Fall/Winter 2000 Issue

The Way I See It Dear NCA COS Colleagues, The ballots have been tallied from the summer vote. The Commission on Schools members voted 95% in favor or individual incorporation. The Commission on Institutions of Higher Education vote was 98% affirmative. Consequently, we are beginning the process for individual incorporation of the two commissions. From the perspective of a member school, I don't think you will notice significant differences. The North Central Association will remain incorporated as it has been.

If you have not seen the free school improvement kit mailed to every member school the end of October, you should ask your principal to see it. The kit includes a CD with three pieces of software, three handbooks, and schedules for software and school improvement training. I commend the executive board for its commitment to providing your school improvement you school improvement tools that will facilitate the school improvement process and enhance your efforts to impact student performance. The kit includes our newest software release, Team Chair, which is an excellent tool for both peer review team chairs and the steering committee chairs.

One of the pieces of software included in the school improvement kit is profiling software. If your school purchased profiling software in 1999-2000, you are eligible to receive one free registration at an Improving Student Performance (ISP II workshop or an intensive topic seminar. here are two ways to access the rebate. You can send in a registration form with the words"Registration Waived, Purchased Profiling Software" on the form, or you can call 800-525-9517, extension 5-5268, to determine if you qualify for the rebate. The rebate offer ends on June 1, 2001.

This issue of the Journal of School Improvement focuses on developing problem solving skills in students. We had many high quality manuscripts submitted, and I would like to thank the individuals who submitted their work. Next spring's journal will focus on reading. Please consider submitting an article about your success storeis in the area of increased reading performance. We also accept reader contributions for reviews of books,, videos, and computer software.

I wish you all the best in your school improvement efforts. Thanks for all you do on behalf of kids each and every day.

Sincerely,

Kenneth F. Gose, Executive Director
NCA Commission on Schools