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Fourth Annual
State-of-the-Research Conference
of the Achievement
Gap Initiative at Harvard University
GETTING IT DONE:
Raising Achievement and Closing
Gaps in Whole School Systems:
Recent Advances in Research and
Practice
This conference is made possible by the financial
support of the
Guinness Family Foundation and the Harvard Graduate School of
Education
Askwith Lecture Hall, Longfellow
Hall at the Harvard Graduate School of Education
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm
on June 16
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 pm
on June 17
Description
Major progress in raising achievement and narrowing gaps
will require excellent school districts, not just a few exemplary schools.
The June 2008 conference will be a two-day workshop focused on the practical
challenges of raising achievement levels and narrowing gaps in whole school
districts. Presentations and
discussions will distill lessons from research and practice for
superintendents, school boards, district level administrators, civic leaders
and others. Speakers will be experts
who have studied or implemented school or district improvement efforts and who,
based on their work, can contrast and compare alternative approaches. Each
speaker will be asked to do three things: (1) draw key lessons from their own
work; (2) respond to a set of conference themes; and (3) suggest some specific
types of tools that need to be created or more widely disseminated (e.g., templates,
protocols, blueprints for organizational structures). Following the conference,
AGI staff and consultants will distill conference themes and work with partners
to disseminate ideas and follow through on some of the ideas that emerge from
the workshop. Some of the latter will be tailored to specific school districts
that agree to be demonstration sites. Like all AGI conference presentations
in the past, presentation materials and videos from the conference will be
posted for the general public on the AGI web site.
AGENDA
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Monday June 16
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| 8:30 – 10:00 |
Registration and Continental Breakfast
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10:00 – 10:20 |
Opening
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10:20 – 12:00 |
Conceptualizing Whole-District
Strategic Reform |
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Presenters:
Stacey
Childress, Harvard Business School, Public Ed.
Leadership Program
Ellen
Foley,
Brown University, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
David
Sigler, Brown University, Annenberg Institute for School Reform
Nelson
Gonzalez, Stupski Foundation
June Rimmer, Stupski Foundation
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Discussants:
Thomas
Payzant, Harvard Graduate School of Education (Former
Superintendent, Boston, MA)
Jason Snipes, Council of Great City Schools
Katherine
Boles, Harvard Graduate
School of Education
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12:00 – 1:15 |
Lunch
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1:30 – 3:00 |
Raising Achievement
and Narrowing Gaps in Montgomery County, MD
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Presenters from Montgomery County:
Frieda Lacey, Deputy
Superintendent of Schools
Jamie Virga, Associate Superintendent, Organizational
Development
Carole Working, Principal, Quince Orchard High School
Heath Morrison,
Community Superintendent
Adrian Talley, Community Superintendent |
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Discussants:
Mica
Pollock, Harvard Graduate School of Education
John
Diamond,
Harvard Graduate School of Education
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3:00 – 3:30 |
Break
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3:30 – 5:00 |
Using Data to
Change District Culture in Boston, MA |
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Presenters:
Elizabeth City, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Mary
Russo, Principal, Murphy Elementary School
Mary Skipper, Principal,
Tech Boston Academy High School |
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Discussants:
Duncan
Chaplin, Mathematica Policy Research
Thomas
Payzant, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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| 5:00 – 6:00 |
Reception
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Tuesday, June 17
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9:00 – 10:20 |
Raising Achievement
and Narrowing Gaps in Richmond, VA
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Presenters from Richmond:
Deborah
Jewell-Sherman, Superintendent
Victoria
Oakley, Director of Instruction
Yvonne
Brandon, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction
Michael Kight,
Principal, Albert Hill Middle School |
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Discussants:
Robert
Peterkin, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Seth Reynolds, Parthenon Group
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10:20 – 10:40 |
Break
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10:40 – 12:00 |
Setting District-Level
Conditions for Successful Turnarounds |
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Presenters:
LeAnn
Buntrock, University of Virginia, Darden/Curry
Partnership for Leaders in Education
Andrew
Calkins, Mass Insight Education & Research
Institute |
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Discussants:
Tony
Wagner,
Harvard Graduate School of Education
James Connell, Institute for Research and Reform in
Education
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12:00 – 1:00 |
Lunch
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1:00 – 2:20 |
Current Efforts in
Suburban School Districts
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Presenters from
Lexington MA:
Paul Ash, Superintendent, Lexington, MA
Vito A. LaMura, Lexington Teachers Association, Past President
Steven Flynn, Principal, Jonas Clarke Middle School |
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Presenters from Brookline, MA:
William Lupini, Superintendent
Jennifer Fischer-Mueller, Assistant
Superintendent
David Summergrad, Principal, Runkle School |
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Discussants:
Stacey
Childress, Harvard Business School, Public Ed. Leadership Program
Yvonne Allen, District Project Coordinator for Achievement Initiatives,
Shaker Heights School District, OH
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| 2:20 - 2:40 |
Break
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2:40 – 3:45 |
Wrap Up: What is
the State of the Field? |
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Panelists:
Janet Quint, MDRC
James
Connell, Institute for Research and Reform in Education
Jason Snipes,
Council of Great City Schools
Richard
Murnane, Harvard Graduate
School of Education
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3:45 – 4:00 |
Closing Comments |
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Ronald
Ferguson, AGI Co-Chair and Director |
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