Riley, Miller Challenge Symposium Participants to Create Education Systems that Prepare Students to Participate in a Complex Global Community

Call for Nation to Clear the Way for Next Generation of Schools

WASHINGTON – July 10, 2008 - Former U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley and Congressman George Miller (D-CA) kicked off the 2008 Symposium of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF) with a clear call to the nation to stop tinkering with the status quo and provide schools that prepare students to be successful in the 21st Century. 

This year’s theme, “Building a 21st Century Education System,” focused on strategies that break away from piecemeal school reform efforts to address systemic measures that must be implemented at the national, state, and local level.

“The implications of globalization and the realities that today's students face make it increasingly important that we invest in an education system that supports 21st century teaching and learning,” said Congressman Miller.

Participants from more than 30 states had opportunities to engage in an interactive series of sessions and panel discussions that examined ways to restructure the education system.

“There are millions of children being educated in obsolete school systems,” said Sec. Riley.  “Our hope at NCTAF is to provoke education leaders to think differently about the kind of education system we need to prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities that will confront them in the global community of the 21st Century.”

One of the key sessions designed to stimulate new thinking was the “Managing the Dilemmas of Change,” which focused on developing innovative solutions to age-old problems.  Monica Martinez of KnowledgeWorks Foundation set the stage to help guide participants through four dilemmas on Thursday, July 10.  The four dilemmas are:

• incorporating 21st century standards into teacher evaluation and preparation;
• looking at public engagement in a consumer-driven learning economy;
• supporting teachers’ rights and changing teacher roles; and
• leading the integration of digital natives and digital immigrants.

On Friday morning, July 11, Bob Pearlman from the New Technology Foundation discussed 21st century teaching and learning and the New Tech model which brings together project-based student learning and innovative teacher preparation and practice.

Other sessions on Friday focused on the following topics – quality teacher preparation, professionally rewarding teaching careers, creating strong learning communities, and authentic standards and assessments. 

Friday’s sessions concluded by taking an in-depth look at state and federal policy.  NCTAF Commissioner Bob Wehling moderated a panel of national policymakers, including Alice Johnson Cain, Senior Education Policy Advisor to George Miller (D-CA), Chairman of House Education and Labor Committee; Carmel Martin, General Counsel and Chief Education Advisor to Senator Kennedy (D-MA) for the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions; and Sarah Rittling, Office of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), Professional Staff Member, Subcommittee on Children and Families, Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

On the final day of the Symposium, several members of NCTAF’s state coalition talked about their visions and plans to create 21st century schools. Jim Rex, South Carolina’s State Superintendent of Education, moderated the discussion and spotlighted how these states are transforming education.

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The National Commission on Teaching and America's Future (NCTAF) is a non-profit, non-partisan research advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C.  NCTAF is dedicated to providing every child with competent, caring, qualified teaching in schools organized for success.  With a network coalition of 25 states and links to professional educational organizations across the nation, NCTAF provides leadership on innovation and improvement in teaching and learning in America’s schools.  For more information, visit NCTAF’s website:  www.nctaf.org.