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2012 Agenda

Excellence in Action: National Summit on Education Reform 2012

JW Marriott – Washington, DC

Tuesday, November 27, 2012
8:00–8:45AMBreakfast Buffet
8:45–9:30AMOpening Keynote: Jeb Bush, Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education
9:45–11:00AMStrategy Sessions:

Strategy Session 1: Reaching More Students with Vouchers and Tax-credit Scholarships

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Whether you are an advocate of education vouchers for all or believe special scholarships should be reserved for students in failing schools, the debate on school choice is one that matters. States across the country are enacting new reforms and expanding those that already exist to ensure vouchers and tax-credit scholarships reach the kids who need them the most. Join these state lawmakers as they discuss strategies to keep up with the growing demand from families for quality school choice options.

Moderator: John Kirtley, Chairman of Step Up for Students and vice chairman of the Alliance for School Choice and the American Federation for Children

Panelists:

  • Conrad Appel, Louisiana State Senator
  • Algie Howell, Virginia State Delegate
  • Jason Nelson, Oklahoma State Representative
  • Bill O’Brien, New Hampshire State Representative

Strategy Session 2: Implementing Bold Teacher-Effectiveness Reform

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Over the past few years, states across the country have passed reforms linking student-learning data to teacher evaluations. Now, leaders have entered the critical phase of putting the reforms into practice at the local level. Learn how these education chiefs are developing assessments and evaluation systems in their respective states to measure hard-to-test areas and elevate educators’ professional development.

Moderator: Hanna Skandera, New Mexico Secretary-Designate of Public Education and Vice-Chair of Chiefs for Change

Panelists:

  • Kevin Huffman, Tennessee Commissioner of Education
  • Jill Hawley, Colorado Associate Commissioner for Achievement and Strategy
  • Dr. Diane Ullman, Chief Talent Officer for the Connecticut State Department of Education

Strategy Session 3: Accountability-Based Flexibility for School Districts

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Across the nation, crisis situations are giving birth to new, student-centered learning models. In the midst of challenging economic times and a national focus on improving the quality of education, a new kind of school district is emerging – one with both autonomy and performance-based accountability. Learn how some of our nation’s most troubled school districts are challenging a conventional structure to change the futures of their students, schools and cities.

Moderator: Dr. Paul Hill, Founder of the Center on Reinventing Public Education

Panelists:

  • David Harris, Founder and CEO of The Mind Trust
  • John White, Louisiana Superintendent of Education
  • Tyrone Winfrey, Chief of Staff of the Michigan Education Achievement Authority
11:30–12:45PMLunch Keynote: John Podesta, Chair and Counselor of the Center for American Progress, with Dr. Chester E. Finn, Jr., President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute
1:00–2:15PMStrategy Sessions:

Strategy Session 4: How to Prepare for Common Core Assessments

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The state-led transition to Common Core State Standards will change the expectation of what students need to be learning and is aligned with what they’ll need for success after high school in our changing world. The pressure is on for the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers (PARCC) and Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium to deliver new online assessments and for schools to build the technology infrastructure they’ll need to use those assessments. The Common Core transition brings individual opportunities for states but also challenges. Meanwhile, many state leaders are preparing parents, teachers and communities for the initial results which will likely follow new standards and assessments. Join this panel to discuss specific strategies states and districts can take to ensure everyone and everything is prepared to transition to these new assessments.

Moderator: Governor Bob Wise, President of Alliance for Excellent Education

Panelists:

  • Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction and Chairman of Chiefs for Change
  • Steve Bowen, Maine Commissioner of Education
  • Laura McGiffert Slover, Senior Vice President of Achieve
  • Dr. Joe Willhoft, Executive Director of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

Strategy Session 5: Transforming Colleges of Education

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Nine out of every ten teachers graduate from traditional teacher prep programs at colleges of education. Should these colleges be held accountable for the caliber of students they admit into their programs and the teachers they send into the classroom? Don’t miss this discussion on what can be done to ensure new teachers entering the profession are fully equipped to help each of their students succeed.

Moderator: Kate Walsh, President of the National Council on Teacher Quality

Panelists:

  • Dr. John Chubb,  CEO of Education Sector and member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 Education
  • Paul Pastorek, former Louisiana Superintendent of Education

Strategy Session 6: Charter Schools: Accountability and Funding

With over 40 states now authorizing charter schools, the potential for innovation continues to grow. Each state serves as a testing site for diverse approaches to approving, funding and maintaining the accountability of these unique public schools. Learn the best policies states are using to shape high-quality charter schools across the nation.

Moderator: Jeanne Allen, President of the Center for Education Reform

Panelists:

  • Todd Huston,  Indiana State Representative
  • Peggy Lehner, Ohio State Senator
  • Nina Rees, President and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
  • James H. Shelton III, Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of Education
2:45–4:00PMGeneral Session: Won’t Back Down Movie and Parent Trigger
 Shirley Ford, Parent Revolution, and Dr. Gloria Romero, California Director of Democrats for Education Reform and former California State Senator, with Campbell Brown, author and journalist 
4:15–5:30PMStrategy Sessions:

Strategy Session 7: Thinking Outside the School-Zone Box

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From coast to coast, states are proving there is more than one way to provide families with school choice options. Many are developing new strategies to empower parents with the ability to choose the public school that is best for their child. Listen to these battle-proven leaders share lessons learned and strategies to expand public school choice programs and remove barriers limiting students’ education options.

