Reflections on NBC’s Education Nation Summit
NBC is to be commended for its support of the third annualEducation Nation Summit, a gathering of leaders from government, education and business in New York City this week to consider the challenges and future outlook for America’s public education system. And, to be sure, included in this year’s event were a handful of case studies of real schools and districts that are successfully addressing challenging problems and finding solutions that support student growth and success. For me, the most impressive and knowledgeable presenters about public schooling, student achievement and local realities were the educators themselves, who displayed a thoughtful, articulate approach to their work and provided practical, solution-oriented initiatives that are proving successful in meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse student population.So, the good news is that the Summit featured impressive public educators and education researchers who provided real world information and experience to the event. On the down side, too many of the program presenters were people famous in other walks of life whose contributions to the education conversation provided little value. This is not to say that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice doesn’t have a compelling personal story about
read more