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NBC's "Education Nation" Summit
NBC NEWS ANNOUNCES SERIES OF PANEL SESSIONS AND CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS FOR SEPTEMBER "EDUCATION NATION" SUMMIT
Panelists include Reed Hastings, Founder & CEO of Netflix; Michelle Rhee, Chancellor, District of Columbia Public School System of Washington, D.C.; Musician John Legend; Former US Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings; and Randi Weingarten, President of American Federation of Teachers
New York, NY - September 13 - NBC News' "Education Nation" Summit, the Sept. 27-28 centerpiece of the weeklong "Education Nation" initiative that begins Sept. 26 at Rockefeller Plaza, will convene the foremost policymakers, elected officials, thought leaders, educators, members of the business community and engaged citizens in a national discussion about the challenges, potential solutions and innovations spanning today's education landscape. NBC News today announced the agenda of panel topics for the Summit, along with a number of confirmed panelists.
The Summit's 11 panel sessions will present discussions on important topics in education such as: workforce readiness; developing great teachers; technology and innovation; parental involvement; early education; higher education; and the politics of education. The "Education Nation" sessions will be covered on MSNBC and streamed on msnbc.com live and for delayed viewing.
"The state of education in America is facing a number of complex challenges. Many students are falling behind, dropping out and leaving school unprepared for today's jobs in alarming numbers - yet a sense of urgency seems to be lacking," said Steve Capus, President NBC News. "In order to spark and elevate a national dialogue we have convened an impressive 'Education Nation' lineup representing a great diversity of interests and ideas."
"The response we've received from leaders in education has been overwhelmingly positive," said Lisa Gersh, President of Strategic Initiatives at NBC News. "The experts we have convened at 'Education Nation' will highlight some of the biggest challenges and opportunities in education in this country, jumpstarting a national conversation about one of the most pressing issues of our time."
To date, confirmed participating speakers include:
Maria Bartiromo: Anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo" and Anchor and Managing Editor of "Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo"
Michael Bloomberg: Mayor, City of New York
Cory Booker: Mayor, City of Newark, New Jersey
Phil Bredesen: Governor, State of Tennessee
Steven Brill: Co-founder of Journalism Online
Tom Brokaw: NBC News Special Correspondent
Geoffrey Canada: CEO & President of Harlem Children's Zone Project
David Coleman: Founder & CEO, Student Achievement Partners; Contributing Author of the Common Core Standards
Ann Curry: News Anchor, "Today" and Anchor, "Dateline NBC"
Arne Duncan: US Secretary of Education
Byron Garrett: CEO of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
Allan Golston, President, US Program, The Gates Foundation
Jennifer M. Granholm: Governor, State of Michigan
David Gregory: Moderator, "Meet the Press"
Reed Hastings: Founder & CEO of Netflix
Lester Holt: Anchor, "NBC Nightly News," Weekend Edition and Co-Host, "Today" Weekend Edition
Walter Isaacson: President & CEO of the Aspen Institute
Joel Klein: Chancellor of New York City Schools
Wendy Kopp: CEO and Founder of Teach for America
John Legend: Musician; Founder of the Show Me Campaign
Jack Markell: Governor, State of Delaware
Gregory McGinity: Managing Director of Policy, The Broad Education Foundation
Andrea Mitchell: NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and Host, "Andrea Mitchell Reports"
Janet Murguia: President & CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
Michael Nutter: Mayor, City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Bill Pepicello, Ph.D.: President of University of Phoenix
Sally Ride: First Female Astronaut; Vice-chair of Change the Equation
Michelle Rhee: Chancellor, District of Columbia Public School System of Washington, D.C.
Edward Rust: Chairman & CEO of State Farm Insurance Companies
Gwen Samuel, CT delegate to Mom Congress
Barry Schuler: Former CEO of AOL
Sterling Speirn: CEO, Kellogg Foundation
Margaret Spellings: Former US Secretary of Education
Antonio Villaraigosa: Mayor, City of Los Angeles, California
Randi Weingarten: President of American Federation of Teachers (AFT-CLO)
Brian Williams: Anchor and Managing Editor "NBC Nightly News"
Confirmed sessions at "Education Nation" include:
Job One: Preparing America's students to compete in the global economy
The Innovation Gap: Bringing the technology revolution to the schoolhouse
Change Agents: How do we reinvent the status quo at all levels?
The Path to the American Dream: A survey on post-secondary education
Kids Can't Vote: How can the politics of education put students first?
Educating the Digital Generation: What are the roles and responsibilities of media in learning?
Good Apples: How do we keep good teachers, throw out bad ones, and put a new shine on the profession?
A Fresh Start: Leveling the playing field before school begins
Shrinking the Achievement Gap: Is education the civil rights issue of our time?
Study Abroad: What can we learn from the global leaders in education?
