The Education Policy Leadership Consortium® includes

Kansas, Missouri, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Pennsylvania

2024-2025 Advanced Education Policy Leadership Program (AEPLP) Description

“Finding ‘Common Ground’ in our Educational Policy”

AEPLP Mission

The Advanced Education Policy Leadership Program (AEPLP) is intended to engage state education policy program alumni in collaborating with peers across state lines to further enhance the knowledge and skills that support the development, promotion, adoption, and implementation of public policy to improve educational opportunity for all.

PROGRAM GOALS 

1. To advance to the strategic level the knowledge and skills acquired previously in state-level education policy programs.
2. To nurture and expand networking relationships among senior fellows across the Consortium states.
3. To increase awareness of, and engagement with, education policy initiatives, and implementation practices in the Consortium member states.
4. To better understand the complexity of school district (LEA), state, and federal education policy development, implementation and impact.
5. To enhance strategic leadership skills and develop the political sophistication necessary to successfully influence policy development, adoption, and implementation at the local, state and national levels.

ADMISSION PROCESS

Advanced EPLP candidates will have completed a state education policy program or institute and will have experience in education policy issues, strategic leadership, and/or senior leadership roles. Invitations to participate in the program will be at the discretion of AEPLP state coordinators and will usually be sent by state coordinators on or before August 22nd, 2024. 

To be considered for admission to the program, applicants who intend to request employer support will be required to submit a signed Supervisor Authorization Form committing the employing institution to provide release time and remuneration for the program fee and/or the in-person Symposium travel and expenses. 

2024-2025 Program Structure for a Cohort of Approximately 30 Senior Fellows 

The year-long Advanced EPLP program will include: 

• Seven three-hour Zoom meetings held on six Thursday and one Friday mornings. 
• An In-person Symposium in Washington DC at a site TBD and to be held September 19 and 20, 2024. 
• The completion of a State Team Education Policy Proposal Project including State Team presentations to AEPLP cohort and to relevant policymakers. 
• Additional State Team meetings as determined by the State Team members and state coordinator. 
• Two optional Zoom sessions on 1) Preparing the Policy Project Proposal; and 2) Planning and Implementing an Effective Advocacy Strategy. 

Program Fee & Estimated Expenses for the In-Person Symposium

The program participation fee for 2024-25 is $1,750.00. The program fee covers the seven Thursday/Friday Zoom sessions and the Washington Symposium programming.

Transportation to Washington DC, hotel costs (currently estimated group rate is $219.00 per night plus local taxes), and all other travel expenses are the responsibility of the Senior Fellow.

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROGRAM

Understanding that unforeseen circumstances such as personal or professional emergencies or conflicts may require a Senior Fellow to miss one or more sessions, but anticipating that absences will be the exception rather than the norm, the following minimum criteria have been established in order for a Senior Fellow to receive a certificate of completion of the Advanced Education Policy Leadership Program. 

1. The Senior Fellow must attend the Symposium in Washington DC on September 19-20, 2024. 
2. The Senior Fellow must participate in a minimum of five of the mandatory seven on-line sessions, arriving on time and remaining for the entire session (with only minor exceptions permitted for late arrival/early departure). 
3. For virtual sessions, Senior Fellows are expected to have their cameras on at all times. 
4. The Senior Fellow must notify their state coordinator as far in advance as possible of any conflict that prevents participation in a session. 
5. The Senior Fellow must fully participate in the work of a State Team Project and will throughout the program year contribute actively to the development and presentation of the State Team’s required deliverables and the final State Team Policy Proposal.
6. The Senior Fellow is responsible for all travel costs incurred for participation in the Program with only the exception for the AEPLP group dinner on September 19 and group lunch on September 20, 2024. 
   

State Team Education Policy Project 

The State Team Education Policy Proposal Project is an integral part of the Advanced Education Policy Leadership Program and each AEPLP Senior Fellow is required to participate as a member of their AEPLP state team in order to successfully complete the 2024-2025 AEPLP. Each Senior Fellow is responsible for the completion of the deliverables required of their State Team. Additional information about the State Team Policy Proposal Project is provided separately in “Project Description” document. 

AEPLP Program Activities for 2024-25:

Content Theme: “Finding ‘Common Ground’ in our Educational Policy”

A.  Symposium on Federal Education Policy, September 19-20, 2024

• Thursday, September 19: Opening Symposium program and dinner (1:00 to 9 pm EST) 
• Friday, September 20: Symposium sessions (8:15 am to 3:30 pm EST) 

B.  Online Zoom Conversations (All on Thursdays except Friday, April 11) 

Zoom sessions will run from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm EST. 

1. October 31: What is the Purpose of Public Education? 
2. December 5: Balancing the Roles of Federal, State and Local Policymakers and the Tensions Between Policymakers and Education Practitioners 
3. January 16: Leadership for Promoting Civil Discourse 
4. February 27: Legal, Moral, and Ideological Issues Related to Educational Equity and Opportunity 
5. April 10 (Thursday): Senior Fellows present their team policy projects 
6. April 11 (Friday): Senior Fellows present their team policy projects 
7. May 1: Year-end Synthesis: Will We Find “Common Ground”? 

AEPLP Consortium: State Program Coordinators

Kansas/Missouri

• Tyson Elbert (Founder & Executive Director, AdvocacyBuild, LLC)
• Dr. Kenny Southwick (Executive Director, Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City)

Massachusetts

• Dr. Chad d’Entremont (Executive Director, Rennie Center for Education Policy)

Minnesota

• Dan Loritz (Senior Fellow and President, Center for Policy Design)
• Dr. John Ward (Senior Fellow, Center for Policy Design)

New York

• Lisa Davis (Education Policy and Governance Consultant)
• Dr. Robert Monson (Retired, formerly Senior Lecturer & Program Coordinator, Education Leadership Program, Teachers College, Columbia University)

Pennsylvania

• Ronald Cowell, J.D. (Founder & Senior Fellow, Education Policy & Leadership Center)
  

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