K-12 school reformer to speak on creating cultures of learning

Legendary school founder and reformer Deborah Meier will give a free public presentation, “Creating Cultures of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization,” at the University of Wisconsin–Madison on Monday, Nov. 13.

Meier will speak at 7:30 p.m. at the Wisconsin Union Theater, 800 Langdon St. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis, and tickets are not required.

A MacArthur Fellowship recipient, Meier has spent more than four decades working in public education as a teacher, principal, writer and advocate. During her 20 years in New York City’s East Harlem district, Meier founded a number of successful elementary schools and, in collaboration with the National Coalition of Essential Schools, opened the Central Park East Secondary School, which has been lauded as a model of urban education reform.

In 1997, she founded the Mission Hill School, a K-8 Boston public pilot school, serving as its principal until 2005. She is currently a member of the faculty at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education.

Her recent publications include “Will Standards Save Public Education?” and “In Schools We Trust.” She also co-edited the 2004 book “Many Children Left Behind.”

Despite national praise and several honorary degrees from elite schools, Meier’s commitment has always been simple and sincere.

“What I wanted was to create thoughtful citizens — people who believed they could live interesting lives and be productive and socially useful,” she says. “So I tried to create a community of children and adults where the adults shared and respected the children’s lives.”

Meier’s talk is sponsored by the UW–Madison School of Education in celebration of American Education Week, a nationwide recognition of K-12 public schools and the people who contribute to them.