The International School Choice and Reform Conference (ISCRC) is a global academic conference that gathers scholars who study various forms of school choice, systemic reform, and educational innovation. This includes scholarship on how school choice is enacted, the mechanisms that structure school choice programs, and both the direct and systemic effects of school choice and reform programs and initiatives. ISCRC invites researchers with multiple perspectives on these issues to attend our annual meeting. Some of the research presented and discussed at this conference might be supportive of various forms of school choice, while other research presented at the conference has a more critical stance. Some participants favor one form of choice while opposing other forms of choice. Conference participants are connected by the goal of using high-quality research to shed light on how school choice and reform policies actually work in practice.
The conference emphasizes:
- Both critical and supportive analyses of all forms of school choice. The ISCRC actively seeks to include all sides of the school choice and reform debate.
- Emphasis on high quality, data-backed research or informed policy debate. The Program Committee subjects all proposals to critical peer review.
- Concentration on what we can learn from international experiences and comparisons.
- An opportunity to attend a small conference where meaningful networking can take place in an atmosphere which is both academically rigorous and professionally friendly. All presentation sessions are designed with abundant time for discussion and debate.
From the graduate student to the senior scholar level, the ISCRC offers a unique opportunity for school choice researchers to gather in small groups. We accomplish this by keeping enrollment small— conference attendance is limited to about 150 scholars and practitioners—and including in the registration fee multiple meal and reception opportunities for participants to spend time together.
The ISCRC has grown into an important forum for the examination of diverse forms of education, including alternatives and reforms to district-run, traditional public schools. Its primary goal is to act as a means whereby scholars and practitioners can come together in small groups to debate and discover unanswered questions about school choice and reform and to identify areas of possible collaboration.
We hope to see you at our next meeting, which will take place in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Jan 13-16, 2023.
Anna J. Egalite and Angela Dills,
Co-Chairs of the International School Choice and Reform Conference
