Marking a major milestone in ASCD's history, a new process for taking positions on education issues will be officially launched at this month's Annual Conference.
As urged by ASCD's Governance and Member Participation Panel, ASCD's 50-year-old Resolutions process concluded at the 1993 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. For the first time, ASCD's Board of Directors this month will officially take positions as part of a new "Issues" process. The new process is, in part, a response to changing conditions in the education policy arena, according to Diane Berreth, ASCD's deputy executive director.
"ASCD's members have shown an increasing concern about the direction of education policy . . . and they want ASCD to take a more active stance on these issues," Berreth says. "The climate for education policy has changed dramatically" in the past decade, and "educators have been displaced in favor of other policy actors," such as business and legislative leaders.
The new process is intended to strengthen ASCD's positions on education issues and to improve ASCD's ability to follow up once positions are taken, Berreth says. For example, ASCD's Board of Directors will take positions on only a few issues each year, "to increase our potential impact" on those carefully selected issues, she says. In addition, an action plan will be developed for each position, and resources will be directed at each position. Possible strategies for follow-up include position papers, collaboration and dialogue with other groups and with legislators and other policymakers, and the development of new products and services. In addition, ASCD's affiliates will be encouraged to support ASCD positions and to develop their own strategies.
The new Issues process differs from the Resolutions process in several other ways. For example, last fall ASCD conducted a survey of the membership to identify the top issues of concern; more than 8,500 members responded. A new Transition Issues Committee used the data in preparing a report identifying six major education issues and possible positions that ASCD might take. The Board of Directors will rate each proposed position on two criteria: (1) its importance to ASCD's goals, values, and mission, and (2) the Association's potential for effective action.
At the Annual Conference in Chicago, two "Town Meetings" (see box, below) will be held to discuss proposed issues and ASCD positions. By the conclusion of the conference, ASCD's Board of Directors will have chosen the positions that ASCD will take.
The topics of the six issues and proposed positions that will be discussed at the Annual Conference include: inclusion of students with disabilities; funding for mandated education programs; teacher certification and continued professional development; flexible curriculum addressing the needs of a diverse society; equitable funding for public education; and the school's role in character development.