Thursday,

November 3, 2005

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

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“No Time to Waste:

Getting Serious about High School Transformation”

Recent state and national data tell a compelling story. Student achievement in elementary and middle grades is improving, and gaps are closing. But the same is not true in our high schools. Gaps today are wider at that level than they were a decade ago. And our high school completion rates, once number one in the world, now rank 17th.  In her opening address, Education Trust Director Kati Haycock will review the latest results at all levels of education and talk about what we can learn from the experiences of schools, districts, colleges, and states around the country. She’ll also share stories from successful high schools, and talk about findings from recent Education Trust studies of high-performing and “high-impact” high schools that serve concentrations of low-income students and students of color.  Whether you are a K-12 educator, a college faculty member, administrator or a community leader, this session will give you ideas on the roles you can play in accelerating high school transformation in your own community.

Speaker:

Kati Haycock, Director, The Education Trust, Washington, DC

Thursday,

November 3, 2005

4:45 PM – 5:45 PM

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Honoring Session: 2005 Dispelling the Myth Awards

Each year, the Education Trust honors high-performing and gap-closing schools and districts from around the nation with its Dispelling the Myth awards.  These leaders are helping to dispel the devastating myth that poor and minority children cannot learn to high-academic levels.  Day in and day out, they remind us that we can’t turn our backs on our commitment to fulfill the true promise of American education for all public school children. 

Friday,

November 4, 2005

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Their Fair Share:  Lessons in Teacher Distribution

Teachers are one of the most important ingredients in closing the gaps that separate different groups of young Americans. Yet our systems of public education continue to assign low-income students and students of color disproportionate numbers of inexperienced and under-prepared teachers. Moreover, we don’t provide teachers the support systems they need to make them want to remain in schools that serve poor and minority students.  Our panelists – two superintendents and a longtime union leader – are among the country’s leading innovators on issues of school reform and teacher distribution and will share their ideas and strategies about how to provide well-prepared and well-supported teachers to the students who most need our help.  Moderator Russlynn Ali will also discuss the Education Trust–West report on hidden teacher spending gaps in California.

Moderator:

Russlynn Ali, Director, Education Trust-West, Oakland, CA

Panelists:

Barbara Byrd-Bennett, Chief Executive Officer, Cleveland Municipal School District, Cleveland, OH

Jesse Register, Superintendent, Hamilton County Schools, Chattanooga, TN

Adam Urbanski, President, Rochester Teachers, Association Vice President, American Federation of Teachers, Rochester, NY

Saturday,

November 5, 2005

10:00 AM – 11:00 AM

“Making Schools Work”

Hedrick Smith, a Pulitzer prize-winning former reporter for the New York Times and an Emmy award-winning producer and correspondent, is one of the country’s most distinguished journalists. In “Making School Work,” his sixth prime-time mini-series for PBS, Smith turned his attention to the schools and districts across the country that have improved academic performance for poor and minority students. His two-hour documentary tracks the work of highly effective schools—from a KIPP charter school in Houston that is transforming the lives of low-income Latino students to a high school in Kentucky that has found new ways to engage struggling students. Hedrick Smith will show highlights from the documentary, describe what these schools tell us about school reform and discuss what educators, the public, and parents can learn from the schools and districts that are reaching the children too long neglected by our systems of public education.

Speaker:

Hedrick Smith, Hedrick Smith, Executive Producer and Correspondent, Hedrick Smith Productions, Chevy Chase, MD