NEBRASKA NETWORK FOR EDUCATIONAL RENEWAL CONFERENCE TO BE HELD OCT. 12-13 IN LINCOLN

The Nebraska Network for Educational Renewal will be holding a conference on October 12-13 in Lincoln at the Clifford Hardin Center for Continuing Education. The conference, “K-12 Student Assessment As a Moral Endeavor,” will cover major educational initiatives of K-12 standards and assessments.

The conference will allow participant discussion on the issues of student assessment and the moral implications of the assessment on Nebraska’s youth. The panel members will include Dr. Doug Christensen, Nebraska Commissioner of Education; Senator Ron Raikes, chair of the Nebraska Legislature Education Committee; Dr. Barbara Plake, Director of the Buros Institute of Mental Measurements, Teachers College, UNL; Dr. Dennis Potthoff, Director of Teacher Education, College of Education, UNK; and Dr. John Langan, Chair of Teacher Education at UNO and President of the Omaha School Board.

Dr. Mary Diez will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Diez is Graduate Dean of Alverno College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She has also served as president of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. Her keynote address is “Challenging the Culture of Testing: The Moral Dimensions of Accountability.” Also participants will select from group sessions on “Minorities and Achievement Testing,” “Assessment in Special Education,” “Writing Assessment,” and “High-Risk Testing.”

The Clifford Hardin Center for Continuing Education is located at 33rd and Holdrege in Lincoln. The cost is $20. Students and the public are welcome to attend at no cost, no meals included. For additional information and/or to register contact Gail Kegley at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, (308) 865-8565 or email kegleyg@unk.edu.