Leading Change:

Improving Student Achievement through Labor-Management Collaboration

Best Western Royal Plaza Marlborough

181 Boston Post Road West, Marlborough, MA

Monday, December 3, 2012

8:30 A.M. to 3:00 P.M.

Sponsored by the Massachusetts Education Partnership (MEP), this conference is designed to give Massachusetts teacher labor leaders, school committee members and superintendents an opportunity to hear from national and state education scholars and policymakers on critical issues in education reform and share their own learning and experience.

The opening Plenary Session will feature the following speakers:

·        S. Paul Reville, Secretary of Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

·  Mitchell D. Chester, Commissioner, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

·        W. Patrick Dolan, author of Restructuring Our Schools: A Primer on Systemic Change

·         Jo Anderson, Jr., Senior Advisor to the U. S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan

The Plenary Session will be followed by the following Breakout Sessions:

Educator Evaluation. Representatives from Massachusetts school districts will share their experiences in negotiating and implementing the new evaluation rubric.

Peer Assistance & Review. This session will focus on the role that teacher leaders can play in supporting and evaluating fellow teachers in the new evaluation framework.

Innovation Schools and Extended Learning Time. Education leaders will share the challenges and opportunities that they have experienced in these schools.

Interest-Based Bargaining. Experienced presenters will introduce interest-based bargaining (IBB) concepts and practices. MEP’s IBB training program will also be described.

Lunch Panel of national and local leaders will discuss education reform and why it is important that the education community lead change and not be the subject of it.

Districts are strongly encouraged to attend this conference as labor-management teams. We ask all attendees to individually register, however, so we have an accurate record of total participants.

Interested individuals who will not be coming with a team are welcome.

To insure a seat, please register by Friday, November 16, 2012

MEP partners are the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts; Massachusetts Teachers Association; Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy; Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University; Massachusetts Association of School Committees; Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents; Institute for Work and Employment Research, MIT; and the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management, University of Massachusetts Boston.