BoardBuzz is hitting the road starting tomorrow (Friday). We'll be at NSBA's Annual Conference (we may have mentioned it once or twice) in Orlando, so we'll be off for a while. But never fear -- the Annual Conference Blog will scratch your blogging itch. We've got guest bloggers, including school board members from all over the country, contributing, so be sure and mosey on over there and see what's going on. And be sure to leave your comments . . . And we'll be back here on April 7.

BoardBuzz loves our blogging school board member friends. And as we prepare to head off to NSBA's Annual Conference in Orlando, there are a few of them that are taking their shows on the road. Our old friend Andrew Mizsak, from Ohio, who blogged his way through the FRN Conference in February, is back and blogging the NSBA Conference start to finish. He'll also appear as a guest blogger on our Annual Conference Blog. This post is all about blogging school board members, and promises some attention at the conference as well. And this school board member from Oregon pledges to "make sure the information comes back to the district." In the past we've offered tips for sharing your Conference experience once you get back to your school district (and be sure to LISTEN to a message from Anne Bryant, NSBA's executive director with more on the subject), and it seems that now it's time to add blogging to the list. What better way to share what's happening as it happens than through the magic of the Internet? And for more blogging school board members and all the conference happenings, do check out the Annual Conference Blog, because after today, that's where we'll be.

Back in December, Google joined a coalition of technology companies, public interest and consumer groups, civil rights organizations, think tanks, and higher education groups to launch the Wireless Innovation Alliance to promote the benefits that "white spaces" can bring to consumers. Other members of the Alliance include Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft. Today their vision takes another step closer to becoming reality. What are white spaces, you ask? Google's Public Policy blog describes it nicely: Remember how, before cable and satellite TV became ubiquitous in our homes, we would have to turn the VHF dial on our old televisions to watch local channels? NBC might have been on channel 3, CBS on 10, and ABC on 17. And between those channels...was static. Those spaces still remain largely unused. However, an idea was raised to take portions of that TV spectrum--the "white spaces"--and use them to expand internet access. Think WiFi 2.0 or WiFi on steroids as Google has begun to call it. Google submitted a proposal to the FCC on Friday, saying that by freeing the white spaces spectrum, "consumers will be able to enjoy robust access to the Internet, including the ability to download and utilize any lawful applications or content that is desired." Google claims to have a plan--one that will result in Americans across the country surfing the web on handheld gadgets at gigabits-per-second speeds by the 2009 holiday season. Broadcasters strongly oppose this move with claims that operating mobile devices in the TV spectrum is bound to cause interference. Google counters these claims and even offered up working prototype devices for the FCC to test. Ars Technica has this to say on the issue: Since its inception last year, the white spaces project has seen its fair share of controversy. Prototype devices submitted to the FCC have not performed as hoped, with some of the blame due to broken hardware. The FCC is currently testing prototype devices capable of sensing the presence of digital TV and other transmissions, including those of wireless microphones. Testing is scheduled to continue throughout this week.This is what will happen to your digital TV picture if white space broadband becomes a reality, according to the NAB Broadcasters have seized upon every testing hiccup to argue that the white spaces should be left alone. The National Association of Broadcasters, in particular, is bitterly opposed to allowing unlicensed broadband service in the white spaces. Last month, the group said that the hardware problems experienced by the White Space Coalition's devices "vindicates beyond doubt the interference concerns expressed by broadcasters, sports leagues, wireless microphone companies, and theater operators." Nevertheless, Google and the Alliance are moving forward with their plans. "The future is now," Google concludes. "The value of the TV white space to all Americans simply is too great to allow this unique opportunity to be blocked by unfounded fear, uncertainty, and doubt." BoardBuzz looks forward to a more open wireless world where wireless access is not limited to hotspots, cell networks, and expensive contracts (can you say iPhone?). However, we can only imagine the impact this will have on schools--both positive and negative. What do you think? Will this be the birth of high-bandwidth, affordable, ubiquitous wireless internet services? It could be welcoming news in the face of the waning hopes for wireless cities as the New York Times reports.

