Category Archives: Administration

Bridging the Gap Between Preschool and Elementary School

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Written by Shawna Tech

Just because parents choose to send their children to a Lutheran preschool doesn’t mean that they will have them continue at the Lutheran grade school. What can Lutheran elementary schools (LES) do to bridge the gap between them and their preschools?

As ministers of the gospel, Lutheran school teachers want to share the good news about the Savior with as many children as possible. Unfortunately, many LES have seen a decline in enrollment over the years. Possible factors include families having fewer children, charter schools offering a “free” education, and homeschooling. Opening a preschool to feed the LES may seem like a viable solution to declining enrollment, but it seldom works as hoped. Continue reading →

Make Your School More Effective

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Written by Steven Haag

The Case for Professional Learning Communities
The best way to make your school great is to empower teachers by boosting their collective efficacy. Hattie (2017) found this made schools four times more effective than typical schools. Professional learning communities (PLCs) create that kind of teacher empowerment. When teachers work together to further develop their craft, they are building their collective efficacy, and PLCs provide the structure for them to do just that.

A professional learning community is a structure in which supportive professional relationships foster a collaborative culture that continually drives for successful change. PLCs affect positive school outcomes, primarily in the form of improved teacher efficacy (Kruse & Seashore Louis, 2009; Hord, 1997) and increased student performance (DuFour, Eaker, & DuFour, 2005). Continue reading →

Building Bridges Between Preschool and Lutheran Elementary School

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Written by Brad Gurgel

The connections between a congregation’s preschool and K-8 program can sometimes be weak. There are many reasons this can happen. The two programs vary in families served, regulations, and policies. They often have separate histories and leaders. And the families from the two programs don’t have many opportunities to interact.

Because of this, it’s not unusual for the preschool and elementary school at a congregation to drift apart over time. And when the transition between preschool and kindergarten arrives, families see this as an ideal time to return to the local public school or look around at other local schools instead of seeing the Lutheran kindergarten as a natural progression. Continue reading →

The Need for Research and Writing in History Class

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Written by Professor Peter Baganz

Before teaching at MLC, I taught history for 19 years at one of our area Lutheran high schools. Every student in every one of my history classes wrote a major research paper each year in addition to writing shorter papers and doing other projects. Why did I subject myself to all that correcting? Because research writing is such a vital component of “doing” history. Continue reading →

Flexible Tuition: A Solution for Struggling Congregations

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Written by Bill Fuerstenau

The Problem
Many WELS congregations that support elementary schools are struggling. Membership in our churches is shrinking, and with that, financial support as well. When this happens, church leadership must choose where to use their limited financial resources to remain good stewards of their financial blessings from God. For smaller churches, this restricts the programs and services they can provide to their members if they are also to maintain a fully staffed, effective school. Continue reading →

Is Everyone in Your School on the Same Page?

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Written by Dr. John Meyer

Is everyone in your school on the same page when it comes to what effective teaching looks like? I recently spoke with two teachers who were frustrated by their principals’ feedback after a classroom observation.

In one case, the principal had complimented the teacher on his enthusiasm and nicely organized lesson, but suggested the teacher should plan better lesson introductions. The teacher felt like the discussion focused on things that were not very important to student learning. In the other case, the principal left a completed checklist in his teacher mailbox of things observed during the lesson without any written or verbal feedback. Continue reading →

Welcoming Your New Teachers

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Written by Professor Jonathan Schaefer

WELS schools all over the country are receiving new teachers on their faculties. These teachers are well trained and enthusiastic.

During their first year on a faculty, they have several questions, one of which is, “What am I teaching?” That question includes things like curriculum, procedures, and ways the school operates.

Another question involves, “How am I going to teach? How do I bring my own style to get to know and engage my new students?” Continue reading →

Foster Teacher Collaboration with Micro-Credentials

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Written by Dr. John Meyer

What are the teachers at your school talking about? Schools where teachers talk positively about ways to improve teaching and learning are more successful than those that complain about students and parents (Ronfeldt, Owens Farmer, McQueen, & Grissom, 2015; Gruenert, 2005). Principals and teachers can use micro-credentials as a tool to create the kind of positive, professional collaboration that improves student achievement (Crow & Pipkin, 2017).

Micro-Credentials: Formal Recognition for Informal Learning
Earning Micro-Credentials is a way that teachers can receive formal recognition for skills learned informally. After all, teachers are constantly reflecting on and improving their practice. They experiment with new approaches learned through books, articles, inservices, and conferences. These new skills become effective teaching strategies in a teacher’s toolbox. But such competencies don’t show up in credits or clock hours. Micro-credentials give teachers a way to receive formal recognition for their skills from a respected institution, including colleges like the University of Wisconsin, MIT, Penn State, and Martin Luther College. Continue reading →

21st-Century Skill Development

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Written by Matthew Moeller

21st-Century Education
The fundamental issue is not of new versus old education nor of progressive against traditional education but a question of what, if anything whatever, must be worthy of the name Education. John Dewey, 1897 (Nutbrown & Clough, 2014)

Are the educational activities that we design for our students worthy of the name education? Are we preparing our students for success as employees and citizens in the 21st century? Reflecting on these questions and determining what needs to be changed in our classrooms and schools can be uncomfortable, messy, exhausting, and complicated, but it is a tragedy to prepare students for a future that doesn’t exist. Continue reading →

How Much Digital Postage Do You Pay?

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Written by Dr. Jeffrey C. Lemke

Your church and school likely have regular mailings that go out to families and prospects. These mailings carry important announcements, prompt critical action steps, and develop a unified direction for your ministry. Mailings and postage are built into our organizational budgets. Since the days of Martin Luther and the invention of the printing press, the power of mailings as a communication method has become universally understood.  Continue reading →