EDUCATION SUMMIT GIVES STUDENTS, OTHERS A CHANCE TO INTERACT WITH RENOWNED SCHOLARS

Student success and engagement are key to the education University of Northern Iowa provides its students. This can take a variety of forms on and off campus, including the annual Education Summit.

The summit brings prominent scholars in a variety of education-related topics to campus to present their research and interact with attendees, including current students. It provides an opportunity for students in the education programs to talk with and listen to leaders in the education field right where they attend classes as well as giving them a chance to interact with other stakeholders in the education field in Iowa.

“The annual UNI Education Summit provides two unique opportunities for Iowa Educators and Iowa citizens interested in public education,” explained Ralph Reynolds, Richard O. Jacobson Endowed Chair for Research and Literacy at UNI and chair of the Education Summit planning committee. “Access to nationally and internationally prominent scholars who will present the best available research in education and interact informally with Summit attendees, and an occasion for all Iowa education stakeholders to meet and discuss issues relevant to increasing the effectiveness of Iowa public education.”

This year's speakers build on the Summit's common themes of diversity, literacy, teacher leadership and S.T.E.M. education.

• Dale Baker will speak on her research concerning the under-representation of women in science. Baker is fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Educational Research Association. She is a former co-editor of the lead journal in science education, the Journal of Research in Science Teaching and also serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Learning Technology and the Journal of Engineering Education.
• Robert Bullough will discuss the partnership program he developed in Utah involving state legislators, district superintendents, university professors, principals and teachers. Bullough is professor of teacher education and associate director of the Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling, McKay School of Education, Brigham Young University.
• Deborah Reed will discuss improving reading in the state of Iowa. Reed is director of the Iowa Reading Research Center and an associate professor in the College of Education at the University of Iowa. She has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, authored three books and created numerous professional development programs on reading instruction.
• Debra Reese will present on issues relating to diversity in education. Reese is Pueblo Indian from Nambe Pueblo in northern New Mexico. She is a book reviewer for Horn Book Inc. and Multicultural Review, and has taught children's literature at the University of Illinois College of Education. Reese conducts workshops designed to help participants gain awareness about issues such as stereotyping, insider/outsider perspective, and appropriation of stories.

The Education Summit, which will take place Nov. 14-15 in the Maucker Union on UNI's campus, is in its third year. The summit is open to anyone who has an interest in education in the state of Iowa and beyond.

For more information or to register, please go to http://www.vpaf.uni.edu/events/edsummit/.