ENF

2005 Targets

AYP

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's annual conference will be more targeted than ever this year. Education Now and in the Future (ENF) 2005—to be held February 28–March 1, 2005—will home in on strategies for meeting the adequate yearly progress requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The conference title is The Path to AYP: Best Practices and Research-Based Tools for Northwest Schools. The event at the Portland Hilton will feature dozens of sessions that focus on gaining proficiency in content areas, increasing school effectiveness, and addressing the needs of special populations.

"Meeting adequate yearly progress (AYP) is a real and immediate challenge facing Northwest schools," notes Bob Blum, NWREL's deputy executive officer. "The most recent Regional Needs Assessment shows just how challenging meeting AYP has become for teachers, principals, and superintendents in our member institutions. For example, 86 percent of secondary principals feel more or much more effort is needed to meet state and federal requirements in mathematics and 79 percent felt the same about reading. As they have done for 38 years, Northwest schools are looking to NWREL for research-based practices and strategies."

In addition to the Regional Needs Assessment, conference organizers used evaluations from last year's 400 ENF participants to develop ENF 2005's theme and strands. Besides regional and Laboratory content experts, conference attendees will hear from two outstanding keynote speakers: Mark Millemann and Michael Grinder.

Millemann, a former teacher and past director of human resources for the Eugene School District, focuses on transformational change and the leadership capacity of every individual in an organization. Grinder, a resident of Battle Ground, Washington, is also a former teacher whose specialty is classroom management issues and group dynamics.

This year, NWREL has restructured the conference to make it more affordable. If you sign up before January 21, 2005, the early registration fee is just $95 for those who work for NWREL member institutions; the nonmember fee is $125. After January 21, the cost increases to $130 for members and $160 for nonmembers. To see if your institution is a member, check www.nwrel.org/members.

Registration begins December 1, 2004. To learn more about the conference and to register, go to www.nwrel.org/enf/ or call 503-275-9187. E-mail your name and address to enf@nwrel.org to request an ENF catalog.