Lincoln (Neb.) - Oct. 4, 2001 - The establishment of K-12 student standards and the methods of assessing how they are met will be the focus of a conference at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Oct. 12-13.
"K-12 Student Assessment as a Moral Endeavor" is designed to encourage discussion of issues of student assessment, with special emphasis on the moral implications for Nebraska youth. It is sponsored by the Nebraska Network for Educational Renewal, which consists of nine institutions of higher education in Nebraska, their approximately 50 partner schools and school districts, and the Nebraska Department of Education.
The conference begins Oct. 12 with a 7 p.m. keynote address, "Challenging the Culture of Testing: The Moral Dimensions of Accountability," by Mary Diez, graduate dean of Alverno College in Milwaukee and past president of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education.
Small-group sessions are scheduled for 8:45 to 11 a.m. Oct. 13 before the conference concludes with a panel discussion from 11 a.m. to noon. Panelists will include Doug Christensen, Nebraska commissioner of education; John Langan, chair of teacher education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and president of the Omaha Board of Education; Barbara Plake, director of the Buros Institute for Mental Measurements in UNL's Teachers College; Dennis Potthoff, director of teacher education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney; and state Sen. Ron Raikes, chair of the legislature's education committee.
The conference will be dedicated to the late Robert Egbert, former long-time dean of Teachers College who served as executive director of the Nebraska Network for Educational Renewal until his death Sept. 14.
The registration fee of $20 includes a 6 p.m. dinner on Oct. 12 and an 8 a.m. continental breakfast on Oct. 13 (registration is $15 for Oct. 12 only, $10 for Oct. 13 only). There is no registration fee for those attending but not eating meals.
All sessions will be at the Clifford Hardin Nebraska Center for
Continuing Education, 33rd and Holdrege streets. For registration and
other information, contact Gail Kegley at UNK by telephone, (308)
865-8565, or e-mail (kegleyg@unk.edu).
For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825