The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement of today begins the first of many sessions of the Innovations in Education Exchange Series from 10:30 a.m. — noon in the department auditorium. This installment of the Exchange Series will focus on virtual schools, a growing and exciting movement in education.

Virtual schools, whether they are part of traditional public schools, charter schools, or through cooperative programs, provide students with innovative opportunities that can improve their education. Cutting edge technology and reforms give this movement the ability to push access to quality educational options and resources to a new level. The Exchange Series aims to study issues surrounding:

• how the first virtual school got started;
• what barriers stood in the way of implementation;
• whether virtual schools have become more "evidence-based" over time, and if so, how; and
• what lessons virtual schools can provide to other innovations.

The Office of Innovation and Improvement, established by U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige in December of 2002, is a nimble, entrepreneurial arm of the Department. The Office works responsibly and aggressively to identify and promote innovative programs that result in maximum learning and maximum impact. To that end, the Office also leads the movement for greater parental options and information in education.

The Exchange series supports the mission of the Office of Innovation and Improvement to make strategic investments in promising educational practices and widely disseminate their results in order to fulfill the legislative mandate of the No Child Left Behind Act.

The goal of the series is to encourage new awareness and activity around education innovation. The format will emphasize interaction among participants and facilitate peer-to-peer learning about innovation and ways to advance education reform. The audience will come from an array of backgrounds including practitioners, researchers, philanthropists, Congressional staff, education media, and leading thinkers in school reform and innovation.

A live broadcast of the presentation will be available over the web and will be archived for future viewing at www.ed.gov/offices/OII/pr/index.html. The U. S. Department of Education is located at 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC.

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