Enrollment Improvements in Oakland

November 16, 2015

Shannon FitzgeraldEnrollment Strategies and Systems Consultant

Agenda

•Welcome and Introductions

•What Work is Underway Relative to Enrollment?

•What is Common Enrollment?

• Common Enrollment in Oakland: Roadmap

• Clarifying Questions

• Small Group Discussion• How can you envision CE helping in Oakland?• What concerns you about implementing CE in Oakland?• What other questions or advice do you have for the implementation team?

• Next Steps / Call to Action

WORK STREAM 2: Citywide Public School Enrollment Improvements

WORK STREAM 1: OUSD Enrollment Policy & Operations

Owners: OUSD, Ed78, GO Public Schools, Oakland Ed Fund, others

Problems Being Addressed:

• “It is challenging to find unbiased information about schools.”• “It is difficult to apply and enroll in schools.”• “No one can explain to me why my child did not get into our most-preferred school.”• “My school had to let go of a teacher in September because my enrollment roster was over-inflated

and students got called in off another school’s waitlist.”• “It’s not fair that some schools abide by their own rules around enrolling and withdrawing kids.”• “It is not fair that some schools do not enroll kids who are new-to-Oakland after a certain date.”

End Goals: 1) OUSD Board Resolution, stating they will participate in a city-wide system2) Agreement from each Oakland-area charter school to participate in a citywide system3) Implementation of city-wide system (contingent upon #1 and #2)

Owner: OUSD

Problems Being Addressed:

• “My child travels across the city to attend school because our neighborhood school is full.”• “I think there should be an enrollment priority for kids who attend our neighborhood high school’s

feeder school.”• “The Student Assignment Center location is inconvenient for me.”• “The OUSD Options process is not fair.”

End Goals: 1) OUSD Board vote to change current policy2) Re-engineering of current Enrollment office3) Opening of satellite OUSD Enrollment Center(s)

2 Separate – but related – Streams of Work:

What is Common Enrollment?

COMMON APP Tools to help

families understand their school

choices

One application and lottery

One set of enrollment rules for all schools to follow

One public school assignment for each student in

Oakland

A unified system of application and enrollmentfor all public schools that maximizesequity, transparency, and efficiency

Features of Common Enrollment Systems:

• Collaborative approach• Single application used to access all public schools• Single best offer system• Central clearinghouse coordinates allocation of seats• Safe for families to reveal true preferences• Results can be easily explained and audited• Annual cycle with many entry points (not just one

lottery)• Demand-driven method of efficiently enrolling schools• Accurate enrollment data informs system-wide planning

What it is not:

• A one-size-fits-all mechanism (must be locally crafted)• An attempt to support any one type of administration

(district-run or charter)• An attempt to support any particular type of school• Prescriptive about education policy• An attempt to control or shape admissions policy at schools• An attempt to do away with neighborhood schools• About making computers pick schools for kids• A way to give everyone their first choice school• A direct method for improving schools

Common Enrollment In Oakland

What general questions do you have about common enrollment

as a concept?

Common Enrollment in Oakland

M JMA OSAJ A SDN MFJ JMA JFJ

WE AREHERE

2014 2015O DN MFJ MA

2017

Define the Problem

OSAJ DN2016

Create CE Blueprint

Get Feedback& Approval

Build CE System(People + Process + Technology)

Go Live!

4 Key Issues:1. Difficult for

parents2. Inefficient

school resource allocation

3. Lacks transparency & equity

4. Governance & structure

Overview Oakland’s Blueprint:• One application, one timeline, and one lottery will be used for all students and

schools

• Proactive outreach will be conducted to “transitioning” students (e.g. those entering kindergarten, middle school, or high school), providing helpful information about all public schools available

• Multiple enrollment centers will be available throughout the city to provide unbiased guidance to families

• One set of enrollment “rules” will be followed year-round by all participating schools

• Each student in Oakland will receive only one enrollment offer

• No waitlists will be used

• Open seats at schools may be filled with students who are new to Oakland or by those with an approved transfer request

Common Enrollment In Oakland

What questions do you have about how common enrollment

would work in Oakland?

1) How can you envision CE benefitting Oakland families? What about schools?

2) What concerns you have about implementing CE in Oakland?

3) What other questions or advice do you have for the implementation team?

Questions for Discussion

Next Steps

1. OUSD Board Resolution stating Oakland Unified schools will participate in citywide system

2. Individual charter school / CMO signatures on MOUs stating they will participate in citywide system

3. Implementation of citywide system

Thank You!

Appendix

OUSD Strategic Plan

2015/16 Improvements

• Options Guide

• Online School Finder Tool

• Common timeline for OUSD and charters

• School Expo(s)

• Others?

Implementation Timeline

M JMA OSAJ A SDN MFJ JMA JFJ

Gather Stakeholder

Feedback

Design CommonEnrollment System

Seek BoEApproval

Establish CE Owner & Governance

Build and Integrate Enrollment & Application Mgmt. System

Build Student Assignment Algorithm

1st RoundWindow

Run Combined Lottery

Notification of School Assignments

2nd RoundWindow

Transitioning Student Outreach

Support Families & Schools

BoE Support

WE AREHERE

Build OnlineSchool Finder

2015 2016O DN MFJ MA

2017

Establish Operating Processes

Staff CE Organization

Obtain Participation MOU from Each LEA

School Support

Community Support

<- Ongoing BoE Engagement ->

<- Ongoing School Engagement ->

<- Ongoing Community Engagement ->

SelectOnline School Finder Vendor

SelectEnrollment System

Vendor

CE Blueprint Design: Decision-Making Structure

STEERING

COMMITTEE

• 12 people representing various Oakland-area stakeholders (OUSD, charters, community)

• Meets roughly twice per month• Considers input from Parent Advisory Group and makes

recommendations to Executive Committee

PARENT

ADVISORY

GROUP

• 15 parents from diverse areas of Oakland • Meets roughly once per month• Shares ideas, feedback, and insight about enrollment and

school choices with Steering Committee

EXECUTIVE

COMMITTEE

• 4 leaders representing both OUSD and charter sector• Meets roughly once per month• Considers recommendations from Steering Committee and

makes final decisions

Charter Sign-on Will Require…

• MOU by June 2016 with clear terms including:• Voluntary exit according to MOU policy• Clear definition of OUSD and charter school deliverables (including SLAs)

• Common enrollment spelled out in district-charter compact with increased transparency and access articulated regarding Prop 39 facilities requests

• Shared governance structure with equal representation from OUSD and charter LEAs

• Annual audits by third party organization