Major Education Conference to Focus on School Improvement 11/17/2003
From: Billie Spellman, 800-766-1156 or 812-339-1156, or bspellman@pdkintl.org; Lowell Rose, 812-333-7408 or lcrose@indiana.edu both of Phi Delta Kappa ST. LOUIS, Nov. 17 -- More than 300 educators will be arriving in St. Louis this week to kick off a four-day conference focused on school improvement. The conference begins Thursday at the Hyatt Regency at Union Station and is sponsored by Phi Delta Kappa International (PDK), an 80,000-member professional association of educators, based in Bloomington, Ind. PDK has invited educators and parents from across the United States, Canada, and around the world to participate. Walk-in registration is still available for area participants at the hotel conference center, beginning Wednesday from 3 to 6 p.m. Conference information can be obtained by calling 800-766-1156 or online at http://www.pdkintl.org. The conference theme is "Leave No School Behind: Challenges and Opportunities." A number of sessions will directly address the provisions and effects of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). In addition to sessions on NCLB, the conference will include nearly 50 professional development programs and give participants opportunities to hear prominent speakers. Keynoting the conference will be Mary Curtis Aranha, director of character education at the Maryland State Department of Education; National PTA President Linda Hodge; Claudio Sanchez, National Public Radio education correspondent; and the national 2002 Teacher of the Year, Chauncey Veatch. Phi Delta Kappa International organized the conference to follow the association's release this fall of findings from its 35th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public Schools. The influential poll found that a majority of Americans know little or nothing about the No Child Left Behind Act. Three featured speakers also will highlight the focus on NCLB: John F. (Jack) Jennings, director of the Washington D.C.-based Center on Education Policy; Lowell C. Rose, the PDK/Gallup Poll director; and Edward E. Gordon, a tutoring expert who will address the law's tutoring provisions. In addition, the 2002 Wal-Mart Missouri Teacher of the Year, Marilyn Wehrli, a language arts specialist in Mound City, will be the featured speaker on Saturday to talk about balanced literacy. The PDK conference in St. Louis will provide a forum for educators, parents, and policy makers to consider school improvement topics and to discuss NCLB and what the law means for schools. Phi Delta Kappa International, founded in 1906, provides service, research, and leadership in education. ------ PRESS PASSES: Media representatives may obtain a press pass for the conference by presenting their credentials at the conference registration desk in the Hyatt Regency at Union Station during regular conference hours. For more information, call 800-766-1156. |