News

From January 4th to 7th Kim Schildkamp, Louisa Karbautzki, Malgorzata Marciniak and David Ronka participated in the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI http://www.icsei.net/icsei2012/) in Malmö, Sweden, where they led a symposium on the Using Data for Improving School and Student Performance project. The DATAUSE project team authored 3 papers for the conference, contributing to the development of the international research base on data use:

• The Use of Data Across Countries: Development of a Data Use Framework, author: Kim Schildkamp
• Data Use in Schools: A Cross Country Survey Study, authors: Andreas Breiter and Louisa Karbautzki
• Development of the Data Use Professional Development Course, authors: Małgorzata Marciniak and David Ronka.

The conference offered multiple networking opportunities with international education leaders, researchers and practitioners allowing for promotion and dissemination of the DATAUSE project.

On December 9, 2011 Public Consulting Group (PCG) and Librus, Poland-based information technology (IT) firm signed a reseller agreement for EdPlan Special Needs Education Management System. This agreement allows Librus to distribute EdPlan to schools and local governments in Poland.

Librus is one of the Poland's premier IT companies focused on the education market. With over 10 years of experience and more than 10 000 individual clients in its database, Librus offers quality products and services to schools ranging from Student Information Systems (SIS) to e-learning platforms and electronic tools for school administrators. Through the intensive use of cutting edge cloud computing technologies, Librus brings about not only modernization, but also fundamental transformation on how schools in Poland work and operate.

Librus, with its dynamic management team and wide network of sales agents all over Poland, is well positioned to provide PCG with all the support necessary to bring EdPlan – the first Special Education Management System to the Polish market. http://www.librus.pl/

All five DATAUSE project partners (Public Consulting Group (PCG), Institute for Information Management (ifib), Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), University of Twente (UT) and Modern Didactics Center (MDC)) met on  the 14th and 15th of December in Bremen, Germany. During various working sessions that were organized, they have discussed the topics concerning Data Use course pilot that is being implemented in 10 schools in Europe as well as project dissemination and website promotion strategies (www.datauseproject.eu). 

Currently 10 Professional Learning Communities in all partner countries are taking the Data Use course that – by guiding them through a structured data-driven improvement process – helps them to address the problems they identified in their schools.

All partners are working on the DATAUSE project dissemination, either through conferences, e- mailings, newsletters or spread the information about the project through informal communication channels. The project website is constantly updated in order to reflect the efforts that the partners are making in implementing the project.

The meeting enabled reflection on all of the current actions as well as helped to plan the next steps and process improvements. The next partners meeting will be held in Vilnius, Lithuania in August 2012.

We will be happy to answer any questions you might have regarding

• the organization of psychological and pedagogical support according to the new regulations,
• technology solutions for organizing Teams of teachers and specialists
• effective and time-saving way of special education management at your school
• working with data to solve different situations in schools, and
• successful preparations for an external evaluation at your school.

We are going to participate in the following events

• November 25, 2011 – 2nd National Conference for School Directors in Warsaw
  
• December 2, 2011 – 7th National Congress for Preschools’ Directors and Teachers in Warsaw
  
• December 2-3, 2011 – Annual Meeting of Directors of Youth Educational and Socioterapeutical Centers in Murzasichle.

We will be available to talk and would be happy to help you fulfill your educational mission.

 

Małgorzata Marciniak (PCG) together with prof. Joanna Michalak (University of Lodz) delivered a presentation on Polish Pedagogical Supervision during the European Conference for Educational Researchers (ECER) in Berlin, September 13-16th 2011. They presented an overview of the Polish system of education, the new pedagogical supervision solutions as well as got involved in a number of discussions and networking opportunities resulting in further development of the knowledge base and understanding of the international educational solutions and relevant market opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once again, PCG Poland is the principle sponsor of the 6th International Congress of Education Management to be held on 21-23 September 2011 in Krakow. It is Poland's largest annual education management meeting. Approximately 1000 people participate in the Congress including school principals, members of the local governments, and education officials.
This year the special guests will include:  Minister of Education, representatives of the Jagiellonian University, representative of the Ministry of Higher Education, foreign guests presenting on  hot education topics in Europe and worldwide, including the former governor of Maine – John Baldacci, a friend of PCG Polska.

PCG will deliver four presentations:  

1. The American experience in school restructuring – a case study of the state of Maine, USA - John Baldacci  
2. Using data to improve school and student performance – EU DATAUSE project – Małgorzata Marciniak, Josh Romaneo  
3. Restructuring the network of schools in Poland – challenges and proposed solutions – Łukasz Nowak, Christen Hunter
4. EdPlan – Internet platform for creating individual student records (IPET, Card, PDW) – Marta Chrzanowska, Christen Hunter  

In cooperation with its partners from the Netherlands, Lithuania, Germany and UK, PCG organized a Data Coach Workshop. The training, held 26-28 August 2011 in London, was a part of the EU project "DATAUSE – Using data to improve school and student performance" (www.datauseproject.eu). Participants included 26 school leaders from pilot schools in each partner country. Training sessions focused on how to effectively use data to improve the quality of education and provided practical tools and methodologies. The Data Coach training began the project implementation phase of the DATAUSE project, which will continue as each pilot school deploys the Data Use course for their teachers (in Poland those are: Gimnazjum nr 26 im Mikołaja Reja in Łódź and Publiczne Gimnazjum in Wiśniowa Góra). During the course pilot, school leaders that have already been trained in London, will use the methodologies and tools to work with data in order to solve the outstanding problems in their schools.

9 February: Are the schools in your area prepared for the September 1 deadline set by the new regulations for supporting students with special needs?

