Between Friday, February 27 - Saturday, February 28, 1998, over one hundred and fifty educators from both Coalition and non-Coalition schools came to the Andersen Worldwide Center for Professional Education to attend the annual regional conference of the Coalition of Essential Schools. This year's theme was Authenticity: The Heart of Reform.
This
educational conference, sponsored by both the CES Chicago Center and
the Illinois Alliance of Essential Schools, gave educators a chance
to hear a panel of educators discuss school reform and where it is
headed. Panelists included Joseph Spagnola, Superintendent of
Instruction for the State of Illinois; Dr. Thomas McGreal, IAES
Center Director and Professor at the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign; Thomas Gunning, Principal of North Middle School in
Godfrey, Illinois; Cynthia Benford, a teacher at Mather High School
in Chicago, IL; and Makeda London, parent and member of the local
school council for Lindblom Technical High School in Chicago,
Illinois. Moderated by Michael Alexander from the Annenberg Institute
for School Reform, this panel explored the problems experienced by
schools undergoing educational reform as well as how the state system
could better support the efforts of such schools.
In addition to the panel discussion, attendees were treated to a presentation by Jean Anyon, Ph.D., an Associate Professor at Rutgers University and author of Ghetto Schooling: A Political Economy of Urban Educational Reform. Ms. Anyon discussed the unique issues faced by urban schools some suggestions for urban school educators.
Over the two-day conference, attendees had the pleasure of attending several meaningful and enlightening workshops designed around the concept of authentic work and pedagogy. Workshops included Curriculum Integration, Dimensions of Learning, Freshman Portfolios/ Senior Exhibitions, Problem-Based Learning, and Tuning Student Work. All attendees received exciting new ideas to take back to their schools and into their classrooms.
Thank you to all who attended the conference and helped to make it a success!