Welcome to the Student Support Team Association for Georgia Educators
President’s Message
A Merry May and Joyful June to my fellow Georgians! I hope the end of the year means light at the end of the tunnel. It is easy to become discouraged when threats of budget and personnel cuts, lost positions, and furlough days become reality. Tough circumstances make it more important than ever to make every instructional move count, and SSTAGE continues to be dedicated to that purpose. At our SSTAGE June Retreat the board of directors will be looking past the nuts and bolts of multi-tier support, and concentrate on defining the factors that separate efficient and effective systems and schools from the rest. We are developing a growth-based consultation framework around those factors that will guide us in supporting schools and districts that are seeking meaningful change. This is exciting work and your school and/or district can be a part of it
It has already been a busy year for SSTAGE. Among the highlights:
• A sold-out SSTAGE Fall Conference in Dublin in September
• A successful pilot RTI Audit of a school district’s RTI process in October
• TheSSTAGE Best Practices Conference in January in Athens, also sold-out
• An already sold-out May 30 workshop in Savannah, sponsored by SSTAGE, and conducted by McGraw-Hill
• Development of the Georgia RTI Rubric (collaboration of SSTAGE and GaDOE), currently in the last stages of review
If you’ll look at the top of this page, you’ll see that the 2013 SSTAGE Fall Conference is open for registration. You’ll also notice that we have chosen a different format this year that will feature three nationally recognized RTI experts, Amanda VanDerHeyden, Chris Tillman and Matthew Burns, who will present the keynote address and breakout sessions based on their book, RTI Applications (Volume I): Academic and Behavioral Interventions. Attendees will receive a copy of that book. This promises to be a terrific learning experience and we do encourage you to come with a team and register early so you aren’t shut out.
Is your school or district ready to present at the next Promising Practices Conference in January 2014? Check the website this summer for the application.
In closing, I will tell you that, despite the issues I noted above, there can be a bright futurefor Georgia educators. It is a future where education is based on solid, data-driven instructional decision-making at the system, school, grade, class, group and individual levels. It is a future where the school culture is one of continuous problem-solving and collaboration – the type of culture that SSTAGE would like to help you build. It is a future of positive outcomes for students. Change is never easy, but our children are worth it. Please contact us if you would like us to help you get started with your new future.
Warmest regards,
Patrick Kennedy
SSTAGE President
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We appreciate and invite your active membership in our SSTAGE organization. |
