• Are we asking too much of school principals? Dr. Gerald Timozi, the Executive Director of the National Association of Secondary School Principals, shares his views.
• Trend Watch:  Extreme Rote Teaching Growing in Popularity. Joan Almon, Chair of the US Alliance for Childhood, discusses this alarming practice occurring in Kindergarten and preschool classrooms across the nation.
• High Test Scores, Low Learning:  Why good grades are not enough. Essayist and Social Critic Peter Sacks encourages schools to use authentic assessments and move away from high stakes testing.
• 3 Keys to Becoming an Instructional Leader.  This audio file provides tips for principals on how they can become instructional leaders.

Manager-Administrator to Instructional Leader: Shift in the Role of the School Principal.  This brief identifies the four essential skills needed to become an instructional leader:  providing feedback, sharing instructional resources, being effective communicators, and striving to be visibly present.
(http://peoplelearn.homestead.com/PrincipaInstructLeader.htm)

Principals Lead the Way for PK-3.  This document highlights the pivotal role of the principal in a ready school. 
www.fcd-us.org/usr_doc/PrincipalsLeadTheWayForPK3.pdf 

Principals Guide to Early Childhood. 
(http://dept.houstonisd.org/curriculum/earlychild/ECH%20Handbook.pdf)
This resource guide provides information to principals in a Question and Answer format.  Sample questions include:  What does developmentally appropriate mean?  Why is the pre-kindergarten classroom so noisy?  What organizations support early childhood?  Also in this guidebook is a pre-k classroom observation checklist, recommended books for professional development, and a stages of writing development information sheet. 

For North Carolina, specific guidelines on assessment or curriculum can be found in the following documents:

Foundations: NC Early Learning Standards www.osr.nc.gov/ProfDevandResources/foundationsEarly_learning.asp  The North Carolina Early Learning Standards provide a common set of age-appropriate developmental standards for children three, four, and five years old. The NC early learning standards align to kindergarten standard course of study.

• Grades K-2 An Introduction to Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI)-Promoting Problem Solving within the Classroom: Presenter: Jennifer Taylor
  Learn about the CGI philosophy and how to implement word problems into the classroom so that all students' needs are met. While using the CGI framework, participants will explore the context of story problems and practice writing problems that can be used to help all students become problem solvers.

• Grades K-2 Building Mathematical Thinkers: Presenter: Amanda Northrup
  This high energy session will address the mathematical content and processes that are outlined in the upcoming 2009 Standard Course of Study (SCOS) for K-2 students. Participants will be engaged in hands-on activities which will increase the mathematical thinking and understanding of their students. Ideas for differentiation and assessments will also be shared. Participants will receive their own copy of the Building Mathematics Thinkers materials that are included in the Partners professional development for 2009.
• Grades 1-2 Problem Solving with National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) Navigations: Presenter: Helen Byrd
  This hands-on session will emphasize mathematical content and processes that are outlined in the upcoming 2009 Standard Course of Study (SCOS) through the problem solving activities of NCTM's Navigations series. Participants will be engaged in activities that support differentiation and critical thinking. A look at student work will help participants plan critical questions for using the materials in their own classrooms. Each participant will receive a copy of one of the NCTM Navigations books.
• Grades K-2 Science...It's Elementary: Presenter: Betty Bigney
  Participants will experience engaging, inexpensive science activities that integrate language arts and math and are aligned with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. These hands-on, easy activities include the 5 E lesson plan, science process skills, insects, rocks and minerals, sound, weather, plants, and animals.