Three items capture the IPI headlines today.  First, THIS WEBSITE IS FINALLY ONLINE!  Second, the IPI-Technology Component workshops began this fall.  Third, the IPI Process continues to expand and serve more schools each yearacross the country.  In the fall of 2012 more than 60 IPI Level I, Level II, and IPI-T Workshops will be provided for educators.  Additionally, numerous large group presentations overviewing the IPI Process will be made to school and district faculties. 

Today's most important news is that this website is now a reality.  For several years, I have had the best of intentions to create the site, but I simply did not have the time to build the site and organize its content.  Finally, with the help of some very talented technical experts the site is live.  Though some sections are under construction, there is enough content to explain the IPI Process, provide basic information to those who are not familiar with the IPI, and to support those who are using the IPI Process.   Some of the most valuable and interesting features of this website are under construction.  Those include the stories submitted by teachers, IPI Teams, principals, central office staff, and regional support staff who have found success and/or challenge in their IPI endeavors.  Those stories will be told online as schools using the IPI have time to share thier schools' experiences.  As this site goes live, I have to confess my excitement that this baby has been delivered.  The excitement, however, is tempered with the realization that my future is fraught with more "web learning curves" and the necessary maintenance so this site provides current and useful information about student engagement.

The second important news at this time is the development of the IPI-Technology Component.  Across the country schools are moving at record pace to infuse technology into the classroom learning process.  And as we do so, most of us have no empirical evidence as to whether or not the use of technology is enhancing, maintaining, or detracting from the learning process.  Certainly, our hope is the former.  However, even the best of intentions do not always produce highly positive results.  With the addition of the IPI-T, a school currently using the basic IPI Process can look at their engagement data through additional lenses.  The IPI-T component provides detailed engagement data profiles for the six IPI categories specifically for the students who are engaged with, or supposed to be engaged with, technology to support their learning.  The IPI-T profiles also provide a breakdown based upon eight "tech use" categories that describe how the students are using the technology that supports their learning.  The IPI-T profiles also delineate whether the users of the technology are the students or the teacher and if the technology being used was developed by the students or the teacher or commercially.   The IPI-T data also provide a big-picture perspective of whether technology is being used regularly across the school and whether the resources invested in technology appear to be impacting student engagement and learning.   For more information about the IPI-T Component, read the section of this website entitled the IPI-Technology Component found in the main drop-down menu.  You will find sections discussing the rationale for studying engagement during the use of technology and sections that explain the IPI-T Component in detail. 

Finally, the other "news of the day" is the continued growth of the IPI Process across the country.   This fall we are scheduled to work with scores of new schools who will begin implementation of the IPI Process while continuing our work with the hundreds schools currently implementing the IPI Process.  There is a steady stream of IPI Level I Workshops, IPI Level II Workshops, IPI-Technology Component Workshops, and large-group/whole faculty Overview Sessions about the IPI Process and/or Research on Student Engagement throughout the remainder of this calendar year, and numerous workshops are scheduled for the winter and spring of 2013.  As of this date, I have on my calendar more than 70 professional development workshops, seminars, and presentations in the fall of 2012. With several other IPI Trainers leading IPI Level I Workshops, this year's IPI numbers are expected to match that of recent years.  That means we will add between four and five thousand newly certified educators to the schools studying student engagement using the IPI Process.  Add to the IPI work several Comprehensive, Systemic School Improvement Projects and I will be as busy as always in the coming school year...and I will enjoy every minute of my work with schools across the country.  As a Professor of Educational Leadership, I had the opportunity to be out in schools on a regular basis.  I have been fortunate to continue my work out in schools now that I have retired from the University and work as a full-time consultant.  It is a delightful job to work in schools on a daily basis and to discuss the many ways we can improve the education of the students we serve.  

If you are not using the IPI Process in your school and you are curious about the process and how it might be implemented, please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  Also, please note that my work schedule is rather full, so try to plan months in advance if you are interested in any of the IPI Workshop options described in the main drop-down menu by that name.

Jerry Valentine