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11TH ANNUAL CALIFORNIA CHARTER SCHOOLS CONFERENCE


BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Wednesday March 31st   9:00am – 10:15am


Accountability/Accreditation

Data Driven Decision-Making Tools
Room 301

The session discusses the development of useful tools from school accountability data that can inform decision-making. Examples for the session will be drawn from MMACCS (Multiple Measures of Accountability for California Charter Schools), a centralized database of school, staff, and student performance data from charter schools throughout California.

Deborah Santiago, USC-Rossier School of Education


Authorization/Oversight

Hearing Charter Appeals-Standards and Procedures for County Offices
Room 103

This session will address the many facets of the appeal process including: The process and standards for hearing appeals; appropriate grounds to grant or deny an appeal, etc. County Offices, school districts and charter school petitioners will all benefit from this discussion on the appeals process.

Donna Williamson and Laura Schulkind, Liebert, Cassidy, Whitmore


Business Operations

Accounting for SB740 Funding Determination for Independent Study Charter Schools
Room 102

Independent Study charter schools must submit detailed calculations to the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools for a determination of funding level that typically ranges from 70% to 100% of regular ADA funding. This session will explain the rules and suggest strategies for optimizing funding from this high-stakes process.

Adam Musch and Josh Newman, EdTec, Inc.


Business Operations

Break Even Fiscal Analysis - Royal
Room ---

Nearly every successful business enterprise performs break-even analysis. For Charter Schools the questions include: What formula or parameters should be considered for a break-even analysis? Is there, for instance, a maximum cost factor for school facilities that influences if a school’s operations will break even? How much fund raising per student per year is necessary? Bring your crystal ball - - - - and join the discussion.

Cathi Vogel, Vogel & Associates


Business Operations

Great Students Come from Happy Teachers - A Good Compensation Package
Room 303

Charter schools need to provide a compensation package that at least resembles, and perhaps surpasses, those of the traditional public school sector. This session looks at one or more charter school compensation packages, as well as how a school can potentially offer their employees something similar. Retirement Benefits, compensation packages, salary schedules will be presented and evaluated.

Charlie Leo, Natomas Charter School


Business Operations

Lessons Learned on Scaling Up Charter Schools
Room 318

Have you created a successful charter school? Interested in creating more quality schools? This session will focus on lessons learned by several major charter networks and funding organizations. The discussion will highlight challenges regarding funding, organizational growth, teacher and staff hiring, charter trailblazing, teacher development, culture impact and Prop 39 implications. The session will provide an opportunity for audience participation.

Moderator Mark Kushner, CEO, Leadership Public Schools, Advisory Commission on Charter Schools; Lauren Dutton, Partner, New Schools Venture Fund; Anuja Master, Managing Director, Pisces Foundation; Gloria Lee, COO, Aspire Public Schools.


Facilities

Successful School Building: When and how to Hire the Professionals
Room 306

An unusually large number of experts are involved in planning, designing and building school facilities. Very few construction processes require the interaction of a more diverse combination of ‘players’. Who they are, when they should be brought onto your team and what their roles and responsibilities include will be the focus of this session.

Kathi Littmann, Two Roads Consulting & JoAnn Koplin, KDI


Governance/Legal

Dummies' Guide to Contract Negotiations
Room 302

The session will cover the do's and don'ts of employment contracts, vendor contracts, and contracts with school districts. Save your school thousands of dollars in attorneys’ fees and lots of grief caused by unclear expectations and a lack of remedies for poor quality goods and services.

Jerry Simmons, Best, Best and Krieger


Governance/Legal

Employment Law Basics
Room 105

This session reviews basic employment law for charter schools, including wage and leaves of absence, union representation, and employment status. This session offers tools and tips to prevent common personnel problems by establishing clear hiring, evaluation, and disciplinary procedures and policies.

Darell Pugh, Foley & Lardner


Leadership

The Role of Business & Community Partnerships in Sustaining Reform
Room 316

Understand how strong business and community partnerships can be leveraged to encourage the system to act, change and sustain. A case study focuses on how lack of a sustained community engagement program can unnecessarily hinder progress and encourage system entrenchment. It highlights the e21/Student First high school reform effort in the Sacramento City Unified School District and its core partner, LEED Sacramento.

Deanna Hanson, CEO, LEED-Sacramento (Linking Education and Economic Development).


Leadership

Strategies Effective Charter School's Use to Reduce Teacher Stress
Room 305

Researchers and school personnel agree that teachers and staff members who are overly stressed are less effective. However, our schools have a lot of pressure to be as effective as we can be. Is this a Catch 22? We review research on techniques, which reduce stress and burnout, while increasing the morale at your school.

Michael C. P. Fanning, Ed.D., Associate Professor, St. Mary’s Colleges, Educational Leadership Program


Special Education

Secondary Students with Disabilities in an Inclusive Distance Education Setting
Room 307

This session focuses on how parents, educators, and children develop community building and communication skills to support cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development of diverse populations within a Charter School setting. Data collection included observation, field notes, graphic artifacts, formal and informal structured interviews, and participant observations in classrooms.

Connie L. Malin, Susan D'Aniello, Nancy Fitzgerald, Odyssey Charter School


Student Achievement

Keeping Home-schoolers Connected
Room 317

Innovative ways to keep a home-schooling population connected with site-based programs, and with each other. A brief video will detail how to operate as a team with home-schooling families to meet accountability requirements and improve student performance. A question and answer panel with Natomas Charter's School's parent-teachers, students, and staff will follow.

Lynda Mulholland, Natomas Charter School


Student Achievement

Tolerance-Based Education Resources and Strategies
Room 304

Learn of award-winning, free resources to integrate into curriculum and instruction, including strategies designed to help educators react promptly and effectively whenever hate, bias, and prejudice strike.

Emily Vickery, Teaching Tolerance


Student Achievement

Facing History and Ourselves: A Model for Engaging Students 
Room ---

Great schools have effective teacher equipped through meaningful professional development with an array of strategies to engage their students deeply with the content and with each other. In this interactive session for middle and high school social studies and English teachers, participants will be introduced to curriculum and strategies that will build classroom community, promote critical thinking, and help students understand the importance of civic participation.

Jack Weinstein, Director, Northern California, Facing History and Ourselves


Exhibitor Presentation

IC and Microsoft Office Specialist Certification: The Doorway to Success!
Room 101

Basic computer literacy and proficiency in desktop applications are essential in today’s world.  Learn how IC and Microsoft Office Specialist certifications address these needs while providing college credit for students and professional development opportunities for teachers.

Presenter: Brian McFadyen and Scott Stoddart, Certiport, Inc.


Exhibitor Presentation

Insuring Your Charter School - How to Survive the Hard Market 
Room 102

This session helps school administrators identify alternative insurance solutions for their charter schools. Insurance companies will be identified that provide exclusive programs for charter schools. Learn how your charter school can lower its premiums while obtaining better coverage. Discussions will highlight Workers' Compensation & loss prevention, as well as General, Professional and Directors' & Officers' liability.

Presenters: Troy Winkles and Greg Chapman, Chapman & Associates


Exhibitor Presentation

Bringing the World to Your Classroom: Expository Reading and Writing
Room ---

Do you struggle to help teachers bring social studies/science standards into an already packed day? Integration is the key. This presentation will provide techniques so all students can access the core curriculum while meeting grade level reading and writing standards. Join us to learn research-based instructional strategies to help students of all levels identify key information in expository text and transform this knowledge into powerful sentences, summaries, and reports

Presenter: Gina Dayton, The Learning Headquarters

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