The Chalkboard

Chalkboard in DC with OAESA NAESP

March 17-20 Washington, DC

TAKING OVER CAPITOL HILL: The OAESA Executive Committee—Erin Simpson, President; Gretchen Liggens, President-Elect; Tim Barton, NAESP Representative; and Aretha Paydock, Federal Relations Coordinator—joined OAESA Executive Director Dr. Julie Davis, OAESA Associate Executive Director Mark Jones, and OAESA Advocacy Specialist Barbara Shaner at the NAESP National Leaders Conference March 17-20 in Washington, DC. Nearly 200 elementary and middle-level principals from across the country gathered in the nation’s capital to discuss the most pressing issues in education with legislators as part of NAESP. The team had the opportunity to meet with the offices of Representatives Joyce Beatty, Marcia Fudge, Anthony Gonzalez, David Joyce, Robert Latta, Steve Stivers, as well as Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman. They were advocating on behalf of Ohio’s principals regarding funding of grants for disadvantaged students and districts, grants to improve teacher and principal training and retention, programs to support school safety and climate, and grants regarding the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and preschool development.

you know? did news from the association

CONGRATULATIONS! Congratulations to April D. Knight on being named NAESP’s newly elected Zone 3 Director. Her 3-year term for NAESP begins August 2019 after several years on OAESA’s Board of Directors as the Columbus District Rep.

REP. ASSEMBLY Please consider joining OAESA to witness the governance of the association in action and enjoy a delicious lunch April 27 from 11am-2:30pm at Smith and Wollensky at Easton Town Center.

PD IN THE USA If you’re looking for more professional development this summer, head to NAESP’s National Conference in Spokane, WA July 10-12. #NAESP19

BE SOCIAL Connect with OAESA online.

ig: @oaesa twitter: @oaesa fb: /oaesa web: oaesa.org

ASSESS THE SITUATION By law, each school district’s Board of Education is required to determine the format (online or paper-pencil) they will use for next year’s Grade Three Ohio State Assessments by May 1, 2019. In a survey of the OAESA membership, nearly 250 participants responded that their districts would use:

•Online testing for both the ELA and Math tests (56.9%) •My district has not yet decided (24.4%) •Paper-pencil testing for both ELA and Math tests (14.2%) •Online testing for Math, paper-pencil for ELA (4.1%) •Online testing for ELA, paper-pencil for Math (.4%)

PRINCIPALS ADVOCATING WITH LEGISLATORS

Advocating for the legislative needs of your students, school, and community might seem like a daunting task to add to your To-Do list. Even so, it is crucial for administrators to provide boots-on-the-ground perspectives to legislators at the national, state, and local levels in order to push for effective change in educational legislation and policy.

In an effort to encourage administrators across the state to invite and host legislators in their schools, OAESA is launching an online toolkit that will serve as a resource for administrators, who already have so much on their plates as it is.

Principals Advocating with Legislators (PAL) will be launched at our 2019 OAESA Annual Professional Conference and available to you on our website after that. Resources available to members will include materials like:

• your legislators and their contact information • letters of invitation • tips for success • talking points on key issues • activity ideas • thank you notes