ASCD Inservice

ASCD Poll: Professional Development

In the ASCD poll, we asked you to select the phrase that best describes the professional development efforts in your district or school. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

In her March 2002 Perspectives column, Educational Leadership Editor-in-Chief Marge Scherer discussed why professional development doesn't always work:

Derisive stories about the worst professional development encountered are easy to come by in education circles. The day everybody was made to do the macarena in between writing their school's mission statement or the afternoon spent coloring in a diagram of a brain to illustrate their personal characteristics are the kinds of silly activities that make teachers beg for less time mandated for “development” and more time for their “real” work of educating students.

Do you have a professional development horror story or success story to share? What types of professional development have worked best in your district or school? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Applying Understanding by Design

In the ASCD poll, we asked which aspects of Understanding by Design (UbD) are you most comfortable applying. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

Tell us about how you are using UbD in your district or school. What aspects of UbD work best for you? What aspects do you have trouble with? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Responding to Changing Demographics

In the ASCD poll, we asked how your district approaches increasing diversity. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

In her Perspectives column, Editor-in-Chief Marge Scherer writes,

Historically a destination for immigrants, [the United States] is growing in diversity every day. Schools that have never before been ethnically mixed are now. It is commonplace for some districts to count languages spoken by their students in the dozens. Other school districts retain their segregated--and isolated--status even as their neighborhoods, country, and world become more diverse.

Tell us how your district approaches this increasing diversity. What strategies work best? What strategies don't work? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Enhancing Professional Practice

In the ASCD poll, we asked who is most responsible for teacher professional development. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

Tell us about professional development in your district or school. What types of professional development work best? What types don't work? Please share your thoughts by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Improving Instruction for Students with Learning Needs

In the ASCD poll, we asked whether the push for 100 percent proficiency helps or hinders access to education for students with disabilities. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

Editor-in-Chief Marge Scherer writes the following in the February 2007 issue of Educational Leadership:

"In recent years, the goal for children with disabilities has shifted from improving access to education to improving student performance. The goal today is for all students to be proficient on state content standards for the grade in which they are enrolled. The NCLB requirement to disaggregate data by subgroup means that when it comes to educating students with special needs, schools face higher expectations than they have ever faced before." Read the entire column.

Is 100 percent proficiency on state content standards a realistic goal for all students? How does this affect students with disabilities in your district, school, or classroom? Tell us and your peers what you think by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Qualities of Teacher Leaders

In the most recent ASCD poll, we asked you what quality makes a teacher leader most effective. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

While we're looking for your opinion about which quality is most important, we're aware that often there are many important, interdependent qualities that make great teacher leaders, and we want to hear from you about them.

What other qualities make teacher leaders effective?

What qualities are necessary for a teacher leader to be effective?

What combination of qualities makes teacher leaders effective?

What qualities are not necessary for teacher leaders to be effective?

Share your comments and tips with your peers.

What other qualities make teacher leaders effective?

What qualities are necessary for a teacher leader to be effective?

What combination of qualities makes teacher leaders effective?

What qualities are not necessary for teacher leaders to be effective?

Share your comments and tips with your peers.

ASCD Poll: Changing NCLB

In the most recent ASCD poll, we asked you what elements of NCLB need to change. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

We've received a great deal of feedback from our previous polls on NCLB, some of which we printed in the November issue of Educational Leadership, including data from a poll in which 60.65 percent of respondents reported that NCLB has not had a positive effect in their school or district.

In addition, educators commented on NCLB in response to an earlier post on this blog and other education bloggers have been commenting on NCLB, pointing out why some groups like NCLB.

With the new Democratic-led Congress set to begin work on January 4, and NCLB technically scheduled for reauthorization this year, we want to hear what you think.

What other elements of NCLB need to change?

What elements of NCLB need to remain the same?

Share your comments and tips with your peers.

What other elements of NCLB need to change?

What elements of NCLB need to remain the same?

Share your comments and tips with your peers.

ASCD Poll: Science

In the ASCD poll, we asked you whether international comparisons of science teaching help improve science education. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

According to Kathleen Roth and Helen Garnier, "international comparisons are important because they challenge us to step outside our cultural assumptions." You can read their article, "What Science Teaching Looks Like: An International Perspective," in the December 2006/January 2007 issue of Educational Leadership.

Do you agree or disagree? Tell us and your peers what you think by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Building Academic Vocabulary

In the ASCD poll, we asked you how you prefer to teach new vocabulary to students. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

How have you found success in teaching vocabulary to students? Share your comments and tips with your peers.

ASCD Poll: NCLB

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to tell us how No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has negatively affected your school or district? If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

Earlier this year, we polled readers to find out how NCLB had positively affected their school or district, and 60.65 percent responded that it had not had a positive effect. To read some of their stories and to see the rest of the poll results, check out "A Firsthand Look at NCLB."

Do you have something to add? Share your thoughts on how NCLB has affected your school or district.

ASCD Poll: Curriculum Mapping

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to tell us the most how you use curriculum mapping. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

What successes have you had using curriculum mapping, and what difficulties have you had? Share your comments on curriculum mapping with your peers.

ASCD Poll: English Language Learners

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to tell us the most effective way to teach English language learners. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

To learn more about the models listed in the poll, read the excerpt below from the facilitator's guide that accompanies the ASCD video program Maximizing Learning for English Language Learners.

Models for Teaching English Language Learners

School districts vary in their approach to teaching English language learners. Some choose to immerse students in English with no other languages spoken or written during the school day. Other districts choose bilingual education, in which students learn content in two languages over the course of the school day. Proponents of English immersion, bilingual education, sheltered instruction, and other models are passionate about their preferred approach. Over the course of this workshop series, we will explain the different models and show examples of how they operate.

ASCD Poll: School Safety

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to tell us the most effective way for schools to be safe and secure. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

What else can schools do to be safe and secure? Share your comments on school safety with your peers.

ASCD Poll: Getting Involved in ASCD

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to tell us how you are involved in ASCD. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

• What other ways are you involved in ASCD?
• How has your involvement helped you and your students succeed?
• If you haven't gotten involved in ASCD, why not? What other resources and services might we offer to help you make a difference for your students?

Let us know by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Teaching to Student Strengths

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to select the best way to narrow the learning gap between girls and boys, with options such as "Give boys more personalized attention." and "Offer single-gender learning environments."

But is there a gap at all?

ASCD Poll: High School Reform

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to tell us the most important area high school reform efforts should focus on. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

High school reform is one of ASCD's five legislative priorities. Share your comments on high school reform with your peers.

ASCD Poll: Classroom Management

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you which element of effective classroom management is the most challenging to implement. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

What classroom management challenges do you face? What techniques do you use to overcome them? Let us know by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Integrating UbD and DI

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to tell us which aspects of UbD and DI you're most comfortable using. If you haven't taken the poll yet, please vote now.

What is the most important benefit of integrating UbD and DI concepts and practices? Let us know by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Principals as Instructional Leaders

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to vote on the most important thing a principal must do to be a good instructional leader. If you haven't voted yet, please vote now.

What do you, or your principal, do to be a good instructional leader? Let us know by posting a comment.

ASCD Poll: Promoting Student Success During the Summer Break

In the ASCD Poll, we asked you to vote on the most effective way for schools to maintain student success over the summer. If you haven't voted yet, please vote now.

How does your school or district promote student success during the summer break? Let us know by posting a comment.