Moderator: Mike Petrilli, Executive Vice President of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute

Panelists:

  • Matthew Barnes,  Executive Director of Families Empowered
  • John Huppenthal, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction
  • Luther Olsen, Wisconsin State Senator

Strategy Session 8: College & Career Readiness

State leaders are facing a desperate call to action: just one-third of America’s high school students graduate with the knowledge and skills they’ll need to succeed in college. This tragic reality calls for rigorous standards and innovative policies, ones that incentivize acceleration and launch students into college or gainful employment. It’s time to give students the opportunity to advance to college or careers as soon as they are ready, even if that’s earlier that the traditional K-12 calendar allows. Get the details on what methods states are using to prepare our youngest generation to thrive in today’s competitive global economy.

Moderator: Laysha Ward, President of Community Relations and the Target Foundation

Panelists:

  • David Abbott, Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel at the Rhode Island Department of Education
  • Russell Armstrong, Education and Workforce Policy Advisor to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
  • Joe Pickens, President of St. Johns River State College
  • Kelli Stargel, Florida State Senator

Strategy Session 9: Developing and Retaining Teachers We Can’t Afford to Lose

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A teacher’s influence – good or bad – can have life-long effects on the students in his or her classroom. Hear new research on the teacher-retention crisis, and join the ensuing discussion on what can be done to develop and retain the high-quality educators our states need to reverse student decline and elevate the status of the teaching profession.

Moderator: Dr. Stefanie Sanford, Director of Policy & Advocacy, United States Program, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Panelists:

  • Tim Daly, President of the New Teacher Project
  • Christopher Cerf, New Jersey Commissioner of Education
  • Gary Holder-Winfield, Connecticut State Representative
6:00–7:00PMGeneral Reception
7:30–9:00PMDinner Keynote: Dr. Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Joel Klein, former chancellor of New York City’s public schools, with Dr. Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
7:30–8:15AMBreakfast Buffet
8:30–9:00AMBreakfast Keynote: Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education
9:30–10:45AMGeneral Session: Common Core State Standards

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Moderator: Governor Jeb Bush, Governor of Florida from 1999-2007 and Chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education

Panelists:

  • David Coleman, President and CEO of the College Board
  • Bob Corcoran, President and Chairman of the GE Foundation
  • Dr. William Schmidt, University Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the Education Policy Center at Michigan State University, Minnesota State Representative
11:00–12:15PMStrategy Sessions

Strategy Session 10: The Florida Formula for Student Achievement

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More than a dozen years ago, Florida embarked on a path to reverse a generation of decline in its public schools by forcing the system to focus on the student instead of the adult. Since then, Florida’s formula of high expectations for students, accountability for schools, choices for families and rewards for progress has yielded incredible gains in student learning. In the eight-year period prior to the reforms, graduation rates had declined by nearly seven percent, but since the reforms were put in place, graduation rates have increased by 20 percent. Education in the Sunshine State is now a model for the nation, inspiring leaders to strategically and boldly transform public education. Learn how Florida’s formula can transform student achievement for any state.

Moderator: Julia Johnson, President of Net Communications and former member of Florida’s Board of Education

Panelists:

  • Dr. Christy Hovanetz, Senior Policy Fellow at the Foundation for Excellence in Education
  • Dr. Matthew Ladner, Senior Advisor on Policy and Research to the Foundation for Excellence in Education

Strategy Session 11: Transforming Education for the Digital Age

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Last year, Digital Learning Now! released “The Roadmap for Reform: Digital Learning,” a guide providing governors, lawmakers and policymakers with the nuts-and-bolts policies to transition to student-centered education. Now, states are changing the face of education by introducing blended learning models that combine the best of face-to-face instruction with the best of online learning. Hear state and school leaders share what they are doing – and what is yet to be done – to harness the power of technology and provide students with rigorous, high-quality, customized education.

Moderator: John Bailey, Executive Director of Digital Learning Now!

Panelists:

  • Dr. Janet Barresi, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction
  • Dr. Mark Edwards, Superintendent of Mooresville Graded School District
  • Pam Myhra, Minnesota State Representative
  • Governor Bev Perdue, North Carolina
  • Chip Rogers, Majority Leader of the Georgia State Senate

Strategy Session 12: Recruiting and Retaining Great Principals

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How can districts attract the best principals to their schools? Once found, can schools keep their great leaders by offering increased authority over personnel decisions and their school’s budget? Learn new, proven approaches to recruit and retain the committed principals our nation needs to prioritize students and lead our schools.

Moderator: Dr. Frederick M. Hess, Director of Education Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute

Panelists:

  • Dr. Andrés Alonso, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools
  • Christine Campbell, Senior Research Analyst and Policy Director at the Center on Reinventing Public Education
  • Anitere Flores, Florida State Senator
12:30–2:00PMLunch Keynote: Mitch Daniels, Indiana Governor