Download - CommonAction Education Catalog
CCoommmmoonnAAccttiioonn Engaging People to Change the World!
2012-2013 Education Catalogue
Workshops & Publications for… K-12 schools, districts, state education agencies, and education organizations.
Call (360) 489-9680 or email [email protected] “Like” us online at fb.com/commonaction
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Table of Contents Table Of Contents ___________________________________ 2
About CommonAction ________________________________ 3
Recommendations _________________________________ 3
Our Expertise _____________________________________ 4
Our Activities _____________________________________ 5
Our People _______________________________________ 6
Training & Professional Development ____________________ 8
Workshop Logistics ________________________________ 8
School Engagement Workshops ______________________ 9
Skill Building Workshops ___________________________ 15
School Publications _________________________________ 16
Certification Programs _____________________________ 19
Past Education Clients And Collaborators ________________ 21
Costs And Scheduling ________________________________ 23
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About CommonAction CommonAction Consulting envisions all people everywhere living engaged lives, including children, youth, and adults. We believe engagement is the sustained connection a person has to the world within or outside herself or himself. CommonAction staff foster engagement through substantive personal development, sustainable social change, meaningful policy reform, and powerful transformation activities. Founded in 2005 by internationally recognized community engagement thought leader Adam Fletcher, CommonAction Consulting is a socially oriented private firm focused on engagement. Our school outreach program, SoundOut, launched in 2002 to focus on student engagement. Heartspace, our new initiative launching in spring 2012, focuses on personal engagement. Throughout the years we have worked in
Recommendations “Adam Fletcher's work is especially relevant in getting young people to participate in the realms of politics and critical education.” —Henry Giroux, Global Television Network Chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University; Author 40+ books about education and youth
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“CommonAction creates opportunities for people to become meaningfully involved in the decisions that affect them. Their work has made them the “go to” organization on these issues nationally.” —Greg Williamson, Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction “Adam is one of the most knowledgeable people in the world regarding student voice and youth rights. I have attended his thorough and excellent presentations and confer regularly on current work in the field. I highly recommend him as a presenter and a writer in our field.” —Dana Mitra, Associate Professor, Penn State University; Author, Student Voice in School Reform.
Our Expertise CommonAction is a boutique firm that does not seek to “do it all.” Instead, we focus on several specific areas of expertise. They include Personal Engagement, Youth Engagement, Community Engagement, and School Engagement. Student Engagement—Our student engagement activities work with K-12 schools, districts, state education agencies, and educational organizations across the US and Canada. Meaningful Student Involvement, Student Voice, Child-Friendly Schools, and Advanced Student Leadership are among our expertise. Our flagship program for schools is called SoundOut, and you can learn more at soundout.org.
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OUR ACTIVITIES
Workshops Operating in schools, national conferences, and retreats, our educational and skill-building training events are for all ages and professional development.
Motivational and
Expert Speeches Adam Fletcher provides powerful talks for audiences of all sizes and ages about engagement, transformation, action, and more.
Organizational
Consulting Our specialties in consulting include program design, evaluation, and organizational change work focused on school engagement for students, parents, educators, and others.
Coaching CommonAction President Adam Fletcher works with a small number of teachers and school leaders annually to provide coaching focused on life and livelihood.
Program Design K-12 schools, youth-serving nonprofits, government agencies and other organizations hire us to conceptualize, design, and implement programs.
Freelance Writing Our staff has written more than 100 publications for an education, nonprofit, and government clients. We also manage social media campaigns, community relations activities, and more.
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OUR PEOPLE
Adam Fletcher—President. Adam is the award-winning founder of The Freechild Project and SoundOut. He has created more than 50 projects and has written more than 20 publications. Learn more at adamfletcher.net
Paula Kadanoff—Consultant. Paula is an educator and activist with more than 15 years experience. After becoming active in school reform as a high school student, she is currently going into her sixth year teaching high school in the Bronx. She is also a key member of student leadership activities there.
