Marshall High and other turnaround high schools, in Chicago and nationally, face a thorny dilemma. Higher-performing students are being siphoned off through competition, driving down enrollment and raising tough policy questions about the future of these schools.
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Renaissance Schools Fund Meeting
By: Alexander Russo / May 07, 2008
It's a busy day in Chicago school reform circles, what with the CTU delegates meeting taking place (see below) and the Renaissance Schools Fund Symposium going on as well.
The symposium event took place downtown at the Mid-America Club and was titled "Free To Choose, Free To Succeed." It featured panels on going to scale, facilities issues, turnarounds, roles for private funders, and more. Click below for program details, or click here to see the website.
Feel free to tell us how it went if you were there. Or even if you're there now. We know you read this blog. We won't hold it against you.
UPDATE: Sorry -- this was yesterday, not today.
Full program:
Going to Scale: Strategically Growing High Performing Networks
Networks are common in the charter sphere as a means of achieving
scale and efficiency, but Chicago is building upon the charter network
model to also cultivate networks of contract and performance schools.
This session will focus on how to grow strong school operators into
high performing school networks. Operators, district partners and
education venture philanthropists will share the challenges and best
practices of successful growth plans for emerging and growing school
networks.
Panelists
Robert Hughes, President, New Visions for Public Schools
Tim Knowles, Executive Director, University of Chicago Charter School
Ben Lindquist, Partner, Charter School Growth Fund
Evan Rudall, Chief Operating Officer, Uncommon Schools
Moderator: Jim Peyser, Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund
The Role of the Private Sector in the New Market of Education
The session will focus on the unique strategy RSF has used to engage
the corporate community in the new school movement and the innovative,
high performing schools that have been created as a result of these
partnerships. Private sector champions, foundation leaders and school
operators will share how they have worked together to create high
quality schools for underserved communities and how these partnerships
contribute to the school environment. Attendees will leave the panel
with an understanding of best practices and strategies used in Chicago
to engage the private sector in transforming the market of education
through new schools.
Panelists
Ron Manderschied, President, Northwestern University Settlement Association
Steve Solomon, Director of Corporate Relations, Exelon Corporation
Errol Stone, Partner, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal
Eileen Sweeney, Director of Corporate & Foundation Philanthropic Relations, Motorola Foundation
Moderator: Phyllis Lockett, President and CEO, Renaissance Schools Fund
Innovative Answers to a Tight Facilities Market
A tight facilities market and limited financing options create a
roadblock that limits the proliferation of new school development in
many major districts around the country. The panel session will begin
with a case study of the New York City facilities market. NYC
Department of Education provides a model of how the district can work
strategically with partners to create an open and accessible facilities
market for new school developers. The second part of the panel will be
devoted to strategies being pursued in Chicago and elsewhere to provide
opportunities and access to buildings and financing for new school
developers in a challenging market. Panelists will provide best
practices for pursuing public facilities and private market leasing
options, renovations, and purchases.
Panelists
Andrew Alt, Vice President of Operations, UNO
Michael Duffy, NYC Department of Charter Schools
Michael Ostermeyer, Partner, Quarles & Brady LLP
David Umansky, Civic Builders
Moderator: Jill Levine, Director of School Services, Illinois Facilities Fund
Turnaround Schools
The turnaround strategy is gaining national attention as urban
districts search for ways to address chronically under-performing
schools. In an effort to raise the performance of the lowest performing
schools in Chicago, the district has committed to one of the most
aggressive turnaround strategies in the country. This panel will
explore the elements critical in a turnaround model, the challenges
associated with this strategy, and the feasibility of its success.
Panelists:
Lionel Allen, Principal, Sherman Elementary School
Barbara Eason-Watkins, Chief Education Officer, Chicago Public Schools
Beth Purvis, Executive Director, Chicago International Charter Schools
Meghan O'Keefe, Project Director, School Turnaround Strategies, Mass Insight Education & Research Institute
Moderator: Jordan Meranus, Partner, NewSchools Venture Fund
Replicating District Success
This discussion will cover two unique programs developed to
replicate high performing public schools. The Performance Pipeline
Program was created by The Renaissance Schools Fund to replicate high
performing Chicago Public Schools through Ren10. Replications, Inc.
has a similar program on a much larger scale in NY and Baltimore. The
discussion will cover all aspects of the replication process from
school selection, to expert supports required, through proposal
development and school launch. This conversation will provide leaders
from Chicago and across the country with a variety of strategies to
consider as districts plan replication projects in an effort to provide
more quality school options.
Panelists
Bogdana Chkoumbova, Principal, Walt Disney II
Michael Guinan, Vice President of Operations and Academics, Replications, Inc.
Kathleen Hagstrom, Principal, Walt Disney Magnet School
Jeff Wilson, School Support Specialist, Renaissance Schools Fund
Moderator: Josh Edelman, Executive Director, Office of New Schools, Chicago Public Schools
Building an Entrepreneurial Pipeline
The school leader is critical to the success of a new school. This
challenging position requires a rare mix of entrepreneurial drive,
operational experience and instructional expertise. The panelists will
identify the unique characteristics, qualifications, and traits that
they have found to be essential in successful new school leaders. Each
panelist will share the strategies their organization uses to train new
school leaders and enhance the pipeline of quality candidates. The
session will conclude with an assessment of the leadership needs in
urban districts and an analysis of best strategies to use on a larger
scale to ensure new schools will have high quality leaders in the
future.
