1. EDUCATION VITAL SIGNS: A Report Presented by WebChannel NA Don’t forget to dial-in to hear the audio portion

2. 2 WebChannel NA www.nsba.org/webchannelNA Next Month – Special Evening Webinar From Cyber-bullying to Cell Phones: Navigating through the Legal Questions and Answers Wed, Mar 12, 2008 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM EDTwww.nsba.org/webchannelNA Next Month – Special Evening Webinar From Cyber-bullying to Cell Phones: Navigating through the Legal Questions and Answers Wed, Mar 12, 2008 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM EDT

3. 3 The Webinar Controls

4. Before We Begin Our Audience for Today’s National Affiliate Webinar. 4

5. Kathleen Vail, the managing editor of the American School Board Journal Lawrence Hardy, a senior editor at the School Board Journal, and the primary author of this year’s Education Vital Signs magazine supplement. You can e-mail your questions and comments to kvail@nsba.org 5 Today’s Panel

6. Welcome American School Board Journal presents EDUCATION VITAL SIGNS

7. Education Vital Signs Our 2008 sponsors 7

8. Education Vital Signs A disconnect exists between what people say is important and what actually influences their votes, as can be seen by this year’s edition of Education Vital Signs. It’s easy to lose sight of facts and figures like these or overlook them in a thicket of dense statistical reports.

9. Education Vital Signs Teacher Quality

10. Education Vital Signs Ron Haskins and Susanna Loeb, authors of a Future of Children policy brief, charge that teacher certification is a “a blunt instrument that both lets poor and mediocre teachers through its screens and blocks some potentially strong teachers.” Do you agree or disagree with this assessment?

11. Education Vital Signs Public Opinion

12. Education Vital Signs

13. No Child Left Behind

14. Education Vital Signs

15. “While No Child Left Behind was receiving criticism from many districts for being too tough, several think tanks and media outlets were claiming the states were watering down testing standards to minimize the number of failing schools.” - Lawrence Hardy

16. Education Vital Signs Question: Are the states watering down standards to make it appear schools are doing better than they are?

17. Education Vital Signs Legal

18. Education Vital Signs “School districts can still pursue diversity- related goals through various means – including appropriately designated race- conscious policies aligned with race- conscious education goals.”  - Not Black and White A joint publication by National School Boards Association and the College Board

19. Education Vital Signs Finance

20. Education Vital Signs The 46 reporting states say revenue will grow by just 2.5 percent in fiscal 2008. Aggregate spending is expected to grow by 5.4 percent  - State Budget and Tax Actions 2007 (preliminary report)  By the National Conference of State Legislatures

21. Education Vital Signs Question: Will your state budgets be tighter in 2008 than last year?

22. Education Vital Signs Student Achievement

23. Education Vital Signs

24. Early Childhood

25. Education Vital Signs

26. Question: Do you have a pre-k program at your school, and is it universal or just for at-risk preschoolers?

27. Education Vital Signs Student Health

28. Education Vital Signs

29. The Next Presidential Administration

30. Education Vital Signs

31. Please join us for the Education Vital Signs session on Monday, March 31, at the National School Boards Association annual conference in Orlando, Florida. We’ll be discussing how the upcoming presidential election will affect national education policy for at least the next four years.

32. Thank you for participating in this American School Board Journal “Webinar” with Kathleen Vail, managing editor; and Lawrence Hardy, senior editor. You can e-mail your questions and comments to kvail@nsba.org

33. To view this and previous National Affiliate Webinars go to: www.nsba.org/webchannelna For more information contact: Gene Broderson – gbroderson@nsba.org Crissy O’Donnell – Codonnell@nsba.org WebChannel NA