MEDIA ADVISORY: Public Forum, Tuesday, October 26: Achieving Equity in
Education: What Can Schools Do?

TORONTO, Oct. 22 /CNW/ - The controversial U.S. education documentary, Waiting for Superman, has ignited a growing public debate about teaching quality, learning environments, and what we should expect from schools. You are invited to attend two important international events taking place in Toronto next week, which will illuminate these contentious issues and compare perspectives from Canada and the United States.

The first event is an evening public forum on equity in education featuring two of education's most prominent researchers, Ben Levin from Canada and Linda Darling-Hammond from the United States. Several hundred participants have already registered, including members of advocacy organizations, teachers, principals, senior officials, trustees, parents, union leaders, academics, and a contingency from the United States.

The second event  is a two-day colloquium bringing together a group of leading education researchers, policymakers, and administrators. This event is a smaller, invitation-only gathering that aims to surface effective ways to close the achievement gap and improve education in both countries. Participants include scholars and practitioners from Australia, Finland, Canada, and the United States. Although this event is closed to the public, members of the media can be accommodated.

For more details, see below.

Public Forum, Tuesday, October 26: Achieving Equity in Education: What Can Schools Do?

Speakers:				Linda Darling Hammond, Co-Director of the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) and one of America's most influential researchers affecting educational policy.
				Dr. Ben Levin, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Education Leadership and Policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE).  A leading authority on education policy in Canada.
				This will be a provocative conversation moderated by Penny Milton on how best to improve the education and opportunities for all children and also include Carol Campbell (Executive Director of SCOPE) and Prudence L. Carter (Co-Director of SCOPE)
Details:				Tuesday, Oct 26^th from 7-9:00 p.m., Harbord Collegiate Institute 286 Harbord Street, Toronto
Topics:				Teaching quality - What public policies might raise the quality of teaching? Do we have a shared understanding of what quality teaching even is?
				Measuring success - Do assessment plans like province-wide testing encourage or discourage students?
				Closing the gap - What are the cultural and socioeconomic factors that influence achievement in schools today?
				Comparing education in Canada and the United States - Since success rates of selected cultural groups are tracked in the United States but not in Canada, how much can we really know about equity in Canada?

Visit www.cea-ace.ca/equityblog for insights into the conversation.

A Canada-United States Colloquium, Wednesday, October 27- Thursday, October 28:

Achieving Equity Through Innovation will contribute to the emerging dialogue in education and include a prominent and provocative international line-up of representatives from across Canada and the U.S.

This event is designed for participants to hear from each other and participate in discussions to move effective education policies forward. Speakers include the Assistant Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Innovation and Improvement; the OECD Directorate for Education; the Ontario Teachers' Federation, Conseil des Syndicats du Québec, the Canadian Teachers' Federation, the National Education Association (United States), and a wide range of academic institutions.

Although the event is closed to the public, members of the media are invited to attend. For details on the colloquium, visit: www.cea-ace.ca/equitycolloquium

CEA is a cross-Canada network of influencers in the education, research and policy, not for profit and business sectors conducting research, generating constructive ideas, and sharing them with educators, students, and other stakeholders. 

SCOPE was founded in 2008 to address issues of educational opportunity, access, equity, and diversity in the United States and internationally. SCOPE works to develop a shared agenda of cross-disciplinary research, policy analysis, and practices that address issues of educational opportunity, access, equity, and diversity in the United States and internationally.

For further information:

Interviews with Public Forum panellists and colloquium speakers can be arranged with:
Max Cooke, CEA Director of Communications 416-591-6300 ext. 225 [email protected]