Teddy Wright—Consultant. Teddy is an exciting facilitator and youth development specialist skilled in program development, implementation and evaluation, and a child advocate and community-builder.
Scott LeDuc—Consultant. Scott is a master teacher with more than a decade in the classroom. He also serves as adjunct faculty at several universities. Learn more about him at scottleduc.org.
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Mike Beebe—Consultant. Mike has over 20 years of experience managing youth and adult leadership programs. He has managed an AmeriCorps program, youth services, and served on the board of directors for a national organization advocating for GLBT families. Learn more about Mike at mikebeebe.biz
Emma Margraf—Consultant. Emma is an expert in community promotion for nonprofits. She has worked in non-profits and in politics for more than a decade. Her experience includes nonprofit communications and community outreach.
Alan Wong—Consultant. An innovative trainer, educator, and artist, Alan leads dynamic workshops throughout North America and beyond. He has been a lead facilitator and program director with the Power of Hope youth-empowerment program for a decade.
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Training & Professional Development CommonAction has been facilitating high quality learning experiences for K-12 schools, districts, state education agencies, and education organizations since 2005. Working in more than 35 states and 4 countries, our president Adam Fletcher is renowned for his interactive, humorous expertise. CommonAction staff have more than 100 years combined experience working with diverse participants in a variety of settings. Following is information about what we provide.
Workshop Logistics We offer each workshop in formats ranging from 60 minutes to 6 days, and can create longer retreat and conference formats on request. They can be customized as training events, conference sessions, or professional development programs. They are interchangeable for different environments and participants, and can be customized to meet your organization’s needs. Based in current research, practical experience, and pragmatic application, all of our offerings can be customized to meet participant needs. Each workshop is a hands-on, interactive learning event that engages participants as co-learners. Our workshops cover School Engagement for all school community members, along with general skill-building workshops.
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SCHOOL ENGAGEMENT WORKSHOPS These workshops are designed for K-12 schools, districts, state education agencies, and education organizations. They may also benefit educational nonprofits, foundations, and others. They can be customized to meet attendee’s needs, including K-12 students, educators, administrators, counselors, and others. Learn more at www.soundout.org.
Intro to Meaningful
Student Involvement. Explores Adam Fletcher’s internationally recognized Frameworks for Meaningful Student Involvement. This workshop teaches participants how to create powerful, purposeful approaches to engaging students as partners in schools.
Advanced Meaningful
Student Involvement. A concrete series of exercises focused on integrating
students as partners throughout education. Action planning, learning rubrics, evaluation activities, and student-adult partnerships will be explored in classroom teaching, school improvement, and throughout the education system.
Intro to Student Voice. Participants learn that student voice is any expression of learners focused on learning or schools. This training develops both students' and educators' understanding
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what student voice can do in school, including classrooms and school improvement activities.
Meaningful Student
Involvement in Career
and Technical Education. Focused on creating powerful connections for learners, this workshop helps educators make inroads with today’s diverse students while staying focused on modern goals for lifelong learning and success. Centered on practical classroom experience, this workshop is powerful.
More than Student Voice. This workshop helps educators and students understand that schools can become locations for passionate, effective action by all learners in all subject areas. Focused on practical tools to influence teaching and learning, this workshop provides the skills educators
need to transform teaching in the 21st century.
Advanced Student Leadership Training. This workshop emphasizes applied leadership throughout schools. Students and educators to work together to engage students beyond planning dances. Participants explore how to engage traditional and nontraditional student leaders solving serious problems in their schools and transform student engagement for all learners.
Student Voice in STEM. Participants in this workshop learn research-driven frameworks focused on integrating students as partners in courses and activities focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Based in our experience, this workshop can be for students or adults.
Successful Student
Involvement in Decision-
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Making. Highlights the roles of student voice in schools. Participants examine their organization's culture and structure, identifying a multitude of ways to successfully involve students. This workshop focuses on implementing, evaluating, and sustaining student involvement.
