ERIE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS

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ERIE COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS

• Project on Regional Collaboration and Shared
  Services

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Collaboration/regionalism

• Collaboration is NOT Consolidation
• Collaboration is NOT new
• Collaboration is CREATIVE and CHALLENGING
• Erie County is a region already

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Why Bother?

• Respond to changing demographics and economic
  challenges
• Improve educational opportunities for all
  students in the region
• Good schools build strong communities, build the
  tax base, provide a strong workforce

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Collaboration Exists, Piecemeal

• What is needed to bring it together?
• Information knowledge about what exists
• Leadership willingness to experiment, to
• push thinking beyond district borders
• Dialogue Boards, supts, teachers
• Existing institutions can take leadership, but
  how?

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The Research Process

• Multiple sources of data
• Qualitative
• ECASB forums
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Focus interviews
• Stakeholder meetings

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The Research Process

• Multiple sources of Data
• Quantitative
• BEDS
• School Report Card
• Census
• Local district data (data audit)

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The Research Process

• Best Practices
• For example, Annenberg Challenge
• For example, Coalition of Essential Schools

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The Hourglass
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Opportunities for Collaboration

• Shared access to AP courses
• Research students perform to rigorous
  expectations
• Shared expertise across districts for particular
  specialties
• eg. Academic Intervention, Languages, the Arts

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Opportunities for Collaboration

• Leadership development
• Both Annenberg and Coalition for Essential
  Schools leadership is key
• Collaborate to partner with higher education to
  support leader development

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Opportunities for Collaboration

• Be proactive for productive union-management
  relationships
• -start where there is the most promise, for
  example in joint lobbying
• Partner with schools not in your district
• -make learning across districts explicit and
  deliberate

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Opportunities for Collaboration

• Engage social service and voluntary sector
  agencies to improve assets for students
• -Grade point averages are higher for students
  with greater support both in family and
  school,irregardless of socio-economic status.
• -Correlates of Effective SchoolsSafe school
  environment parental support

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Opportunities for Collaboration

• Transportation
• -Agree on schedules across districts and with
  private schools.
• -Savings if buses drove when public school is
  open
• 26.00/hr for driver wage and benefits 15.00/hr
  for attendant wage and benefits 1.25 per mile

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Opportunities for Collaboration

• Invest jointly ( and/or human resources) in a
  common infrastructure to, for example
• -pursue grants
• -enlist business engagement with schools
• -get the message out
• -bring parents into the schools

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The Annenberg Challenge findings

• Local context and design are crucial to a reform
  efforts success.
• To improve, schools need an intermediary that
  offers vision, focus, support, and pressure in
  equal amounts.

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Your Assignment

• In small groups,
• choose ONE opportunity
• Questions What would you have to do to make
  this happen? What could you do to support your
  administration in pursuing this opportunity? and
• How can we create and sustain the will to
  accomplish this?

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WHAT CAN YOU DO?

• Complete the website survey
• Attend public dialogues
• Update the collaborations list
• Support your district personnel in responding to
  the data audit