2004 Events

12/3/2004: What Do You Know About How the GED Tests Empower Young Adults? Joan Auchter, GED Testing Service Executive Director, stressed four major points in her presentation. First, GED Tests demand achievement. Second, GED Tests allow people to prove what they know. Third, GED diploma holders reflect the mosaic of America. Finally, GED Tests offer an opportunity to grow. (Forum Brief)
12/1/2004: Career Academy National Standards of Practice. Conducted in conjunction with The Career Academy Support Network, National Academy Foundation, National Career Academy Coalition and the National High School Alliance. With presentations by John Ferrandino, President, National Academy Foundation, Charles Dayton, Coordinator, Career Academy Support Network, Betsy Brand, Director, American Youth Policy Forum, Susan Sclafani, Counselor to the Secretary and Assistant Secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education, Emily DeRocco, Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, Andy Chaves, Director, Youth Programs, Workforce Effectiveness and Diversity, Marriott International, Inc., Ed Rudzinski, General Manager, Washington Wardman Park Marriott Hotel, Connie Majka, President, National Career Academy Coalition and Travis Brown, Principal, Beaumont High School, St. Louis, MO Public Schools, moderated by Naomi Housman, the Director of the National High School Alliance. (Forum Brief)
11/12/2004: The Role of Quality Out-of-School-Time Programs in Improving Academic Outcomes for Children and Youth. With Janet Dunn, Coordinator, Extended Learning Opportunities; Theresa Einloth, Academic Advisor, BUGS After School Program; Ayeola Fortune, Director, Extended Learning Opportunities and Council of Chief State School Officers; Brad Grochowski, Program Manager BUGS After School Program; Rhonda Lauer Chief Executive Officer, Foundations, Inc.; and Chrisandra Richardson, Director of Academic Support, Mongomery County Public Schools. (Forum Brief)
10/22/2004: Equity and Adequacy: Americans Speak on Public School Funding. A majority of Americans recognize that there are significant differences in the quality of schools in high- and low-income areas, and they worry about an over-reliance on property taxes as a way to fund schools, according to a national survey released by Educational Testing Service. (Forum Brief)
10/4/2004: Credit-Based Transition Programs: Strategies to Improve Postsecondary Access and Success for Middle- and Low-Achieving Students. With Hans Meeder, Deputy Assistant Secretary and Ivonne Jaime, Project Manager, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education; Tom Bailey, Director, Kathy Hughes, Assistant Director for Work and Education Reform Research, and Melinda Karp, Research Associate, Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.(Forum Brief)
10/1/2004: Statewide Afterschool Networks: Creating Public-Private Partnerships for High Quality, Sustainable Afterschool Programs. With Audrey Hutchinson, Program Director for Education and Afterschool, Youth, Education, Family Institute, National League of Cities; Janelle Cousino, Vice President, FowlerHoffman, LLC, consultant to the Afterschool Alliance; Jennifer Becker Mouhcine, Director, Illinois Afterschool Partnership; and Nancy Kellogg Harper, Director of Kansas Enrichment Network, The Institute for Education Research and Public Service, University of Kansas School of Education. (Forum Brief)
9/17/2004: Higher Education Opportunities for Students with Disabilities. As students with disabilities move toward equal opportunities in elementary and secondary education, greater emphasis has been placed on equal access to postsecondary opportunities for them. A new report by the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) focuses on the special barriers to equal educational opportunity in higher education faced by students with disabilities as they transition to higher education. (Forum Brief)
7/16/2004: States and Districts Can Make Progress and Close the Achievement Gap. Research Reveals Clear Results in School Improvement in Schools Using America’s Choice School Design, The No Child Left Behind Act encourages schools to seek out school improvement plans that have been scientifically proven to raise student achievement. This forum looks at one such plan: the America's Choice School Design. (Forum Brief)
7/1/2004: Four “Ex-Feds” Discuss Federal Education, Considering the increasingly important role that the federal government plays in education, it is important to consider the successes, failures, and possible futures of federal education policy. Accordingly, the American Youth Policy Forum gathered a panel of four senior veterans of federal education policymaking to share their insight. (Forum Brief)
6/25/2004: Do Faith-Based Organizations Have a Role in Promoting Educational Outcomes?, Other studies have also examined the role of extracurricular activities and other forms of group association in promoting the success of children. Generally overlooked, however, is whether a child’s association with a religious institution can contribute to his or her schooling. (Forum Brief)
6/24/2004: Understanding the Impact and Outcomes of Secondary-Postsecondary Learning Options The American Youth Policy Forum, with support from the Lumina Foundation for Education, hosted a roundtable discussion on programs and strategies that help connect high school and postsecondary education to improve college and career outcomes for young people. (Roundtable Discussion Summary)
5/7/2004: Early and Middle College High Schools: Connecting High School and College for At-Risk Youth, Middle college high schools are schools that collaborate with postsecondary institutions to offer students who have traditionally been underrepresented in postsecondary education the opportunity to earn college credit at the same time as they earn a high school diploma. At this American Youth Policy Forum, panelists associated with middle and early college high school programs spoke about the need for these schools, the grant initiative, and changes in education policy that would provide better support for this promising approach. (Forum Brief)
