Education Now & in the Future:

Conference offers solutions to educators' questions

Portland, Oregon There's still time to register for Education Now & in the Future 2004, the region's most comprehensive professional development event for educators. Hosted by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, ENF takes place February 9-10 in Portland and features more than 70 training sessions and workshops sharing proven tools for successful schools.

The sessions—for educators in all stages of their careers-focus on four main content areas: assessment, evaluation, and research; classroom teaching and learning; school, family, and community; and school systems' capacity for improvement. Presentations explore timely issues like meeting requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act and evaluating Title I program effectiveness.

NWREL technology expert Gary Graves will offer advice on online resources for administrators, one of the popular topics at the 2003 ENF conference. "Several new sites have gone up since last year that are more functional and more targeted to how districts and schools can meet NCLB requirements in assessment and planning," says Graves. He plans to feature the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) site, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which reviews research related to educational technology and its impact on achievement. In addition, he'll help participants identify and navigate sites for professional development, research and evaluation, planning, and program design.

Beginning teachers will learn techniques for improved decisionmaking for student learning at a session led by Dr. Ronald Beghetto, assistant professor of education at the University of Oregon. Beghetto maintains that sound decisionmaking is the hallmark of effective teaching and poor evaluative decisions may actually damage students. At ENF, he'll talk about some of the pitfalls that snare teachers when they attempt to collect and use student information. "One of the most common," he says, "is collecting and basing our evaluative decisions on far too narrow a range of information."

For example, Beghetto cites using increased test scores as proof that an instructional unit on math has been successful. "If we base our decisions only on test scores, we may fail to recognize that even though they've improved, students who once enjoyed math now hate it," he says. "(Students) may now associate 'math' with timed, comparative 'drill and kill' practices." Similarly, reading scores initially may not take into account whether more students are reading in their spare time, checking out books from the library, and engaging in deeper discussions of reading assignments.

Those attending ENF can earn continuing professional development and graduate credits. NWREL members receive a $20 discount on the $220 fee. Go to www.nwrel.org/members/ to check your institution's membership status. Information about ENF and registration materials are also available at www.nwrel.org/ or by calling 503-275-9187.

| Next Article | Front Page | NW Report Index |