The Parent and the Village: Fostering a learning culture in our communities
NBC News' "Education Nation" will launch Sunday, Sept. 26 on "Meet the Press." Additional news coverage and programming airing across all NBC News programs and platforms will extend beyond the two-day Summit. For the entire week of September 27, "Nightly News," "Today," "Your Business," MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, msnbc.com and nbclearn.com will highlight educational success stories, uncover staggering truths and myths about education, and demonstrate how poor education cripples our economy and society.
In addition to the Summit, NBC News will turn Rockefeller Plaza into a "Learning Plaza," which will include a series of galleries open to the public to explore the latest technologies and techniques used in award-winning classrooms nationwide. Interactive elements of "Learning Plaza" include learning style quizzes, video teacher tributes, interactive learning stations, and a "Call to Action" center where visitors can discover ways to take part in improving education. Also open to the public will be an interactive "Teaching Garden," which teaches children about the importance of good nutrition and physical fitness through hands-on participation.
For more information visit EducationNation.com, or follow on twitter @EducationNation or find "Education Nation" on Facebook at Facebook.com/EducationNation
Comments (36)
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Thanks for posting this,
Thanks for posting this, Betty. Incredible that no teachers are listed. Seems like the panelists and speakers are all in the tank with the The Billionaire's Club's Guide to Ed Reform. (Aside from Weingarten, that is.)
What a nice little propaganda coup. The part that boggles my mind is that so many of these media conglomerates have test company interests that stand to profit from this market driven approach to ed reform. For instance, WaPo owns Kaplan, which helped earn enough to keep WaPo afloat.
Besides not seeing any
Besides not seeing any classroom teachers, I do not see any administrators that are close to the classroom (like principals, instructional directors, etc), teacher educators in higher ed (but they do have TFA), or noteworthy progressive educators.
I also saw that they give prominent attention to "learning styles" in the Learning Plaza. I hope they present ideas in the plaza that are actually based on sound research and not just the things that sound good...
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/daniel-willingham/the-big-...
Yong Zhao's Thoughts on the Summit
Here is a link to a post Yong Zhao (author of "Catching Up or Leading the Way") wrote about his hopes for the NBC Ed Summit:
http://ecologyofeducation.net/wsite/?p=2816
Another blog post commenting on NBC's Education Nation
Thanks for that link Jason. Here's another post I came across via Twitter. It's a well-thought out post by a teacher, Brian Crosby: An Open Letter to NBC News and Brian Williams. I wonder if NBC will respond?
Here's an excerpt:
"Do you see any irony in the fact that none of the “experts” (speakers) are teachers, students or parents? (Much less many of them?) Could that be part of the problem in American education that “sponsors”, corporations, news people, administrators and others have a prominent voice in education, but all the REAL stakeholders are, “thrown a bone” so that they can participate if they are lucky to be chosen based on their “application” so they can talk during a show at noon on Sunday during football and baseball playoff season? Gee thanks."
Here is a link to a post Yong Zhao (author of "Catching Up or Leading the Way") wrote about his hopes for the NBC Ed Summit:
http://ecologyofeducation.net/wsite/?p=2816
Dr. Milton Chen at the Education Nation Summit
Our own Dr. Chen will be attending the Summit and participating in a panel session on September 28th. I was sorry to see that his name didn't make it on this list of attendees circulated. I've reached out to our contacts at the Summit and will be sure to post an update if I learn more about who else is attending.
Superman Snubs the Justice League and Lex Laughs to the Bank
Here is a piece I penned about the NBC Education Nation & upcoming Waiting on Superman.
http://ecologyofeducation.net/wsite/?p=2862
Are Charter Schools Really the Answer?
As Waiting for Superman highlights charter schools as the answer to public education, we learn that not all charters are created equal. This story reveals some of the challenges:
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/09/harlem-village-academy-retaine...
Churning teachers
Thanks for the link, Sabrina.
As a teacher who taught both in charter and public schools, the point made about some charters "churning" teachers is a valid one. I taught for one year at an urban charter middle school, and was expected to supervise during recess and lunch, and work until sometimes 6pm. This meant no official breaks and at least a ten or eleven-hour work day. Even though I was in my 20s at the time, it almost killed me.
I'm wondering if any charter school teachers or administrators can speak on ways they have avoided exhausting a small faculty with extra duties and long hours.
Teachers please participate!
There is a way for teachers to participate. You can join an online town hall meeting hosted by Brian Williams. RSVP and get more info here:
http://www.educationnation.com/index.cfm?objectid=DC9A4C20-BE68-11DF-B09...
More Tinkering
There is little or no "reinvention" going to happen here, despite the conference tag lines. That list of folks is way too beholden to the system as it currently exists; to even consider a serious "reinvention" would take them far outside of their comfort zones. This will be a few days of highfalutin rhetoric around change that will amount to little more than a few featured sound bites on the evening news and more ideas for "tinkering on the edges." It's especially sad since we really do need a serious conversation around reinventing the role of schools and teachers at a moment of huge shifts around learning.