BoardBuzz wants to remind you to log in to the two online discussions that we'll be hosting from NSBA's Annual Conference in Orlando. The Tipping Point on School Vouchers: Has Time Run Out for the Privatization Movement? Join NSBA Director of Federal Affairs Marcus Egan for an online discussion Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. ET to get the latest information on research, legislation and the political landscape impacting vouchers. You can submit a question in advance or log in to the discussion as it happens. Straight Talk on Tobacco Join NSBA school health experts, Karen Lewis and Brenda Greene for an online discussion Monday, March 31, at 12:45 ET, to get the full scoop on tobacco free schools and to learn more about what school districts can do to make campuses tobacco free.You can submit a question in advance or log in and watch as the discussion unfolds.

USA Today asserts what has long been discussed around the chalkboard: class size does affect student learning. BoardBuzz has suspected this all along (perhaps because we've been reading the research), and our friends at the Center for Public Education have done their homework on the subject too. The article states, Breaking up large classes into several smaller ones helps students, but the improvements in many cases come in spite of what teachers do, new research suggests. New findings from four nations, including the USA, tell a curious story. Small classes work for children, but that's less because of how teachers teach than because of what students feel they can do: Get more face time with their teacher, for instance, or work in small groups with classmates. "Small classes are more engaging places for students because they're able to have a more personal connection with teachers, simply by virtue of the fact that there are fewer kids in the classroom competing for that teacher's attention," says Adam Gamoran of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who analyzed the findings. Fair enough. But BoardBuzz would argue that while the new research again shows that small classes help students feel more engaged, if schools really want the most bang for their buck, they should also provide professional development to help teachers modify instruction to the small setting. What are your thoughts on class size? Leave a comment and tell us about it. For more information on class size and how it affects student learning, check out the research at Center for Public Education.

It started out as a lesson on oceans, and 21 years later, a message in a bottle has made waves (groan). BoardBuzz saw this story on ABCNews.com, and was fascinated. When Emily Hwaung was in fourth grade she placed a message in a bottle, as a part of a school project, and cast it off to sea. The note read: This letter is part of our science project to study oceans and learn about people in distant lands. Please send the date and location of the bottle with your address. I will send you my picture and tell you when and where the bottle was placed in the ocean. Your friend, Emily Hwaung And here we are some 21 years later. The letter, which was launched from a suburb of Seattle, was discovered more than 1,700 miles away in Alaska. Emily, no longer a fourth grader, but a 30 year-old accountant, has really gotten "a kick out of" the story and the bottle resurfacing all these years later. BoardBuzz wonders if that model of the solar system we did in fourth grade will find us again somehow.

Classroom 2.0 is the social networking site for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education. It won the 2008 Edublog Award for educational use of a social networking site. Home to almost 7,000 educators interested in using Web 2.0 in the classroom, this network offers valuable resources from the get-go:

• Discussion Forums
• Resources Wiki
• Join Groups
• Share Photos and Videos

Members share advice, technical know-how, and encouragement in a community where even newbies are welcome. BoardBuzz would like to give a nod to this network of teachers who are interested in the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom and use the site for personal professional development.

Many public school advocates consider Education Secretary Margaret Spellings' annoucement to allow up to 10 states to use a "differentiated accountability" pilot program under NCLB a step in the right direction. In NSBA's statement, Executive Director Anne Bryant emphasizes that the small scale pilot program is "not a substitute for the immediate need for reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act." By limiting the number of states that can use the new system -- which would allow schools and school districts to target limited resources and interventions for students who are most in need -- Spellings is placing "additional arbitrary barriers in place to the changes that are badly needed now." With these criteria in place, it is uncertain how many states will be eligible for the pilot program.

