Member News -- June 28, 2016
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Flash Poll Results Taken to the Hill
NNSTOY Member Feedback Shared with Congressional Staff

Last week NNSTOY released findings of our first Flash Poll, one around state engagement with educators on their plans for ESSA. Our members' experiences were shared in a series of meetings over two days with congressional staff who work on education in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. 

Flash Polls are extremely brief surveys given to members to gain immediate feedback on pressing issues; the data is then used to inform policymakers.  The results of the first Flash Poll provided a useful tool, and congressional staff were highly interested in what our members had to say. 

Almost half of NNSTOY members who 
responded to the poll said they are aware that ESSA requires states to interact with educators as they develop plans to implement the new law. However, the results also indicate that almost two-thirds of our members are not aware of meetings or information sessions being held by the state to engage stakeholders. 

The Flash Poll was sent to all NNSTOY members, and we received 139 responses from 44 states, three territories and the Department of Defense schools. The states with NO responses from NNSTOY members include  Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, South Dakota, Virginia and  Wyoming . 
Conference Update
July 11-14, Chicago,  Illinois
  
Focus Groups and Interviews/Filming. 
Don't forget to sign up to give your views during focus groups and/or filming and interviews  so that we are able to continue to get quality sponsors who make the conference affordable .

Got the App? Stay engaged during the conference by going to docs.com and downloading the app onto your smart phone. Then go to our site  for an up-to-date conference agenda and added information about our events and our speakers. 

Thank you, NEA!  Congratulations to these members who received NEA scholarships for the conference:  Allyson Chick, Monica Washington, Michelle Switala, Jemelleh Coes, Jackie Roehl, June Tiesan, Mary Pinkston, Dean Amodt, Mohsen Ghaffari, Suzanne Culbreth, Katy Smith and Kathy 
Nimmer.
Chris Poulos (Connecticut 2007) moderates a panel for the 100-member Coalition for Teaching Quality on Capitol Hill Thursday.
A Busy Week for NNSTOY 
in Washington!

Can ESSA Promote Teaching Quality?   Joined by eight other outstanding educators, Chris Poulos brought the message to Capitol Hill that ESSA is a tool that can be used to strengthen the teaching profession. Staff from multiple congressional offices filled rooms in both the Senate and the House as he spoke at briefings sponsored by the Coalition for Teaching Quality (CTQ).

CTQ Releases Three Policy Reports. At the briefing, reports were released on how policy can support effective recruitment, professional learning and teacher leadership.

NNSTOY Members Urged to Follow Up on Hill Meetings and Flash Poll.  To follow up on meetings with Hill staff, NNSTOY members who live in the states whose legislative staffs we spoke with are encouraged to follow up with an email message. If you live in these states and are interested in engaging with policymakers, please reach out to  Jane West  ([email protected])  or  Brad Hull  ( [email protected] ): Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota, California, Oregon, Tennessee, Connecticult, Colorado, Washington, North Carolina, and Georgia. 
New Ways to Engage
Strategies to lean into NNSTOY teacher leadership, understand member benefits and engage with the organization.

Take the Flash Polls!
A big thanks to the many of you who responded to last week's Flash Poll. 

It is important for all NNSTOY members to continue to make every effort to complete our Flash Polls so that the voices of great educators can be heard. They provide a terrific way for us to help policymakers understand teaching. Several legislative aids requested Flash Polls from NNSTOY members, so be on the lookout for theses in your mailbox. 
The master of arts in teaching program at Mt. Holyoke is taught completely online.
STOYs Become Mt. Holyoke Instructors
Cross-posted from Mt. Holyoke press release

Six of the best teachers in the country have teamed up to inspire and instruct their peers in teacher leadership as part of Mount Holyoke College's master of arts (MAT) in teaching program. The six teachers are noteworthy because they have all been named State Teacher of the Year. 

"Their presence at Mount Holyoke is an exciting opportunity for the MAT graduate student students," said Megan Allen (Florida 2010) the developer and director of the teacher leader concentration. Read the rest of the article.  Other STOYs teaching in the MAT program include:
Pamela Harman (Alabama 2008),  Daniele Massey (DoDEA 2013),  Josh Parker (Maryland 2012),  Monica Washington (Texas 2014) and  Jennifer Walker (Ohio 2010).

In addition to serving those who seeking an MAT, the program is accepting non-matriculating students for the classes on data and equity. 
Show-Me State Joins the Fold  
Missouri becomes the latest state to form an NNSTOY chapter

Missouri State Teachers of the Year and Finalists have collaborated to launch the website for their new state chapter. 
Education Policy Highlights
Photo by Claire Anderson
Jane West

ESSA Oversight. 
Despite the House takeover by a Democratic sit-in over guns, the Committee on Education and the Workforce moved ahead with its oversight hearing on ESSA implementation. Chairman John Kline (R-MN) noted concern that the Department's proposed regulations are overly prescriptive. Education Secretary John B. King, however, did not flinch when questioned about the proposed "supplement not supplant" and accountability regulations.  Read the whole story.

Jane West's Washington Update may be enjoyed weekly (when Congress is in session!). 


