Today, CEL and 28 other organizations and researchers invited partnership with Secretary of Education nominee Dr. Miguel Cardona. Below is an excerpt of the letter we sent.
"Dear Dr. Cardona,
On behalf of the 29 undersigned organizations and researchers, we write to congratulate you on your nomination as U.S. Secretary of Education. We are excited that President Joe Biden has chosen to elevate an accomplished leader for racial equity at a consequential time, and we are confident the students and families furthest from opportunity will have a strong champion in you."
The full letter is available on Medium.
Our CEL team stands with the Black community in the face of the racism and injustice that have again come into sharp focus this past week. These injustices are long-standing, as is the pain caused by them.
We are dedicated to doing our part to end this injustice — and we vow to support courageous leaders in leading with an equity agenda. Today, we’re doubling down on living our values and honoring lives taken because of the very inequities we seek to eliminate. People are the core. We believe equity, empowerment, respect, balance and celebration vitalize our most precious resource.
As an organization we will not look away from injustice. We know we have much to learn as we stand beside leaders of organizations and school systems confronting racism and injustice every day. Toward this end, we commit to listen, understand and take action on behalf of Black students and families across the country.
On April 10, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time, Stephanie Bradford and Renee Gallagher, both project directors at the Center of Educational Leadership, hosted a Twitter Live. They shared stories about the way educators are thinking about teacher efficacy in amid a pandemic—and applying that thinking to collaborate, get better and problem-solve.
The 15-minute conversation included many real-life examples of small but impactful actions coaches and teachers came up with early on in the abrupt transition to distance learning.
We've compiled some of their ideas into a downloadable tip sheet.
CEL plans to continue connecting with educators through Twitter live as well as recorded video and audio conversations with leaders from across the country. Announcements and links to these conversations can be found by subscribing to our mailing list or by following @uwcel on Twitter.
In March, University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership began using Twitter live streams as a way of connecting with educators across the country in real time.
We've put together a how-to guide for those who are new to watching live videos on Twitter.
How to Watch the Live Stream
Go to twitter.com/uwcel. You can join via mobile or a computer with a browser. At the start of the event, the tweet at the top of the page will include a video in progress. You can hear the audio by clicking on the video. (If you're on the page ahead of time, you may need to refresh your browser immediately after the event starts to see the live stream.)
Do I Need a Twitter Account or to Sign Up?
You don't need a Twitter account, and you don't need to sign up before hand, either. You just need to pull up twitter.com/uwcel during the event to see it live. If you can't be there live, you can use that same link to watch the recording any time afterwards.
Can I Ask Questions During the Live Stream?
Yes, we welcome your participation! If you're a registered Twitter user, simply send CEL a tweet @uwcel. If you're not registered with Twitter, you can also submit your questions and comments via email. Although we may not get to your question during the live event, you will get a reply shortly after.
The first live stream, a 10-minute conversation between Max Silverman, executive director, and Michele Mason, director of instructional leadership, has been viewed 865 times as of April 8.
The next live stream is scheduled for April 10, 2020 at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time, and will be hosted by Stephanie Bradford and Renee Gallagher, both project directors at the Center of Educational Leadership. They'll be sharing stories about how educators are thinking about teacher efficacy in amid a pandemic—and applying that thinking to collaborate, get better and problem-solve.
Updated March 12, 2020: Due to COVID-19, this summit has been shifted from a place-based to a virtual one.
CEL's Max Silverman and Jenn McDermott will be co-presenting "Partnering to Improve Principal’s Practice Using Improvement Science Principles" at the Carnegie Foundation Summit on Improvement in Education.
In this session, participants will learn about two different partnerships focused on promoting the development of school leadership capabilities to lead improvement. Silverman and McDermott will offer lessons on what it takes to develop these capabilities among school leaders, as well as on factors related to the partnerships that were developed to accomplish this novel work together.
Updated March 9, 2020: The ASCD Empower20 event has been canceled.
Anneke Markholt, Associate Director of the University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) and Dr. Jennie Snyder, Deputy Superintendent for the Instructional Services Division at the Sonoma County Office of Education, will present a session titled "Developing a Shared Focus on Teaching and Learning to Improve Instruction" at ASCD's Empower20 conference.
District and school leaders are charged with supporting a culture of continuous improvement, promoting teacher growth, and developing strong instructional practices. Leaders need a process to help them focus their efforts, assess the current state of teaching and learning in their school, and determine how they should begin their improvement process. In this interactive session, participants will engage in a replicable process that supports the way educators observe both teaching and learning. This process uses the 5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning Framework to help educators calibrate the quality of what they observe.
As we originally shared on March 5, 2020, we've been closely monitoring the evolving situation around COVID-19. With the number of confirmed cases increasing locally and worldwide, we're taking additional safety measures to keep the communities we serve safe.
Starting Monday, March 16, we are suspending all onsite engagements and travel while schools are closed.
In an effort to best support our partners' work in these fluid circumstances, we've transitioned many engagements from in-person to virtual with great success. We'll continue to work closely with our partners to determine the best ways to continue their professional learning — while being respectful of their most immediate needs.
UPDATED MARCH 25, 2020: Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order on our operations, all store product purchases will be processed and shipped at the end of April 2020. We apologize for the inconvenience, and we thank you for your patience.
Again, we're monitoring the following sources for guidance on health and safety precautions:
The Washington State Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including updated travel notices
The University of Washington’s official response
If you are a partner with concerns about a scheduled service and would like to speak to CEL staff, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
In recent days, the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) staff have been reaching out to partners in response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) that originated in Wuhan, China. Though the cases in Washington state have increased, no one in the University of Washington community — including CEL staff — have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. We are working with our partners to determine how best to support their work, including delivering services as originally planned.
As this is an evolving situation, the CEL leadership team is closely monitoring the following sources to ensure safety for our partners and their communities.
The Washington State Department of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including updated travel notices
The University of Washington’s official response
If you are a partner with concerns about a scheduled service and would like to speak to CEL staff, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
**Updated March 6, 2020**
Due to the impact of COVID-19 on our operations, all store purchases will be processed and shipped at the end of March 2020. We apologize for the inconvenience.Thank you for your patience.
In 2019, CEL adopted a new vision and mission to guide our future work.
With that, we renewed our focus on services and support for courageous leaders — so they can develop cultures of rigorous teaching, learning, and leading that enable their students to create limitless futures.
In January 2020, Greg Sommers joined the Center for Educational Leadership (CEL) as our Chief Impact Officer. This position was newly created to define and lead the organization’s approach to growth and impact.
“We’re excited to have Greg on board,” said executive director Max Silverman. “He brings extensive knowledge of system improvement and relentless focus on quality, grounded in equitable student experiences and outcomes, to our work at CEL. His leadership will enable us to live fully into our vision and mission with our partners.”
As a teacher, nonprofit leader, and foundation officer, Greg has worked extensively with educators, policymakers, nonprofit and for-profit organizations to improve student outcomes.
You can read more about Greg’s background on his staff profile.