4/30/2004: Outcomes for Children and Youth in the Out-of-School Time: What the Evidence Says, Interest in out-of-school time (OST) programs for youth has grown enormously over the last few years. These programs embrace a wide variety of goals, such as providing safe and caring environments critical to the healthy development of youth and promoting youth academic development through remediation, reinforcement, and application of academic skills. Panelists at this forum identified problems faced by practitioners and researchers of OST programs, and issued recommendations for policymakers, funders, and program leaders. (Forum Brief)
4/23/2004: Principal Indicators of Student Academic Histories in Postsecondary Education with Cliff Adelman, Senior Research Analyst, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of Education (Forum Brief)
3/19/2004: Creating Academically Proficient and Civically Engaged Students- Through the No Child Left Behind Act (Part 3) Through the Lens of Practitioners and Administrators - Finding Common Ground: Joining Forces to Close the Achievement and Civic Development Gap, with Sheldon Berman, Superintendent of Schools, Hudson School District; John Taylor Gatto, author and New York Educator of the Year, 1990; Mary Rodgers, District Service-Learning Facilitator, Abington School District; John Schmidt, Director of Service-Learning, Office of High School Development, Chicago Public Schools. (Forum Brief)
3/12/2004: A Shared Agenda: A Leadership Challenge to Improve College Access and Success, Pathways to College Network, with Jennifer Conner, Program Officer, KnowledgeWorks Foundation; Ann Coles, Senior Vice President, College Access Services and Director, Pathways to College Network; Jon Tafel, Vice Chancellor for Educational Linkages and Access, Ohio Board of Regents; and Egle Gallagher, Principal, Stranahan High School, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. (Forum Brief)
3/5/2004: Follow-up Study of 900 YouthBuild Graduates, with Andrew Hahn, Center for Youth and Communities, Brandeis University; Dorothy Stoneman, YouthBuild USA; and several graduates of YouthBuild. (Forum Brief)
2/27/2004: Meeting the Highly Qualified Teacher Requirement of NCLB and IDEA: Alternative Routes for Special Education Teachers, with Paul Sindelar, Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education, University of Florida; William Fink, Director of Exceptional Student Education, Volusia County Schools, Daytona Beach, FL; and Eric Carlton, President, Banner Schools LLC, Chicago, IL. (Forum Brief)
2/20/2004: Creating Academically Proficient and Civically Engaged Students - Through the No Child Left Behind Act (Part 2) Through the Lens of State Policymakers - Raising Academic Achievement While Supporting Civic Development, with Suellen Reed, State Superintendent of Indiana; Terry Bergeron, State Superintendent of Washington; and Elizabeth Burmaster, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Wisconsin. (Forum Brief)
2/4/2004: Schools for a New Society: Systemic High School Reform in Three Cities, with Constancia Warren, Senior Program Officer and Director, Urban High School Initiative, Carnegie Corporation of New York; Rochelle Nichols Solomon, Academy for Educational Development; Jesse Register, Superintendent, Hamilton County Department of Education, Dan Challener, President, Public Education Foundation, and Cheri Dedmon, Principal, East Ridge High School, all from Chattanooga, TN; Melody Johnson, Superintendent, Providence Public Schools, Mary Sylvia Harrison, President and Executive Director, Rhode Island Children's Crusade for Higher Education, David Andrews, Director for High Schools, and Cheryl Gomes, Principal, Classical High School, all from Providence, RI; Richard Owen, Associate Superintendent, High School Improvement, Sacramento City Unified School District, Deanna Hanson, CEO, LEED-Sacramento, and Kelly Young, Professional Development Consultant, all from Sacramento, CA. (Forum Brief)
1/23/2004: Creating Academically Proficient and Civically Engaged Students Through the No Child Left Behind Act (Part 1) Through the lens of Researchers -- Implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB): What Role for Civic Development? with Shelley H. Billig, Vice President, RMC Research; Andy Furco, Director, Service-Learning Research and Development Center University of California-Berkeley; Elliott Medrich, Director, Policy Analysis and Development, MRP Associates; William Galston, Director, Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland and CIRCLE (The Center for Information& Research on Civic Learning & Engagement); and Judith Torney-Purta, Professor, University of Maryland. (Forum Brief)
1/16/2004: Educating the Heart: Cesar E. Chavez and Service-Learning, with a granddaughter of Cesar E. Chavez, Julia Chavez Rodriguez and leaders from the The Cesar E. Chavez Service-Learning Initiative. (Forum Brief)
1/8/2004 - 1/9/2004: High School Reform in New York City to visit Morris High School and South Bronx High School to learn about the transformation of large high schools to small high schools, LaGuardia Community College's middle college high school programs, and to meet with the Core Group Governing Team of the New York City school reform effort. (Trip Report)
1/8/2004: California's Public Schools: From First to Worst, A Documentary Premiere with Journalist John Merrow, Today’s forum screened the national premiere of John Merrow’s and John Tulenko’s dramatic one-hour film documentary, FROM FIRST TO WORST, scheduled to begin airing around the U.S. in February on the Public Broadcasting System. (Forum Brief)