Inaugural Community Forum to Address Improving Public Education

The School of Education and the new Canevin Center for Educational Transformation and Social Justice will host the inaugural School of Education Community Forum, Helping Public Education Fulfill Its Promise for All Children in the 21st Century: A Pittsburgh Regional Perspective, on Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Power Center Ballroom.

The goal of the forum is to provide a platform for educational stakeholders from the Pittsburgh region on which they can share ideas on the transformation of public education. It also aims to encourage natural networking and seeks to illustrate how stakeholders, regardless of their professional position, can work within their circles of influence to identify and create solutions to the issues facing equitable access to quality education. Invited guests include leaders from education, business, civic, foundation and political institutions in the Pittsburgh and western Pennsylvania regions.

“The forum is intended to engage participants around the question, ‘What does twenty-first century learning need to look like to achieve equity in excellence, so that all students attain excellence and equity in the system?’” said Education Dean Dr. Olga M. Welch. “This question is particularly important because public education is a social justice right, which all children should be allowed to access. Therefore, the forum represents an envisioning activity that allows the participants who have been working on education and related programs to come together.”

Speakers will present brief presentations that will help attendees to begin conversations with each other. Dennis Yablonsky, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, will present opening remarks on the importance of quality public education to meet the region’s existing and future workforce needs.

Dr. Arnetha Ball, professor of education at Stanford University, and Dr. Pedro Noguera, the Peter L. Agnew Professor of Education at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, will share data from their own research supporting quality public education as a social justice imperative.

Participants also will engage in small-group dialogues regarding existing public education initiatives that they are leading and/or supporting. The aim of the session is to identify short and long-term goals, which will set the agenda for future forums.

Grant Oliphant, President and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, will deliver closing remarks and outline next steps.

Helping Public Education Fulfill Its Promise for All Children in the 21st Century is the first of many planned events held by the new Canevin Center for Educational Transformation and Social Justice. The center, which was created to increase the community impact of equity initiatives instituted by the School of Education, works to identify the best practices for how to transform education as a social justice right.

The Canevin Center for Educational Transformation and Social Justice and the Duquesne University School of Education Community Forum are funded by The Heinz Endowments.