January means it’s a new year on our calendars.

However, for schools and many politicians it’s mid-term time.

Teachers use mid-terms to evaluate students mastery of content. As a result, adjustments will be made, lesson plans may change, or students may move up or down levels.

It’s mid-term time for many politicians, also. State of the Union, State of the State, or State of the Municipality addresses will echo throughout the nation in the coming weeks.

It’s a time of assessment. Or, should I say reassessment.

Maybe it’s time for a mid-term of sorts for school administrators.

In my work with schools across the country, I always suggest that administrators consider writing a “State of the School” at mid-year. Tout the various successes during the first half of the year, share your vision for the second semester, and place it within the context of your long range vision. Distribute it to current parents, prospective families, Board members, benefactors, alumni, and community. Put it on the school’s website and link to it via Twitter or Facebook.

Likewise, it’s a good time of year for administrators to conduct a “Parent Satisfaction Survey.” SurveyMonkey, Zoomerang, or ConstantContact are ideal should you wish to use an online survey. You could even use the Super Bowl as a theme for the project. Something like, “I watch as the teams go in at halftime, make revisions, and come out with a renewed sense of purpose for the second half. Well, we’re going to so the same thing here at XYZ School.”

Find out how you’re doing. Prioritize and address the issues that are on their minds. And, just as important, share positive feedback with your school’s publics.

Remember the enthusiasm everyone had to open the current academic year. The “State of the School” message and the “Satisfaction Survey” are terrific tools to re-energize families, teachers, Board members, benefactors, the community, and, yes, even students.

It’s based on a basic tenet of marketing – that good marketing is mutually beneficial for all parties involved. If that’s so, then let’s market to our constituencies in a way that says, “I’m listening, I’m revising, and together we’ll ensure that we stay on course in achieving our vision for your sons and daughters.”

A 21st CENTURY EDUCATION CONUNDRUM

I’m passionate about moving education into the 21^st century; about adequately preparing students for the future they will encounter; about encouraging schools to adopt innovative tools that will engage students in the teaching-learning process; about re-energizing teachers by giving them the OK to break out of our Industrial Revolution mode of teaching.

I do not believe that our country or our educational systems have fully come to grips with the rapidly increasing worldwide competition, especially from China and India, that current students will face when they enter the job market.  Brad Whitehead, President of Fund for Our Economic Future, points out the “Gross mismatch: 80% of the new jobs require post secondary education but only 25% of our population has a college degree.”  How are we preparing students for the next level?  Will they be able to compete against the increasing number of students from foreign nations with college degrees?

The wildly popular YouTube video “Did You Know 3.0” is a must see.

There certainly are a plethora of educators who are moving their institutions forward.

Antonio Viva challenged his students at Worcester Academy (Worcester, MA) to “write for the world.”  He began by having them integrate writing, videos, photos, blogs, and tweets on a blog page.  It quickly gained a national and international following and is now called WAMash and includes additional members of the Worcester Academy community.  What happens to students’ writing when they know that it will be read by hundreds or even thousands from around the world?

Eric Sheninger, principal at New Milford High School in New Jersey, actively tweets about education in the 21^st century.  Check out his list of bookmarks on Delicious for New Milford (or other schools) teachers use.  Watch WCBS-TV’s story on New Milford’s students using Twitter in school.

Can you imagine a classroom full of eager students “skyping” questions to the author of a recently read book, a researcher at the state university, or their pen-pals from China?  Think about it.  To whom would you rather ask questions?  The author or your teacher?  The researcher or your teacher?  The native speaker or your teacher?  For examples, read 50 Awesome Ways to Use Skype in the Classroom.

I invite you to share your examples of innovative educational initiatives.

And, more important:  How do we move academia forward?  What’s needed?  Who needs to get involved?

What are your thoughts?