1.1 Welcome and Participant Introduction

• The National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) offers research-based professional development programs designed to give pre-K to grade 12 school principals and leaders the critical knowledge and skills they need to be instructional leaders and improve student achievement in their schools.
• NCEE’s flagship NISL program currently provides job-embedded training for school leaders at all stages of their careers—new, aspiring, or veteran.
• The NISL program prepares principals to serve as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring community in which all students meet high standards. It ensures that school leaders can strategically and systemically set direction for high quality teaching, support their staffs, and design an efficient organization.
• The NISL program is a year-long cohort-based training that combines face-to-face instruction with self-paced online content and digital tools, incorporating best practices in adult learning and leadership development techniques from a variety of fields—including education, the military, business, law, and medicine.
• The current program aligns to the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards.

• Provide district context for participation in NISL as well as a brief overview of the NISL program.

Welcome to the National Center on Education and the Economy’s (NCEE) signature program, NISL. The NISL program is a year-long cohort-based professional development experience that combines face-to-face instruction with self-paced, online training and tools, incorporating best practices in adult learning and leadership development techniques from a variety of fields—including education, the military, business, law, and medicine. The current program aligns to the Interstate School Leadership Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) standards.

During the program, you will identify, analyze, and address the major challenges that school leaders face. The NISL curriculum focuses on instructional leadership within a standards-based context, helping principals develop strategic and systemic processes for sustained school improvement, empower instructional leadership teams, build and sustain a collaborative learning culture and a shared decision-making structure in their schools, coach teachers about how to use and apply data in order to enrich classroom instruction, increase the effectiveness of student improvement plans, and create an ethical culture of high achievement.

NISL provides a learning experience during which you will actively and directly apply core concepts to your work in schools and in which new insights evolve from the application of those concepts.

Please introduce yourself and address one or two of the statements below.

• As an instructional leader, I am most passionate about….
• As an instructional leader, my greatest challenge is….

First, write your response to the icebreaker statements in your journal. Then share your thoughts with your colleagues, as directed by the facilitator.

The NISL program has these goals:

• Equip district principals and other school leaders with the tools and technical assistance needed to drive their schools to become high-performing schools—with high expectations and high student achievement for all.
• Assist school leaders to engage in strategic and systemic processes for school improvement, including empowerment of school teams and alignment in all dimensions.

• Build and sustain a collaborative learning culture and a shared decision-making structure in the schools.

• Coach principals in how to use data to enrich classroom instruction, increase the effectiveness of student improvement plans, and foster instructional decision-making.

• Draw on best practices for instruction, improve on benchmarked practices, and foster a community of learners.

We offer the following principles and ground rules on the conduct of face-to-face sessions in NCEE programs and institutes. You may feel free to offer additional ground rules.

1. The NISL program offers a safe environment for integrity, authenticity, and sharing, contributing to rich group discussion and individual self-reflection. Please help to create a special learning space by respecting others’ viewpoints and practicing active listening.
2. The face-to-face sessions are packed full of discussions, activities, and multimedia presentations. Please help to stay on track by being on time, making good use of every minute, and adhering to the day’s agenda.
3. NCEE understands the nature of senior school leadership and the need for you to stay connected to your work by use of technology devices (laptops, tablets, and phones). In order for you to achieve certification of successful program completion, your full attention and engagement is necessary. 

Please review the “Please DOs” of Using Technology Devices:

• Please DO turn off the ringers and/or volume of technology devices, such as laptops, tablets, and phones, during the face-to-face sessions.
• Please DO reserve the scheduled breaks and lunch to check email, make phone calls, and conduct business. If you must engage in such activities during the face-to-face sessions for emergency purposes, please DO leave the room to avoid distracting other participants.
• If you would like to take notes on a laptop, tablet, or other device, please DO so in a manner that is not disruptive—and limit use of such devices for note-taking only.
• Please DO use the technologies and software that the district authorizes.