NSU Brings International Education Experts Together to Discuss School Choice & Call for Reforms

Judith Stein, executive director of the National Institute for Educational Options at NSU and former executive director of Magnet Schools of America, Inc.

What Will the K-12 School of the Future Look Like?

Inaugural International School Choice and Reform Academic Conference will be hosted in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from Jan. 14-17, 2012

FT. LAUDERDALE-DAVIE, Fla. – Most parents don’t realize that they have more control over their child’s education and more education options available than just their neighborhood-zoned school. Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) National Institute for Educational Options (NIEO) sheds light on these opportunities, educating parents about all the options to get their child the best education possible.

NIEO, established by NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler School of Education, will also be hosting its Inaugural International School Choice and Reform Academic Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. from Jan. 14-17, 2012 to bring together international experts in the areas of school choice, charter schools, school reform and more, including:

• Judith Stein, executive director of the National Institute for Educational Options at NSU and former executive director of Magnet Schools of America, Inc.
• Robert Fox, professor emeritus of University of Hawaii;
• Nelson Smith, former president, CEO and senior advisor of the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools;
• and Patrick Wolf, Professor and 21st Century Endowed Chair in School Choice at University of Arkansas;

These experts will report on the latest trends in school choice accountability, the burgeoning business of charter schools, issues of religion and government in school choice and reform, and school choice options such as magnet schools and virtual education.

The ultimate goal of the conference is to share research, which can then be used as a solid platform for creating school choice recommendations, influencing governmental education policies, and ultimately shaping the international school choice movement.

The conference keynote speakers will be:

• Kevin Donnelly, director of the Melbourne, Australia based Education Standards Institute;
• Frederick M. Hess, resident scholar and director of education policy studies at the Washington D.C. based American Enterprise Institute;
• Terry M. Moe, the William Bennett Munro Professor of Political Science at Stanford University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution;
• and Florida Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson.

Donnelly established Education Standards Institute as a Melbourne-based education think-tank in 2008. He is one of Australia’s leading education commentators and author of Why Our Schools are Failing (2004), Dumbing Down (2007) and Australia’s Education Revolution: How Kevin Rudd Won and Lost the Education Wars (2009).

Hess has authored influential books on education including The Same Thing Over and Over, Education Unbound, Common Sense School Reform, Revolution at the Margins, and Spinning Wheels, and pens the Education Week blog “Rick Hess Straight Up.”

Moe has written extensively on the politics and reform of American education. His newest book, Special Interest: Teachers Unions and America’s Public Schools (2011), provides the first comprehensive study of this nation’s teachers unions, their exercise of power in collective bargaining and politics, and the vast consequences for kids, schools and genuine reform.

For the last 20 years, Robinson has focused on public policy, research and advocacy to create quality learning opportunities for all students, most recently as Florida’s Education Commissioner. Previously, he served as the Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia, where his legislative efforts resulted in new laws to support the creation of public charter schools, establish college laboratory schools in partnership with a public college of education, and expand public school virtual learning programs.

Conference sponsors include The Journal of School Choice, the National Institute for Educational Options, and NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler School of Education, in collaboration with the University of Texas at San Antonio College of Business, and the E.G. West Institute for Effective Schooling.

For more information about the conference, please visit www.fgse.nova.edu/nieo.

About Nova Southeastern University: Located in Davie, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited Florida University dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs of distinction from preschool through the professional and doctoral levels. NSU has more than 29,000 students and is the eighth largest not-for-profit independent institution nationally. The University awards associate’s, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, specialist, and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields, including business, counseling, computer and information sciences, education, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, dentistry, various health professions, law, marine sciences, early childhood, psychology and other social sciences.  Classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU was also awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification in 2010 for the University’s significant commitment to and demonstration of community engagement.   For more information about NSU visit www.nova.edu.

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Media Contact:
Andra Liwag, NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5309 office, 954-873-8494 cell, andrali@nova.edu