Mainstream schools are required to expand their support of students with special education needs beginning September 1, 2011 in accordance with new regulations signed by the Ministry of Education. March 31, 2011 is the first deadline by when all gymnasiums must have Support Teams in place and to identify, assess, and recommend services for students with special learning needs. It is estimated that 20% of students at your mainstream schools will qualify for special education support and require a formal individual plan.

What’s in the new legislation?

• Schools of all types and levels are obliged to develop, monitor and regularly evaluate Individualized Education Programs for all students possessing the decision about special educational needs (approximately 2-3% of the students’ population)

• Schools of all types and levels are obliged to develop, monitor and regularly evaluate Support Plans and Individual Needs Cards for all students diagnosed as talented, with specific learning difficulties, communication disorders, chronic diseases, or experiencing traumas or facing problem situations, as well as those with educational failures, culturally unadjusted, disadvantaged etc. (approximately 20-25% of the students’ population)

• Schools of all types and levels are obliged to form a Team of Teachers and Specialists for EACH student with special educational needs. The Team will be charged with developing, monitoring and evaluating individual plans for students as well as with identifying the students with special needs

• Schools of all types and levels are entitled to introduce changes to their Policy documents to reflect the organizational and administrative decisions made by the Ministry (new types of therapeutic classes, changed duration of classes, etc.)

Public Consulting Group (PCG) can help your schools prepare to comply with the new legislation.

To help school s meet the requirements of the new Special Education legislation, PCG offers consulting and technology services:

• Analysis and training on new legislation for special needs students
• Development of procedures, identification criteria, and sample documents to manage the education of students with special educational needs
• Action Planning work shop to establish Support Teams
• A web-based system to develop Individualized Education Programs and Support Plans and manage special educational processes and information.

To learn more about how PCG can help your schools to comply with new Special Education regulations or for a demonstration of our solutions, contact Lukasz Nowak directly at lnowak@pcgeu.com or +48 42 2908 221.

In addition, PCG can provide support services to help schools prepare to meet the new requirements of School Supervision:

• Preparation for external evaluation
• Planning of internal evaluation inside the institution
• Evaluation of school activity and curriculum
• Analysis of the evaluation data and improvement program planning
• Training in effective result analysis of external examinations
• Teambuilding and organization of group work at schools
• Workshops to prepare teachers for non-didactic positions
• Training and coaching for headmasters to prepare them  for the external and internal evaluation

 

17 November: On November 17th, 2010 the Minister of National Education signed six out of eight regulations from the package on teaching students with special educational needs and organization and psychological-pedagogic help. 

Public Consulting Group’s consultants have done a throughout analysis of the new regulations and identified the most crucial changes that educational and psychological-therapeutic institutions have to face in comparison with the hitherto legal status.  These include the following:

• Wider range of recipients of the psychological-pedagogical support in preschool, school and other institutions. All students who require additional help because of identified individual developmental and educational needs are now eligible for support. 
• Requirement to keep new or more comprehensive documentation, including Individual Education Plans for students with disabilities or Support Plans and Special Services and Needs Cards for special education students, as one of the target groups.
• Requirement to create a Team of teachers, counselors, and specialists that plans and coordinates the ways of psychological and educational support for students in preschools, schools and other institutions, as well as evaluates the effectiveness of these activities.

Education of students with disabilities, behavioral issues or in danger of being socially excluded will be organized according to the new regulations starting 

• September 1st, 2011 – in case of preschools, middle schools and special institutions
• September 1st, 2012 – in case of elementary and high schools.

These dates apply to the start of psychological and pedagogical help.

With our long experience in the field of education, PCG is a perfect resource of knowledge and expertise to help you understand the new legislation, analyze current solutions and processes, as well as prepare your Institution to perform the new obligations resulting from the legal changes.

We offer new technological solutions supporting managing data and Individual Education Plans for students with special needs. Thanks to our software you will be able to easily manage the gathered data, prepare required documentation, report on time, and coordinate activities of the Teachers and Specialists team. 

We are open to discuss your specific needs and priorities within the above-mentioned areas. You are welcome to contact us at any time.

You can find more information on this topic on the Ministry’s web site.

22-24 September: PCG sponsored the V Congress of Management in Education and served as a subject-matter expert. Organized by the National Association of Management Staff in Education, this event took place in Warsaw, Poland. The Congress is the largest education event in Poland, attracting more than 1,000 educators from Poland and across the European Union each year. During the Congress, PCG representatives including President and CEO William Mosakowski, International Program Manager Colleen Burns, Manager David Ronka, Senior Advisor Dr. Julie Meltzer, Senior Consultant Christen Hunter, Senior Associate Malgorzata Marciniak and Consultant Łukasz Nowak delivered lectures on special education management, data analysis, and teacher training.

Click here to review articles and presentations delivered by PCG representatives at the Congress of Management in Education.

 

14-15 June: Public Consulting Group representatives took part in the I National Scientific Conference in the areas of Education, Leadership and Management entitled: “Educational Leaders”. The conference took place in Łódź. Dr Julie Meltzer run a workshop entitled: "Developing teachers into teacher leaders". She discussed a model of instructional leadership based on work done in the US that describes the areas and actions leaders take that are associated with improved academic outcomes for students. Małgorzata Marciniak run a workshop entitled: “Roles of school leaders in setting up a culture of data driven continuous improvement”. She presented the advantages of incorporating data into educators’ decision-making processes from the central office to the classroom. Reports from the conference as well as workshop materials are available at the conference website: www.liderzywedukacji.pl