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anyone protected by law because of age, color, disability, national origin, race,religion, sex, sexual orientation, handicap, or status as a veteran or disabled veteran.

INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION ANDWORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

DIRECTOR, SUSAN M. RUCKER(662) 915-2707

Learn more about the NISLLeadership Academics:

Dr. Susan M. RuckerMS NISL Director

Email:srucker@nisl.net

Phone:(662) 915-2707

Website:w w w. m s n i s l . c o m

Mathematics for College and CareerReadiness: Academy SevenAmerica continues to lag behind other industrializednations in international math scores. What can you as aninstructional leader do to ensure quality mathematicsinstruction in your school?

Participants will learn to identify the importance of teach-e rs and students using the Mat h e m atical Shifts fo rCollege and Career Readiness. They will learn essentialstrategies for achieving excellence with the CommonCore. Participants will explore identifying and utilizingapplicable resources to enrich math instruction.

Parental and Community Engagement:Essential Collaboration for AdvancingStudent Achievement: Academy EightThe most successful schools have high levels of parentaland community engagement. What are you doing topromote parental and community engagement at yourschool/district?

Participants will examine present efforts of collaborationwith families and communities so that they share in theresponsibilities for student ach i evement. Th ey willexplore how partnership teams can mobilize communityresources, resolve challenges to reach all families, evalu-ate program results, and continue to improve plans andpractices over time.

Essential Safety Nets to IncreaseGraduation Rates: Academy NineMississippi has one of the lowest high school graduationrates in the nation. Learn how to utilize safety nets toincrease graduation rates in your district.

In this session participants will learn how to plan strategi-cally to increase the graduation rates in their schools.They will learn how to assess their current plan andenhance it by using data and a comprehensive safety netprogram. The plan will outline the responsibilities of allschool and community team members in supporting on-time graduation beginning in the elementary school andcontinuing through middle and high school.

LEADERSHIP ACADEMIESInstructional Leadership: Academy OneYou can only improve and sustain student achievementby having quality instruction in the classrooms. To makethis happen requires not just leadership but instructionalleadership. Learn skills that can make you an effectiveinstructional leader.

By the end of this four-hour module, participants shouldbe able to examine leadership practices and modify prac-tices that do not support increased student achievement. Itwill help an instructional leader identify area of concernswith data and develop an action plan to address them.Participants will learn how to implement support/safetynets to improve student achievement.

Coaching for Instructional Change:Academy TwoAre you looking for research based professional develop-ment that assists with implementing positive change?Training without follow-up coaching cannot producesustained change. Learn how instructional leaders areusing coaching to improve instruction and get higherstudent achievement results.

By the end of this two-hour training module, participantswill be able to examine current practices. They will learnhow to modify those that do not support a systemic changeeffectiveness. They will learn how to use data to identifyareas of need that will focus coaching to produce highestresults. In addition, they will learn how to develop anaction plan, as well as how to build safety nets to helpc o rrect identified needs. Pa rticipants will leave thesession knowing how to become an effective systemicLeader/Coach.

Standards-Based Instructional Systems:Academy ThreeIt’s one thing to adopt standards. It’s another thing toimplement them into an aligned, highly effective system.

Using a standards-based observation tool, participants willdiscuss and assess instruction in their schools as it relatesto the alignment of the elements of a standards-basedinstructional system. Participants will dive deeply intohow to manage a standards-based grading system. In addi-tion, they will review current practices that lead to studentmastery.

Teaching and Learning: Academy FourThere are thirteen principles of teaching and learningthat an instructional leader must know and understandin order to be effective. Learn what those are and how tocommunicate them to the instructional staff in yourschool/district.

Participants will study the 13 Principles of Learning,Teaching and Curriculum that provide a framework forclassroom instruction, student engagement, and curricu-lum alignment in schools. Several articles pertaining toteaching and learning are reviewed and discussed, givingparticipants an opportunity to analyze and discuss theirimplementation of the 13 Principles.

Literacy Leadership for College andCareer Ready Results: Academy FiveAll learning begins with a mastery of literacy skills.Learn how to ensure that literacy is the effective core oflearning in your school and district.

College and Career Ready literacy requires instructionalshifts in ELA, social studies, and science practices.Participants will learn how to build on the NISL EDP toadd depth to leadership in literacy. They will learn how tofine-tune or build a coherent and cohesive content-richK-12 literacy program.

Participants will learn how to:• Achieve excellence in CCR standards-based literacy

instruction• Effectively use college and career-ready literacy

instruction in ELA, Social Studies, and Science• Effectively use text evidence in discussion and routine

writing

Literacy Leadership: Writing from Sourcesin ELA, Social Studies and Science:Academy SixLearn even more about how your instructional staff canenhance the teaching of critical literacy skills.

Students must be able to read for evidence and use thatevidence to argue, inform, and explain content knowledgethrough both speaking and writing. This extends beyondthe Literacy Leadership for College and Career ReadyResults to explore using more effectively various sourcesin writing. Participants will explore three factors thatimpact effective communication—content analysis, textstructures, and organization. Additionally, participantswill examine how writing involves more than grammarmechanics.

These academies can be packaged into 1 to 4day sessions (2 academies per day).

THE NISL LEADERSHIP ACADEMY PROGRAM