BoardBuzz came across an interesting report via the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) evaluating states on their pre-school programs. The report called The State of Preschool 2007 for the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) compared states on the access and quality of preschool programs they provide to their 3 and 4 year-olds. The report found that the majority of 4 year-olds across the country still do not have access to state-funded pre-school programs. The good news is, however, that the percentage has almost doubled from just 12 percent in 2002, the first year of the NIEER survey, to 22 percent in 2007. Oklahoma led the way by enrolling 68 percent of their 4 year-olds (not including head start) followed by Florida, Georgia, and West Virginia. Although Tennessee was not a top state in providing state-funded preschool, they did increase their enrollment by 50 percent from 2006 to 2007. A huge step in the right direction. However, BoardBuzz knows its one thing to provide access to preschool programs and yet another to provide quality preschool programs. The NIEER report compared states on quality as well and found that Alabama and North Carolina had the highest rated quality preschool programs in the country based on NIEER's 10 standards for preschool quality. (Click here for more information on how states were compared) BoardBuzz is well aware that starting and expanding state preschool programs are not easy and the educators, school board members, other policymakers and the taxpayers should be commended for their desire to ensure all students start school ready to learn. Fortunately, our friends at the Center for Public Education and the state school boards associations in Kansas, Ohio, and Texas are busily at work finding ways to bring high-quality pre-k programs to more children in their states. CPE continues to report on these activities along with research, data, and resources to help get communities behind this important effort. As SREB Vice President of Education Policies Joan Lord stated, "Children who are not prepared for school are the ones most likely to drop out, to find only low-paying jobs, to become unemployed and to face a lifetime of problems." By helping every child become school-ready, pre-kindergarten is more than a good educational program, it’s a good investment for the community. Find more information on pre-kindergarten at the Center for Public Education. While there, sign up for CPE’s monthly e-newsletter, Pre-K Primer, which features news and practical information, strategies, and policies for expanding pre-k at the state and local levels. You'll also find the Center's Round-up of National Report Cards that simply explains how states are ranked in this and 11 other National "Report Cards" on education quality.

BoardBuzz was pointed in the direction of this website from our friends at the Public Education Network (PEN)'s weekly Newsblast (which if you don't get, you should definitely sign up for). It seems that Tom Chapin, the product of public schools, is disappointed (as is BoardBuzz) in the cuts that are taking place to art, music, and other stuff that's "Not on the Test." And in this digital age, Tom has put his thoughts to music, made a video and posted it to the internet. He laments, Your School Board is faced with no child left behind With rules but no funding, they’re caught in a bind. So music and art and the things you love best Are not in your school ‘cause they’re not on the test. Sleep, sleep, and as you progress You’ll learn there’s a lot that is not on the test. Debate is a skill that is useful to know, Unless you’re in Congress or talk radio, Where shouting and spouting and spewing are blessed 'Cause rational discourse was not on the test. And while the lyrics do elicit a chuckle, it actually makes BoardBuzz feel like crying. Chapin is right, school boards' hands are often tied when dealing with the requirements of NCLB. The good news is that some school districts are doing whatever they can to incorporate the things that aren't on the test. We loved this story from the Washington Post about one school in Maryland that threw testing to the wind in favor of a day of arts instruction. For more information on No Child Left Behind, NSBA's recommendations for changes to the law, and the law's reauthorization, click here. What's your school district doing to ensure that students receive a well-rounded education, incorporating subjects beyond what's required on the test? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Google recently launched Google For Non-Profits, "a one-stop shop for tools to help advance your organization's mission in a smart, cost-efficient way." BoardBuzz thinks some associations might find this newest Google offering interesting. Highlights include:

• When you're writing a grant application, don't get stuck emailing drafts back and forth. Try Google Docs to collaborate on documents with your colleagues.
• Cut costs and save time with Google-hosted email at your own domain. Access your e-mail from any computer with an Internet connection.
• Accept online donations without hassle and with no transaction fees until 2009 with Google Checkout.
• Apply for free online advertising through our Google Grants program to raise awareness and drive traffic to your website.
• Start a blog to keep your supporters informed and engaged.

