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9th Annual National Charter Schools Conference: Recommended Sessions for Reporters

National Charter Schools Conference: Leading Change in Public Education
June 21-24, 2009 Washington DC Recommended Sessions for Reporters

Attention:  Education Reporters
What:        Covering  the 9th Annual National Charter Schools Conference: Leading Change in Public Education
When:        June 21-24, 2009
Where:      Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.


As you prepare to cover the National Charter Schools Conference June 21-24 in Washington, D.C., we want to highlight a few of the exceptionally interesting breakout sessions you may want to attend.  (Of course, you’ll also want to catch Education Secretary Arne Duncan, Gates Foundation US Programs President Allan Golston, DC Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and NYC Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, but there’s more…)

To make it easy, we’ve identified great breakout sessions in five themes of special interest to the news media: the Obama effect, sustaining the charter school movement (is it possible?), school turnarounds (stories from the field), innovations, and what the research is telling us.

Register free now by calling conference registration services at 1-800-280-6218 between 12 noon and 8 pm weekdays, eastern time (sorry, there’s no on-line registration for the media).

Here’s the break-out line-up:

1. The Obama effect.
Since taking office, President Obama has repeatedly endorsed public charter schools. How does this public display of affection for charters manifest itself in Obama's education plan and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act? What influence does the President and federal policy environment have on the schools themselves? How might “the Obama effect” play out at the state and local levels where schools are feeling the pinch?

Recommended Sessions:
Monday, June 22

Tuesday, June 23

  • 10:15-11:30 am - What the Feds? How the Federal Government Already and Post Economic Stimulus Supports Charters. Presenters: David DeSchryver (Brustein and Manasevit), Brooks Garber (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools)
  • 1:30 – 2:45 pm - The Role of Charter Schools in the Race to the Top. Presenters: Ted Mitchell (NewSchools Venture Fund)

2. Sustaining the charter school movement - is it possible?
As independent public schools free to be more innovative and held accountable for improved student achievement, they also require huge personal investments from school leaders and staff. They face many challenges such as overcoming inequitable funding structures at the state and local level; financing school facilities out of limited operational budgets;  and in many places, persevering  in a unsupportive policy environment. Despite these challenges, the charter school movement has grown at a tremendous rate from one school in 1992 to more than 4,600 schools serving 1.4 million kids today. Can this movement grow and be sustained?

Recommended Sessions:
Monday, June 22

  • 10:15-11:30 am - Cooperative Strategy for Charter School Development.  Presenters: Matt Candler (New Schools for New Orleans), Josh Edelman (Chicago Public Schools), Elizabeth Heaton (Chicago Public Schools)
  • 10:15-11:30 am - Lessons Learned by Funders . Representatives from three foundations will discuss their experiences in supporting charter school replication and quality. Presenters: John Lock (Charter School Growth Fund), Bruno Manno (The Annie E. Casey Foundation), Ted Mitchell (NewSchools Venture Fund)
  • 10:15-11:30 am - Working With the Business Community to Support High-Quality Charter Schools. Presenters: Lydia Logan (Institute for a Competitive Workforce), Rita Shankel (Ernest & Young)
  • 3:15 PM - 4:30 pm - A New Model State Law for Public Charter Schools. Presenters: Louann Bierlein Palmer (Western Michigan University), Paul O'Neill (EdisonLearning), Todd Ziebarth (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools)

Tuesday, June 23

  • 10:15-11:30 am - Housing a Growing Movement: Improving Access to Charter Facilities. Presenters: Laura Benedict (Self-Help), Annie Donovan (NCB Capital Impact), Marc Johnson (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Trinita Logue (Illinois Facilities Fund), Lisa Richter (GPS Capital Partner)
  • 1:30–2:45 pm - Successfully Managing the Tense Triangle of Facility, Faculty, and Enrollment. Presenters: Doug Hering (The Classical Academy), Peter Hilts (The Classical Academy), Morton Marks (Hoboken Charter School), Mitchel Mund (Dale Group Insurance & Bonds)
  • 3:15-4:30 pm - Update on Charter School Law and Litigation: Successes and Setbacks. Presenters John A. Cairns (John Cairns Law, P.A.), Paul O'Neill (EdisonLearning), Tiffani Tatum (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools)

3. School turnarounds - stories from the field
This spring the Department of Education has announced ambitious goals for facing down inadequacies in public education, closing the achievement gap, and turning around failing schools. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has introduced the competitive Race to the Top Fund and has asked whether in five years the nation's 5,000 worst schools can be turned around. But what does school turnaround really look like? What shapes does it take? Education reformers debate the merits of turning around failing schools or instead creating wholly new ones.  Check out these sessions to learn more. 