Learning about Learning. Designed to teach students about learning, the school system, and school improvement. Topics covered include Evaluating Your Education, Intro to School Reform, Building Community in Schools, Learning through Service to Schools, and Student-led Organizing to Improve Schools.
Students as Partners in
School Improvement. Engages participants in learning about engaging students as education researchers, planners, decision-makers, evaluators,
teachers, and advocates. Practical opportunities are explored, and participants create plans including implementation and evaluation.
Engaging Nontraditional
Student Leaders. Designed for educators who want to reach the quiet, inconvenient, or disregarded student leaders in their schools. This workshop focuses on developing new perspectives of their abilities. It provides concrete examples, and establishes clear opportunities in each educator’s setting for action.
Changing Classroom Climate. Focused on engaging all students as leaders, this workshop teaches educators how to establish group expectations, self-monitoring, and clear avenues to ensure student investment and ownership in climate-building activities.
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Intro to Community Engagement. Provides an overview of what community engagement is, where and how it happens, and why we need to be concerned about it. Gives a concrete overview of theory and practice, and focuses on real outcomes.
Leading Communities With Love. Focuses on the motivations of movements within themselves and how those affect social change. Use practical tools to uncover your beliefs and real case studies to move your action to the next level!
Connecting to
Constituents. Participants learn hands-on tools for engagement. They study different approaches to making a difference, and identify new opportunities for deeper impact.
Engaging Communities
as Allies, Not Enemies. Explores specific
circumstances of reaching across the aisles between schools and communities to build alliances, establish collaborations, and deepen relationships in order to promote school improvement. Concrete examples and real experience are used to highlight research-driven tools that can be used in any setting.
Moving From Apathy to Solidarity. Participants in this workshop explore different perceptions teachers, administrators, school support staff, and others have of the students they serve. They then explore different ways to transform those perceptions, and what to do when transformation does not happen.
Advanced Student
Leadership Training. Focused on engaging traditionally dis-engaged student leaders. Students and adults who are ready to
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change the world learn the skills, issues, and pathways schools can take towards student leadership, and different ways student leadership can change the lives of students, adults, and the world.
Student-Driven Classroom Learning. Participants in this workshop learn the basics of Meaningful Student Involvement, and then discover who to engage students as partners throughout the learning process. Can focus on subject-areas or keep a general lens for all grade levels.
Equity, Not Equality: REAL
Student/Adult Partnerships. Focuses on relationships between young people and adults. Moving adults from seeing students as the passive recipients of adult decision-making, this workshop teaches practical, concrete pathways to form partnerships between young
people and adults at home, in schools, within communities, and throughout our society.
Intro to Student Voice. Participants in this workshop learn that student voice is any expression of any learner about any education topic anywhere all the time. Students and adults in this workshop learn how to harness the power of student voice to create effective, sustainable change in the lives of young people and throughout our communities.
Moving Beyond Voice. This workshop is an advanced session for practitioners to study the Cycle of Engagement and how it can be used throughout their lives, programs, organizations, and communities. Participants examine assumptions, critically assess activities, and plan for future action.
How to Work with
Students. Training for
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teachers, administrators, and other adults who support students in schools. This workshop maximizes decades of research and experience working with students to support adults becoming allies with children and youth. Adult participants learn practical skills, important issues, and key considerations to successfully working with young people. Barriers are directly addressed, and resources are shared to ensure participant effectiveness in their own settings.
Learning through Service. This workshop shows how activism, organizing, community service, and social change are powerful ways to engage students in learning practical classroom goals. This workshop engages teachers, youth workers, and students in learning about service, reflection, meeting
community needs, and building powerful agents for social change through learning and teaching.
New Roles for Students
Throughout Education. Participants explore the cultural shifts happening as students access technology and personalized learning. The world they live in is changing, and because of that the institutions that serve them must change, too. Explore those expectations and identifies powerful, effective ways to engage young people.
