PROJECT ACTIVITIES
Annual Conferences
Symposium: The State Role in Catalyzing District Improvement,
July 30 – August 1, 2007
A national meeting of invited state education agency officials, district leaders, policy actors, and researchers, held in partnership with Brown University's Urban Education Policy Program.
In the summer of 2007, The Education Alliance and The Urban Education Policy Program, both at Brown University, co-hosted a two-day symposium entitled "Designing and Catalyzing Effective District Improvement: The Role of State Education Agencies." We convened over fifty state education leaders, superintendents and district leaders, researchers, and educational actors who are deeply involved in district and school improvement efforts to consider how state education agencies could effectively support district improvement. The purpose of this gathering was twofold: first, to collectively identify the central challenges facing state education agencies as they pursue ways to work with districts and support district improvement efforts; and second, to provide a diverse group of stakeholders with the opportunity to collectively consider potential solutions to these challenges.
One outcome of this symposium is a published report on the conversation, entitled How Can State Education Agencies Support District Improvement? A Conversation Amongst Educational Leaders, Researchers, and Policy Actors. More than a traditional proceedings document, this report contains a detailed analysis of the themes and ideas that were generated by participants, including key areas of agreement among participants, considerations of promise, and points of distinction. The cross-stakeholder discussions resulted in the identification of multiple strategies that can be utilized by state education agencies to leverage their capacity and provide meaningful support to districts and schools. In addition, the participants had the opportunity to identify the political, educational, and other conditions that are needed to catalyze significant improvement across educational systems. We invite you and your colleagues to explore the rich dialogue and the innovative strategies that were generated by the participants.
The information that was generated during the event has informed our ongoing work with state and district educational leaders; in particular, we are using this information to inform discussions around current and potential state and federal policy and to provide state and district administrators with tangible strategies to increase collaboration. We also see this gathering of multiple stakeholders and subsequent report as providing a model for cross-stakeholder dialogue, and we are actively seeking ways to replicate such conversations within and across states.
Strengthening Statewide Systems of Support Regional Meeting,
April 17–18, 2008
A regional meeting for state officials and district leaders, focusing on how states and districts can work together to develop meaningful and useful systems of support for districts and schools.
In April 2008, the Education Alliance and New England Comprehensive Center co-hosted a regional meeting of state education and district leaders throughout New England to collectively consider challenges and potential strategies to strengthening statewide systems of support to improve teaching and learning.
The 2-day meeting provided a diverse group of state and district leaders across New England to learn from and with each other about key issues in the design and implementation of their state systems of support.
With this as a goal, each participant engaged in rich discussions around two of the following six questions:
- How can states and districts identify the strengths and needs of districts to impact district-wide improvement?
- How can state education agencies (SEAs) and local educaion agencies (LEAs) be organized to best support district and school improvement?
- How can SEAs develop statewide learning communities and networks of educational agents to help districts and schools meet their identified challenges?
- How can the use of professional learning communities advance state and district efforts to improve student achievement?
- How can a response to intervention approach serve as a viable process for meeting the needs of diverse learners?
- How can SEAs build systems to promote and support effective teaching and learning practices for under-served students?
Each discussion was guided by a Topic Brief (provided below). However, the focus was on eliciting the expertise and talent of the participants to share insights with one another and to collectively consider new strategies and potential policies that could support these strategies in their state.
In the next few months, summaries of these discussion shall be provided on this website.
The following documents are available to provide an overview of the meeting.
Conference: Supports for Improving the Performance of Diverse Learners, March 26–28, 2006
On March 26–28, 2006, the Alliance co-sponsored the "Supports for Improving
the Performance of Diverse Learners" conference in Miami, Forida. We thank the Council of
Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and our fellow co-sponsors (The Center
for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement and the IDEA Partnership at
the National Association of State Directors of Special Education) for a successful
and engaging conference.
More information about this conference >
The Alliance sponsored two conference sessions. Provided below is a brief description of each session and links to download relevant materials and presentations.
- Using a Systems Approach to Inclusive and Sustainable School Improvement: A
Framework for SEAs and LEAs with a Focus on English Language Learners (Alliance
staff)
In this session, Alliance staff presented the collaborative research approach and corresponding framework being used to support states and districts develop systems of support for schools identified for improvement, focusing specifically on schools with significant or emerging ELL populations.
- Developing a Strategic, Integrated, and Multilevel Approach for English Language Learners from Pre-K to 12th Grade (Framingham School District)
For more information, please Contact Us
