Conference on data useThe Equity Network's steering committee is planning a multi-year effort to prepare facilitators to assist school districts in strengthening their use of data. A design team for the initiative, comprised of specialists in systemic reform evaluation and equity reform, met in March to plan a facilitator training conference, which will be held in Lowell, Massachusetts, September 15-17, 1997. The conference is designed for professional developers and technical assistance providers already skilled in helping schools with either school improvement or equity reform strategies.Equity CD-ROMThe Regional Alliance participates in a National Eisen- hower Equity Task Force that includes equity specialists from the nation's ten Eisenhower regional consortia and the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC). The task force met in April to design a CD-ROM that will include equity reform articles, professional development materials, and Web links to curriculum, and instructional materials. The CD-ROM will be distributed nationally to interested K-12 educators, teacher educators, and professional developers in late 1997.National CollaborationAlliance co-director Bob Mclaughlin and former Equity Network coordinator Joy Wallace facilitated a meeting, sponsored by the Northwest Eisenhower Consortium, to explore the merits of forming a regional equity network in that region. Participants at the meeting agreed to create a Northwest regional network to address issues related to equity and uses of data in educational decisionmaking. They expressed interest in collaborating with the members of the Alliance's Regional Equity Net- work steering committee and will send a cadre of ten professional developers skilled in equity or school reform to the Alliance's September conference. |
For more information about the Regional Equity Network
and its activities, contact Bob McLaughlin,
(802) 223-0463, Bob_McLaughlin@TERC.edu. Regional K-16 NetworkBuilding PDS PartnershipsThe Alliance's K-16 Network co-sponsored a conference on building professional development school (PDS) partnerships. The Regional conference occurred in May and was led by the Massachusetts PDS network. The co-sponsors included the Northeast and Islands Regional Education Laboratory and the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.The Regional K-16 Network, along with the statewide action teams in each state, is helping institutions hold statewide events that promote PDS partnerships and other forms of sustained collaboration between K-12 educators and higher education faculty. For example, faculty at Central Connecticut State University and the University of Vermont and staff at the New York State Department of Education are planning to hold summer gatherings to launch statewide PDS networks in each of their respective states. PDS JournalThe inaugural issue of a journal on PDS partnerships will be available in late summer. Journal editor Dr. David Leo-Nyquist of St. Michael's College in Burlington, Vermont, is preparing future issues and seeking articles for inclusion. Contact David Leo-Nyquist, (802) 654-2279, dleo-nyquist@smcvt.edu.
For more information about the K-16 Network, contact
Bob Mclaughlin, (802) 223-0463,
Bob_McLaughlin@TERC.edu.
For more information about the institute, contact Mark
Kaufman, (617) 547-0430, |