Faculty Instructional Development

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South Carolina Department of Education December
6, 2007
Kristin Mitchell Vice President, Emerging
Practices Edvance Research, Inc.
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Background and Purpose

• The Office of Innovation and Improvement of the
  U.S. Department of Education wants to disseminate
  school choice resources via a toolkit.
• Give districts and choice leaders greater access
  to information and tools they can use to
  implement and improve choice programs.
• Building primarily from Innovation Guide Series
  and Voluntary Public School Choice and Magnet
  Schools Assistance grant programs.

http//www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oii/programs.
html
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Innovation Guides
Find the NEW Charter High School and Parent
Involvement Guides at http//www.ed.gov/about/pu
bs/intro/innovations.html
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WestEd and Edvance Research

• WestEd is a nonprofit research, development, and
  service agency located in San Francisco, CA
• Edvance Research is a minority and women owned
  small business in San Antonio, TX
• WestEd and Edvance Research partnered to create a
  series of Innovation Guides and this Choice
  Toolkit for the US Department of Education

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User-guided Development

• Advisory Groups
• National Parent-Teacher Association leaders
• Hispanic CREO and BAEO
• Choice advocates from Public Impact, National
  Association of Charter School Authorizers, and
  Magnet Schools of America
• Districts featured in the guides
• Voluntary Public School Choice and Magnet Schools
  Assistance Program Grantees
• Online survey conducted by WestEd

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BuildingChoice.org Features

• Promising Practice Vignettes
• Sample Materials (embedded links)
• Tools (templates, checklists, etc.)
• Featured District/Program Profiles
• Resource Links
• Organizations
• Research/articles

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Overview and Invitation

• An Invitation to BuildingChoice.org is available
  on the site homepage and from ED Pubs
  (www.edpubs.org)

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Background
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Why School Choice?

• Improving student learning and educational
  equity,
• Decreasing racial isolation and improving school
  integration,
• Improving student attendance as a result of
  students and parents choosing the school,
• Increasing district budgets because of increasing
  student population and average daily attendance,
• Increasing parent support and involvement in
  schools,
• Providing alternative types of learning
  environments that may better match children's
  needs,
• Encouraging the creativity of educators,
• Promoting focused, cohesive school programs, and
• Spurring school improvement through competition.

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Theory of Action
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Current Featured Programs
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Key Practice Areas

• Create a Vision
• Communicate with Parents

• Manage Operations
• Support Schools
• Evaluate the Program

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Create a Vision

• Take Stock
• Use multiple sources of data
• Business leader survey (Desert Sands)
• Area demographics (Wake County)
• Articulate a Vision
• Involve community members (Monadnock)
• Create a Plan
• Work with partners (Hamilton)
• Consolidate all choices to utilize resources
  (Desert Sands, Miami-Dade, Chicago)

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Desert Sands Strategic Plan
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Communicate with Parents

• Build Awareness
• Multiple venues (Desert Sands)
• Branding a program (Duval, Hamilton)
• Assist Parents
• Access to updated Websites (Minneapolis)
• Go to parents (Gadsden, FL)
• Engage Community Organizations
• Engage NAACP, PIRC, YMCA (Minneapolis)
• Local parent initiative (Portland)

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Assist Parents MPS Website
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Manage Operations

• Staff District Roles
• Create school choice unit (Miami, Hillsborough)
• Hire a marketing/recruitment specialist (Duval)
• Transport Students
• Communicate, communicate, communicate
• Web (Houston)
• Letters (Desert Sands)
• Coordinate Assignment Process
• Transparency is key
• Application Checklist

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Tool Library of Job Descriptions
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Support Schools

• Develop Programs
• Steps to implement a new program (Houston)
• PD for ownership (Hamilton)
• Involve Parents
• Volunteer commitment (Hamilton)
• Regular student advisory sessions (Arkansas
  Virtual School)
• Assign and Train School Staff
• Designated staff for each site (ALL)
• Semi-annual training for all staff (Seminole, FL)

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Tool Parent Involvement Survey
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Evaluate the Program

• Collect Program Data
• Multiple sources of data (All)
• Student transfers and demographics (Portland)
• Monitor Stakeholder Satisfaction
• Surveys of parents and students (Wake)
• Surveys of teachers and school leaders
  (Hillsborough)
• Make Informed Decisions
• Choose location based on data (Minneapolis, Mesa)
• Replicate successful strategies (Brighter Choices)

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Student Transfer Analysis
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Questions, Thoughts or Ideas?

• Please contact
• Natasha LaVine, WestEd
• ph. 415.615.3371 nlavine_at_wested.org
• Kristin Mitchell, Edvance Research
• ph. 210.558.4130 kmitchell_at_edvanceresearch.com