The School Choice Roadmap with Andrew Campanella
This week, Dr. Dan interviews Andrew Campanella, President of National School Choice Week, the largest public awareness effort in the U.S. focusing on opportunity in K-12 education. Recorded in real time during the COVID-19 pandemic, today’s episode will help parents and families everywhere recently thrust into educating their students at home.
In addition to his role as President of the nation’s largest celebration of education choice, Andrew is the author of The School Choice Roadmap, a workbook for parents to understand education options. Andrew is passionate about school choice, education reform, and empowering parents. Today’s episode will enlighten parents and educators everywhere while also providing relief for the 40 million experiencing education at home during the 2020 pandemic.
Dr. Dan and Andrew open the show with a powerful discussion about virtual and distance learning:
During the pandemic, this does not look like “normal school” — but Andrew reminds us that our students are learning, are great with technology, and yes our kids can still thrive during this challenging time. Parents and educators can embrace the new schooling and lean in to this dramatic change with confidence.
Free resources are plentiful – especially right now – for parents, educators, and students; everyone can seek out for instant help
ALL parents should have confidence in their educational abilities – parents really do know their students best.
Later in the episode, Dr. Dan and Andrew discuss Andrew’s new book, The School Choice Roadmap: 7 Steps to Finding the Right School for Your Child, a guidebook to help parents identify education environments that meet their children’s needs. With the goal of informing parents of their school choice options, Andrew and the NSCW team work with more than 21,000 schools annually—along with thousands of organizations and homeschooling groups. Under Andrew’s leadership, NSCW has experienced remarkable growth, from 150 events and activities in 2011 to more than 40,000 in 2019.
All students learn differently. And many students need a different match for their educational needs. The new book will teach parents how to find the right fit for their student. Topics include:
What is “school choice” and why do parents really need an in-depth book like this one?
How can parents find out what their educational options are?
Once a parent starts searching for schools, how do they navigate evaluating their options?
What are some of the most common misconceptions about some of the less common forms of schooling, like charters, magnets, or online?
Andrew’s Parent Footprint Moment about education, learning, and his own family is honest, refreshing, and uplifting.
Andrew Campanella regularly speaks at education and parent empowerment events nationally. His education expertise has been quoted in or featured on CNN, C-SPAN, FOX Business, FoxNews.com, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, the Houston Chronicle, the Orlando Sentinel, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, along with thousands of local and regional newspapers, radio stations, television programs, and parenting blogs. In recognition of his work, Andrew was named by PRNews magazine as the Event Marketer of the Year for 2015. Prior to joining NSCW, Andrew served in senior-level positions at the American Federation for Children and the Alliance for School Choice. He grew up in southern New Jersey, graduated from American University in Washington, DC, and lives in Florida.