![[Danny Glover/Alfie Kohn]](images/gloverkohn.jpg)
Actor Danny Glover may best be known for his role as Detective Roger Murtaugh opposite Mel Gibson in the "Lethal Weapon" series of films. But he is also a powerful weapon when it comes to supporting education and improving the quality of life for children. While serving as the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program, Glover traveled the world working to eradicate poverty and social injustices. Currently, he speaks to children throughout the country promoting reading and stressing the importance of education and lifelong learning as keys to an improved quality of life.
Danny Glover is a featured keynote speaker at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's 2000 Education Now and in the Future conference scheduled for October 30 and 31 in Portland.
While Glover will provide the motivation and inspiration critical for moving newly gained skills and knowledge into practice, the controversial Alfie Kohn will ignite attendees with his high-energy Monday morning keynote. Kohn, a former teacher, was recently described by Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores." He has appeared twice on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and has written seven books, the most recent of which is The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and "Tougher Standards" (1999).
The conference is built on the foundation of the highly successful Work Now and in the Future conference presented by NWREL for the past 16 years. Designed as a professional development opportunity for educators throughout the Northwest, Education Now and in the Future "will provide a wide range of information, skills, and practices that educators can take back to the classroom and put to use immediately," says NWREL's Executive Director Dr. Ethel Simon-McWilliams. "It's practical knowledge we're offering—the sort of knowledge that will help educators achieve immediate results."
Attendees will have the opportunity to attend a wide range of sessions and institutes dealing with topics such as research-based school improvement processes and products, effective strategies, and promising practices for improving student success. More than 80 sessions will be offered in varying formats such as one-day and two-day institutes, half-day workshops, and 90-minute sessions. The conference topics have been developed by all 12 of NWREL's programs and centers based on areas identified through a regional education needs assessment conducted every two years.
"The sessions have been designed and organized in a format that allows educators to delve into a number of topics during the conference," notes Simon-McWilliams. "Education Now and in the Future strives to provide a more comprehensive experience for today's educator, who is faced with a diverse, demanding, and ever-expanding set of challenges."
| "The conference strives to provide a more comprehensive experience for today's educator, who is faced with a diverse, demanding, and ever-expanding set of challenges." |
A highlight of the conference is a two-day institute entitled Leadership in Professional Learning and Change offered through a collaboration of NWREL's Comprehensive Center and School Improvement Program. Educators who participate in this institute will acquire leadership techniques for continuous learning to promote change in schools. Other highlights include presentations on:
Other keynote addresses will be made by Dr. Sally Harrison and Dr. Elaine Johnson. Harrison, Executive Director for Teaching and Learning in the Edmonds School District, is one of Washington state's leaders in innovative programs and collaborative work environments. She has consulted with districts and professional associations across the United States about the systemic reform required to create and support powerful learning opportunities for students.
Johnson, a noted authority on brain-compatible teaching and contextual learning, is coauthor of a series of four contextual-learning textbooks for grades nine through 12, Literature for Life and Work. Among Johnson's numerous awards for distinguished teaching are the Charles Wright Academy Inspirational Faculty Award, a University of Chicago Outstanding Teacher Award, and appointment as an Honorary Fellow of Huron College. For the past decade, Johnson has been engaged in the reform of education in Oregon.
Conference registration is available online at www.nwrel.org/enf. To receive a conference catalog and registration form, please call (503) 275-9187 or 1-800-547-6339, ext. 187. Registration fee is $195 before September 1, and $175 per person for groups of three or more from the same organization.
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Date of Last Update: 9/28/01 
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