Conference examines No Child Left Behind Act

Public lectures by Kati Haycock, director of the Washington-based Education Trust, and Elizabeth Burmaster, state superintendent of public instruction, will highlight a conference at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Feb. 2-4, on the No Child Left Behind Act and its consequences.

“The No Child Left Behind Act and the Federal Role in Education: Accountability and Equity in America’s Public Schools,” will be held at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St., and is free and open to the public.

The conference opens at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 2, with a keynote presentation by Haycock, titled “Achievement in America: The Need for a Strong Federal Role.”

Her nonprofit group works to improve student achievement and played a significant role in discussions leading up to the No Child left Behind Act and in monitoring its implementation.

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 3, Burmaster will give a public lecture on “The New Wisconsin Promise: Closing the Achievement Gap by Doing What We Know is Best.” Burmaster is responsible for developing and implementing the state’s plans in response to the federal law.

The conference also features panel discussions on Thursday, Feb. 3, and Friday, Feb. 4. Morning sessions start at 9:15 a.m. The afternoon session on Thursday will start at 1:15 p.m.

The Thursday morning panel will deal with the history of the accountability movement, the costs of implementing the law and the symbolic messages it sends to schools and to the public.

Participants include Adam Nelson, assistant professor of educational policy studies; Michael Fultz and Mary Metz, professors of educational policy studies; and Andrew Reschovsky, professor of applied economics and of public affairs.

The Thursday afternoon panel will explore the role of private organizations in the law’s implementation, its relationship to bilingual education, the politics of school choice in the law and principles used to justify high-stakes testing.

Panelists include Adam Gamoran and Michael Olneck, professors of sociology and educational policy studies; Patricia Burch, assistant professor of educational policy studies; Francis Schrag, professor of educational policy studies and philosophy; and Michael Apple, professor of curriculum and instruction and educational policy studies.

Friday morning, panelists will consider the prohibition of “social promotion” from grade to grade, the meaning of the provisions in the law intended to ensure that every classroom has a highly qualified teacher, and the narrow range of accountability mechanisms required by the law.

Participants include Harry Brighouse, professor of philosophy and educational policy studies; Melissa Roderick, associate professor and co-director of the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago; Gloria Ladson-Billings, professor of urban education, curriculum and instruction and educational policy studies; and John Witte, professor of political science and public affairs.

The conference — sponsored by the Department of Educational Policy Studies and co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology and the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs — was made possible by funding from the UW Anonymous Fund and the University Lectures Committee.

For more information about the conference, visit the conference Web site.