64th National Seminar

Recovery and Reform: Aiming for Excellence in Uncertain Times

Thursday, April 7

Exhibitor Set-up: 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. – ECC Foyer, First Floor

8:30 - 1:00 p.m.

Site Visits – Participants were registered in advance. Meet in lobby.

 

1:15 - 2:30 p.m.

Following the Federal Money: Stimulus and Beyond – Les Continents

Presiding:  Scott Elliott, The Indianapolis Star

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and its extra dollars for education are almost at an end. So how do reporters assess how the money was spent at the local level? And if you cover school districts in a state that was awarded Race to the Top funding, how do you track that spending? Education Week’s Mark Bomster sketches the current state of federal education funding and where it is likely headed in the future. Andy Brownstein, who writes about federal education policy for Thompson Publishing and was a consultant to a recent special reporting project on stimulus spending by the Hechinger Report and EWA, provides guidance on what to look for. Kent Fischer of GMMB goes over the ins and outs of how to ask for key documents from your school district.

New to the Beat: How to Hit the Ground Running – Pontalba Room

Presiding:  Liz Willen, Hechinger Report

Getting a grip on all the policies, practices, and debates that affect schools and colleges on the education beat can feel overwhelming for a new reporter. There are also the simpler daily quandaries such as deciding which school district to make a priority or trying to cultivate reliable teacher sources.  Inside Higher Ed Editor Scott Jaschik offers a short briefing on covering higher education. Julie Mack of the Kalamazoo Gazette offers advice on the nuts and bolts of education reporting, while the Hechinger Report’s Liz Willen provides insights into putting local stories into national context and covering early childhood education.

Associates Session: Using Social Media to Convey Your Message – Cabildo Room

Presiding:  Dakarai Aarons, CommunicationWorks

(Note: paid registration only) Twitter and Facebook have become essential marketing tools. But have you thought about webinars and other social media? Kathleen Kennedy Manzo of The Hatcher Group offers insights from her days as a reporter and her current communications career. Peter Panepento, managing editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, goes beyond the usual social media to recommend other ways to market your message, including webinars. Patrick Riccards of the American Institutes for Research, author of the blog Eduflack, offers tips on tweeting and blogging.

The Many Faces of Online K-12 Education – Poydras Room

Presiding:  Kathryn Baron, Thoughts on Public Education

Online learning is exploding in K-12 education, with new variations on the theme appearing all the time. John Danner recounts his inspiration for Rocketship Education, a fledgling California charter network that uses a hybrid approach combining classroom and online learning. Barbara Dreyer, president of Connections Academy, describes the philosophy of her company, which offers cyber schools around the country. And Julie Young, president of the Florida Virtual School, describes the continuing development of her pioneering online school.


2:45 - 4:00 p.m.

Providing Context with International Data – Les Continents  

Presiding:  Kim Clark, Money Magazine

The National Center for Education Statistics provides a wealth of data on international comparisons. In fact, the NCES receives more requests for information about international rankings than any other database. Dana Kelly of the NCES walks reporters through the different databases and how to use them. For example, you’ll learn how to look at international test scores, and compare U.S. results on those tests with American students’ performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

Story Idea Roundtables –  Pontalba Room 

Brainstorm with other journalists about new ways to cover old topics in K-12 and higher education. Bounce among tables addressing the first day of school, dropouts, leadership searches, remediation, and test-score announcements. Moderators: Denise Amos, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Dave Breitenstein, The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla.; Bill Graves, The Oregonian; Toni Konz, The Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky.; Julie Mack, Kalamazoo Gazette; and Ray Parker, The Arizona Republic 

Associates Session: Working With the Media – Cabildo Room     

Presiding:  Cornelia Grumman, First Five Years Fund

(Note: paid registration only) You want to pitch a story to a reporter for a national publication. Or talk to the editorial board of your local newspaper. Stephanie Banchero of The Wall Street Journal tells you what captures her attention. Denise Johnson, editorial writer at the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, walks you through how to get before her editorial board. Shep Ranbom of CommunicationWorks offers his experience in successfully pitching ideas to the media. 

 

4:15 - 5:30 p.m.

