NNER SETTING ANNUAL REPORT 2013

SETTING NAME WYOMING SCHOOL-UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIP

SETTING CONTACTS— PLEASE INCLUDE NAMES, E-MAIL ADDRESSES, INSTITUTION AFFILIATION, AND ROLES FOR EACH

SETTING NNER PARTNERSHIP CONTACT Audrey Kleinsasser, Director Wyoming School-University Partnership 1000 East University Avenue, Department 3374 Laramie, WY 82071 307.766.6358 (office) 307.766.3792 (fax) www.uwyo.edu/wsup [email protected] [email protected]

Beth Wiley, Office Associate Wyoming School-University Partnership 1000 East University Avenue, Department 3374 Laramie, WY 82071 307.766.3274 (office) 307.766.3792 (fax) www.uwyo.edu/wsup [email protected] [email protected]

Michael Day, Interim Dean College of Education, University of Wyoming 1000 East University Avenue, Department 3374 Laramie, WY 82071 307.766.3145 (office) 307.766.6668 (fax) www.uwyo.edu/education/ [email protected]

SETTING GOVERNING COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE Dave Barker, Superintendent Platte County School District #2 555 South Wyoming Avenue P.O. Box 189 Guernsey, WY 82214-0189 307.836.2735 (office) 307.836.2450 (fax) http://www.guernseysunrise.org/ [email protected]

SETTING TRIPARTITE COUNCIL ARTS AND SCIENCE REPRESENTATIVE Audrey Shalinsky, Professor of Anthropology, and Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences University of Wyoming 1000 E. University Avenue, Department 3254 Laramie, WY 82071 Preparation of the 2013 annual report began with a draft prepared by Partnership staff. Executive committee members then contributed to the document verifying accuracy and completeness. The document was shared with the Governing Board at its January 29, 2014 regular meeting. 307.766.4106 (office) 307.766.2697 (fax) [email protected]

SETTING TRIPARTITE COUNCIL EDUCATION REPRESENTATIVE Allen Trent, Professor of Educational Studies University of Wyoming 1000 East University Avenue, Department 3374 Laramie, WY 82071 307.766.3463 (office) 307.766.2018 (fax) [email protected]

SETTING TRIPARTITE COUNCIL P-12 REPRESENTATIVE Diana Clapp, Partnership Chair and Superintendent Fremont County School District #6 223 North Cherry Street P.O. Box 10 Pavillion, WY 82523-0010 307.856.7970 x1 (office) 307.856.3385 (fax) http://www.fre6.k12.wy.us/index.html [email protected]

Use this template to enter the information from your setting. The report should be approximately 3 to 5 single-spaced pages that address the setting’s current work to advance the NNER mission. DESCRIBE SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES INCLUDING PROJECTS, INITIATIVES, AND ACTIONS THAT ADVANCE SIMULTANEOUS RENEWAL ACROSS INSTITUTIONS, DEPARTMENTS, OR OTHER GROUPS. Collaborative grants, reciprocal professional development, partner school and/or community partnerships, and collaborative policy work that advance the mission serve as examples. Provide detailed information that will help colleagues learn from your successes and include descriptions of challenges.

Successes: Lost in Transition: High School to Higher Education Initiative The Partnership continues to try to find ways to expand this work. The current initiative provides an avenue of respectful sharing among colleagues that remains unique and valued, a robust example of simultaneous educational renewal and democratic practice. Meetings include faculty from high schools, community colleges, and the university. English/language arts (both writing and literature), mathematics, life sciences, social studies, and world languages hold Lost in Transition meetings once a year. The gatherings are variously called summits and colloquia, but not workshops. Language is important and these convenings feature the highest level of collegial sharing and conversation. To underplay status issues, meetings are not held at the University of Wyoming, but at more neutral locations around the state. The most successful communities (English/language arts and life sciences) enjoy strong leadership from the arts and sciences. Planners make professional development renewal credits available to the participants.

The timeline below illustrates the initiative’s impact.

2 Open-ended comments from participants go much further to describe the way simultaneous educational renewal is practiced. Selected comments are provided below:

* The engagement/involvement of different levels was awesome. * Communication is the KEY factor to ensure success of our students and faculty.