Mark your calendar!        
Upcoming events for NNSTOY Members        

July 11-14
Chicago, Illinois
2016 NNSTOY CONFERENCE
Bridging Theory & Practice
Loews Chicago O'Hare Conference 
Mond ay, July 25
DEADLINE TO APPLY
Teach To Lead Long Beach, Calif. (September 24-25)

W hat We Are Reading
New and noteworthy ideas about education from around the country.

EDU-TUNITIES 
New Opportunities for #TeachersLeading

Join Charlotte Danielson and the Danielson Group  at a 2016 conference to explore collaborative professional learning. Attend for one, two or three days to elevate your Framework for Teaching Practice August 2-4 at the College of New Jersey (Ewing, N.J.) or October 6-8 at Northern Illinois University (Naperville, Ill.). Read the brochure.

Write for Wisewire. Wisewire, a new education marketplace  with a free technology-enhanced platform, is seeking STOYs to serve as guest contributors this summer for their upcoming blog launch. Guest bloggers will be paid for writing about topics they are most passionate about and to share their best strategies and success stories with other teachers. If you are interested in sharing your talents with a new community, contact Lisa Doehnert, Learning Product Leader, ([email protected]) and copy Laurie Calvert at NNSTOY ([email protected]). 
Josh Parker in Baltimore
Shout-outs, Kudos & Accolades*
News from the NNSTOY community
  • Josh Parker (Maryland 2012) represented NNSTOY at a Saving Tomorrow Today event in Baltimore, Maryland June 15. Parker also had an article published on Education Post and our NNSTOY site, The Danger of a Single Story and How the Common Core Can Help. Parker writes, "This notion of the single perspective as an enemy of deep critical thought is why the Common Core State Standards should be embraced. They should be embraced as a means to encourage students to plumb into texts in profound ways."
  • Alex Kajitani 's (California 2009) article  When Critics Pounce: How to Survive (& Thrive) When You're Burned as a Teacher Leader  was published in EdWeek and on our blog . Kajitani writes that most Teacher Leaders start out as teachers, so they are intrinsically nice and positive, and they spend their days helping young people learn how to get along and be empathetic toward one another. However, he says, "When we begin to speak out in broader ways, we do it hoping to make a positive impact and bring people together. As a result, we often find ourselves unprepared to be on the receiving end of someone else's harsh, personal criticism."
  • Mary Pinkston's (Delaware 2010) blog article A Math Teacher's Journey from Frustration to Accomplishment of Common Core was published on Education Post and the NNSTOY blog page. Pinkston writes, "Contrary to some people's beliefs, math isn't about memorizing algorithms."
  • Alana Margeson (Maine 2012) starts a new job soon as Instructional Designer at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. She will be working with faculty on instructional strategies, student engagement, formative and summative assessment techniques and course alignment. 
  • NNSTOY members were spotted at Microsoft's Innovative Educator Forum in Denver, Colorado, discovering how they can engage students in the latest ed tech innovations. They include Aaron Maurer (Iowa Finalist 2014), Dyane Smokorowski (2013 Kansas), Darcy Grimes (North Carolina 2013), and Sarah Loomis (DoDEA 2016).
  • An Illinois team of NNSTOY members has made it to the finals of the Agents for Learning Competition being run by NCTAF and Learnig Forward. They include four Illinois Finalists for State Teacher of the Year, Rebecca Wattleworth (2012), Jennifer Smith (2015), Jacob Carlson (2015) and Virginia Valdez (2013),  and STOYs  Joe Fatheree (2007) and  Lynn Gaddis (1995). 
  • Nate Bowling's (Washington 2016) blog article We have the answer, we choose to ignore it was published on Education Post.  Here's a bit from his powerful introduction: "There is a version of American history that I was taught in school. You were probably taught it too. America was founded, there were Indians, we had slavery--slavery was bad. Andrew Jackson screwed the Indians and they vanished. We h ad a Civil War and then Lincoln freed the slaves. After the war black people were still subjugated, but only in the South. Then there were two World Wars, with a Great Depression in between, and then Martin Luther King led some protests, had a Dream, died, and now we are all equal."
  • Anna Baldwin (Montana 2014) has been invited to participate in a conversation at the Aspen Institute about the states' role in ensuring educational equity. During the briefing call, folks running the event asked Baldwin if she will have any problem being outspoken during the workshop. They so don't know her yet!
  • Shanna Peeples (Texas 2015) has taken a new job in her current school district as Core Curriculum Specialist, ELAR 6-12. In her Facebook note, Peeples wrote that she will never stop being a teacher. "It's like Peter Parker being bitten by a radioactive spider," she once explained to a radio interviewer. "You can't just quit being a teacher like I say, quit being a deejay or a short-order cook at the bowling alley. You're a teacher for life."
Peggy Stewart (New Jersey 2005), Anna Baldwin (Montana 2014), Jane McMahon (Wisconsin 2014) and Les Nicholas (Pennsylvania 2004) suffer with the Teaching Partners in Havana, Cuba. 

If you have items of interest about yourself or other members, please forward them to [email protected].

#TeachersLeading