January 2013 – West Wind Education Policy

Month: January 2013

What We Are Doing for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service

Posted on January 17, 2013May 22, 2020 by Valerie Nyberg

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

In 1983 legislation was signed declaring the third Monday in January Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In 1994 Congress designated MLK Day as a national day of service and charged the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency, with leading the effort. Founded in 1993, the Corporation for National and Community Service’s purpose is to “connect Americans of all ages and backgrounds with opportunities to give back to their communities and their nation.” This agency manages the SeniorCorp (2009), and AmeriCorp (1993) programs. Continue reading “What We Are Doing for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service”

Design-Stage Considerations for Using Collaboration Sites to Support Communities of Practice

Posted on January 17, 2013May 22, 2020 by West Wind

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Written by Circe Stumbo and Mandi Bozarth

The design of the online components of a community of practice determines its potential and limitations even before any member has joined. Decisions must be made very early in the design stage that will impact the community’s usefulness, longevity, implementation, and success. This document outlines those decisions. We pose many questions you will want to ask yourself, but we do not offer answers to those questions, as each community of practice will have different answers. We have advice and experience to offer as you begin answering those questions and would be pleased to hear from you if you are interested in further conversation.

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Designing and Growing an Online Community of Practice: A Case Study of the Iowa Forum on Competency-based Education

Posted on January 15, 2013May 22, 2020 by West Wind

Reading Time: < 1 minute

In December 2011 the Iowa Department of Education asked West Wind Education Policy Inc. to develop an accessible format to share information about competency-based education with stakeholders across the state in real-time. The format was meant to promote community engagement begun at a conference of Iowa educators, higher education faculty, Iowa Workforce Development staff, national experts, policy makers, and state education agency staff. West Wind decided that the charge could best be met with the development of an online community of practice or collaboration site. The following is a case study of the deliberations that led West Wind to the design, creation, and implementation of the Iowa Forum on Competency-based Education.

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Diversity in the 113th Congress

Posted on January 9, 2013May 22, 2020 by Deb Hansen

Reading Time: 3 minutes

The recently sworn-in 113th Congress has the most diverse membership in the history of our country’s government. As 82 new House members and 14 new senators assume their Congressional responsibilities, we will notice new firsts in the gender, racial, and ethnic composition of Congress. For the first time, the majority of House Democrats are made up of women, blacks, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities – almost 60 percent of the Democratic caucus. Continue reading “Diversity in the 113th Congress”