR MAXIMUM CONTRIBUTION AND VALUE TO YOU.  

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THIS BLOG.  WE WILL DOCUMENT ALL THE QUESTIONS FOR OTHERS WHO WERE UNABLE TO ATTEND IN HOPES OF CONTINUING THE DIALOGUE.  


DO YOUR PART; ACTIVATE YOUR WILL AND EFFORTS TODAY!

Although the photo to the right is humorous and obviously "staged", it illustrates the fact that it will take work for the Speak Up initiative to be successful.  Debbie and her team have set great ideas in motion but it will take the efforts of all the leadership team to make this more than just "talk".

An important question to answer is:

if we aren't engaged at the onset (do you know what to do?), how will we respond as community leaders when the going gets tough?

Will Speak Up be just one more ineffective, half-hearted effort at improving our schools or will it represent a revolution addressing needs, challenges, and apathy?  
The fact that there was a large group attending the Economic and Education Forum showed there are folks in our community interested in education but not everyone has even been invited to the "dialogue" table yet.

How will we involve others?

One of the questions the Pritchard Committee struggled with is their continued role.  Would it be pursuing school reform in the abstract?  Or would it move to more specific strategies for change?

We in Madison County have the same questions to answer.  What do you think?  Are there pros and/or cons to either approach?

Does Speak Up lead to positioning the Schools Foundation in a larger and more permanent role that impacts change in Madison County and leads the way in school reform (from an outside to an inside position)?

What about continued funding to support this next step?  Do we need it?  Should we take it?

CHAPTER 5 - EVERYTHING CHANGES

In this chapter, we are looking beyond where Speak Up Huntsville is currently to explore our future roles and what we can learn from the journey of the Pritchard Committee in Kentucky.

Which of these Pritchard Committee recommendations are within the scope of Speak Up as you understand it in Madison County, AL (from page 58 of the study text)

ÒA focus on high achievement for all students

ÒA system of accountability to increase academic achievements

ÒAnti-nepotism policies for school boards and superintendents

ÒMeasures to ensure property would be taxed at its full market value for schools

ÒA state commissioner of education hired, not elected.

ÒLocal control given to school councils comprised of educators & parents

ÒPreschool for disadvantaged children

ÒFamily Resource/Youth Services Centers at high poverty schools to deal with some of the outside barriers to learning

ÒVastly increased and more equitable school funding

Did you see in the Huntsville Times today the report on the Huntsville City Schools retreat?  I was particularly impressed that our fellow leader at Speak Up Huntsville (Dr. Kreslyn Kelley)  was able to solidify this approach when she, as facilitator of this retreat, required all board members and the Superintendent to fill out personal accountability and commitment statements designed to turn their talk into action. 

How do you see that relating to what is intended from the efforts of Speak Up Huntsville (HSV City Schools) team?  Can similar things happen with the other teams (Madison City and Madison County)?

BEING A CENTRIST FORCE FOR CHANGE - CHAPTER 4

As I've watched Speak Up Huntsville unfold, I've been excited about the opportunities to grow consensus in a county where we have such diversity (three school districts, all with unique needs and challenges; a wide range of socio-economic situations among our population and few points for interaction between these various groups).

FIRST QUESTIONS: 

1.  What are the primary frustrations you see in our communities with our schools?


2.  How will we share data to drive conversations? (have you seen the information from the recent Economic and Educational Forum, hosted by the Schools Foundation?)

3.  Are you on board for our speak up focus groups?  How many are you hosting?  Facilitating?  Arranging?  Do you know what your contribution as a leader in Speak Up involves?  What you should be doing now?

4.  Should there be a role for Speak Up after the January focus group conversations?  What should that be?

If you like, you can reference the numbers of these questions in your comments but I don't think that is necessary as we want a free discussion here.

ON TO THE NEXT BLOG ENTRY FOR CHAPTER 5

Welcome to Our Virtual Discussion - December 1 2010-READ THIS POST 1st

During this early morning hour, I hope you will 

contribute with your comments in response to prompts,

grow your knowledge and understanding of the Pritchard Committee's work

evaluate how it relates to your leadership role and the work of Speak Up Huntsville.

As valuable members of the leadership teams of Speak Up Huntsville, when you first post, please identify which team (Madison City, Madison County or Huntsville City) you are assigned to.  Then feel free to post comments.  I'll start the discussion with a post which reviews the overall objectives of this discussion and study.  The next post will then relate to several questions raised and central points in Chapters 4-5 of Mobilizing Citizens for Better Schools, our study text by Robert F. Sexton.

The only other rules we'll have are that you stay on topic, move through the various posts (I'll be monitoring all of them for comments), and provide feedback about how to make this first "blog" experience for the Schools Foundation Better.

Here we go!


OBJECTIVES OVERALL FOR ENTIRE BOOK STUDY

To explore the idea of community engagement, what that means in the context of the book and what it means in Huntsville, AL

To review the work of the Pritchard Committee and define how its lessons and example has applications in our own communities

Use the text to create a sense of urgency and create an environment that can sustain change.

That's a big order!

Travel to the NEXT POST for the beginning of our discussion . . . see you there!

Introduction

Speak Up Huntsville is a community engagement initiative designed to strengthen our public schools in three local public school districts in Madison County AL by engaging the community and building capacity for improvement.

The program's purpose is to give individuals and organizations -- through community conversations -- the opportunity to address what they perceive to be the public schools' strengths, weaknesses and needs.  The intended outcome is a unified strategic plan to guide schools and to enhance the quality of public education.

Speak Up Huntsville is based on a model of successful community engagement initiatives from around the state and country.  The Schools Foundation is the community lead for this work that will involve approximately 150 community conversations and 3,000 participants over a 12-month period.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR PARTICIPATION:

There are several posts and reading them in order of posting will help you follow the process.  Use the comments area to add your responses to questions and become part of the dialogue.  I'll be monitoring for comments throughout the morning from 7:30 until 8:30AM CST.  If you are visiting after that, please feel free to comment and I'll check these over the next few days to respond and to share as the School Foundation chooses.

THANK YOU!