Building Achievement Through Choice: An Online Toolkit

This interactive presentation with Kristin Mitchell, Director of Edvance Research, will introduce an online toolkit, www.buildingchoice.org, designed to help districts implement and expand their school choice offerings. The Web site draws upon practices of districts that are on the leading edge of expanding family education options. These districts were also featured in the Innovations in Education Book Series developed by WestEd and published by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement.

Presenters

Kristin Mitchell (Primary)

Vice President
Edvance Research, Inc.


Description


The Innovation in Education series includes:

  • Creating Strong District School Choice Programs,
  • Creating Successful Magnet Schools Programs,
  • Creating Strong Supplemental Services Programs,and
  • Successful Charter Schools.

    These guides feature a variety of districts — or in the case of charter schools, individual schools — that serve as examples for other schools and districts across the country. The online toolkit itself is a dynamic resource that will further help district leaders learn from others.

    This presentation will lead participants through the site and introduce:

  • promising practice vignettes describing how an existing choice district has handled some aspect of developing or operating its program;
  • sample materials such as forms, brochures, and meeting agendas that a district has created and used as part of a promising practice;
  • tools, including templates and processes, developed specifically for the toolkit for your use in creating or managing a choice program;
  • links that direct you to other helpful Web sites, articles, and organizations; and
  • profiles of featured districts.

    Arnold manages collaborative learning and emerging practice research projects at Edvance. She helped WestEd produce the Innovation Guides book series for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement as well as collaborative benchmarking studies on procuring statewide assessments and teacher education and preparation. Arnold also collaborated with WestEd to develop www.buildingchoice.org, the online toolkit featured in this event, highlighting district practices in implementing public school choice programs.

    RELATED UPCOMING WEBINARS

    RELATED PAST WEBINARS

    Districts on the Right Track: Napa Valley Unified School District

    BuildingChoice: Improving Public School Choice Programs

    Continuation High Schools: Supporting Overage and Undercredited Youth

    Lessons Learned from the Evaluation of the Texas School Dropout Prevention and Reentry Program Grants

    Common Core Standards: Transitioning to New Rigor



    • This webinar was presented on Feb 8, 2006 and is now archived

    Downloads For Your Own Use

    From WestEd.org

    Charter High Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap

    This free guide addresses a central goal of current education reform efforts nationwide — closing achievement gaps that separate the academic performance of various subgroups of students, especially between low-income, minority, and special needs students and their peers.

    Make the Most of Our Webinars

    Let us help you make the most of your live webinar or archived webinar experience. Participation instructions, tips for small groups, and ideas for professional development are included.