Influencing Public Policy through Collaborative Efforts

This paper discusses how the collaboration of several educational groups (the Illinois Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Illinois Association of Teacher Education, Commission for Quality Teacher Education in Illinois, Golden Apple Foundation, and Illinois Staff Development Council) has helped influence public policy. The group, which calls itself the Coalition for Induction Activities, hosted a statewide conference on best practices in teacher induction to encourage school districts to participate. Conference proceedings were published and disseminated, giving the group a voice. Another joint project was a conference entitled Collaboration, Cooperation, and Professional Development in which the groups emphasized their desire to share responsibility for continued professional development of teachers. Another collaboration involved ongoing efforts to address Alternative Routes to Certification legislation recently passed by the Illinois General Assembly. Six keys to the success of this collaboration were: (1) identifying common themes or goals, (2) stressing the equality of all participants, (3) ensuring clear communication between and within organizations, (4) taking small steps and addressing noncontroversial issues until trust was built, (5) choosing organizational representation carefully, and (6) spelling out all responsibilities for the groups, including financial risks. (SM)