Recommended Sessions:
Monday, June 22

  • 10:15-11:30 am - Cooperative Strategy for Charter School Development. Presenters: Matt Candler (New Schools for New Orleans), Josh Edelman (Chicago Public Schools), Elizabeth Heaton (Chicago Public Schools)
  • 10:15-11:30 am - How to Make Alternative Education Excellent Education. Presenters: Cami Anderson (New York City Department of Education), James Forman, Jr. (Georgetown University Law Center), Lucretia Murphy (See Forever Foundation/Maya Angelou Public Charter School)
  • 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM - Changing Public Education Through Transforming Failing Schools. Presenters: Mary Donaldson (Concordia Creative Learning Academy), Kyle Knudsen (Concordia Creative Learning Academy), David Wilson (King Chavez Public Schools), Tim Wolf (King-Chavez Public Schools)
  • 1:30 PM - 2:45 pm - Turn Around: How to Transform Your School to Prioritize High Student Achievement. Presenters: Morton Ballen (Explore Schools, Inc)
  • 3:15 PM - 4:30 pm - Turnarounds: The Next Frontier. Presenters: Matt Candler (New Schools for New Orleans), Scott Gordon (Mastery Charter School), Julie Kowal (Public Impact), Jordan Meranus (NewSchools Venture Fund), Benjamin Rayer (School District of Philadelphia)
  • 3:15 PM - 4:30 pm - Good to Gone: Why Some Charter Schools Close.  Presenters: Dr. Brian L. Carpenter (National Charter Schools Institute)

4. Innovations. Discover how these leaders' innovations at the school level are making a difference.
Recommended Sessions:
Monday, June 22

Tuesday, June 23

  • 10:15-11:30 am - Committing to Continuous Improvement: A Close Look at an Intensive Tutoring Program. Presenters: Catherine Egan (The MATCH Charter Public School), Christie Paul (The MATCH Charter Public School), Alan Safran (The MATCH Charter Public School)
  • 10:15-11:30 am - Work Hard, Be Nice ... And How Rebels with a Cause Took Risks to Beat the System Presenters: Harriett Ball (Harriett Ball Enterprises, Inc.), Steve Barr (Green Dot Public Charter Schools), James Forman, Jr. (Georgetown University Law Center), Jay Mathews (Washington Post), moderator Bill Schulz (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools)
  • 1:30 – 2:45 pm - Why Do It? A Focus on Single-Sex Charter Schools in New York. Presenters: Chris Bender (Brighter Choice Foundation), Christina Grant (NYC Department of Education, Office of New School), Paul O'Neill (EdisonLearning), Sonia Park (Manhattan Charter School)
  • 1:30 – 2:45 pm - African-Centered Education Helps Students Perform At Higher Levels. Presenters Djenaba Gregory-Faal (Village Tree Enterprises), Nia Inman (Roots PCS), Rasheki Kuykendall-Walker (Roots PCS), Bernida Thompson (Roots Public Charter School)
  • 3:15-4:30 pm - Charter Schools and Catholic Schools: Competitors or Collaborators?
    Presenters: Joseph Bruno (Building Hope), Michael Duffy (New York City Department of Education), Reverend Kieran Harrington (Diocese of Brooklyn), Michael Petrilli (Thomas B. Fordham Institute), Mary Anne Stanton (Center City Public Charter Schools)

5. What the research is telling us.
We recommend theses sessions for reporters looking to understand what charter school research exists and what it tells us about how charter school students are performing.

Recommended Sessions:
Monday, June 22

  • 10:15-11:30 am - Emerging Trends in Charter School Research. Presenters: Kevin Booker (Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.), Sarah Cohodes (Harvard Graduate School of Education), Jon Fullerton (Harvard Graduate School of Education), Robin Lake (Center for Reinventing Public Education), Anna Nicotera (National Alliance for Public Charter Schools)

Tuesday, June 23

  • 10:15-11:30 pm - Adoption of the BCSQ Initiative: Examples from Arizona and Colorado. Presenters:  Parker Baxter (Denver Public Schools), Karen DeSchryver (Charter School Institute), Susan Miller Barker (NACSA), Martha Morgan (Arizona State Board for Charter Schools)
  • 1:30-2:45 pm - Scaling-Up Charter Management Organizations: Lessons from a National Study. Presenters: Caitlin Farrel (University of Southern California), Michelle Nayfack (University of Southern California), Joanna Smith (Center on Educational Governance, University of Southern California), Priscilla Wohlstetter (University of Southern California)