New Orleans School Reform: A Laboratory for Other Districts?  – Cabildo Room 

Presiding:  Sarah Carr, The Times-Picayune

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, state officials moved to dramatically restructure New Orleans schools. The number of schools in the Louisiana Recovery School District mushroomed, and charter schools sprang up citywide.  What have those experiments yielded? Are New Orleans students better off? Times-Picayune reporter Sarah Carr will ask Shannon Jones, executive director of Tulane University’s Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives; New Orleans Parent Organizing Network Director Aesha Rasheed; Margaret Raymond, director of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University; and Paul Vallas, superintendent of the Louisiana Recovery School District.  

Higher Education Budget Cuts: Magnitude and Impact – Pontalba Room  

Presiding:  Eric Kelderman, The Chronicle of Higher Education

The recession has hit higher education systems hard. State funding of higher education is at its lowest level per student in 25 years. Enrollment is climbing as the unemployed look for training. States are raising tuition and cutting financial aid, making college less affordable for financially strapped families. Inside Higher Ed Editor Scott Jaschik offers advice on aspects of the budget picture that haven’t been covered. John Lombardi, president of the Louisiana State University System, describes how his system is affected and what it means. Jon Shure, an analyst with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, offers his analysis of the landscape.

 

5:45 - 7:15 p.m.  

Special Dinner: Is College for All the Pathway to Prosperity?  – Vieux Carre A/B  

Presiding:  Caroline Hendrie, Education Writers Association

Introductions:  Gregory Taylor, W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Should all kids go to college? And what do we mean by “college”? Four years? Two years? What about other kinds of postsecondary education? Robert Schwartz, academic dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is co-author of a new report contending that too much focus has been placed on getting students into college. More emphasis is needed on preparing young people for other forms of training, he says. Education Trust President Kati Haycock questions those conclusions.

 

Friday, April 8

7:45 - 9:00 a.m. 

Continental Breakfast – Cabildo Room  

 

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.

Breakfast Briefing: The State of Teachers’ Unions – Cabildo Room    

Presiding:  Claudio Sanchez, National Public Radio

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association, discuss the implications of moves by Wisconsin and other states to curtail teachers’ power to bargain collectively, initiatives to evaluate teachers using value-added measures, and other issues facing their unions.

 

9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m. 

What Will Replace No Child Left Behind? – Cabildo Room   

Presiding:  Sara Mead, Bellwether Education

Congress is promising to take up the long-overdue reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, whose latest version is the No Child Left Behind Act. Policy experts review what needs and is likely to change in the controversial and far-reaching federal law. Rick Hess oversees the education policy program of the American Enterprise Institute. Former Bush administration education adviser Sandy Kress helped write the original NCLB legislation. Former West Virginia Gov. Bob Wise now heads the Alliance for Excellent Education.

College Catch-Up: Why Must So Many Take Remedial Courses? – Pontalba Room

Presiding:  Justin Snider, Hechinger Report

As much as 30 percent of college students have to take some sort of remedial course in college, especially in community colleges. Those courses don’t count toward graduation, and many students get discouraged and drop out. Michael Collins, program director at Jobs for the Future Program, describes innovative approaches community colleges are trying. Roy Flores, president of Pima Community College in Arizona, discusses why he has limited enrollment in remedial courses in the face of dismal passing rates. And Bruce Vandal of the Education Commission of the States provides an overview of the developmental education landscape.

 

10:15 - 10:45 a.m. 

Morning Break – ECC Foyer, First Floor


10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

On the Edge: Are States and Districts Headed Off a Funding Cliff? – Cabildo Room   

Presiding:  Virginia Edwards, Education Week

As America Recovery and Reinvestment Act dollars dry up, schools face tight budgets in the 2012 fiscal year. How many educators will be laid off? How large will class sizes grow? Don Boyd of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government will discuss the budget scene for the coming year. Karen Hawley Miles, president of Education Resource Strategies, will discuss how districts can manage budgets smartly to offset cuts. Geoffrey Nagle of Tulane University explores implications for early-childhood education. And Louis Freedberg, editor of California Watch, describes that state’s situation and offers guidance on ways journalists can cover the crisis.

Higher Ed Online: Fastest-Growing Kind of College Also Most Controversial – Pontalba Room

Presiding:  Sharona Coutts, ProPublica

Online education is booming, especially among for-profit colleges. Is that good or bad for students? Jeffrey Seaman of the Sloan Consortium lays out the terrain, including how fast the ranks of online students are growing. Shanna Jaggers Smith of the Community College Research Center relays her findings on the impact of online classes on low-income students. Wade Dyke, president of Kaplan University, will discuss how his company is trying to make online education good for students and investors.

