I used to, but now...?
by Forum Convener Deborah Meier
Dear friends,
My working table is a mess—piles upon piles of clippings and interesting articles to comment on. I watched a TV show today about pathological “hoarders.” I think that I am one—all the stuff I know I’ll want to use someday in the future.
When I started blogging for Education Week with Diane Ravitch I thought, ah hah—at last. I'll have plenty of time and space to say everything. But oddly enough it hasn’t had that effect at all. Everything connects with something else and eventually the pile is so huge I can't use any of it. What's such fun about education as a topic is that everything leads to so many connections.
In a way, this reminds me of the way a good curriculum develops. Almost any starting point can lead on to so many connections, and by the time we have to call it quits we’ve barely scratched the surface. It turns out that virtually everything is interesting, and that most interesting things find a way of reminding us of other interesting things, that in turn influence how we think...and so on.
TCEP Receives $300,000 to Address Latino/a Education Issues
Last month, The Ford Foundation awarded $300,000 to the Texas Center for Education Policy (TCEP), which is led by University of Texas Professor (and Forum Convener) Dr. Angela Valenzuela, for a 15-month planning phase of the Teacher Education Institute initiative to be conducted by the National Latino Education Research Agenda Project (NLERAP).
The Teacher Education Institute is a national initiative that will result in a more diverse and highly skilled teacher workforce equipped with best practices for educating Latino/a and language minority youth. As Valenzuela explains, “The Teacher Education Institute initiative is significant because quality teachers are the factor that most influences student achievement, graduation rates and college eligibility among young Latinas and Latinos. If we are to begin addressing disparities in Latino students’ opportunities to learn, we must focus squarely on our children’s teachers.”
Part of the planning process includes establishing five regional boards for the Southwest, Midwest, West, Southeast and Northeast. Each of the boards will be responsible for developing, implementing and coordinating local Teacher Education Institute efforts and providing input into a national toolkit. The NLERAP will foster multiple pathways into teacher preparation programs. These pathways will address the intricacies of local, state and national policies that perpetuate the undersupply of quality teachers across the Southwest, Midwest, West, Southeast and Northeast regions that have been targeted for reform.
“We will also generate a well-informed agenda and action plan for K-12 educational research that honors the participation of Latino and Latina community members, practitioners and university-based researchers,” Valenzuela said. “Based on this agenda, we can make sound recommendations to guide researchers, policymakers, educators, families and community organizations on Latino education issues.”
For more information on the Teacher Education Institute and the National Latino Education Research Agenda Project, contact the Texas Center for Education Policy at (512) 471-7055 or email tcep@austin.utexas.edu.
“The Flat World and Education: How America's Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future”
In her new book The Flat World and Education, Stanford University professor (and Forum Convener) Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond offers an eye-opening wake-up call concerning America's future and vividly illustrates what the United States needs to do to build a system of high-achieving and equitable schools that ensures every child the right to learn.
As former U. S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley puts it, ''We are so fortunate that Linda Darling-Hammond has provided this road map for educational excellence for all children in today's flat world. She thoughtfully emphasizes the basic strengths that we need in these changing times and then outlines what our schools must do to respond to 21st-century learning needs. Linda is one of the education researchers whom I most respect. 'All children' must mean all children and this book shows us how to do it.''
New York University professor (and Forum Convener) Pedro Noguera agrees. ''Linda’s arguments are sound, rooted in evidence, and unencumbered by the kinds of ideological partisanship that characterizes too much of current educational debates. After reading this book, one will understand why it was that Barack Obama, when seeking advice from the sharpest minds in education, turned to Dr. Linda Darling Hammond.''
To order your copy of The Flat World and Education today, click here.