The Springpoint team is gearing up for another iNACOL Symposium, taking place in Palm Springs from October 28-31. Our team is looking forward to sharing our learnings and facilitating four robust sessions on education topics that can support practitioners as they design student-centered school models in their communities. Whether you are interested in continuous improvement practices and developing a vision of school quality, implementing competency-based learning (CBE), or engaging stakeholders to act as ambassadors – we’ve got a special session for you. See below for additional details on each session.
We look forward to a few days of learning, sharing, and connecting with amazing educators across the country. We hope that you will join us for a session or two (or all four!).
Sharing Stories of Innovation: Empowering Key Stakeholders as Spokespeople in Schools, Organizations, and Districts
Tuesday, October 29 from 2:15 – 3:15 PM | Location: Pueblo
If we truly want to bring about innovative school change, we need to communicate the stories of those most impacted by the work to the broader public. In this session, participants will learn how to empower, embolden, and equip stakeholders—such as students, teachers, leaders, families, and partners—as messengers for their school or organization. Participants will learn how to identify and prepare a diverse set of spokespeople and develop key messages and platforms for sharing their stories.
Join us to brainstorm which potential stakeholders in your own community would be good spokespeople and learn how to empower them as ambassadors. We’ll talk about strategies and training techniques to make sure stakeholders feel equipped and confident to spread key messages. We’ve got a bunch of exciting tools to help you craft an equity-based communications approach that empowers diverse voices.
Moving to Competency-based Learning: Practical Approaches & Lessons Learned
Tuesday, October 29 from 4:00 – 5:00 PM | Location: East Lawn I
As more schools move to CBE, there are substantial lessons learned that can inform implementation and guide continuous improvement efforts. Join two Springpoint experts—our Executive Director, Elina Alayeva, and Director, School Design, Christy Kingham—for a facilitated conversation about different approaches to CBE rollout. We’ll offer a practical framework for successful implementation, such as developing a shared language, building core systems, and personalizing pathways, and open it to attendees to share what they are learning and what challenges they are overcoming in their contexts.
Join us to reflect on what has worked and where practitioners have struggled—and learn from the stories of fellow attendees who have experience bringing CBE systems to life.
The Building Blocks of a Competency-based Model
Wednesday, October 30 from 10:00 – 12:30pm PT | Location: Primrose C
There are more schools, resources, and experts in the field of CBE than ever before. Join three veteran CBE designers, including Springpoint’s Christy Kingham, to consider how transitioning to CBE is about more than just changing your grading system. It is about laying the groundwork for changes necessary to make school more equitable for all students. Building blocks include relationships, mindsets, instruction, flexibility of time and space, and a shared commitment to continuous improvement practices.
Before you start writing competencies and planning for implementation, check your ideas in a small group coaching session with experts in the field. Participants will engage in a self-reflection around the building blocks necessary for successful CBE implementation before joining small group breakouts. In these groups, practitioners will ideate and get feedback from their peers as well as coaches and experts facilitiating the learning session. All attendees will leave with solid next steps to drive their CBE implementation.
What Does a Super School Look Like in Practice? Establishing a Vision for Quality and Excellence
Wednesday, October 30 from 2:15 – 3:15 PM | Location: Mesquite D/E
The XQ design principles provide a framework for school design within and beyond the XQ network. But how do Super Schools bring the principles to life? XQ partnered with Springpoint to articulate a shared vision of school quality for XQ Super Schools and to develop a structure—including an observation visit process—that helps practitioners reflect on their practice, engage in data-driven continuous improvement, and map their journey to becoming Super Schools.
Join leaders from Springpoint, XQ, and a Principal from the Grand Rapids Public Museum School in Grand Rapids, Michigan to understand how to articulate a shared vision of school quality and why it is critical in guiding continuous improvement efforts. We’ll talk about how a process can support deep reflection and action planning, and share tools that can help create a culture of developmental feedback and cultivate a school-wide growth mindset.