Increase Affiliate and School Leadership Collaboration

Beyond community and school collaboration, the NEA believes that student achievement can improve through district and union collaborations. This document provides examples from across the country of NEA supported initiatives and critical district/union initiatives which have demonstrated student academic improvement

This document, created by NEA’s Research Department, provides an overview of the following:

• What is School Restructuring?
• What is School Reconstitution?
• How much does it cost to reconstitute a school?
• What Lessons Have We Learned from Various Types of Restructuring?
• How Effective is School Reconstitution?
• Just How Many Schools Are There in Need of Reconstitution?
• How Hard is it to Turn Around a Failing School?
• What are the Specific Effects of Reconstituting on Student Achievement?
• Are There Any Unintended Consequences?
• What is the Appeal of Reconstituting Schools in Crisis?
• What are the implications for NEA?
• Resources

NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign is making it easier than ever to collaborate and stay in touch with fellow conference attendees and other education professionals all year. The NEA website contains up-to-date policy news and reports for interested parties. Online communities include: Groupsite, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, all which provide information and opportunities to engage with peers around the country.

NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign needs the commitment of K-12 educators to help make real and lasting change for Priority school students and their teachers. Many of today’s students face tremendous challenges to academic success. The Priority Schools Campaign is the work of NEA members in struggling schools to meet these challenges and close student achievement gaps for all students.

NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign needs the energy and passion of student educators to help give every child a great public school. Many of today’s students face tremendous challenges to academic success. The Priority Schools Campaign is the work of NEA members in struggling schools to meet those challenges and close student achievement gaps for all students.

NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign needs the life skills and expertise of retired educators to help transform public schools. Many of today’s students face tremendous challenges to academic success. The Priority Schools Campaign is the work of NEA members in struggling schools to meet those challenges and close student achievement gaps for all students.

More students are attending college and university classes, and they need to be prepared to succeed. NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign is working to significantly raise student achievement in struggling schools, and we need your help to create a pipeline from public schools to college campuses. Not only will your students be better prepared, more successful public education in K-12 builds support for higher education as well.

NEA invited school/community/district/state teams from across the country to meet with federal officials, NEA leaders and national experts on school transformation. The conference publication is linked below, in a unique booklet format, with a wealth of information about the NEA’s Priority Schools Campaign.

There are three options that you may have for accessing proprietary materials such as: Sample Memoranda of Understanding, Model Contract Language, Teacher/ESP Staff Commitment Contracts and Legal Opinions.

These materials can be found at one of the following if you have appropriate permission and access. If you do not, please contact your state’s NEA SIG State Contact. For a listing of these please email HCRinfo@nea.org, include the sate you work in and type SIG State Contact in the subject line.

1. NEA Model Language database: includes boilerplate language from State affiliates on various topics.
   www.nea-bargaining.net
2. NEA Contracts database: includes actual local affiliate collectively bargained contracts from various states.
   www.nea-contracts.net
3. Inside NEA: includes various language related topics and policy documents regarding bargaining issues.
   insidenea.nea.org/Departments/CBMA/CBC/Pages/Default.aspx

This is where you can find detailed information on nearly every U.S. school district to help you:· Target campaigns

· Compare salaries and benefits

· Examine member density

· Review a detailed profile and understand revenue sources of each school district

· Understand revenue sources

All of this information can help UniServ personnel to identify the best local organizing opportunities and find districts that have never been organized. In addition Research provides tools – like surveys – that can be utilized in assessing local needs.

This program helps affiliates gain an accurate view of their constituents’ opinions and needs and thus assists them in communicating and collaborating with their membership. OPSCAN programs help affiliates to-• Conduct reliable survey research without having to develop or recruit technical expertise

• Select from a portfolio of predesigned surveys that yield vital information on topics such as “School Culture” and “Bargaining Priorities”

• Receive tips and technical advice from NEA professional staff on administering OPSCAN surveys and interpreting survey results

• Get results quickly to make decision making and planning more efficient

Maximize resources by using OPSCAN services at no charge to affiliates

This checklist gives a step-by-step action plan for Association President’s who have been informed that a school in their state has been designated as low performing.

This document provides preliminary information regarding financial compensation practices for the teaching profession. Teachers are grossly underpaid and in order to effectively recruit and retain quality educators, public schools must ensure that the teaching profession is financial viable to counter their high attrition rate in the public school system.NEA provides strategies to advance the teaching profession and ultimately improve student learning. Strategies include improved starting salaries and practical career earnings over time, incentives to acquire additional skills, responsibilities and challenges and finally, innovative alternatives to financial compensation.

High needs schools will not transform into high performing schools without effective teachers. This policy brief gives insight into what must be done to identify and develop effective teachers who are committed to working in priority schools. The consensus is that schools must improve the working environment and must be compensated appropriately.The reform process must include teachers and not undercut their expertise. This document combats commonly held myths in the field and highlight ways to advance the teaching profession through financial incentives compatible to the challenging working environments and better working conditions.

Finally, the NEA identifies four key strategies to transforming low performing schools which include: recruit and prepare teachers, performance pay structures, improve working conditions based on what the research says develops, retains and inspires teachers, and create new teacher evaluation tools and processes.

NEA, with the Center for Teaching Quality, produced this report and a set of recommendations exploring issues of staff recruitment, preparation, development, and compensation in priority schools.

This set of resources was developed with NEA Research and consists of 8 flexible modules that are designed to educate and motivate leaders (political business, school, community) and members to advocate and support measures that would lead to adequate, equitable, and stable funding sources for public education.

HCR coordinates Minority Leadership Training, a state-based program that involves minorities in Association activities and prepares them for leadership roles by developing the skills they need to become effective leaders in their schools, communities, and the Association.

Designed for emerging and experienced leaders, the training workshops can be presented in two-hour or four-hour blocks over a 1½ to 2-day period.

Created in the late 1970’s specifically for female NEA members, this skills-building program in leadership training continues to receive high demand from NEA affiliates.