Excellent tools for associations large and small!

NSBA will host two lively online discussions during the Annual Conference in Orlando. The Tipping Point on School Vouchers: Has Time Run Out for the Privatization Movement? Although well funded and with a vocal, albeit small network of supporters, the school voucher movement has run into troubles of late. From another crushing defeat of vouchers by voters in Utah, to a slew of recent research debunking private schools’ purported superiority in raising student achievement, to cautionary words from longtime voucher advocates downplaying vouchers’ alleged competitive benefits for public education, it has been a rough stretch for proponents of spending taxpayer dollars on private school tuition. While voucher proposals remain on the table in some states and in Congress, have the best opportunities for enacting new programs passed? Join NSBA Director of Federal Affairs Marcus Egan for an online discussion Sunday, March 30 at 1 p.m. ET to get the latest information on research, legislation and the political landscape impacting vouchers. You can submit a question in advance or log in to the discussion as it happens. Straight Talk on Tobacco Most people assume that all schools are completely tobacco free – it just seems to make too much sense not to be true! Unfortunately, the truth is more complicated than that, and according to the latest available (school health data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 58 percent of states, 55.4 percent of districts, and 63.6 percent of schools prohibit all tobacco use in all locations at all times. So, there is plenty of room for improvement in making all schools tobacco-free! Join NSBA school health experts, Karen Lewis and Brenda Greene for an online discussion Monday, March 31, at 12:45 ET, to get the full scoop on tobacco free schools and to learn more about what school districts can do to make campuses tobacco free.You can submit a question in advance or log in and watch as the discussion unfolds. Be sure to check it out! And be sure to visit the Annual Conference blog, which will detail all the events of the conference as they happen.

BoardBuzz is getting ready to head off to Orlando for NSBA's Annual Conference. It promises to be chock full of all kinds of great programming and activities. For all the scoop on the conference, be sure to check out the Annual Conference Blog, which will be updated daily next week and through the end of the conference with all the latest on the happenings at the conference. Not to mention, our list of guest bloggers is growing and their experiences will be chronicled on the blog too. It's definitely worth a read! Check it out!

Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced today that she will allow as many as 10 states to use a "differentiated accountability" system to target interventions/sanctions for chronically low-performing schools rather than to treat all schools that didn't make AYP under NCLB the same way, see this. That's good news, on the surface. But BoardBuzz has to wonder, why only 10 states? If a differentiated accountability system is good for the goose, why not for the gander? If it's a fairer and more accurate measurement and helps target limited resources to schools and students most in need, why isn't that good for all states? We are talking about accountability that can have serious consequences for schools, so why should one state be allowed to have a fair system, while another would continue to be subject to the current one-size-fits-all accountability framework? Good questions, all. Spellings wants to give this flexibility in the form of a "pilot program," limiting the number of states that can implement the new framework. Sen. Edward Kennedy hit the nail on the head in responding to the annoucement: But schools need more than new pilot programs to respond to No Child Left Behind’s challenges. I commend Secretary Spellings for giving schools greater flexibility, but experience shows it won’t get us very far as long as the Bush Administration continues to shortchange its budget for school reform. NSBA’s recommendations on NCLB include differentiating consequences for schools based on their AYP performance. Many states must meet significantly higher benchmarks for this year's AYP, meaning many more schools are expected to miss AYP entering the 7th year of NCLB. At this late in the game, Spellings' 10-state pilot program is probably a day late and a dollar short. And speaking of dollars, you can learn more about federal funding for education by visiting NSBA's Advocacy Web site here.