Student-Led Action. This workshop explores different ways to engage young people in creative, sustainable, and effective social change. Includes concrete planning, recruitment, and evaluation activities.
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SKILL BUILDING WORKSHOPS These workshops provide basic skill-building opportunities for participants to identify and explore what they know and need to know, and then challenges them to go to the next level.
Intro to Engagement
Introduction to Service Learning
Introduction to Community Involvement
Introduction to Student-Inclusive School Change
Teaching or Facilitating?
How Educators can Partner with Students
How Schools can Partner with Parents
How Schools can Partner with Education Agencies
How Schools can Partner with Nonprofits
Ready for School Change
Breaking Stereotypes
Examining Media Bias
Be Who You Are
Words as Weapons and Tools
Short Listening Activities
Feedback Techniques
Jargon Flags
Power, Trust, and Respect
Ground Rules
Group Strengths and Weaknesses
The Silent Circle
Group Appreciations
It’s in the Bag
Problem Solving 101
Probing for Problems
Planning For Roadblocks
Letting Go & Taking Charge
Ideal Partners
Creating Roles in Learning for Community Members
Teambuilding in Schools All our workshops can be customized for audiences ages 8 to 80, and we can accommodate group sizes from four to four hundred. Contact our office for more information.
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SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS CommonAction staff have written more than 100 publications for a education, nonprofit, and government clients. Textbooks, curriculum, introductory guides, and program manuals form the core of our tools. We also write articles for magazines and websites, activity guides, a popular blog, and maintain active Twitter feeds.
The Complete Guide to Meaningful Student Involvement. Examining his decade of experience in school reform focused on student voice and engagement, internationally-recognized expert Adam Fletcher lays a concrete framework for practice. This series of essays details a radical vision for students to become engaged throughout the education system, and gives practical examples and next steps for action. (est. 250 pgs, forthcoming)
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Meaningful Student
Involvement: Guide to
Students as Partners in
School Change. Highlighting a practical framework, this Guide is all about engaging students throughout education. Anyone interested in student voice, student empowerment, student engagement, or building community in schools. Written by Adam Fletcher. (28 pgs, 2005)
Stories of Meaningful Student Involvement. A collection of examples of meaningful student involvement in action in schools. Anecdotes illustrate various approaches to engaging student voice in school by exploring the applications in dozens of diverse schools. Written by Adam Fletcher. (40 pgs, 2004)
Meaningful Student
Involvement Research Guide. Gives advocates a “leg up” in their research.
Highlights 14 research studies and includes a useful listing of research available. Written by Adam Fletcher. (36 pgs, 2004)
Meaningful Student
Involvement Resource Guide. Provides descriptions and annotations for dozens of tools supporting student voice throughout education. Written by Adam Fletcher. (35 pgs, 2003)
Meaningful Student
Involvement Guide to
Inclusive School Change. A brief introduction to creating opportunities for student-inclusive school change in all grade levels. In numerous sections this publication explores the background, benefits, and applications of student voice in a variety of settings across the US. Written by Adam Fletcher. (24 pgs, 2003)
Meaningful Student
Involvement Evaluation Toolkit. A set of qualitative
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and quantitative tools that can be used as pre- and post-activity evaluation tools on student voice for K-12 learning environments. Designed to be used by students and adults. Written by Adam Fletcher. (50 pgs, 2011)
Student Voice and Bullying. A white paper focused on bullying, this paper was originally published by ASCD on their Whole Child blog. Provides insight and possibilities for engaging students as partners in solving bullying. (10 pgs, 2012)
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CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS CommonAction is offers a certification program for educators designed to provide high-quality, engagement-focused learning for students. Certification is good for one school year and includes the most up-to-date materials and technical assistance.
