Our 2014 conference, held last Spring in Philadelphia, focused on the reasons behind varying educational outcomes for students of different races and discuss possible solutions to the problem. The goal of the conference was to directly engage the issue mobilizing most school reform movements, the disparity of educational outcomes between white students and racial minorities, and bluntly discuss the causes of this phenomenon and debate the efficacy of different policies aimed at combating this injustice.
9:45am-11:00am Keynote Panel: "Achievement Gap or Education Debt"
Dr. Camika Royal Education Historian and Instructor and Arcadia University
Kia Hinton Board Member, Action United
11:15am-12:45pm "Student Engagement, Voice, and Finding Meaning Through Education"
Nakisha Hobbs Founder of Village Leadership Academy in Chicago
Kanya Balakrishna The Future Project, New York, NY
Also including student representatives from TeenSharp and Philadelphia Student Union
11:15am-12:45pm "Achievement Gap or Empathy Gap?: Cultural Values and the Opportunity to Succeed"
Jermyn Shannon El Founder of the Duval Urban Debate League in Jacksonville, FL
Miriam Archibong Founder of Taking Actions to Overcome Obstacles
1:00pm -2:00pm Lunch and Table Discussions Numerous Professional and Graduate Students Representing Fels, Law, SP2, GSE, Wharton, and other Penn Graduate and Professional Schools on topics related to the conference. Alternative: Research Presentation by Research for Action
2:10pm-2:45pm Afternoon Keynote
Anthony Hardy Williams Pennsylvania State Senator
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3:00pm-4:30pm "A Community Divided"
Sylvia Sims Commissioner on the Philadelphia School Reform Commission
Bernex Richardson Dean of School Culture at Achievement First Apollo Charter School
Dr. John Puckett Professor of Education, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
3:00pm-4:30pm "The Fight for Credibility: Whose Voice Matters in the Education Conversation?"
Dr. Delvin Dinkins Head of Upper School at Episcopal Academy
Andy Smarick Bellweather Education and Former Deputy Comm. of NJ Dept. of Ed.
Tremaine Johnson Former Executive Director of Teach For America’s Greater Philadelphia Region