NGA convened Governors’ schooling coverage advisors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to share gubernatorial schooling methods with one another and study from nationwide and state consultants by means of panel conversations and small group discussions.
The Nationwide Governors Affiliation (NGA) hosted a bipartisan mixture of 26 Governors’ coverage advisors from 21 states and territories for the annual Governors’ Schooling Coverage Advisors Institute in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from October 3-5, 2023. All through the Institute, Governors’ advisors and nationwide and state consultants continued the essential discussions that started in Might in Pheonix, Arizona on the NGA Ok-12 Schooling Summit. All through the Institute, Governors’ advisors and exterior consultants shared promising practices associated to Governors’ high Ok-12 schooling priorities, together with educational helps, educator workforce and scholar, household and college employees well-being. Governors’ places of work additionally had a possibility to listen to from instructor, scholar, and guardian voices about their firsthand experiences throughout the schooling system.
Brittney Cummins, Schooling Advisor to Utah Governor Spencer Cox, NGA’s 2023-2024 Chair, and Tammi Hiler, Particular Advisor of Schooling and Early Childhood to Colorado Governor Jared Polis, NGA’s 2023-2024 Vice-Chair, opened the Institute by sharing an outline of Governor Cox’s 2023-2024 NGA Chair’s Initiative, “Disagree Higher,” an effort to point out that as People, we will work by means of our variations to seek out options to essentially the most tough issues going through our states and our nation.
Educator and Pupil Voice
The primary session started with voices from the sphere together with Sarah Kopplin, 2023 Wisconsin Trainer of the 12 months; Loren Muwonge, a highschool senior and district 2 commissioner of the Milwaukee County Youth Fee; and Yoslin Amaya Hernandez, a scholar advocacy coordinator at Era Hope. Every panelist shared their distinctive experiences within the classroom, whereas discussing components that straight have an effect on their schooling experiences together with psychological well being, faculty security and educator growth and help. Panelists concluded the session by emphasizing the significance of partaking scholar, instructor, and guardian voices throughout the decision-making course of in any respect ranges.
Pupil, Household, and Faculty Workers Psychological Well being and Nicely-Being
Governors’ places of work had the chance to listen to from panelists, in addition to have interaction in small group discussions surrounding scholar, household, and college employees psychological well being and well-being.
First, Inseparable’s Angela Kimball, The Jed Basis’s Dr. Zainab Okolo and Dr. Sheila Smith from the Nationwide Middle for Youngsters in Poverty mentioned the significance of making certain psychological well being and well-being is on the forefront of conversations in schooling.
Shannon Desilets and Austin Brown from New Hampshire shared Governor Sununu’s efforts to comprehensively tackle faculty security by means of a public security and psychological well being and well-being strategy, together with the creation of a cross-agency Faculty Security Preparedness Activity Pressure. New Hampshire, together with 4 different states, will proceed to work on scholar and employees well-being by means of NGA’s technical help mission addressing this challenge. In a breakout session targeted on the intersection of scholar well-being and guardian, household, and neighborhood engagement, attendees additionally heard from Joan Wasser Gish of the Mary E. Walsh Middle for Thriving Youngsters, concerning the significance of built-in scholar and wraparound helps for educational success.
Tutorial Helps: Literacy and Studying
The Institute additionally featured a session on educational and literacy helps and techniques from early childhood by means of maturity. The session led off with Dr. Carey Wright, former State Superintendent of Mississippi and present Maryland State Superintendent of Faculties, sharing Mississippi’s complete efforts to advance early literacy. Dr. Jennifer McCombs of the Studying Coverage Institute then supplied an outline of the Wallace Basis’s analysis on high-quality summer season studying and enrichment packages, together with findings from a latest report, Nationwide Name to Motion for Summer time Studying: How Did States Reply?. Laura Bornfreund of New America subsequent shared the present analysis on kindergarten as a key foundational ingredient for college readiness and success. Lastly, Charles Bradford of Literacy Companies of Wisconsin shared an outline of the present panorama of grownup literacy and techniques for offering elevated grownup schooling helps.
Fireplace Chat with Paul Reville on Creating A State Schooling Coverage Agenda
The second day of the Institute opened with a hearth chat with Paul Reville, the Francis Keppel Professor of Apply of Academic Coverage and Administration on the Harvard Graduate Faculty of Schooling, the Founding Director of Harvard’s Schooling Redesign Lab and the previous Massachusetts Secretary of Schooling from 2008 to 2013. Reville mentioned key parts of constructing an efficient schooling coverage agenda and the highest points affecting schooling at present together with psychological well being and well-being, continual absenteeism and the significance of cross-agency collaboration to help the holistic wants of scholars, households and communities.
Educator Workforce
Recruiting and retaining a high-quality and numerous educator workforce is a high precedence for Governors throughout the nation. As such, the Institute concluded with David Donaldson of Nationwide Middle For Develop Your Personal, Dr. Constance Lindsay of College of North Carolina’s Faculty of Schooling, Linda Smith of the Bipartisan Coverage Middle and Dr. Nick Yoder of American Institutes for Analysis sharing methods for educator recruitment and retention. Donaldson supplied an outline of Develop Your Personal fashions and registered educator apprenticeships throughout the nation with Smith lifting up registered apprenticeships as a pathway for early childhood educators as properly. Dr. Lindsay mentioned analysis on the impression of principals and college leaders on scholar studying, educator retention, and college and Dr. Yoder highlighted educator well-being as an instrumental consider recruitment and retention.
The 2023 Governors’ Schooling Coverage Advisors Institute supplied a discussion board for Governors’ coverage advisors to study from one another and nationwide and state consultants on promising practices, widespread challenges, and high schooling priorities for Governors throughout the nation. Please go to NGA’s Ok-12 Schooling web page for ongoing updates.
For extra info on this matter, please contact Seth Gerson (sgerson@nga.org), Jillian Meinhardt (jmeinhardt@nga.org) or Catherine Van Ness (cvanness@nga.org).