2013 NNER Summer Symposium The Partnership covered the full registration ($650) for four Wyoming attendees. The participants were: Aurora Chang, Assistant Professor, Educational Studies, College of Education, University of Wyoming; Kevin Derby, Lingle-Ft. Laramie high school social studies teacher and concurrent enrollment instructor, Eastern Wyoming College; Leslie Rush, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs, College of Education, University of Wyoming; and Kathy Vetter, President of the Wyoming Education Association. All four participants reported out on their experience in the Partnership’s September newsletter. To see their thoughts and insights about the 2013 NNER Summer Symposium, visit the following website. http://www.uwyo.edu/wsup/_files/docs/newsletters/partnership/september-newsletter-2013-final.pdf

League of Democratic Schools The Partnership paid the full school membership fee for four schools participating in this program of the NNER for 2013-2014 ($250 per school for a total of $1,000). The schools are Woods Learning Center and Star Lane Center, Casper (Natrona #1), UW Prep School, Laramie (Albany #1), and Guernsey-Sunrise High School, Guernsey (Platte #2).

3 Wyoming School-University Partnership Memberships We continue to gain members. This year, three school districts were unable to join again due to budgetary restraints. However, three new districts joined the Partnership. Currently, 28 of 48 school districts belong to the Partnership and pay annual dues. Dues for 2013-2014 totaled $86,000. Dues are used for the general operation of the Partnership office, including the salary and benefits of the office associate, and to fund the Partnership’s initiatives.

Our goal is to maintain current membership and increase district membership by one or two a year. The Partnership has a presence in all but four Wyoming counties (23 total) the four being far from the University of Wyoming which is located in the southeast corner of the state.

Our current school district members include: Albany #1 - Laramie, Superintendent Brian Recht Big Horn #1 - Cowley, Superintendent Shon Hocker Big Horn #2 - Lovell, Superintendent Dan Coe Campbell #1 - Gillette, Superintendent Richard Strahorn Carbon #2 - Saratoga, Superintendent Bob Gates Converse #1 - Douglas, Superintendent Dan Espeland Fremont #6 - Pavillion, Superintendent Diana Clapp Fremont #14 - Ethete, Superintendent Terry Smith Fremont #25 - Riverton, Superintendent Terry Snyder Fremont #38 - Arapahoe, Superintendent Chantell Denson Goshen #1 - Torrington, Superintendent Jean Chrostoski Hot Springs #1 - Thermopolis, Superintendent Dustin Hunt Laramie #1 - Cheyenne, Superintendent Mark Stock Natrona #1 - Casper, Superintendent Steve Hopkins Niobrara #1 - Lusk, Superintendent Jonathan Braack Park #1 - Powell, Superintendent Kevin Mitchell Park #6 - Cody, Superintendent Ray Schulte Park #16 - Meeteetse, Superintendent Jay Curtis Platte #1 - Wheatland, Superintendent Dennis Fischer Platte #2 - Guernsey, Superintendent Dave Barker Sheridan #1 - Ranchester, Superintendent, Marty Kobza Sheridan #2 - Sheridan, Superintendent Craig Dougherty Sublette #9 - Big Piney, Superintendent Gerry Chase Sweetwater #1 - Rock Springs, Superintendent Mathew Neal Sweetwater #2 - Green River, Superintendent Donna Little-Kaumo Teton #1 - Jackson, Superintendent Pam Shea Uinta #1 - Evanston, Superintendent James Bailey Washakie #1 - Worland, Superintendent David Nicholas

The graphics below illustrate how Wyoming school district membership has increased over the past several years.

4 The 2009-2013 Impact Map side by side comparison can also be downloaded at http://www.uwyo.edu/wsup/_files/images/impact%20map/2009-2013-impact-map-comparison.pdf

Governing Board Development Each governing board meeting features a specific theme (accompanied by a short advance reading) for discussion. Session evaluations reveal the importance of the conversations to many governing board members. Some governing board members report using the readings with principals or their school district board of trustees.

Board members have expressed that Partnership governing board meetings are a place to bring personal and professional concerns about education to a group of others who can provide wise counsel. And governing board meetings are often the only place board members have opportunities to discuss important educational issues that revolve around more than testing and accountability. This is just one more way that we practice Agenda for Education in a Democracy principles. Feedback from governing board meetings confirms that board members appreciate this atmosphere and find themselves being renewed at the governing board annual meetings.

Website Presence and Marketing Materials With total credit to the talents of several exceptional office associates, the Partnership fields an excellent website which also enables effective and dependable online registration for events. We’ve been very successful distributing an impact map that shows where the Partnership is in Wyoming and what it does. Far and away, the document elicits the most comments and questions when we share our materials. The full map is available online at http://www.uwyo.edu/wsup/_files/images/impact%20map/partnership-impact-map-2013-2014-11-21-13.pdf

5 Partnership Newsletters In 2013, we published four newsletters. The newsletters are available to download on the website and are also sent electronically to a list of over 1200 people who have signed up to receive email updates from the Partnership. We also regularly distribute over 100 hard copies of each newsletter.