The Path to Literacy: From Birth to Third Grade and Beyond – Les Continents

Presiding: Maureen Kelleher, Education Week

Learning to read is perhaps the most important milestone in a child’s life, since literacy is the gateway to learning across the content areas. But learning to read is not strictly a function of schooling. Research shows that children begin building essential literacy skills in the first weeks and months of their lives and must hit many essential developmental and cognitive benchmarks if they are to read well by the end of third grade. An expert panel –Don Hernandez, professor of sociology at Hunter College; Bob Slavin, co-founder and chairman of the Success for All Foundation; and Sterling Speirn, president of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation – will outline the early markers for reading success and release new research showing those markers’ link to high school graduation.  

 

12:15 - 2:00 p.m.

Lunch – Vieux Carre A/B

Presiding: Steve Capus, NBC News 

U. S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan provides his perspective on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

 

2:15 - 3:30 p.m. 

Are Schools Gaming Test Results? Investigating Suspicious Patterns – Les Continents 

Presiding:  Greg Toppo, USA Today 

More reports are emerging about institutional cheating on high-stakes tests. Why? John Fremer, president of Caveon Security Inc., a company that audits tests, says that with high stakes comes pressure to cheat. Heather Vogell describes the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s pursuit for two years of suspicions of cheating in Atlanta schools and the resulting shake-up in the district’s administration. Greg Toppo discusses how USA Today examined cheating by analyzing test scores, and found that few states investigate suspicious spikes in scores.

Evaluating a College Education: What Are Students Learning? – Pontalba Room

Presiding: Kevin Corcoran, Lumina Foundation for Education

The new book Academically Adrift contends that college students aren’t learning much, at least in their first two years. One of the authors, Richard Arum, describes his conclusions and makes recommendations on how to solve the problem. Charles Blaich of the Center for Inquiry at Wabash College discusses his research on how to tell what students are learning. Joe May, president of the Louisiana Technical and Community College System and a member of the National Accountability Committee for Community Colleges, will explain efforts by his college and others to provide students and parents with data on how much students learn.

How Are Unions Working on Education Reform? – Poydras Room 

Presiding: Alexander Russo, This Week in Education

Both the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers have reform efforts under way. The AFT has rolled out its Innovation Fund, which funds education reform efforts across the country, and Ann Bradley, the fund’s director, will describe those plans. The NEA has a Priority Schools Campaign, run by Sheila Simmons, which finances professional development for teachers taking part in reform efforts funded by federal School Improvement Grants, and encourages teachers to negotiate for streamlined contracts. Alexander Russo wrote a new book about the reform efforts at Locke High School in Los Angeles undertaken by Green Dot Public Schools, a charter network that works with unions.

 

3:45 - 5:00 p.m. – Concurrent Sessions

In the Trenches: Teachers and Principals Talk About Evaluation – Les Continents

Presiding: Elizabeth Green, GothamSchools

Debate about evaluating teachers continues to rage, but not a lot of that debate has featured teachers themselves, or principals either. What role should value-added measures play? Is evaluation meant to root out bad teachers or to help teachers improve? Lesley Hagelgans, a teacher from Marshall, Mich., participated in a national task force looking at the issue and now is working to change the evaluation system in her school district. Lori Nazareno uses peer review as a teacher-leader at Denver’s Mathematics and Science Leadership Academy. Principal Rene Lewis-Carter describes the Teacher Advancement Project evaluation model, which includes value-added measures, employed at her school.

Getting High School Dropouts In and Out of College – Pontalba Room

Presiding: Richard Colvin, Education Sector

It’s hard enough to get high school dropouts to return to school. But how do you get them into college? And even more important, get them to complete college? The American Council on Education’s Nicole Chestang discusses a major overhaul of the General Educational Development program run by the GED Testing Service. Laurel Dukehart, president of the Gateway to College National Network, describes her organization’s work to get dropouts successfully through college. And Diego James Navarro explains how his Academy for College Excellence is getting underprepared students in and out of college.

Covering Cases of Sexual Misconduct by School Employees – Poydras Room   

Presiding: Caroline Hendrie, Education Writers Association

Stories about sexual abuse by school employees continue to make headlines in districts around the country. How do you get beyond the “he-said, she-said” allegations and understand the dynamics behind such cases? Patterns and trends on abuse have been reported for years, but policies have changed relatively little, and educators who engage in misconduct can still move on to harm more kids. Kansas State University Professor Robert Shoop, a national expert on the topic, explains the legal loopholes and the ways administrators try to sweep the issue under the rug. Associated Press reporter Dorie Turner describes how her wire service connected the dots in a national package on the topic, and discusses how reporters might follow the AP’s example.

