Two Events Open to the Public
Wednesday, April 28, 7:00 pm: "What Makes a Good Education?"
With Keynote Speaker--Dr. Diane Ravitch
And featuring--Dr. Louise Cowan
Location:
Booker T. Washington High School Auditorium
2501 Flora Street
Dallas, TX 75201
Thursday, April 29, 7:00 pm: A Book Discussion at the Dallas Institute: Dr. Ravitch's The Death and Life of the Great American School System
Click here to go the description of the 2010 Education Forum.
To register for the book discussion, click here.
A Description of the Education Forum
The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture's Education Forum is a multi-day event held in the spring.
Education has been the focus of the Dallas Institute's work since its creation in 1980, and its distinctive and award-winning Teachers Academy and Principals Institutes are its most enduring and far-reaching programs. Conceived and created by Dr. Louise Cowan in collaboration with her husband, the late Dr. Donald Cowan, the Teachers Academy and the Principals Institute were founded on the premise that has recently gained currency in our popular culture--that teachers matter. The Teachers Academy and Principals Institutes have always called from educators their strongest dedication and from the public, its highest respect for the teaching profession. Together, the programs seek to revive the heart of learning in every teacher so that he or she can inspire students to achieve their own academic success.
The purpose of the Education Forum is to highlight and explore an issue in education that is of critical concern to the nation and to our city and is achieved through lectures, panels, and book discussions. Each year, this issue forms the question around which the events of the Education Forum revolve.
Two events open to the public
Wednesday, April 28, 2010, 7:00 pm: The first annual Education Forum will address the issue of "What Makes a Good Education?" It will begin with Dr. Diane Ravitch as the keynote speaker at the anchor event at 7:00 pm on April 28, 2010. She will speak about "What Makes a Good Education" in light of her newest book: The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education.
The New York Times writes "Ms. Ravitch...writes with enormous authority and common sense."
At the April 28th evening program, Dallas educator Dr. Louise Cowan will also give remarks about "What Makes a Good Education," explaining the distinctive philosophy behind the nationally recognized programs for teachers and principals she created and founded at the Dallas Institute beginning in 1984.
Dr. Diane Ravitch is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. She is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and she shares a blog called Bridging Differences that is hosted by Education Week and has been named the "leading education blog in the country." (Also, read the recent New York Times article featuring Dr. Ravitch here.) She also blogs for politico.com/arena and Huffingtonpost.com. Her articles have appeared in many newspapers and magazines around the country and the world.
From 1991 to 1993, she was Assistant Secretary of Education and Counselor to Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander in the administration of President George H.W. Bush. She was responsible for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement in the U.S. Department of Education. As Assistant Secretary, she led the federal effort to promote the creation of state and national academic standards.
In Ravitch's new book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, she delivers a plea to renew public education, outlining clear solutions for improving America's schools. Drawing on forty years of experience, she offers criticism on today's most popular ideas for revolutionizing education.
In praise of The Death and Life:
"Diane Ravitch is one of the most important public intellectuals of our time. In this powerful and deftly written book, she takes on the big issues of American education today, fearlessly articulating both the central importance of strong public education and the central elements for strengthening our schools. Anyone who cares about public education should read this book." --Linda Darling-Hammond, Charles E. Ducommon Professor of Education, Stanford University, and Founding Executive Director, National Commission for Teaching & America's Future
"No citizen can afford to ignore this brave book by our premier historian of education. Diane Ravitch shines a bright, corrective light on the exaggerated claims of school reformers on both the left and the right, and offers an utterly convincing case for abandoning quick fixes in favor of nurturing the minds and hearts of our students from the earliest years with enabling knowledge and values." --E.D. Hirsch, Jr., author of Cultural Literacy, The Schools We Need, and The Making of Americans.
Thursday, April 29, 2010, 7:00 pm: The second program of the Education Forum will be a book discussion held at the Dallas Institute and moderated by Dallas Institute Fellows and alumni of the Teachers Academy and Principals Institutes. The public is invited to join educators at the Dallas Institute to discuss Dr. Ravitch's new book.
To register for the book discussion, click here.