The Iowa Department of Education provides a guide for community conversations, which several districts in Iowa have used to gain citizen input on high school improvements. The website includes resources for preparing to host a community conversation, a discussion guide, analyses of past conversations, and guidelines for building community partnerships. This is a solid reference for states and districts that want to open up a dialogue on high school reform.
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Background and Context
Educational transformation requires changes at the state, district, school, and classroom levels. By supporting districts in their secondary school redesign efforts, state education agencies must not only provide direction, but also gain a deeper knowledge of the processes of redesign by learning from the experiences of individual districts. This in turn will facilitate stronger state leadership in support of future efforts.