Panelists
Chris Clemons, Deputy Executive Director, Building Excellent Schools
April Ervin, Executive Director, New Leaders for New Schools
Michael Milkie, Superintendent & COO, Noble Network of Charter Schools
Kelly Wright, Director of School Leader Development, KIPP Foundation
Moderator: Jason Cascarino, The Chicago Public Education Fund
Creating a Quality Supply: The Competitive Authorization Process
Panelists will highlight the key components of Chicago’s strong
selection process. Leaders from CPS and RSF will discuss how they
worked together to create a rigorous quality rubric, a multi-staged
review process based on these high standards and the critical roles
played by national experts, business leaders and the community.
Panelists
Connie McHugh, Chief Operating Officer, Renaissance Schools Fund
Jeanne Nowaczewski, Senior Director of Recruitment, Office of New Schools, Chicago Public Schools
Jim Ford, Charter Schools Programs Director, Raza Development Fund
William Gerstein, Principal, Austin Polytechnical Academy
Moderator: Margaret Lin, Of Counsel, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
The Parental and Political Infrastructure to Drive Change
The panel will highlight how parents, political leaders, and
activists can collaborate to drive school reform. Leaders in education
policy will provide strategies for engaging multiple stakeholders in
the fight for choice based education reform. A particular focus will
be placed on engaging parents in the new school movement and mobilizing
this group as a powerful stakeholder in the fight for quality schools.
Panelists
Kim Ambrose-Davis, Liaison, Parents for School Choice
Alderman Walter Burnett, Jr., City of Chicago, 27th Ward
Elizabeth Evans, Executive Director, Illinois Network of Charter Schools
Joe Williams, Executive Director, Democrats for Education Reform
Moderator: Lawrence Patrick, Past President & CEO, Black Alliance for Educational Options
Measuring the Progress of the New School Movement
Since the introduction of No Child Left Behind, schools, districts
and states have faced an environment of increased accountability. Due
to data limitations inherent to the start-up of new schools, national
and local evaluators are challenged to effectively measure the progress
of the new schools movement. Panelists will describe the tools being
developed to evaluate new schools and will summarize the findings from
national studies conducted to date. They will specifically address
Ren10 evaluation methods, early achievement and best practice findings.
The discussion will also cover how accountability practices are being
used to drive improvement at both the local and national level.
Panelists
Eric Chan, Grants Manager, Renaissance Schools Fund
Kathleen Weaver, Deputy Director, Office of New Schools, Chicago Public Schools
Robin Lake, Associate Director, Center on Reinventing Public Education
Paul Zavitkovsky, Instructor and Program Coach, College of Education, University of Illinois at Chicago
Moderator: Macke Raymond, CREDO at Stanford University
High School Transformation
This panel will highlight approaches to one of the most critical
issues facing public education today - the underperformance of urban
high schools. Leaders in the three largest urban districts in the
country, Chicago, New York City and Los Angeles, will share key
strategies being used to transform high school performance. The
panelists will also discuss the metrics they use to measure success and
their key learnings to date.
Panelists:
Allan Alson, Executive Director, Office of High School Transformation, Chicago Public Schools
Robert Hughes, President, New Visions for Public Schools
Marco Pertruzzi, President and Chief Operating Officer, Green Dot Public Schools
Moderator: Carmita Vaughan, Chief of Staff, Office of High School Programs, Chicago Public Schools
Renaissance Schools Fund Meeting
hahaha
Renaissance Schools Fund Meeting
what was up with josh edelman serving as moderator? did he really expect folks to speak up without receiving backlash? give me a break!
Renaissance Schools Fund Meeting
what was up with josh edelman serving as moderator? did he really expect folks to speak up without receiving backlash? give me a break!
Renaissance Schools Fund Meeting
Mike Milkie from Noble Street made some interesting points at lunch about the potential of Ren2010 to have a major impact on CPS as a whole.
When I student taught at Debbie Meiers' school in NY, and then taught at a charter school in Chicago, I often talked about the potential of charters and alternative schools to positively influence school systems by piloting new ideas. But I never saw that happening, and often wondered if I was kidding myself.
Milkie pointed out that there simply were never enough charter schools in that first wave to have any kind of impact. But with Ren2010, the sheer number of schools and impacted students can actually start to influence other schools. He estimated that when 15-20% of CPS students are in Ren2010 schools, it will start to have a real impact on the union contract as well as how schools are organized and how they teach.
Not sure if he's right...but interesting nevertheless.
Renaissance Schools Fund Meeting
It was great- a true and honest discussion about education in Chicago. RSF brought together some great minds and leaders in education- Ren10 and the charter movement are going to live despite the lies of the CTU and choice-bashers.