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NATIONAL NETWORK OF CONSTITUENT ORGANIZATIONS E-NEWSLETTER September 29, 2006 The September newsletter contains a number of new resources that were developed in response to feedback from Network members. NNCO BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS NETWORK RESOURCES AND INFORMATION ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATES UPCOMING EVENTS NNCO BUSINESS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS October Meeting The October NNCO Meeting will be held on October 24, from 9:00-3:00 at IEL (4455 Connecticut Ave, Suite 310). The meeting will focus on state-specific challenges in increasing graduation requirements and strategies for Network member assistance. Please let us know if you are unable to make it as soon as possible. September Conference Call The conference call was held on September 18 and focused on Network members' outreach and communication structures, involvement in graduation requirements policies in the honor states, and recent activities. For your reference, a table describing Network members’ state outreach and communication structures is included under New NNCO resources. In addition, HS Alliance staff prepared a matrix summarizing graduation requirements in the Phase I Honor States and Network members agreed to research their affiliates/members’ roles in passing or implementing the requirements in each of the states. NETWORK RESOURCES AND INFORMATION New NNCO Resources: We have developed a number of new resources to meet needs expressed by Network members. Please review them and let us know how we can make them more useful to you. Phase I Honor States Graduation Requirements This table summarizes information about graduation requirements, including recent legislation, course taking or credit requirements, and assessment requirements, in each of the Phase I Honor States. Network members have been asked to query their constituents/affiliates about their involvement with graduation requirements/policies in each of the ten Phase I Honor States and summarize this information in columns 2 and 3. Please send your completed table to Robin Chait at chaitr@iel.org. View Table State Officials and Elections Information This webpage contains links to information about key education officials, their terms of office, and information about upcoming elections. We hope it is useful to you in planning your work for the coming year. Please let us know if there are additional resources you think should be included. View Webpage NNCO Year One Progress After the first year of the NNCO project, the HS Alliance conducted an email survey of Network members to assess progress and gain input for future planning. Thank you for your informative responses! The HS Alliance has also prepared a progress report for the Gates Foundation that evaluates the first year of the project, outlines lessons learned, and develops plans for the coming year. Survey Summary | Progress Report Network Members’ State Outreach and Communication Structure This table summarizes the structure of each Network organization in terms of its relationship and communication with affiliates or members. View Table Network Member Resources: NGA Honor States Update This newsletter from the National Governors Association, Honoring Progress, highlights the progress of the Honor States Grant Program. This issue explores strategies governors are employing for dropout prevention and recovery, highlights the progress three states have made in the area, and lists some resources for policymakers interested in learning more. Full Newsletter NASSP Policy Recommendations for Middle Level Reform These policy recommendations align with NASSP's Breaking Ranks in the Middle and address the unique educational challenges faced by middle level schools. Policy Recommendations ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATES Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Contacts: Angela Hernandez-Marshall, Melissa McCabe CCSSO is working to inform state policy leaders about high school reform by developing tools and activities that follow up on its June Secondary School Redesign Conference: · Developing a proceedings document from its June Secondary School Redesign Conference. The document will include write ups of every session and web links to further resources. · Developing an online Secondary School Redesign Web Forum - a place for state education agency officials and other high school reform leaders to post their thoughts on defining and supporting academic rigor, facilitating smooth transitions into and out of high school, and measuring student achievement. Twenty participants have registered. For more information about the forum and the conference, click here. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Contact: Michael Wotorson NAACP is developing educational strategies and materials for its constituents, including the following: · An "Equity Matters" Issue Brief which looks at resource distribution disparities in public education · Modules on Drop-Out Prevention and College-Bound Curriculum for its Parent Handbook National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) Contacts: Dick Flanary, Steve DeWitt, Honor Fede NASSP is working to disseminate best practices for high school reform at the school level. · Continuing to provide Breaking Ranks Training in the 10 Phase I Honor States. · Put forth set of policy recommendations on Middle Level Reform (see Network Member Resources) and plans to make visits to the Hill to promote the recommendations to education staff. Click here to view recommendations. National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) Contact: Carlas McCauley NASBE is educating State Board members about the NGA/Achieve Agenda and high school redesign through conferences and publications. · Planning a session on high school redesign for their annual conference for state board members. The session will provide overviews of state progress for states participating in the American Diploma Project, Honor States program, and Data Quality Campaign. · Putting together the fall edition of the Education Standard which will be dedicated to high school redesign. Several Network members are contributing articles. National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Contacts: Sunny Deye, Julie Bell NCSL is working to inform legislators about the NGA/Achieve Action Agenda and high school redesign more generally. · Completed a legislator toolkit on high school redesign and will do an initial mailing to almost 1000 legislators in January. The toolkit consists of six briefs focusing on different aspects of high school redesign, from state legislation to innovative state strategies. · Held a session on dropouts and graduation rates at their annual meeting in August. The meeting featured an overview by Michael Cohen, President of Achieve, and presentations from legislators from three states--MI, MD, IN--describing their experiences passing legislation in their states. State Higher Education Executive Officers Contacts: Paul Lingenfelter, Sharmila Basu Conger SHEEO is working to educate and engage the higher education community in high school reform through its publications. · Developing an op-ed piece for the Chronicle of Higher Education in collaboration with ACE, Achieve, and NASH, making the case for higher education involvement in high school reform and highlighting ways the higher education community can be engaged. · Preparing a special supplement to the ACE magazine geared towards college presidents, The Presidency, focused on higher education engagement with high school reform. The supplement will include articles by higher education leaders, including state higher education executive officers and college presidents, who have been involved in high school reform, profiling their experiences and lessons learned. UPCOMING EVENTS NNCO Timeline of Events Please review this timeline of upcoming NNCO member organizations' events. Events are color coded by organization and collaborations are indicated by two-color boxes. We hope the timeline will be a useful resource in planning upcoming events and activities and thinking about opportunities for coordination and collaboration with other NNCO members. Please send newly planned events to Sara Goldware at goldwares@iel.org. View Timeline HS Alliance National Calendar The National High School Alliance Calendar of High School and Youth Events has recently been updated. Please review and send any relevant events to Sara Goldware at goldwares@iel.org. View Calendar If there are any resources you would like to share with the recipients of this newsletter, please send an e-mail to chaitr@iel.org. National High School Alliance 4455 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008