NSBA's Executive Director, Anne Bryant, has launched her own podcast series, Anne-a-Grams. Take a listen and tune in monthly for the latest from Anne! http://www.nsba.org/blog/anne-a-grams/anne-1.mp3Anne BryantNSBAMouseover the icon to listen to this Anne-a-gram Attending NSBA’s Annual Conference is one of the most worthwhile things a school board member or administrator can do. The conference is one of the best opportunities for professional development that I can think of. Not only do we offer world famous speakers and presenters, but we also put real practical knowledge in your hands. Our exhibit hall has resources that make sense for all school districts from the smallest to the largest, and the money you can save your district by visiting the hall is, alone, worth the price of admission. The conference offers you the opportunity to build your boardsmanship skills and network with school board members from all over the country—an opportunity that doesn’t happen often – and one that should be treasured.

BoardBuzz was thinking this weekend, as we prepare for NSBA's Annual Conference in Orlando, just how valuable attendance at the conference is. Sure, the General Session speakers, like Sandra Day O'Connor, Garrison Keillor, Sidney Poitier, and Jim Lehrer are enlightening and inspiring, but conference attendance is so much more than that. The opportunity to meet other school board members and school district administrators, talk about challenges and opportunities, and share ideas is certainly another exciting perk. When else do you find so many school board members in one place? On top of that, the Exhibit Hall is chock full of ways for school districts to learn, grow, and even save money (and with financial times being tight these days, who doesn't want to save a little?). Attending sessions is probably one of the best ways to get the most out of your conference experience. And this year is no exception. You can use the online conference planner to browse through all of the sessions and even plan an itinerary for yourself prior to your arrival in Orlando. And the learning doesn't have to stop once you've returned to your district. In fact, it shouldn't stop! Be sure to share your conference experience with fellow board members, school district staff, parents, and your community. They've invested in your attendance and deserve to know just how well your time was spent. For some more tips on how to share your conference experience back at home, click here.

Donald Trump's not the only one doing the firing these days. The Washingon Post reported on Saturday that the new Washington, D.C. School’s Chancellor, Michelle Rhee, fired 98 central office workers. The Post called the act, “the first mass firings in about a decade” and said “the move came about two months after the D.C. Council gave [the Chancellor] unprecedented authority to reclassify…nonunion central office workers [to] "at-will" status, which allowed her to fire them without cause.” Rhee said her efforts were geared towards efficiency, allowing the embattled DC system “to push more dollars down to the schools.” One fired worker said he’d been in the central office for six years without receiving an evaluation until the new administration arrived. Wow! Six years! It boggles the mind that a public school employee would actually express surprise the he/she is being held accountable for his/her own job performance. And, the Chutzpah of the Year Award goes to . . . (Pssst… over here, dear reader. If you learn of any such blog opportunities, please do let BoardBuzz know). Speaking of chutzpah, several other employees have also griped about the evaluation process to their city representatives. BoardBuzz wonders if they also objected to the recent evaluations after years of a free evaluation lunch, so to speak. Some parents apparently also disagree with the Chancellor’s methodology of fire-ology (or, should that be termin-ology?) “Cherita Whiting, an activist and parent of a D.C. public school student” said the employees should have gotten some sort of “probationary period to improve performance.” Hmmm… does this also apply to the fella that wasn’t evaluated for six years? Just asking. But, Ms. Whiting may well be on to something when she said, "I hope the paperwork will substantiate each and every one of these firings… Otherwise, they're going to have lawsuit after lawsuit after lawsuit over it." That’s just what D.C. public schools need right now: more lawsuits! Oy vey!

