Following years of virtual schooling for students, severe understaffing and overwork for teachers, and cataclysmic changes to education as we know it brought on the pandemic, where do we go from here?
Teachers have innovated. Students have persevered. Education leaders have pushed for policies to build a better future that demands more emphasis on social-emotional learning, career readiness, and changes to schools, the workforce, and life beyond it.
But what now?
Join Schools That Can as we host 3 of the most prominent thought leaders on education reform:
- John B. King Jr., President of The Education Trust & Former U.S. Secretary of Education
- Norman Atkins, CEO, Together Education; Founder/Former CEO/Board Chair, Uncommon Schools
- Dr. David Steiner, Former NY State Commissioner of Education, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy.
This conversation will tackle critical questions, including…
- What did the pandemic change about education reform?
- What are two key priorities for education reform?
- What are the key factors driving a need for school reform, and how does that reform stand to better serve students and educators?
- Where does the need for work-based learning experiences fit into school reform?
- What’s the future of education reform? Where do we go from here?
In an effort to make this dynamic conversation accessible, this event is free, virtual, and open to the public.
Full speaker bios:
John B. King Jr., President of The Education Trust & Former U.S. Secretary of Education
John B. King Jr. is president of The Education Trust, a national nonprofit organization that seeks to identify and close educational opportunity and achievement gaps. King served as U.S. Secretary of Education in the Obama administration. Prior to that role, King carried out the duties of Deputy Secretary, overseeing policies and programs related to P-12 education, English learners, special education, innovation, and agency operations. King joined the department following his post as New York State Education Commissioner. King began his career as a high school social studies teacher and middle school principal.
Norman Atkins, CEO, Together Education; Founder/Former CEO/Board Chair, Uncommon Schools; Co-Founder/Past President/Board Chair, Relay GSE (Graduate School of Education); Co-Founder/Board Chair, Zearn; Board Chair, Merit America.
Norman Atkins is the managing partner of an education innovation studio. He is Co-Founder, former President of Relay GSE, a path-breaking institution of higher education that trains 5,000 public school educators annually. Atkins is also the Founder, Board Chair, and former CEO of Uncommon Schools, one of the nation’s highest-performing nonprofit charter management organizations with 53 schools serving 20,000 students. In 1997, Atkins co-founded and co-led North Star Academy of Newark, one of New Jersey’s first and most celebrated charter schools. From 1989 to 1994, he was the Co-Executive Director of the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City.
Dr. David Steiner, Former NY State Commissioner of Education, Executive Director, Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy.
David Steiner is Executive Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy and Professor of Education at Johns Hopkins University. In 2020, he finished serving as a member of the Maryland State Board of Education and the Maryland Commission for Innovation and Excellence in Education. He currently serves on the board of Relay Graduate School of Education. Dr. Steiner also served as Commissioner of Education for New York State, as the Klara and Larry Silverstein Dean at the Hunter College School of Education, and as Director of Education at the National Endowment. As NYS Commissioner, Dr. Steiner took a lead role in the State’s successful $700 million Race to the Top application to support the redesign of state standards, assessments, and teacher certification requirements.