Office for Education Policy Offers Free Conference on Challenges Faced by Schools

Courtesy of Georgetown University

William Gormley

Assisting schools with challenges they face is the theme of the fall conference sponsored by the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas. The conference takes place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Heifer International Educational Facilities, 1 World Ave. in Little Rock.

The conference is designed to educate policymakers, researchers, superintendents, post-secondary educators and personnel of education foundations. It is free but advance registration is encouraged by visiting the online registration page. Onsite registration will also be available, beginning at 8 a.m., if space permits. Professional development credit for attendance is available through the Arkansas Department of Education.

"We are very excited about partnering with Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest on this year's theme of 'Unlocking Key Challenges Facing Arkansas' Schools,' " said Sarah McKenzie, executive director of the Office for Education Policy. "REL Southwest is one of 10 Regional Educational Laboratories funded by the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education. These labs provide applied research and evaluation, technical support, and information and products to inform education policy and practice."

William Gormley, co-director of the Center for Research on Children in the U.S., will present the keynote address on Oklahoma's universal prekindergarten program, and Cory Biggs, associate director of ForwARd Arkansas, will discuss opportunities for systemic change in Arkansas. Breakout sessions will feature speakers and panels discussing research, practice and policy surrounding prekindergarten, rural education and diverse learners.

The REL program's primary mission is to help states and school districts systematically use research and data to answer important issues of policy and practice with the goal of improving student outcomes, McKenzie said said. These issues reflect high-priority regional needs that are also of major national significance.

The Office for Education Policy opened in the fall of 2003 and is based in the College of Education and Health Professions. It provides current national, state and regional education research to support state lawmakers and educators in thoughtful decision-making in PK-12 education in Arkansas.

The agenda:

Prekindergarten:

• "Research to Practice: Current Research Influencing the Field," Janice Keizer, research alliance liaison, REL Southwest, and Sarah Caverly, Ph.D., senior researcher, REL Southwest

• "Designing and Sustaining Accessible Prekindergarten Programming in Arkansas," Tonya Williams, director, Department of Child Care and Early Childhood Education, Department of Human Services; Jody Veit-Edrington, coordinator of early childhood programs, North Little Rock Public Schools; Jenny Barber, supervisor of federal programs and preschool education, Russellville Public Schools; Janice Keizer, research alliance liaison, REL Southwest, facilitator

• "Arkansas Prekindergarten Data Inventory: Mining the Data for Greater Understanding of the Field," Janice Keizer, research alliance liaison, REL Southwest

Rural Schools:

• "Rural Professional Development: What Does the Research Literature Say and How Can it Be Implemented in Arkansas?" Haidee Williams, Ph.D., research alliance liaison, REL Southwest, and Erin Haynes, Ph.D., senior researchers, REL Southwest

• "Teacher Recruitment and Retention: What Are Some of the Promising Practices We Can Use in Arkansas?" Bobby Hart, superintendent, Hope Public Schools; Chintan Desai, KIPP Delta Public Schools; Haidee Williams, Ph.D., research alliance liaison, REL Southwest, facilitator

• Policy Panel, Scott Smith, director, Arkansas Public School Resource Center, facilitator

Diverse Learners:

• "KIPP Delta - 15 Years: A Retrospective (Lessons Taught and Lessons Learned)," Scott Shirey, executive director, KIPP Delta Public Schools

• "Facilitating a Professional Learning Community (PLC) to Support English Learners," Jackie Burniske, dissemination director, REL Southwest; Kathleen Theodore, senior technical assistant consultant, Southeast Comprehensive Center

• "Policy Impacts on Special Education Identification," Sivan Tuchman, Doctoral Academy Fellow, Office for Education Policy, University of Arkansas