August 5-6, 2019 | Nashville, Tennessee
Agenda | Participant List | Resources
Day 1: Monday, August 5, 2019
Welcoming Remarks
Introduction: Seth Gerson, Program Director, NGA Education, NGA Solutions: Center for Best Practices
Speaker: The Honorable Bill Lee, Governor of Tennessee (2019 – Present)
Welcome and Overview
Speakers:
- Seth Gerson, Program Director, NGA Education, NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices
- Michael Magee, CEO, Chiefs For Change
- Lauren Morando Rhim, Executive Director and Co-Founder, National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools
- Melanie Brown, Senior Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Educator and Student Voice
Session Description: To ground our policy conversations over the next day and a half and ensure that we keep focused on the teachers and students at the core of our work, this session will provide participants with an opportunity to hear the voices of a teacher and students from a local high-quality public charter school.
Introduction: Seth Gerson, Program Director, NGA Education, NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices
Speakers:
- Rebecca Ledebuhr, Eighth Grade Integrated Math Instructor, and students, STEM Preparatory Academy, Nashville, Tennessee
Session I: Spotlight on District-Charter Collaboration
Session Description: This session will provide participants with models and best practices for promoting district-charter collaboration and a knowledge exchange between traditional and public charter schools, including lessons learned from previous state efforts.
Moderator: Seth Gerson, Program Director, NGA Education, NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices
Speakers:
- Robin Chait, Senior School Choice Policy Associate, WestEd
- Christina Clark Tuttle, Associate Director, Mathematica
- Sean Gill, Research Analyst, Center for Reinventing Public Education
- Rachel Weinstein, Chief Collaboration Officer, Boston Compact
Session II: Authorizing Models and Accountability
Session Description: This session will provide participants with diverse, high-quality models and best practices for charter school authorizing. It will also include a discussion of levers for strengthening accountability of public charter schools.
Moderator: Dr. David Casalaspi, Senior Policy Analyst, NGA Education, NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices
Speakers:
- Alison Bagg, Director, Office of Charter Schools and School Redesign, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
- Veronica Brooks-Uy, Director of Policy, National Alliance of Charter School Authorizers
- Aaron Churchill, Ohio Research Director, Thomas B. Fordham Institute
- Jennifer Holladay, Associate Chief of Portfolio Management, Denver Public Schools
Session III: Virtual Charter School Accountability
Session Description: This session will provide an overview of the findings of the National Education Policy Center’s Virtual Schools in the U.S. 2019 report, including policy recommendations and models for accountability in this sector.
Introduction: Dr. David Casalaspi, Senior Policy Analyst, NGA Education, NGA Solutions: The Center for Best Practices
- Speaker: Dr. Gary Miron, Professor of Evaluation, Measurement, and Research, Western Michigan University
Lunch and Keynote Address
Introduction: Dr. Michael Magee, CEO, Chiefs for Change
- Speaker: Dr. Penny Schwinn, Commissioner of Education, Tennessee
Session IV: Equitable Access
Session Description: This session will explore state levers for ensuring equitable access in high-quality charter schools, including for students with disabilities and English Learners. After a scan of best practices across the country in this area, the session will provide a deeper-dive on the equitable access efforts of the school districts of Washington, D.C. and New Orleans.
Moderator: Dr. Lauren Morando Rhim, Executive Director and Co-Founder, National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools
Speakers:
- Dr. Nathan Barrett, Senior Director of Research and Evaluation, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
- Dr. Kristin McGraner, Founder and Executive Director, STEM Prep, Nashville, Tennessee
- Ace Parsi, Director of Innovation, National Center for Learning Disabilities
Moderator: Ramin Taheri, Director of Advocacy and Policy, Chiefs for Change
Speakers:
- Hanseul Kang, Member, Chiefs For Change
- Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr., Superintendent of Schools, New Orleans Public Schools
Session V: High-Quality Practices
Session Description: This session will showcase high-quality public charter schools that are using innovative practices to recruit, develop, and support teachers and leaders; address social-emotional learning and the needs of the whole child; and provide pathways for ensuring students graduate prepared for postsecondary and the workforce.
Moderator: Wendy Tucker, Senior Director of Policy, National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools
Speakers:
- Todd Dickson, Founder and CEO, Valor Collegiate Academies
- Dr. Laura Hernandez, Senior Researcher, Learning Policy Institute
- Lorén Trull Cox, Director of Government Affairs and Policy, KIPP Foundation
Session VI: Funding Mechanisms
Session Description: This session will explore diverse state and local approaches to funding public charter schools, including best practices for ensuring equitable access and the blending and braiding of federal, state, and local funding.
Introduction: Dr. Michael Magee, CEO, Chiefs For Change
Speakers:
- Steve Canavero, Senior Advisor, WestEd
- Lauren Morando Rhim, Executive Director and Co-Founder, National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools
- Micah Wixom, Policy Analyst, Education Commission of the States
Peer Learning Conversations and Reflections
Day 2: Tuesday, August 6
Session VII: Sustainability in Action: The Tennessee Story
Session Description: This session will provide participants with insights on approaches for ensuring sustainability of education reforms across multiple gubernatorial administrations and transitions through the perspectives of education advisors for the last three governors of Tennessee.
Moderator: Seth Gerson, Program Director, NGA Education, NGA Solutions: Center for Best Practices
Speakers:
- Samantha Gutter, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), Education Policy Adviser, former Governor Bill Haslam of Tennessee (2011-2019)
- Drew Kim, President, P3 Consulting, Policy Chief, former Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee (2003-2011)
- Sara Heyburn Morrison, Executive Director, Tennessee State Board of Education, K-12 Policy Advisor, former Governor Phil Bredesen of Tennessee (2003-2011)
- Tony Niknejad, Policy Director, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee (2019 – Present)
Visit to Public Charter School in Nashville | STEM Preparatory Academy, 1162 Foster Avenue, Nashville, TN
Session Description:
- Led by Kristin McGraner, Founder and Executive Director, STEM Preparatory Academy, Nashville, Tennessee
