A Publication Just for You!

Chevre,

 Our most recent PDP publication,  Making Jewish Education Work:  Complementary School Change Initiatives-Lessons Learned from Research and Evaluation in the Field  is easily accessible on the JESNA website.  We have also written a companion Discussion Guide.

 The aim of this report is to add to the conversation by identifying lessons learned from Berman Center evaluations of community/congregational school change efforts.  By offering a synthesis of lessons learned from across the 10 complementary school change initiatives, this report aims to be both a product of, and an advocate for, collaborative change efforts.

 This report is not about the impact of initiatives, but about each initiative's process.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive guidebook about complementary school change, but rather to capture what has been learned from a range of change initiatives evaluated by the Berman Center, and to identify general "learnings"---considerations to be made when engaging in this work.

 I have had the opportunity to lead four presentations about these publications.  They were at a principals' retreat in New Haven, Connecticut, CAJE 33 in Vermont, the Center for Jewish Education in Baltimore and at a meeting of three central agencies hosted by the Orloff Central Agency for Jewish Education in Davie, Florida.  My colleague, Leora Isaacs, faciliated a presentation about it in Rhode Island.  In each case I received valuable input about how these findings resonate in local communities and also what kinds of material to include in the Discussion Guide that would be most helpful for local facilitators.

What makes this publication particularly valuable to central agency staff is that many of the learnings can be easily translated and understood by all who staff who provide consulting services to institutions and personnel in local communities.  Although the focus is on Complementary School Change Initiatives, those who work in early childhood and day school have found important insights to help them in their work, as well.

Here are my humble requests to you:

 1) If you haven't done so yet, please read the Report and the Discussion Guide.

2) Feel free to use this blog as a forum to provide comments, ask questions, challenge, probe, argue and, even agree:)

3) Let me know when and how you use these publications in your community and how we might be of help to you.  Shortly, we plan to post a PowerPoint for you to use as part of local presentations.

4) Finally, let us know what successes and challenges you are now facing as you work in the domain of Complementary School Change/Improvement.

 Looking forward to seeing your comments in writing.

Steve 

Incremental or Radical Change?

Chevre,

As many of you are aware, I am trying to compile information about "non-traditional,"/"alternative" forms of complementary Jewish education. We want to publish this information in conjunction with our regular publication about "traditional" school change models/projects.

Knowing that you are trusted and loyal professional colleagues and are not the types to withhold information, I turn to you with the following observation and question: It appears to me that the models of which I am aware fall squarely in the category of incremental changes in the status quo. They take one defining criterion of this type of Jewish education, e.g., curriculum, and attempt something new.

My question is, "Are there any radical, totally "break the paradigm" models out there? If not, why not? Are we headed in that direction? Surely you are aware that there are funders and some very loud, public voices out there clamoring for radical change. Where are we headed?

Please share your thoughts.

CONTACT-The Journal of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life

Chevre,

It's clear that complementary/supplementary/Hebrew School/part-time/non-day school/zed education is once again coming to the forefront of communal discussion. The Autumn, 2007 edition of Contact is devoted to the topic. Titled, "Supplementary Jewish Education: What Can Be Done," the magazine offers a series of editorial perspectives and details of extant programs. Read it and let us know what you think, and more importantly, how you in your agencies could/should use it. Here is the link:

http://www.jewishlife.org/pdf/autumn_2007.pdf

Steve

Welcome to the CTI Blog

•Chevre,

Welcome to our Coaches Training Institute blog. For those of you unfamiliar with the blog world, a blog is often described the following ways:

Journal metaphor

•Generally one-to-many, but can have multiple authors

•Usually reverse chronological order

•Entries are generally static (fixed)

•Good for communications, personal knowledge management, journaling, connecting to others on related topics

This is not to be confused with our Coaches Training Institute wiki. You remember that the salient features of a wiki are:

•Page metaphor

•Supports group work, but can have a single author

•Information is not fixed, rather, it can be continually updated in real time

•Good for creating easy to use collaborative websites, writing “living” documents, sharing resources

We hope to use both these tools to improve and expand the communication between CTI members. An added value might be that you try using these tools with your constituents.

So, don't be afraid to share your thoughts and ideas on this blog and our wiki. As practice, I will offer the following questions and ask for you to respond:

1) In what way(s) did your agency address the lead article in the World Jewish Digest about Hebrew schools?

2) In what way(s) did your agency address the follow-up letter to the editor from JESNA and the apology from the author?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Steve