About National Institute for Educational Options (NIEO)
Nova Southeastern University’s Fischler School of Education and Human Services (FSEHS) established the National Institute for Educational Options in 1997 to further the efforts of K–12 education toward comprehensive school reform. A major area of school reform features ”school choice" as a means to improve academic achievement, further school options for parents and students, and promote school and business partnerships. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation of 2001 highlights this reform to improve public education.
The NIEO offers the Charter School Education/Leadership Masters of Science specialization which focuses on administration, leadership, and teaching in charter schools. This specialization provides students with training in the overall school choice educational industry, curriculum, assessment, managing and governing of charter school, public relations, and various other topics of interest to the charter school stakeholder. Course content is research based and infuses best practices in education.
The NIEO was also integral in the development of the new Doctoral Minor in Charter School Education Leadership. The minor in charter school education leadership is designed to provide an extensive overview of the history, legal framework, and maintenance and operations of charter schools. The FSEHS has a memorandum of understanding with various charter school management companies to serve the administrators and teaching faculty.
The Institute encompasses research, professional development and services for the following options, the newly refunded Voluntary Public School Choice grant called the Florida School Choice Resource Center and the school reform and associations support center:
- The Florida School Choice Resource Center (FSCRC) — this center was developed by the NIEO through a state grant from the Florida Department of Education. NSU-FSEHS is a cooperative partner with the Florida Department of Education for Florida’s Voluntary Public School Choice (VPSC) project, a five-year competitive federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
The purpose of this project is to assist the FDOE to implement, coordinate and evaluate school choice initiatives that expand and promote public school choice options for students primarily attending schools in need of improvement.
Priorities will include:
- expanding and establishing Parent Resource Centers (PRCs) in communities and neighborhoods that have many families with children attending lower-performing schools,
- assisting in the implementation of inter district or multi-inter district transfer models by enhancing inter-district school choice arrangements and expanding choice options for students to attend higher-performing schools at the secondary level, and
- establishing a statewide School Choice Parent Advisory Council (PAC) that functions in coordination with PRCs.
In addition, the Parent Resource Centers under the FSCRC were developed through partnerships with NSU, community leaders and school districts. These are "one-stop" resource centers for parents or guardians who want their child to get the best education possible; principals or teachers who want families to be strong partners in meeting the educational needs of their students; and parent leaders or parent involvement specialists who want to equip families with the right skills to support their children's learning and to be informed and involved in their children's education. The Parent Resource Centers provide parents, schools, and organizations working with families with training, information, and technical assistance to understand how children develop and what they need to be successful in school.
- Career Academies — this initiative furthers the efforts of the National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC). NCAC is a grass roots membership organization that promotes the use of structured academies (a school-within-a-school) at the middle school or high school level. These academies provide students with rigorous coursework in academic and technical areas, a team of teachers dedicated to their success, an emphasis on furthering their college and career goals, and a business community advisory group that fosters close ties to an industry which will "grow jobs in the community where the students will work”. These students have a required internship in the world of work after 11th grade. This research-based model of school reform has been evaluated as effective in reducing large school size, personalizing education, retaining students in school until graduation, and promoting college completion. NCAC and NIEO sponsor joint programs, seminars, and technical assistance conferences.
- Charter Schools — This initiative furthers the efforts of public school choices by assisting the Florida Association of Charter Schools Authorizers (FACSA) and maintaining a website for communication among charter schools and other forms of school choice in Florida. The Charter School Education and Leadership Master’s Degree Program is offered at FSEHS through distance learning. This is the first graduate degree program specializing in charter school education at a private university. Charter schools are public schools that operate with a "charter" from a school board or other entities and are required to accept all students. The schools are evaluated on their effect on student achievement and parental satisfaction. FACSA and NIEO co-sponsor a website, e-newsletter, as well as joint meetings and conferences, and also in assisting individual charter schools through mentoring.
- Magnet Schools — Magnet Schools of America (MSA), the national professional organization for magnet schools throughout the nation, operated its Business Office at the NIEO from 2000 until 2004. Magnet schools are public schools or programs that attract multiethnic students from other public schools in a school district by offering unique curricula or instructional strategies. They are organized around a subject theme—such as foreign languages, math and science, humanities, or arts—or an instructional strategy such as Montessori Education. MSA and NIEO continue to cosponsor workshops and conferences for magnet school professionals through the new Florida Public School Choice Consortium which is operated by the NIEO.
- MicroSociety® Schools — this initiative furthers the school-to-work national agenda and is a national research-based model for school reform. Created in 1967 by George Richmond, MicroSociety® is an innovative school design (kindergarten through eighth grade) where students create a microcosm of the real world inside the school-house. Each student has a role in running that world. All citizens earn wages in the school’s micro currency; invest in product ideas; deposit and borrow money from micro banks; and pay taxes, tuition, and rent. A national Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration model, MicroSociety programs of Florida’s schools are assisted by NIEO. The MicroSociety® annual conference offers graduate credit through FSEHS each summer.
- Small Schools Workshop (SSW) — This national organization which promotes the concept of small schools is housed in Chicago, Illinois and has operated as a professional development and research center since 1991, serving to promote secondary school reform in the nation’s schools. Dr. Michael Klonsky, its Director, was a Visiting Professor of Education at FSEHS. This professorship was granted to assist NIEO in its efforts to serve this clientele and to provide the foundation for the proposed Coalition of Essential School Center at FSEHS.
- The Southeastern Equity Center (SEC) – This center is one of ten federally funded USDOE equity center throughout the United States. The FSEHS is responsible for the development with SEC, of the Virtual Equity Center which is a unique feature of the SEC which services eight states in the southeast region. On-line modules are available on Web-CT, NSU’s on-line teaching course vehicle.
- The Florida Public School Choice Consortium (FPSCC) — this membership organization whose mission is to provide information and support to maintain and expand public school choice options in Florida. FPSCC promotes awareness of public school choice, benefits of diversity in public school choice options, assist member implementation of state and federal legislative school choice requirements. It assists members with evaluation and/or assessment of the impact of public school choice on student achievement. It provides members access to best practices and funding opportunities for public school choice options and is provides networking and professional development opportunities and resources.
NIEO focuses on the professional growth needs of K-12 personnel and stakeholders in choice programs & schools, private, workplace, and home schools, as well as public schools including charters and magnets for public choice. We offer a degree for leaders and aspiring leaders in the charter school movement.
A center for technical and professional assistance, research, and information on models of educational options.
We are aligned with the following organizations:
NIEO promotes excellence and equity, establishes linkages with other professional groups with similar interests, and establishes networking among educational choice schools, families, and the corporate community.
NIEO provides:
- Conferences, workshops, retreats
- On-site technical assistance to design, implement, and evaluate school reform effectiveness and the learning environment
- School Improvement Plan Techniques using current research findings and successful school models
- Strategies for school-community-family partnerships
- Publications: newsletter, monographs, journal and current bibliographies
For further information on any of the NIEO options, contact us at:
Dr. Judith S. Stein, Executive Director
Toll free: 800-986-3223, ext. 28742
Phone: (954) 262-8742 FAX: 954-262-3988
Email: stein@nsu.nova.edu
Nigel A. Whyte, Assistant Director
Toll free: 800-986-3223, ext. 25082 Phone: (954) 262-5082
Email: nwhyte@nsu.nova.edu
Web site: http://www.schoolofed.nova.edu/nieo/
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