As a result of the enthusiastic response that we have received for this year's Governor’s Institute: Improving Academic Success through Positive School Culture, we have reached capacity and are no longer able to accept applications. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.
In order to attend this Institute all participants must be pre-approved and there will be no on-site registrations accepted for the Institute.Governor's Institute for Educators: Improving Academic Success through Positive School Culture
Sunday, July 26, 2009 through Friday, July 31, 2009
Bloomsburg University
Governor Edward Rendell invites you to attend Improving Academic Success through Positive School Culture which is offered through the 2009 Pennsylvania Governor's Institutes for Educators.
What will I learn?
Improving Academic Success through Positive School Culture will challenge school teams to examine the learning environment in their school to determine if the current climate supports and promotes academic achievement. Institute faculty and practitioners will provide teams with examples of research-based strategies that when implemented at the building level will bring about environmental changes such as increasing student attendance, decreasing bullying and harassment, and fostering positive relationships between students and staff.
The course of instruction is based on the “Single School Culture” model. It is a holistic approach to increasing academic performance by developing a stronger sense of school community. The approach is not a “program” but a method of organizing and running a school. The model begins with shared norms, beliefs, values and goals, and results in agreed upon processes and procedures. A single school culture uses specific and consistent strategies to improve academics, behavior, and school climate.
Teams will be instructed in how they can use the information, models, and data to help them assess their own learning environments and develop action plans. Teams will complete a follow-up evaluation and make adjustments to the plan as needed.
Who should attend this institute?
This five-day Institute provides professional development to teams of building-level administrators, instructional staff and pupil support personnel. A school-based team of three to five is preferred. A representative from the administration is required. If space is available, individual participants may be accepted.
Participant Benefits and Requirements
- All participants are required to live on campus for the duration of the Institute. University apartment housing is provided at no cost to the participant. Apartments consist of six secure individual bedrooms, two bathrooms and a common living area.
- Meals are also provided at no cost.
- A laptop computer is required for each team.
- Upon completion of all requirements, including implementation of an action plan in the participant's school, participants receive two graduate credits at no cost.
- Post-activities are required and graduate credits will not be awarded until Spring, 2010 when all post-Institute activities are reviewed and accepted.
- Sessions are ongoing throughout the day and evening.
Application Process
- Application selection will be based on composition of the team, type of school (public, nonpublic, charter, alternative education), and geographic location (rural, suburban and urbran) and size of school.
- Submitting an application to the Institute does not guarantee acceptance to attend the Institute. Applicants will be notified by the Center for Safe Schools regarding their acceptance to attend the Institute.
Your application to this Institute signifies your understanding that you will:
- incur no cost other than personal transportation costs to Bloomsburg University and any meal costs beyond meals provided at the Institute
- be present at all sessions scheduled July 26-31, 2009 at Bloomsburg University
- live in provided housing on the Bloomsburg University campus, Mt. Olympus Apartments
- actively contribute and fully participate in developing your team’s action plan
- participate in revising your team’s action plan, as needed, upon return to the district
- maintain a journal with thoughts, ideas and feelings regarding the implementation of the action plan
- submit your journal at the designated deadline provided by the Institute directors
- contribute to the final revised action plan to be submitted by the team leader at the designated deadline provided by the Institute directors.
If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie Acri, Center for Safe Schools, sacri@csc.csiu.org or phone 717-763-1661 ext. 134.
Pennsylvania Department of Education Governor's Institute Series
This Institute is part of a series of summer professional education programs sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The institutes are designed to insure the creation of challenging learning environments in the Commonwealth's public, private and non-public schools. Each of the institutes provides an intellectually rigorous program of study that will improve academic classrooms and thereby assist educators in improving their students' academic achievement. To learn more about other institutes being offered, visit the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Governor's Institute page.
