The IALA Board of Directors approved the next conference for June 20-23, 2007 at beautiful Villanova University near Philadelphia. Mark your calendars. Take a virtual tour of the campus and surrounding area of historic importance. We hope to establish a one day “leadership summit” prior to the conference to discuss advancing policies about education choices at state and federal levels. The Board also established several initiatives:
1. Autonomy for learning alternatives. Alternative schools and programs must have the authority to make decisions to accomplish their vision and mission. This means decision-making in the areas of the program design, staffing configuration and total budget allocation. Many alternatives exist at the whim of their districts and thus surrender their initiative and curiosity.
2. Alternative assessments. Current judgments about alternative programs are made almost solely on the basis of standardized test scores. This should be but one of a number of ways to judge a program’s effectiveness.
3. Teacher licensure. Many alternative programs call for thematic or interdisciplinary approaches to learning. Some alternatives are non-course-based, that is, not presented in the usual subject matter divisions of English, social studies, math, science.
In addition continued work with youth development was urged. The STARS program has achieved excellent results by involving youth in formulating and demonstrating their learning, legislative affairs and leadership initiatives. The power of youth to change education could be harnessed to overcome the inertia of schools status quo.
If any of these interest you, contact Dan Daly, executive director at ddaly@mn.rr.com.