League of Educational Voters press release:

Creating new models of teaching and learning: From NYC to Highline
June 13, 2013, 7 p.m.
UW at South Lake Union, Room TBA

We know that students learn in unique and different ways. To meet each student’s learning needs, schools and educators across the country are re-imaging school and what happens in the classroom. Educators are implementing strategies like personalization, project-based learning, online instruction, blended learning, and new roles for students and teachers.

In New York City, the innovative schools are clustered in the city’s nearly three-year-old iZone, which offers a portfolio of schools for kids and families to consider. With the intent to build a culture of innovation that supports personalized learning, the city’s iZone office launched three major initiatives: iZone360, to support whole-school redesign; iLearnNYC, which supports implementation of online and blended strategies; and Innovate NYC Schools, which identifies learning challenges and pilots education technology solutions.

In the Highline School District, school and district leaders are committed to designing learning options that increase high school graduation rates and post-secondary success for every student. During the last ten years, the district fostered the creation of a handful of innovative small schools and future plans likely include public charter schools.

From New York City to Highline, what can we learn from these innovative school designs? What role does technology play in these innovations? How will teaching and learning change? What are the implications of these innovations for the wider system?

Speakers:
Steven Hodas, Executive Director, Innovate NYC Schools
Andrea Coleman, Director of iZone
Susan Enfield, Superintendent, Highline School District, Washington
Robin Lake, Director, Center on Reinventing Public Education (moderator)