June 3-4, 2004

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Workshop Brochure and Registration Form - PDF

ENTREPRENEURIAL CHARTER SCHOOL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP

Developing the Schools of the Future

Charter schools are an example of the emerging intersections between the public and private sectors of education. Charter schools are publicly funded institutions, yet they must behave much like private educational small businesses. To be successful, charter school developers must become educational entrepreneurs who are able to develop innovative curricula, secure facilities, hire quality teachers, recruit students, fundraise, and develop positive relationships with parents and the surrounding community. Therefore, the initial school design and leadership team often determine whether a charter school will succeed or fail.

The Entrepreneurial Charter School Development Workshop is an intensive 2-day workshop sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) - a partnership between The Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA and The Anderson School (of Management) at UCLA.

This workshop provides charter school development teams the opportunity to further develop their school design plan by incorporating entrepreneurial perspectives. The focus of the workshop is to highlight entrepreneurial solutions to many of the challenges charter school developers face. Workshop participants will receive innovative ideas for developing their charter schools and feedback on their current school design plans. There are three main components to the workshop:

" Presentations and Discussions on Entrepreneurial Charter School Development

" Presentations of Charter School Plans by Participant Teams

" Optional Team Planning Sessions

This workshop is designed for charter school initiation teams who are in the final stages of charter school development. Enrollment is limited to a maximum of 4 teams. Preference will be given to teams who have received a Charter School Planning Grant or who can demonstrate that their current plan is sufficiently developed to benefit from this workshop. Preference will also be given to those applicants intending to serve less advantaged student populations.

Due to a generous grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the tuition and program cost of $2,000 per person will be covered through an ISEE fellowship.

Prerequisites include submitting the information requested on the Workshop Registration Form and preparing a 20-minute Power Point presentation of your charter venture plan for the workshop.

Presentations and Discussions on Entrepreneurial Charter School Development

" Developing an Effective Leadership Team (Presenter: Marilyn Kourilsky)

The best team to develop an innovative and successful charter school plan is not necessarily the best team to actually implement that plan. Dr. Kourilsky, director of the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) and a professor at UCLA's Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, will help participants analyze their personal leadership styles and determine how they can develop the right leadership team(s) to successfully develop and operate their charter school.

" Budgets and Facilities Planning (Presenter: Anita Landecker)

Operating a school within a limited budget and securing adequate and appropriate facilities are two of the greatest challenges facing charter school developers. Ms. Landecker, the executive director of Excellent Education Development (EXED), will highlight some entrepreneurial solutions to address these challenges. She will also describe innovative fiscal management systems for charter schools.

" Innovative Fundraising and Governance(Presenters: Jonathan Williams)

Developing a charter school design with a sound financial plan is essential for the school to be successful in the long-run. Unfortunately, charter schools currently in operation have found that funding from categorical block grants, lottery revenues per ADA, and Economic Impact Aid are not sufficient to cover their operating costs. Consequently, they often have to find alternate sources of revenue to supplement their funding. Mr. Williams, founder of The Accelerated School in Los Angeles, will highlight some examples of the creative generation of revenue. He will also discuss innovative governance strategies which can complement fundraising efforts.

" Lessons Learned (Panel)

The Entrepreneurial Charter School Development Workshop was offered for the first time last year. Out of the five teams who participated, three successfully opened this past fall. ISEE has sponsored case studies to be written about each of the schools which successfully opened, to document the challenges and successes they have encountered in their first year of operation. The case study writers and representatives from each of these schools will share "lessons learned" from this first year. Additionally, representatives from one of the schools which did not open this past fall will share insights about the insurmountable obstacles they faced. The panelists will focus part of their discussions on the challenges of recruiting quality teachers, a key component of a successful school.

Presentations of Charter School Plans by Participant Teams

Charter school ventures, analogous to educational small businesses, cannot be successful without powerful marketing. Teams must be able to succinctly describe their school in a way which inspires confidence in potential funders, staff members and "clients" (i.e., students and their families). This workshop component will give teams the opportunity to enhance their marketing presentation.
Each team will make a presentation of their school during the workshop and receive invaluable feedback from experienced consultants and other workshop participants. Each team must prepare a 20-minute Power Point presentation of their school design plan to present at the workshop. A suggested presentation template will be provided.

Optional Team Planning Sessions

Recognizing how difficult it is for charter school development teams to find blocks of time to brainstorm and strategize, the workshop will provide Optional Team Planning Sessions in the afternoons. Teams are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this time. Refreshments will be provided, and ISEE staff will be available to consult.

Workshop Agenda at a Glance (subject to change)

Day 1

8:15 - 8:45 Breakfast
8:45 - 9:00 Welcome and Overview
9:00 - 10:15 Opening Speaker
10:15 - 10:30 Break
10:15 - 11:45 Developing the Right Leadership Team
11:45 - 12:45 Lunch
12:45 - 2:00 Budgets and Facilities Planning
2:00 - 2:15 Break
2:15 - 3:15 Charter School Plan Presentation Team 1
3:15 - 3:30 Break
3:30 - 4:30 Charter School Plan Presentation Team 2
4:30 - 4:45 Closing Remarks
4:45 - 7:00 Optional Team Planning Session

Day 2

8:15 - 8:45 Breakfast
8:45 - 9:00 Welcome Back
9:00 - 10:15 Fundraising and Governance
10:15 - 10:30 Break
10:30 - 1:00 Lessons Learned Panel
1:00 - 2:00 Lunch
2:00 - 3:00 Charter School Plan Presentation Team 3
3:00 - 3:15 Break
3:15 - 4:15 Charter School Plan Presentation Team 4
4:15 - 4:30 Closing Remarks
4:30 - 7:00 Optional Team Planning Session