ASCD Community in Action March 2007

Educational Leadership Staff

News and updates from around the association.

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School Culture

Healthy School Communities Pilot Takes Off

Eleven sites have been invited to participate in an ASCD healthy schools pilot study. The teams, from the United States and Canada, represent diverse school communities interested in making their schools healthier places for students and staff. The sites will use tools published on ASCD's new Healthy School Communities Web site to develop school improvement plans and to share best practices. The list of pilot sites and Healthy School resources are available at www.healthyschoolcommunities.org.

ASCD's Healthy School Communities is part of a multiyear plan to shift public dialogue about education from a narrow academic focus to an approach that considers all factors required for successful student outcomes.

Healthy school communities

Demonstrate the belief that successful learners are emotionally and physically healthy, knowledgeable, motivated, and engaged.
Demonstrate best practice in leadership and instruction.
Create and sustain strong collaborations between the school and community.
Use evidence-based systems and policies to support the physical and emotional well-being of students and staff.
Provide an environment in which students can make healthy decisions and staff can model healthy behaviors.
Use data to continuously improve.
Network with other school communities to share best practices.

High School Reform Campaign

ASCD members from coast to coast are working with federal policymakers to advocate substantial changes to our nation's high schools. ASCD's proposal can be viewed at www.ascd.org/innovativehighschools.

To participate, join the growing grassroots network, Educator Advocates. You will receive timely updates about the best time to make your voice heard as well as links to letters ready to send. More information is available at www.ascd.org/actioncenter.

Future-Focused Leadership: Preparing Schools, Students, and Communities for Tomorrow's Realities. By Gary Marx. (2006). Stock No. 105009.

The First Amendment in Schools. By Charles C. Haynes, Sam Chaltain, John E. Ferguson Jr., David L. Hudson Jr., Oliver Thomas. Stock No. 103054.

EL’s experienced team of writers and editors produces Educational Leadership magazine, an award-winning publication that reaches hundreds of thousands of K-12 educators and leaders each year. Our work directly supports the mission of ASCD: To empower educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.