Though U.S. education has its problems, nothing's insurmountable, speakers say
Primary Topic Channel: ASCD
 |
|
|
|
In the spirit of New Orleans, a high school band, complete with tubas and clarinets, welcomed clapping attendees to the opening keynote session of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development’s (ASCD’s) annual conference March 15.
“We chose New Orleans because the city embodies a spirit of change. In the face of disaster, this city sees the chance to rebuild better and stronger—to reinvent itself. Like the challenges the U.S faces in education, there is hope, there is courage, and there are plans to make it better,” said Nancy DeFord, immediate past president of ASCD. DeFord has been replaced by Valerie Page Truesdale, superintendent of Beaufort County School District in Beaufort, S.C.
Paul Vallas, superintendent of the New Orleans Recovery School District, said that even though 70 percent of the children in Louisiana suffer from poverty, and the state has the lowest reading scores among 4th graders in the country, “we are a proud and courageous people, and we know that we will only become wealthy when we become a well-educated people.”
Vallas said the state has approved new math and reading programs for all schools this year.
In keeping with the spirit of the conference, Deirdra Grode, a seventh and eighth grade social studies and language arts teacher at Hoboken Charter School in Hoboken, N.J., helps her students understand that knowledge and courage can lead to positive changes in the world.
Grode was the winner of ASCD’s 2008 Outstanding Young Educator Award. She says she expects her students to “view the world with critical minds and be leaders of positive change in their communities.” To help her students accomplish this, she regularly exposes them to different perspectives and provides them with innovative service learning and character education opportunities.