News
WCEC Session Two focuses on equity
November 29, 2011
The next session of WCEC focuses on equity, and features Finnish school improvement advocate Pasi Sahlberg, Director General of the Finland Ministry of Education. Member also will hear from University of Chicago Professor and author Charles M. Payne, Jr., Illinois State Superintendent Chris Koch and other leading experts. The morning will be rounded out with participating in interactive panels, discussing key levers for change in Illinois, and hammering out plans for the final session next April.
Keep reading for the day's full agenda.
Watch video of Session 1
October 11, 2011
Interested in the colloquium? Or need to review material to help with your inquiry? The keynote speakers and panel presentations were recorded, and are now available for your review on the website.
Be sure to check out the special section where some of key players in education in Illinois and other countries share their ideas on what makes a world-class system.
Keynote slide presentations are now posted for your review
October 11, 2011
When you're ready to refresh your memory about the first session's engaging PowerPoint presentations, you can find them here.
Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy, spoke about redesigning state education systems, and gave 7 strategies for success.
Charles Pascal, a professor at the University of Toronto,Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, shared lessons from Ontario's quest for excellence.
Note: The presentations may have been created in an older version of the software viewers use, so opening the presentations may cause minor loss of formatting, or may require an extra step using conversion software.
Next session set for Dec. 5
September 26, 2011
UIC professor Steven Tozer announced in concluding remarks that a representative from Finland's education ministry would be in attendance at the next colloquium session set for Dec. 5.
Pasi Sahlberg will be one of two keynotes speakers when participants reconvene on Dec. 5 for the second of three sessions of shared inquiry and calls to action.
Tozer predicts an outstanding presentation from Sahlberg, a key player in education issues in Finland, which is ranked No. 1 globally in math and literacy education achievement exams.
Successes north of the border
September 26, 2011
Charles Pascal, a professor at OISE-University in Toronto and an advisor to the premier of Ontario, told the group about the successes achieved in Toronto, Ontario.
Successful outcomes are a result of leadership that embraces long-term goals and systemic, not piecemeal, change, he said.
"It has to be whole-system reform or it won't happen in any meaningful way, Pascal said.
He also noted that Illinois has about the same size population as Ontario, so that lessons learned there would be particularly applicable to Illinois. And, Pascal said, success in Illinois could set the stage for success in the United States.
