The NEA, AASA and HOPE Foundation to Host National Forum on School Improvement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HOPE Foundation 812.355.6000, leadership@hopefoundation.org
AASA, Kitty Porterfield, 703.774.6953, kporterfield@comcast.net

BLOOMINGTON, IND. – (Jan. 30, 2013) – Educational leaders from state to school-building levels throughout the country will convene on April 12–13 at the Hilton Hotel in Crystal City outside of Washington, D.C., to discuss what is working in improving low-performing schools. The forum is expected to bring some 1,000 school and district leaders together to focus on three major areas: building a high-performing culture of trust; consistent implementation of effective instruction; and sustaining the success. "The U.S. Department of Education has spent billions of dollars to improve low-performing schools," explained organizer Alan Blankstein, president of the HOPE Foundation, and author of Failure Is Not an Option®. This is an opportunity to share what is working in this arena and to assure that the gains are sustained once the funding streams shift."

The National Forum will be structured to maximize sharing among participants while providing state-of-the-art information about effective practices underway. Key topics include: The Nuts and Bolts of Title One, Anatomy of a School Turnaround, and The Role of the District in Sustaining Success. "In addition to a stellar line-up of speakers and content to be covered, we see this as an opportunity to build on the Transforming the Teaching Profession document we and seven other national organizations crafted to guide effective collaboration," explained Andrea Prejean, director of the Priority Schools Campaign for the NEA.

Confirmed presenters in the National Forum include Deb Delisle, assistant secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education; Larry Leverett, executive director, Panasonic Foundation; Warren Simmons, executive director, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University; Michael Haggan, deputy superintendent for Innovation & Reform, East Baton Rouge Parish School System; Andy Hargreaves, Thomas More Brennan Chair, Lynch School of Education at Boston College; and Dennis Van Roekel, president of the National Education Association. Other invited speakers include Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education.

"We see this as an extraordinary opportunity for district and school leaders to connect with one another and with the best information available on how to work together to assure continued success for schools districtwide" explained Dan Domenech, executive director of AASA. In addition to AASA, the NEA and HOPE Foundation, supporting organizations include the National Principals Leadership Institute (NPLI) and Metro Center of New York University. For more information on the National Forum on School Improvement, see www.hopefoundation.org.

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About AASA
The American Association of School Administrators, founded in 1865, is the professional organization for more than 13,000 educational leaders in the United States and throughout the world. The mission of AASA is to advocate for the highest quality public education for all students, and develop and support school system leaders. For more information, visit www.aasa.org. Follow AASA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/AASAHQ. Become a fan of the AASA Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AASApage. Follow AASA executive director, Dan Domenech @AASADan.