For years, NASA's Robotics Alliance Project has supported participation in the FIRST Robotics Competition by providing grants to high school teams as well as sponsoring FIRST regional competitions. Today BoardBuzz is spotlighting the Virginia regional FIRST Overdrive competition. We learned of the competition from local Goochland, Virginia team coach, Matt Wilson, whom we just happen to know. He is a high school physics teacher who volunteered his time and expertise to guide students from Goochland High School in the competition. His team even went on to win the "gracious professionalism" award. Congratulations! First—no pun intended—some background on the event. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a non-profit organization that aspires to transform our culture by making science, math, engineering, and technology seem as cool to kids as sports. The Virginia FIRST website provides this brief history of the event: FIRST was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter. FIRST operates the FIRST Robotics Competition in which teams of high school students, sponsored and assisted by local companies and volunteers, design, assemble, and test a robot capable of performing a specified task in competition with other teams. FIRST also runs the FIRST LEGO League, for children 9-14 years old, and FIRST Place, an innovative science and technology center, including a hands-on children's science museum. In this year’s FIRST Overdrive, students designed robots to race around a track knocking down 40" inflated balls and moving them around the track, passing them either over or under a 6'6" overpass. Extra points are scored by robots positioning the balls back on the overpass before the end of the 2 minute and 15 second match. Watch this animation to see a full demonstration. Students and mentors swarmed VCU's Siegel Center this weekend&mdas;effectively turning it into a giant body shop. They continued working up until the last moment to fine-tune their robots. Over 400 students, teachers, engineers and mentors on 64 teams from around the country, including one from Hawai'i, could be found tinkering on their robots. It was an exciting three-day event from practice to the championship round. Check out the final scores, rankings, awards from the competition. BoardBuzz thinks the whole concept of the competition is an excellent one. What better way to stimulate students' problem-solving skills and interest in science and technology than this type of hands-on experience. We also agree with Pattie Cook, the VirginiaFIRST regional director: "The companies want a more prepared work force," she said. "Kids want more technology. They think it's cool to know about technology. The whole country has begun talking also about the fact that there aren't enough kids learning science and math." And there's far more to learn than just the science. The competition seeks to redefine winning for these students. They are rewarded for excellence in design, team spirit, professionalism and maturity, and the ability to overcome obstacles. Scoring the most points is a secondary goal. Winning means building partnerships that last. The Virginia event is one of 41 regional contests that will lead up to the 2008 FIRST Championship at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, April 17-19. Are you interested and want to get involved? Learn more about volunteering, mentoring, and even joining the competition. Students even qualify for a whole host of scholarships. And probably most exciting, is that BoardBuzz always loves to hear about students doing extraordinary things!

In case you haven't noticed, BoardBuzz has recently showed (here, here and here) a renewed interest in "Web 2.0," and let our inner geek flag fly, but we have failed to provide a primer for those who may still be trying to grasp the concept. So who better to help us understand than the man dubbed "the explainer" by Wired magazine. Michael Wesch is a cultural anthropologist and media ecologist exploring the impacts of new media on human interaction (wonder what he majored in in college). He currently leads a digital ethnography working group, a team of cultural anthropology undergraduates at Kansas State University exploring the impact of digital technology on human interaction and human interaction on digital technology. His blog entry, Getting Started with Web 2.0, is an excellent tutorial for everyone. To facilitate this collaborative research on technology and human interaction , Wesch leverages new media. He writes: During the first month of the semester the Digital Ethnography class of 2008 has been hard at work trying to leverage various online tools to improve our collaborative research efforts. We have managed to pull together a number of free tools into a single research platform that I think is going to work out very nicely. Check out his Mediated Cultures: Digital Ethnography dashboard to learn more. Wesch owes his fame to a video project last year which is only a part of his broader efforts to pursue the possibilities of digital media to extend and transform the way ethnographies are presented. Millions have viewed his 2007 video explorations of technology, education, and the information revolution. His Web 2.0 video was viewed over 4.8 million times just on YouTube alone. Today, we hope to grow that number. So sit back and enjoy The Machine is Us/ing Us. We also highly recommend watching Information R/evolution and A Vision of Students Today.

I have said for some time that teaching will reach professional status when the 'highest paid anybody in a school district is a teacher.' Well, thanks to Zeke Vanderhoek and The Equity Project Charter School, we are getting closer. While...