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MCLA Hosting Conference for 300 Local Educators03:17PM / Friday, September 25, 2009
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts hosts a conference for 300 local educators Friday, Oct. 2, featuring guest speaker Ray McNulty, senior vice president of the International Center for Leadership in Education and vice chairman of the Successful Practices Network.
McNulty, a former Vermont education commissioner, will deliver a presentation called "Closing the Participation Gap" and lead workshops with teachers on how to raise the aspirations of students in Grades 6 through 12.
The conference is sponsored by Berkshire County school superintendents and the Berkshire Compact, which brings together leaders of the region's education, government, and business communities to ensure all students have access to a quality education from kindergarten through four years of college.
The Berkshire Compact, which is led by MCLA, also seeks to raise the aspirations of all county residents to view 16 years of education, or more, as the norm.
Friday's conference includes remarks by MCLA President Mary K. Grant and Doug McNally, chairman of the Berkshire Compact Aspirations Committee and retired principal of Taconic High School in Pittsfield.
Three years ago, the Compact sponsored a survey conducted by the nonprofit Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations that found students generally feel supported by teachers but not as supported by peers.
The survey also found that positive responses to questions about higher education diminished as students moved from junior high to high school. McNulty was a senior fellow at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he worked with leading educators from around the country to reinvent the nation's high schools. He is also past president of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
An educator since 1973, McNulty has been a teacher, vice principal, principal and superintendent. He served as Vermont's education commissioner from 2001 to 2003. During his tenure, McNulty focused on aligning the Department of Education's work on early education, educator quality, and secondary school reform.
He holds a bachelor's degree in education from Bridgewater State College. In 1977, he completed a master's degree in education administration at Johnson State College in Vermont. He also holds a certificate of advanced graduate study in administration and planning from the University of Vermont.
For information on Friday’s conference, call Matt Sheehey, MCLA communications specialist, at 413-662-5203. |
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