PINE BUSH – While the schools of the Pine Bush campus were quiet, but for the sounds of summer school and the enrichment academies, the District's Administrators were taking the opportunity to get some enrichment themselves. They joined 300 other administrators at the SUNY New Paltz campus for the Mid-Hudson Principals' Center Summer Leadership Institute, attending lectures, workshops and communing with each other over coffee.

Phil Steinberg, Superintendent of Pine Bush Schools, noted that "One of the most important things we can do as educators is to continue our learning. We should all be lifelong learners, and it was great for me to be there with my principals."

Joan Carbone, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction, said of the experience, "It was great. A very comprehensive two days of professional development and discussion."

Carbone picked out the visit of New York State Commissioner of Education David Steiner and the presentation by Kim Marshall about Teacher Evaluations as standing out in her memories.

Marshall's talk was called "Rethinking Supervision" and it also struck a chord with Lisa Burnside, Principal of E. J. Russell Elementary school.

"I thought it was particularly interesting what he had to say about working with teachers to plan curriculum units rather than focusing on individual lessons. He was also a strong proponent of frequent, informal classroom visits. That gives you a picture of what's going on in the class, and you can provide teachers with meaningful feedback."

Asked how teachers might react to being visited like that, Burnside said, "I really feel that it's always in the approach. It shouldn't be any concern, because principals need to be visible, and so everyone, teachers and students alike, should be expecting visits like this."

David Steiner's talk also impressed Burnside. "I understand what he's saying. What we in the schools see as proficient when kids leave and go to college is actually not proficient. They are struggling at the college freshman level. We really need to look at our cutoff scores, and the way we prepare kids for college."

Another administrator who enjoyed Mr. Marshall's talk was Phil Steinberg. "Kim Marshall is someone I know from my former life as a Superintendent in the city. He's really a tremendous resource for all administrators, able to pass along information in a very clear way."

Rosemary Manino, Director of Secondary Special Programs, picked out the talk by Joseph Murphy, titled "Closing Achievement Gaps: Research Based Lessons for Educators."

"One thing he said that really stuck was 'Early interventions trump later interventions.' And the other thing was 'the place to solve ninth grade problems is in pre-school,'" she said.

"The thing with Murphy," said Mannino, "is his recognition that it's not just the school's problem; he recognizes that it's a societal problem. And that we need to be sure that kids are successful in the early grades."

Steve Fisch, Principal of Pine Bush Elementary, also picked out Mr. Murphy's presentation for comment. "It's got to be a combination of schools and social policy, and unfortunately, the programs that often go first, when budgets are cut, are the things not connected with curriculum, like the pre-K programs."

Fisch also remarked on the way that the conference brought administrators together from different districts.

"It's not something we get a lot of, because during the year we're in our own buildings. So it was great to share ideas and listen to colleagues from other districts."

Fisch added, "One message we were getting was the need for more 'formative testing' — that means monitoring the children's progress as you're going along, and not relying too much on formal tests. So that you see who gets it and who needs some more work, and who didn't get it at all."

Phil Steinberg also addressed Commissioner Steiner's discussion of using "world class assessment" and creating a curriculum aligned to national core standards.

"There's going to be a paradigm shift over this, because assessment of students will be less predictable, and the onus will be on teachers to teach the whole curriculum, so they're really raising the bar. The challenge for us, the administrators, will be preparing our teachers for more challenging assessments. I think we'll see declines in test scores all across the state, at first, as we adjust."