BOISE, Idaho – Nearly 800 educators will gather in Boise on Wednesday for a federal programs conference.

“This is a time of tremendous change in the federal government’s approach to education,” Idaho Superintendent Sherri Ybarra said in a prepared statement. “I am cautiously optimistic that we will see a return to more flexibility and local control of schools, while still assuring the public and parents that all students are learning and our tax dollars are well spent.”

Ybarra will welcome the educators to the 2017 Federal Programs Conference, giving an update on changes in federal education law and policy. The address comes on the heels of a national meeting between state and federal education officials reviewing plans for accountability and funding.

The three-day conference will be held at the Boise Centre on the Grove, and, according to the Idaho State Department of Education, will feature several nationally recognized keynote speakers including:

  • Wednesday morning – Dr. Luis Cruz, a former high school teacher, principal and administrator who now presents methods focused on transforming school culture.
  • Wednesday noon – MK Asante, a best-selling author, award-winning filmmaker, recording artist and currently a Distinguished Professor-in-Residence at the MICA School of Ideas in India and a tenured professor of creative writing and film at Morgan State University.
  • Thursday morning – Dr. Diane Staehr Fenner, president of SupportED LLC, a woman owned small business that provides educators of English learners (ELs) the skills and resources they need to champion ELs’ success within and beyond students’ classrooms.
  • Thursday noon – Charlotte Danielson, a former economist, and internationally recognized expert in the area of teacher effectiveness, specializing in the design of teacher evaluation systems that, while ensuring teacher quality, also promote professional learning.

See the complete conference schedule at this webpage.

Source: Idaho State Department of Education

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