{"data":[{"ID":"71","Class":"EduconConversation","ContextClass":null,"ContextID":null,"Created":1287619829,"CreatorID":"649","RevisionID":null,"Status":"Accepted","Title":"\"I'm From the Education Department and Am Here to Help\" and other bedtime stories: A conversation about how to make and influence policy with some who do.","Handle":"-Im_From_the_Education_Department_and_Am_Here_to_Help_and_other_bedtime_stories-_A_conversation_about_how_to_make_and_influence_policy_with_some_who_do-","ShortDescription":"Policy development is a lot like watching grass grow and the process can look different depending on the view from your perch. Let's dissect some recent education policies and brainstorm ideas to encourage educational activism (e.g., creating networks of people and organizations) at all levels to influence future policy.","Description":"Education policy doesn't happen overnight or in a vacuum. Many people and things (e.g. time, money, social trends) influence what form policies take and how they are made. Because policy development is often neither fun or sexy, folks forget that everyone has a stake in the process. But at the end of the day, policy can have a huge impact on what we do everyday in our classrooms and workplaces. And the kicker? It's not always good policy. That said, how do we become better educational advocates and help policy makers make less bad policy? How do you decide what hill are you going to die on and what you willing to compromise to move an agenda or message forward?\r\n\r\n[url=http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/jonbecker]Jon[\/url], [url=http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/juliafallon] Julia[\/url], [url=http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/thinkict] Cathy[\/url] and [url=http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/douglevin] Doug[\/url] are very familiar with the education policy development process and all the layers involved (sometimes against their better judgement). Jon and Doug will introduce a \"case\" (i.e., technology literacy for 8th grade students) and give it some policy context. Julia and Cathy will trace the path the policy took when it was implemented at the state level in both Washington and New Hampshire. We'll play some games so folks can try on different policy maker hats and brainstorm ideas to encourage educational activism (e.g., creating networks of people and organizations) at the local, regional, state and federal levels.","Link":["http:\/\/bit.ly\/dKPi5n"],"Audience":["All School Levels"],"Practice":"After dissecting a policy \"case,\" we'll play some policy development games with folks breaking into small groups. They'll then have to make decisions serially (i.e., one group will make some key decisions and then the next group will have to take that decision and act upon it.. and so on) until we peel back the layers of the policy onion. \r\n\r\nTogether we'll also build a GDoc page with ideas and links for those interested in EdTech-specific advocacy.","Presenter":["Jonathan Becker","Julia Fallon","Cathy Higgins","Doug Levin"],"PresenterAffiliation":["Virginia Commonwealth University (Becker)","Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction","EdTech (Fallon)","New Hampshire Department of Education","EdTech (Higgins)","State Educational Technology Directors Association (Levin)"],"PresenterEmail":["jbecker@vcu.edu","julia.fallon@k12.wa.us","chiggins@ed.state.nh.us","dlevin@setda.org"],"ScheduleSlot":"Session One","Room":"Drama Studio","SubmitterID":"649","AdditionalComments":"If our conversation is selected, we'd prefer a Saturday time slot. Doug is scheduled to be in Florida on Monday morning and will most likely be traveling on Sunday.","LiveChannel":"educon15","Hashtag":null}],"conditions":{"Status":"Accepted","ScheduleSlot":"Session One","0":"MATCH (Title,Description,Presenter) AGAINST (\"Jon Becker\")"}}