Educational Leadership Symposium to Examine Assessment and Social Justice

More than 70 educational leaders from the US and Canada will gather for the fifth annual Duquesne Educational Leadership Symposium (DELS), hosted by the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice, in the Power Center Ballroom from Tuesday, May 22, through Thursday, May 24.

The three-day symposium, Connecting Assessment and Social Justice: Navigating the Politics of Accountability, will examine the critical educational issues of assessment and social justice.

“It is our hope to highlight the multiple ways in which issues of assessment and social justice coincide to create inequitable learning environments for students everywhere,” explained Gretchen Givens Generett, associate professor of education, and co-director of the UCEA Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice.

The symposium will feature an introductory panel discussion moderated by Professor of Education Dr. Rick McCown and the following panelists:

• Dr. Linda L. Croushore, executive director of the Consortium for Public Education
• Dr. Greg Crowley, president of the Coro Center for Civic Leadership in Pittsburgh
• Dr. Mark Gooden, associate professor and director of the Principalship Program at the University of Texas at Austin and executive committee member of the University Council for Educational Administration
• Dr. Rodney Hopson, professor of education and president of the American Evaluation Association.

School of Education faculty members Connie Moss, associate professor of education, and Dr. Darius Prier, assistant professor of education, will host a book signing. Moss co-authored Advancing Formative Assessment in Every Classroom: A Guide for the Instructional Leader, and Prier is the author of Culturally Relevant Teaching: Hip-Hop Pedagogy in Urban Schools.

To help bridge the gap between theory and practice, attendees will learn about the Hazelwood Partnership, a collaborative relationship between Duquesne and community stakeholders to promote revitalization of that neighborhood. A tour of Hazelwood will be hosted by Pastor Tim Smith, executive director of the Center of Life and pastor of the Keystone Church.

Duquesne’s UCEA Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice is one of only eight UCEA centers in the world and it seeks to investigate the relationship between educational leadership and social justice, focusing on how educational leaders can be better prepared and equipped to deal with students who are marginalized, under-represented and underserved.