You are invited to attend a conversation on “American Education from a Global Perspective,” which is part of the Reclaiming the Promise of Public Education series sponsored by the Albert Shanker Institute and the American Federation of Teachers.

Since the 1995 introduction of the TIMSS studies (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and the 2000 start of the PISA assessments (Program for International Student Assessment), much ink has been spilled on the subject of where American schools and American students stand vis-à-vis their international counterparts. While the TIMSS and PISA rankings themselves are straightforward, there is considerable disagreement, often contentious, over what those international comparisons tell us about the state of American education. Both market critics of American public education and critics of the market-based reforms of the last decade and a half point to American education’s international standing as evidence that supports their respective policy agendas, while others dispute the very suggestion that meaningful causal links can be drawn between the international rankings and broad policy agendas. Other flash points revolve around how educational performance is shaped by the rate of childhood poverty, by the professional status of teachers, and by the existence of a national curriculum and national standards. The panel will discuss these and other facets of America’s education from a global perspective.

AMERICAN EDUCATION FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
noon to 2 p.m.
American Federation of Teachers
555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20001

Panelists
Julian Vasquez Heilig
Associate Professor of Educational Policy and Planning, Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies, Faculty Associate of the Center for Mexican American Studies, and Faculty Affiliate of the Warfield Center for African and African American Studies, University of Texas at Austin

Tom Loveless
Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings Institution

Richard Rothstein
Research Associate, Economic Policy Institute; Senior Fellow, Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

Sponsored by the Albert Shanker Institute and the American Federation of Teachers, this conversation series is designed to engender lively and informative discussions on important educational issues. We deliberately invite speakers with diverse perspectives, including views other than those of the AFT and the Albert Shanker Institute. What is important is that these participants are committed to genuine engagement with each other

REGISTER AND WATCH THE LIVESTREAM HERE.