English-Language Learners and Federal Policy – Pelican II

Presiding: Claudio Sanchez, National Public Radio

Race to the Top and other federal reform efforts don’t always seem to focus much on English-language learners. Diane August of the Center for Applied Linguistics describes her views on streamlining reporting requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act and on incorporating multilingualism into federal policy. Rosalinda Barrera outlines the Obama administration’s plans for English-language learners, while Bruce Fuller of the University of California, Berkeley, conveys the results of a national review of demand for and access to early-childhood education among English-language learners and what it means for the future.

 

5:15 – 5:45 p.m.

EWA: 2011 and Beyond (Annual Business Meeting) 

Presiding: EWA President Dale Mezzacappa of the Philadelphia Public School Notebook and Caroline Hendrie, executive director

An open discussion of EWA’s changing directions.

 

Saturday, April 9

7:30 - 9:00 a.m.

Continental Breakfast – Vieux Carre A/B

 

8:00 – 9:15 a.m.

Where Do We Stand? America’s Ranking in the World – Vieux Carre A/B 

Presiding: Dale Mezzacappa, Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Reporters have heard a lot about where America stacks up with the rest of the world on test scores and other indicators, but what do those rankings really mean? Andreas Schleicher, head of Indicators Division in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Directorate for Education, offers context, highlighting socioeconomic comparisons, among others. Gary Phillips, vice president and chief scientist at the American Institutes for Research, offers a response.

 

9:30 - 10:45 a.m.

Story Lab: What Do Grades Mean? High School Grades and College Success – Pontalba Room

Presiding: Diane Rado, Chicago Tribune

Learn step-by-step how two reporters approached database projects that raise questions about how much – or little – high school grades tell us. Charlie Boss at the Columbus Dispatch compared average grades at every high school with college remediation rates of graduates, and Emily Alpert of voiceofsandiego.org found high grades at one school at odds with low test scores. Thomas Bailey of Teachers College will talk about the value of covering college readiness and the disconnect between high school and college expectations, and Elizabeth Laird of the Data Quality Campaign will clarify what types of data are available for others to pursue such projects.

Fair or Foul? Media Coverage of Teachers’ Individual Value-added Data – Les Continents  

Presiding: Stephanie Banchero, The Wall Street  Journal

The Los Angeles Times published a controversial piece last year on individual teachers’ value-added test scores. And that was only the beginning. While the paper ran into criticism, it hasn’t stopped other publications from requesting similar data from their school systems. For instance, five New York media organizations have formally requested similar data from New York City schools. Douglas Harris of the University of Wisconsin-Madison describes current research on value-added data and the drawbacks and benefits of using it. Sharon Otterman, education reporter for The New York Times, explains why her paper chose to participate and what it expects to happen. Jason Song, education reporter for the Los Angeles Times, describes the paper’s project and the lessons learned from it.

 

10:45 - 11:00 a.m. 

Break  –  ECC Foyer, First Floor

 

11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Story Lab: What Do Grades Mean? High School Grades and College Success (continued) –   Pontalba Room

Presiding: Diane Rado, Chicago Tribune

Teaching Teachers to Teach Reading – Les Continents 

Presiding: Dale Mezzacappa, Philadelphia Public School Notebook

Are teachers of the youngest students receiving the proper training to teach reading? Laura Bornfreund, a researcher at New America Foundation, says not. Too many teachers of kindergartners and first-graders are provided training that is a better match for later grades, her report concludes. Susan Burns, an associate professor at George Mason University, provides the perspective of a researcher who worked on the National Panel on Reading. Elanna Yalow, president of Knowledge Universe, describes the kind of training her early education organization requires.

 

12:15 - 2:15 p.m.

Awards Luncheon – Vieux Carre A/B

Introduction: Stephanie Banchero, The Wall Street Journal

The winners of the National Awards for Education Reporting are honored and the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize for Distinguished Education Reporting winner is announced. Alex Kotlowitz, author of the bestselling book There are No Children Here, provides his perspective on writing a narrative about the lives of urban youth. He also will discuss his new documentary, “The Interrupters,” about ex-gang members who try to stop a pandemic of violence in their neighborhood.