Emerging Trends in
Delivering and Assessing Learning
in the 21st Century

For Heads of School, Division Heads, Academic Deans, Technology Directors, and Academic Technology Coordinators

Trends in Digital Teaching and Learning
9:00 AM -10:30 AM ~ Kevin J. Ruth, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Tower Hill School
This session provides an overview of the trends in digital teaching and learning in three parts: 1) understanding the various strands of technological advances that have gotten us to the present point, 2) an examination of three proliferations in digital learning that are beginning to coalesce, and 3) a trend-informed glimpse of what is in store for the remainder of this second decade of the 21st century. Participants should expect some group work and the use of devices for that work is encouraged.

Measuring What We Value: 21st Century Assessments in Independent Schools
10:45 AM - 12:15 PM ~ Douglas J. Lyons, Executive Director, CAIS and
Andrew Niblock, Lower School Director, Hamden Hall Country Day School
The strongest case for the independence of independent schools has been our history of success. Success in the 21st century, however, will be defined differently and will be less easily verified by the traditional self-reflective practices of our schools. The NAIS Commission on Accreditation has recently added two criteria to the standards of independent school accreditation. These criteria will require each member school to provide evidence of a thoughtful process, respectful of its mission, for the collection and pro-active use of data about student learning. The recent experience of mandated standardized testing in American public schools is a sobering lesson on the pitfalls of “one size fits all” student outcome measures. If our schools hope to lead the conversation about the skills the new century will require and reward in our graduates, we will need to become more sophisticated in measuring what we value. This workshop will present examples of emerging assessment tools.

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About Our Presenters

Douglas J. Lyons has been the Executive Director of the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools since 2004. A graduate of Villanova University, Doug has Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He began his career in public education, serving for twenty years in the New Jersey public schools as a teacher, coach, school principal and superintendent of schools. In 1992 he left the Superintendency in Mt. Lakes, NJ to accept the position of Headmaster of the Greenwich Country Day School, Connecticut’s largest independent school. 

Dr. Lyons’ publications on education and on parenting have appeared in local, state and national journals and in the popular media, including The New York Times. Doug has served on many nonprofit boards and committees, among them the boards of the St. Angela’s School in the South Bronx, NY; the Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge, PA; the United Way; YMCA; and The Community Answers Service Organization in Greenwich, CT. Doug is currently serving on the Stonington, CT Planning and Zoning board and on the vestry of the Calvary Church in Stonington, where he also serves as the President of the Nursery School Board of Trustees. We are delighted to welcome Doug to the ADVIS Board of Trustees.

Andrew Niblock has been the Director of the Lower School at Hamden Hall Country Day School, Hamden, CT, since 2008. Prior to his current position he spent eleven years as a teacher, coach and administrator at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans. In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Andrew and colleagues established the New Orleans Academy in Houston, a temporary school for displaced independent school students. 

Andrew is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and earned a Masters degree from Loyola University. Selected as a fellow in the NAIS Fellowship for Aspiring Heads, his research centered on emerging trends in the assessment of learning. He was a workshop presenter at the NAIS Annual Conference in 2012 and will be presenting at the 2013 conference in Philadelphia. Andrew is the project Chair of the CISTM, an online, internationally benchmarked test that will be piloted in the spring of 2013. His publications include "Will the CWRA replace the SAT?", The Trustees Letter, Autumn of 2011 and "A New Definition Of Rigor", The New England Independent School Guide 2012.

Kevin J. Ruth is the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Tower Hill School, Wilmington, DE. Kevin consults on strategic planning and endowment strategies with Santa Fe Leadership Center; is a frequent presenter at national and regional conferences; and has been involved with numerous cutting edge initiatives in the realms of leadership, development, technology, 21C web-based learning, diversity, and more.

Kevin serves on several non-profit boards, including service as an independent school trustee, and is a Fellow in the UK-based Royal Society of Arts; a member of the Online Executive Panel (Education) for McKinsey & Company; a member of the Feedback Forum (Marketing) for the Financial Times; and a past lecturer for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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