SoundOut Student Voice Curriculum Imagine a school...Where students are equal partners in school reform efforts; where students and adults work together to improve learning, teaching, and leadership throughout education; where student voice is seen as a key to successful transformation. THIS is the SoundOut Student Voice Curriculum! SoundOut provides a unique, engaging, and powerful curriculum JUST FOR YOUR class. Comprised of eight modules, each with three 50-minute lesson plans, the curriculum is focused on engaging students as partners in improving schools. Each lesson plan is designed to engage diverse high school students with highly interactive
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critical thinking, communication, and project-based learning activities. The modules include Learning about Learning; Learning about Education; Learning about School Change; Students as Researchers; Students as Planners; Students as Teachers; Students as Evaluators; Students as Decision-Makers; and Students as Advocates. Each module teaches students about the process of learning, the education system, and school reform, centering the role of student voice in all of those activities. In addition to the lesson plans, the curriculum comes with handouts, a facilitator’s guide, and access to an online resource collection that supplements the lessons. Implemented with more than 1,000 students across the US, Australia, and the UK, the SoundOut has been certified by the Children’s Trust of Miami/Dade County as a research-proven best practice. It was designed for students in grades 8-12. It can be used in a variety of settings, including Leadership classes, Service-learning requirements, School improvement teams, Student governments, Advisory periods, Social science courses, and Self-directed learning programs. Written by Adam Fletcher, founder and director of SoundOut, the curriculum is research-driven, student-tested, and school improvement-focused.
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Past Education Clients and
Collaborators Academy for Educational Development
Action For Healthy Kids
Alberta Ministry of Education
Arizona Department of Education Coordinated School Health Program
Boston Public Schools Student Engagement Advisory Council
Carnegie Corporation
Caroline High School
Catalyst Miami/Human Services Coalition of Miami-Dade County
Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education
Colfax High School
College Success Foundation
Communities for Learning/Learner-Centred Initiatives, Inc.
Community Academy of Science and Health
Connect Magazine
Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform
Cypress Creek Elementary School
Dayton High School
EarthForce
Engineering School
ESD 123 21st Century Learning Centers
Evergreen High School
Evergreen Public Schools
Franklin High School
Friday Harbor High School
Generation YES Foundation
Genesee Valley BOCES
Grantmaker's Forum on Community and National Service
Grantmaker's Forum on Education
Harbor High School
Harvard University Graduate School on Education
Harwood Union High School
Healthy Schools Summit
HumanLinks Foundation
Institute for Democratic Education in America
Langley Middle School
Lewis and Clark High School
Lewis and Clark Middle School
Monument High School
National School Board Association
New Horizons for Learning
New York State Student Support Services Center
Olympia Free School
Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES
Onondaga-Cortland-Madison Counties BOCES
Oswego County BOCES
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Patchwork School
Pinnacle Charter School
Puget Sound Educational Service District
Ridgeview Elementary School
Roosevelt High School
Santa Barbara County Service Learning Initiative
Schenectady Public Schools
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) Office of Equity and Race Relations
SPS Small Learning Environments Conference
SPS Youth Engagement Zone
Secondary Academy for Success
Service Learning Seattle
Small Schools Project
Social Justice Academy
Spanaway Elementary School
Students Taking Charge
Sumner School District
Suncoast EarthForce
University of Indianapolis Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning
University of Washington College of Education
University of Washington GEAR UP Program
Vashon Island Student Link Alternative School
Vermont Principal's Association
Vermont State Department of Education HIV/AIDs Program
Washington State Higher Education Coordinating Board GearUP Program
Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Washington State OSPI Learn and Serve America Program
Washington State OSPI School Improvement Program
Washington State OSPI Title V and Innovative Programs
Washington State University Center for Bridging the Digital Divide
White River High School
Wishkah Valley High School
Yakima Public Schools
Youth and Adults Transforming Schools Together
Youth On Board
Costs and Scheduling For a complete price sheet, scheduling details, and more information please contact our office. Address CommonAction PO Box 6185 Olympia, WA 98507-6185 USA Email [email protected] Phone Adam Fletcher (360) 489-9680