PARC & ACSA
California school administrators and PARC researchers to envision the classroom of the future

About ACSA

Established in 1971, the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) is the largest umbrella organization for school leaders in the United States. ACSA focuses on school leadership, teaching and learning, and education policy issues — at the local, state, and federal levels. Among other things, ACSA plays a lead advocacy role on issues such as curriculum and instruction, assessment and accountability, and improving efforts to close the achievement gap.

The ACSA-Xerox-PARC Alliance

Every summer, selected California administrators spend one week at PARC immersed in its culture of innovation and exposed to its cutting-edge technologies.

Established in 1998 by PARC Vice President of Operations Dana Bloomberg and currently led by PARC researchers, the annual ACSA-Xerox-PARC Alliance internship enables program participants to:
-	observe and experience PARC's unique environment which promotes collaboration, innovation, and results;
-	learn about and discuss technology trends and innovation cultures;
-	exchange ideas and share insights with PARC researchers, among themselves, and throughout their educational communities; and
-	inspire innovation.

“The PARC experience caused me to look at communication, information, technology, and change in many different ways... I think the most important change was forcing individuals to look at ‘technology’ in the broader sense; the word does not mean computers but instead ‘using the computers,’ ‘using the right tools’ for the right task.” --Thomas Dase, ACSA intern '04

The alliance benefits are truly bidirectional. Alumni interns report that the program has altered their outlook on educational practices and their own leadership roles. PARC's ACSA program coordinators Luke Plurkowski, Marilyn Whalen, Bob Moore, and Peggy Szymanski say that the interns stimulate PARC thinking about the role of technology in the classroom, and how to address real educational needs. Plurkowski notes, "We want to learn from these individuals as much as they learn from us."

Indeed, these school administrators serve as the technology leaders and change agents in their school districts, as Dana Bloomberg points out, "so there's tremendous potential for us to learn from each other and positively influence our educational community."

Together, PARC and ACSA interns are envisioning the classroom of the future — and sharing concrete ideas for creating it today. Forward-thinking, fearless people who are willing to embrace new ideas are encouraged to apply for the 2007 internship.

“My experience at PARC was amazing. I loved the creativity and collaboration between educators and researchers...I was fascinated by their regular progress meetings, where a group or individual would share their project design. The group would then riddle the presenter with questions to expose the flaws or weaknesses of the design. The idea is not to bash the individual, but to create a stronger, more solid product. I love this concept and have been working at my site to create a safe environment where the faculty shares projects and curriculum and then take questions and input on their design. We are in the beginning stages of this, but I am excited at the dialogue it is creating and the direction it is taking our school.” --Richard Yee, ACSA intern '06