Friday,

November 3, 2006

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Download PowerPoint Presentation

Anatomy of Success: Real Strategies for Closing Gaps and Raising Achievement

Every year, we focus on one thing at the Education Trust’s national conference:  closing the achievement gap that separates low-income students and students of color from their peers. In this year’s opening address, Education Trust Director Kati Haycock will set the stage for our three days together by digging even deeper, helping conference participants to unpack strategies that yield results for students, pre-K to college. We’ll look particularly closely at teacher-related issues, breaking down some of the myths that keep us from acting and exploring next steps in both policy and practice. Haycock will help us examine the underlying structures needed to support real change at all levels of education—the anatomy of success.

Speaker:

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

Saturday,

November 4, 2006

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Raising Standards, Getting Results: The News from Massachusetts

The state of Massachusetts offers a clear example of what public schools can accomplish with committed and sustained leadership and an unrelenting focus on setting rigorous standards and providing support to help students meet those standards. More students are passing the state’s high school exam each year, and the gaps between African-American and Latino high school students and their white peers are narrowing. In this plenary address, longtime Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll will talk about the strategies behind the gains and the work that still lies ahead to help all Massachusetts students achieve at the highest levels.

Speaker:

David P. Driscoll, Education Comissioner, Massachusetts Department of Education

Saturday,

November 4, 2006

2:15 PM – 3:30 PM

Download PowerPoint Presentation (Holzman)

Ensuring All Students Succeed: Real Causes and Real Solutions to the Gender Gap

There is growing public concern about the lagging performance of boys in public education and disparities in graduation rates at both the high school and college level. This panel of experts will examine the underlying causes of the gender gap and some promising practices to ensure that boys and girls are given the tools they need to succeed.

Moderator:

Richard Whitmire, Editorial Writer, USA TODAY, McLean, VA

Panelists:

Carlos Barbosa, 11th Grade Student, John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science, Boston, MA

Michael Holzman, Consultant, Schott Foundation for Public Education, Cambridge, MA

JoAnne Rodkey, Principal, Woodward Avenue Elementary School, DeLand, FL

Jabali Sawicki, Principal, Excellence Charter School of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY

Sunday,

November 5, 2006

2:15 PM – 3:30 PM

Speaking for Ourselves: One Community’s Fight for Educational Equity

To meet the challenges of the 21st Century economy, all students must leave high school with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in college. Unfortunately, too many high schools don’t offer students the basic building blocks they need: a challenging, college-preparatory curriculum. This problem has been particularly acute in the nation’s second-largest school district, Los Angeles Unified, where only 16 percent of Latino ninth graders graduated from high school having mastered the state’s college-prep curriculum.  Thanks to relentless and pioneering work by parents, community advocates and students themselves, the college-prep curriculum will be a graduation requirement for all students in the Los Angeles school system by 2016. Our speakers, who were deeply involved in the effort to transform the Los Angeles policy, will share lessons on creating a climate for change, talk about their continuing work to sustain this groundbreaking reform and offer lessons on how to advocate for meaningful change in secondary schools.

Speakers:

Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Executive Director, The Community Coalition,, Los Angeles, CA

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