Bruce Oliver, an education consultant with the Just ASK professional development organization, has just completed six sessions of intense educational workshops with local school administrators.
Oliver, shown in the accompanying photo during the final session, came to Vance County for two days of workshops on six different occasions beginning on April 20 and ending on December 9. About half of the district’s school administrators each time attended one of the all-day sessions and the remaining administrators would attend the other day.
Oliver used his considerable knowledge and experience in education as a teacher, assistant principal and principal, prior to his retirement in Virginia to lead each of the sessions. He shared proven strategies with administrators on a variety of educational topics to assist them in being more effective as the instructional leaders in their schools.
Administrators also had access to a wide variety of educational publications and resource materials throughout all of the workshops. Resources were shared in both written form and through online publications.
One of many essential questions Oliver’s presentations focused on was, “What do schools and classrooms look like when they are organized around a commitment to the achievement of high standards by all students?”
Throughout the workshops, Oliver stressed strategies including: standards-based education; learning centered classrooms; project based learning; collegial collaboration; literacy leadership; and growth producing feedback for teachers.