THE HENTON HEADLINES
JULY 16, 2020
Here’s the scoop for the week…
Member Survey Indicates Preference for a Virtual Back to School Conference:
Thanks to all of you who provided your feedback about the format for the August MDE Back to School Conference. We had a strong response with a significant percentage of our members offering their points of view. I met with our MASA officers and reviewed the survey results and they confirmed that there is a clear preference for a virtual conference, and the reasons most stated for that preference were concerns for health and safety. This, coupled with survey data indicating a high percentage of respondents would attend a virtual event if one were offered, led us to make the recommendation to Commissioner Ricker for a virtual event.
I had the opportunity to discuss this with the Commissioner on Monday, and she will be meeting with Deputy Commissioner Mueller and MDE staff to frame this event as a virtual one. MASA has produced the Back to School Conference on behalf of MDE for many years, but this is still an MDE event, so they will be, as usual, configuring the content and presenters and MASA will handle the production pieces of the event.
So watch your email for more information on the virtual Back to School Conference and plan to attend and learn more about how Minnesota school will be Back to Better this school year!
Listening to, and valuing all voices in a comfortable space:
In order to sustain and improve upon the quality foundation of MASA, I want to provide you an opportunity to share your thoughts on the organization in a focus group setting. Guiding questions will revolve around what MASA is doing well, where there is room for growth, professional development needs, equity and inclusion, and other thoughts you have about the organization moving forward.
The information learned will assist in developing the next strategic, or continuous improvement plan, while also providing the Executive Board and me with member sentiment as we act on behalf of the members of MASA. It will be understood that the voices heard are individual voices and not representative of an entire group.
The focus groups to be convened follow and have been developed in order to create space where members will hopefully feel comfortable sharing their views. I ask that when invitations are issued, members self-select a group that is the best fit for them. More than one meeting of identified focus groups may take place given the membership size of the group and the responses received.
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FOCUS GROUPS
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TIMELINE
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Regional Presidents
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To be scheduled
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Retired Superintendents
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To be scheduled
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Directors of Special Education
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To be scheduled
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MASA Members of Color
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To be scheduled
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Superintendents
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To be scheduled
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Open invitation to all MASA Members
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To be scheduled
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Curriculum and Technology Leaders
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To be scheduled
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Business Partners
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To be scheduled
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Retired & Active Female Superintendents
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To be scheduled
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Higher Education Administrators and Professors
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To be scheduled
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Central Office Administrators
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To be scheduled
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Leadership matters:
You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things. –Mother Teresa
Together,
Deb