Co-sponsor, 5th Annual UW College of Education Fall Literacy Conference, October 4-5 The Partnership co-sponsored the 5th Annual UW College of Education Fall Literacy Conference by providing marketing, a website for the conference, and online registration. Approximately 80 educators registered for the conference that took place at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, October 4-5.

Challenges: Funding Lost in Transition: High School to Higher Education Initiative The Partnership has plans to expand the initiative during 2013-2014 to possibly include shorter online sessions that would encourage faculty to continue talking about the larger issues discussed during the symposia and colloquia. This might involve contracting out a coordinator for these sessions. The Partnership has received several very generous donations from the University of Wyoming President’s Office, the Qwest Foundation, and the Wyoming P-16 Education Council to help convene these Lost in Transition meetings. Those funds are nearly exhausted, and we would need to seek funding to continue expanding.

We also continue searching for ways to combine current education concerns, such as the Common Core State Standards and issues around dual and concurrent enrollment, with our Lost in Transition meetings.

School Community Engagement Initiative The Partnership received generous donations from the University of Wyoming’s Office of Student Affairs and the NNER to pilot the school-community engagement initiative. Each school also contributed funds for the project. This seed money has now been spent with good results. There are several other Partnership member school districts that are interested in starting similar projects. The Partnership is currently looking for ways to continue providing some funding for the initiative to encourage those interested to find ways to involve their students in projects for the schools and the communities.

Marketing The Partnership continues to try to find ways to get the word out about our initiatives. While the web presence, the newsletter, and word of mouth continue to expand, the Partnership is thinking about new ways to reach the educators in the state of Wyoming.

Expansion The Partnership has a goal of recruiting at least one school district from each of Wyoming’s counties. The counties that do not currently hold Partnership membership all come from areas that are located quite far away from the University of Wyoming in Laramie, the host site for the Partnership. The Partnership would also like to explore inviting other entities, such as the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board, the State School Board, and the Facilities Commission, to join.

PLEASE NOTE THAT AT THE OCTOBER MEETING THE GOVERNING COUNCIL ASKED THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS AND PROGRESS BE INCLUDED IN EACH REPORT THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON THIS AND LEARN FROM ONE ANOTHER AS SETTINGS CONTINUE TO DO INNOVATIVE AND EFFECTIVE COLLABORATION.

DESCRIBE SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES RELATED TO ANY OF THE FOLLOWING NNER PRIORITIES THAT HAVE BEEN A FOCUS FOR THE SETTING AND ARE NOT INLCUDED ABOVE.

6  Advancing equity  Promoting the democratic purposes of schooling in the current political environment  Stewardship of the profession and quality teacher preparation  Research related to NNER mission and its implementation,

OTHER SETTING INFORMATION: (Provide any additional information including celebrations, acknowledgements, awards, accomplishments, challenges at the setting, changes in personnel, etc. that provide additional background.)

DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

2013 NNER Annual Conference Presence The Partnership was happy to report that sixteen Wyoming presenters contributed to the 2013 NNER annual national conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Partnership was able to assist with travel costs for some of the presenters, including a few students. We had follow-ups on a few of the presentations in the Partnership’s December newsletter, http://www.uwyo.edu/wsup/_files/docs/newsletters/partnership/december%202013/december- newsletter-2013-final.pdf

Co-sponsoring the 17th Annual Shepard Symposium for Social Justice/League of Democratic Schools Teacher Tea In conjunction with the 17th Annual Shepard Symposium for Social Justice, April 4-6, the Partnership helped sponsor the annual teacher tea.

Involvement in the Wyoming P-16 Education Council and Other Wyoming Education Organizations Audrey Kleinsasser continues to be a supportive part of the Wyoming P-16 Council. The council is currently discussing the possibility of disbanding or reimagining their current set-up. Kleinsasser continues to offer the Partnership’s assistance in ways to help this organization find a successful format for operation and a focus in the current charged political atmosphere of Wyoming.

Kleinsasser also remains involved with other education organizations in Wyoming, such as the Wyoming Foreign Language Teachers’ Association, the Wyoming Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships, and the Advisory Board for Wyoming’s National Board Certification of Teachers, and consulting with state legislative and educational accountability advisory committees looking at teacher and administrator accountability systems in the state. Kleinsasser seeks to foster relationships to encourage these educational organizations to work with the Partnership in keeping democracy a vital part of education. We also encourage Wyoming education organizations to help the Partnership see where we could be useful in stewardship of the profession within the state.

Office Associate position moved to full-time The Partnership was able to financially support the office associate position as a full-time position beginning in October of 2013.

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Submitted by the Wyoming School-University Partnership’s executive committee with formal acceptance from the governing board at its regular meeting, January 29, 2014.

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