Conference unites educators

The best and brightest of California's educators arrive at Cal State Long Beach on Wednesday for a national conference on strategies to improve student achievement.

At stake: nothing short of democracy itself.

"It's vital to the success of the state and the nation, how we educate children who are citizens of a democracy," said Kay Goddard, director of CSULB's Center for Collaboration in the College of Education.

"We've realized there's a challenge facing us in our K-12 education, in the way we're preparing students to function in our society, the way we're preparing students to succeed at universities, the way we're preparing students to become teachers."

Nearly 800 educators have registered for the sold-out event, which also has attracted nationally known education journalists. Conference organizers say teachers, administrators and student leaders from across the education spectrum will be attending the event that they first hoped might draw 200 people.

"We're very excited," Goddard said. "We're thrilled with the response."

The three-day conference, which begins with a keynote address by former presidential candidate and former California Secretary of Education Gary Hart, will focus on cutting-edge ways universities and colleges can work better with public primary and secondary schools.

The idea is that with colleges and public secondary and primary schools working together, the overall quality of education in the state can be improved dramatically. High schools will graduate better students, and those who continue their educations will be better prepared for college-level work. And, ultimately, those who become teachers will do a better job of teaching the children who follow.

The theory is a change from past strategies in which post-secondary education was not integrated with elementary, junior- and senior-high school teaching.

However, conference organizers say, public schools are struggling to implement these new concepts, which have been pushed forward by Gov. Gray Davis' administration.

That's why Goddard and other organizers wanted to bring everyone together.

"People are trying different ideas in different places," Goddard said. "People need to make connections so they can exchange these ideas. This is a beginning, not an end."

The conference, titled "California K-16 Partnerships and Student Success," features large, lecture-type presentations as well as more intimate sessions in which educators may interact directly with the leaders of their field. All of the activities will be taking place at the University Student Union.

David Dowell, the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts, has been behind much of the conference organization, the brainchild of a number of CSULB officials.

The conference may become an annual event, Goddard said.

Themes include discussions of standards and statewide testing, student assessment and accountability, standards-based teacher preparation and professional development and better preparing high school students for college with outreach programs.

Testing is one of the most controversial issues in education today.

Hart, who is speaking at noon on Wednesday, will be assessing some of the recent education initiatives Gov. Gray Davis has launched.

Kati Haycock -- director of The Education Trust, the organization that has spearheaded the K-16 partnership concept -- will give Thursday's keynote address and, according to conference organizers, challenge conference participants with her evaluation of California student achievement.

Also speaking will be Carl Cohn, the superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District, and Laura Rendon, endowed chair of CSULB's College of Education.

A panel discussion featuring Charles Reed, Delaine Eastin, Thomas J. Nussbaum, Karl Pister and Pat Callan highlights Friday's events.

Reed is chancellor of California State University, Eastin is California's superintendent of public instruction, Nussbaum is the chancellor of California's community college system, Pister is vice president of the University of California and Callan is president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

The university's academic projects office anticipates no problems handling the conference attendees, despite the surprising turnout. Most will be staying at the Hyatt in downtown Long Beach and shuttled to campus.

"(The unexpected response) just shows how obvious it is that there's a need in California for people to come together," said Sharon Olson, director of the academic projects office.