Public Involvement

WebDialogues help to to engage the public in public policy. Groups such as the California Education Master Plan Alliance, and members of the Joint Legislative Committee to Develop the Master Plan, the The International Joint Commission U.S. and Canada, the U.S. Charter Schools, and the Education Commission of the States and others have used WebDialogues to share information and new thinking about emerging policies and practice with researchers, administrators, practitioners, students, and others. Policy makers and other groups can frame agenda, integrate the expertise of subject experts, solicit the perspectives of members of the public, and engage a wider audience in developing reports and planing conferences.

As one panelist in a WebDialogue on U.S. Charter Schools noted, dialogues can “help to bring clarity to the movement, consistency in the use of proven practices, and continued improvement in the educational opportunities offered to children." Read quotes from past dialogue participants about how dialogues help them become informed and engaged in the policy making process. Past public dialogues may be found in the Dialogue Archives

Legislative

WebDialogues and similar network-based communication resources bring new opportunities to policymaking for lawmakers and members of the public. Using these resources lawmakers can:

• Increase and improve direct communication at the grassroots level including practitioners, subject experts and interested members of the public including students;
• Hear new ideas, opinions, personal perspectives, and experiences that may differ from the views advocated by representative organizations;
• Increase the public’s understanding of the issues being discussed in the legislature;
• Take the "temperature" of constituents on issues affecting them; and
• Gain critical feedback from practitioners, and others, on the best way to achieve a policy goal, or on the efficacy of a proposal to achieve a policy goal.

Youth Civic Engagement

WebDialogues enable students to discuss issues or subjects important to them with subject experts and peers. Topics may address aspects of government, citizenship, and public policy, and may include lawmakers, providing students with direct and authentic involvement in the lawmaking process. WebDialogues provide a resource for students within and outside of traditional classrooms such as students in government courses, in special interest or accelerated programs, or who are home schooled. Read more...