Where We Are: Events & Conferences

PartnersSI staff members have the opportunity to travel all over the country to represent our work and participate in the national conversation about education reform. Here are a few recent highlights as well as upcoming events and conferences:

American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting
April 13-17, 2012 - Vancouver, BC

Our Chief Organizational Performance Officer, Dr. Eric Barela, will travel to Vancouver to present a paper at AERA's annual meeting. Eric's paper focuses on a study examining how Partners in School Innovation builds the capacity of existing school leadership to lead school transformation efforts. He examines the results of our School Transformation Rubric in 19 of our 2010-2011 partner schools and demonstrates that capacity was built in both structural and relationship-oriented aspects of instructional leadership to varying degrees. The paper will be presented under the School Turnaround and Reform Significant Interest Group. The purpose of this group is to provide a forum to exchange ideas and information and to foster research and evaluation of theories and practices that address school improvement - including its influences, strategies, processes, and outcomes - among schools in need of transformation the most through turnaround, comprehensive school reform, or other innovative strategies.

Learning Forward Annual Conference
December 5-7, 2011 - Anaheim, CA

Several staff members were invited to present at the Learning Forward (formerly the National Staff Development Council) annual conference in Anaheim. Learning Forward provides education leaders the connections, tools, learning opportunities, and resources they need to understand and implement effective professional learning in their schools. Jaime Kidd, our Managing Director of Program Development and Support, and Tiara Grayson, one of our School Innovation Partners, will present on teacher collaboration and results-oriented cycles of inquiry. Viviana Cabrales Garcia, another of our School Innovation Partners, and Dr. Eric Barela, our Chief Organizational Performance Officer, will present on results-oriented leadership and teacher professional learning.

Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) November 17-19, 2011 - Toronto, ON

Our Chief Organizational Performance Officer, Dr. Eric Barela, traveled to Toronto to attend the ARNOVA annual conference. The conference theme was “Diversity in the Voluntary Sector: Who are the Participants, Funders, Beneficiaries, and Volunteers?” Eric’s presentation, titled “An Education Nonprofit’s Journey to Work for Equity Inside and Out: A Case Study,” was chosen as part of the conference theme strand. It focused on Partners in School Innovation’s efforts to increase its capacity to work for equity both internally and with our school and district partners.

W. Clement and Jesse V. Stone Foundation Education Grantee Convening
November 9-10, 2011- Chicago, IL

Our CEO, Dr. Derek Mitchell, and Chief Organizational Performance Officer, Dr. Eric Barela, attended a convening of approximately one dozen education reform organizations currently funded by the W. Clement and Jesse V. Stone Foundation. Partners in School Innovation was one of two organizations invited to prepare a written case study of its emerging growth strategy. At the convening, attendees reviewed the case and engaged in a fruitful discussion of the dilemmas facing organizations as they grow and change.

American Evaluation Association (AEA) Annual Conference
November 2-5, 2011 -Anaheim, CA

Our Chief Organizational Performance Officer, Dr. Eric Barela, attended the AEA annual conference in Anaheim and participated in a variety of sessions with colleagues from the New Teacher Center, New Leaders, YMCA Chicago, and Mission Measurement concerning lessons learned from creating successful systems designed to promote evaluation use in nonprofit organizations. He also presented with a colleague from Berkeley Policy Associates on using case study methods to evaluate educational program implementation. In addition, he was invited to speak on panels examining values and ethical issues in internal evaluation and experimental and quasi-experimental designs in educational evaluation. This marks Eric's 6th year serving as Program Co-chair for the AEA Qualitative Methods Topical Interest Group.

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