Over the past two days Abington School District has hosted with the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the Delaware Valley Consortium for Excellence &Equity the “Educational Excellence Through Equity” Symposium. 250 educational leaders from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Virginia converged on Abington Senior High School to hear expert educational thought leaders’ presentations on providing educational excellence through equity – helping to ensure teaching and learning for all students.
Highlighting the symposium were excellent presentations by renowned educational experts and thought leaders Dr. Pedro Noguera and Mr. Alan Blankstein on “Courageous Leadership” and an inspiring presentation by recently appointed Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Mr. Pedro Rivera. Introducing the presenters and the symposium on the first day were Abington’s Dr. Amy Sichel and Dr. Jeffrey Fecher, Mr. James Buckheit, Executive Director of the of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, Mr. Thomas Gentzel, Executive Director of the National School Boards Association, Dr. Robert Jarvis of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, and Amelia Van Name Larson of American Reading Company. Abington Senior High School students served as “Ask Me” guides for the visitors.
Dr. Sichel and Dr. Bacon presented a breakout session on the first day on “Focusing on Equity: Opportunities to Learn,” the groundbreaking initiative in Abington School District that de-tracked classes at our secondary schools, which led to the successful effort that focused on academic achievement for all students – including historically underperforming students. Other breakout sessions were presented by many educational leaders at a variety of sessions on promoting equity, organizational excellence, facing facts and fears, building sustainable relationships, advocating for every student, and getting to the core of success for students. A “Call to Action” panel moderated by Mr. Buckheit presented ideas on promoting equity for all students later in the first day.
The second day featured an inspiring presentation by Dr. Daniel Domenech, Executive Director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association. Dr. Domenech spoke on how American schools are really quite successful and are improving in educating students – more so than the media presents – but he also cautioned that more work is essential to provide educational excellence for all students. Dr. Sichel and Dr. Bacon presented a breakout session on the second day on “Getting Results.” A closing session by Dr. Noguera and Mr. Blankstein reviewed the two-day theme and presented remarks and recommendations on next steps school leaders can take. Afternoon small group sessions were attended by many Abington School District administrators and principals including Dr. Jeffrey Fecher, Mr. Damon Jordan, Mr. Angelo Berrios, Dr. Ann Bacon, Dr. Jim Melchor, Ms. Mary Kirchner, Ms. Judy Bomze, Ms. Kelly Lambert, and Dr. Sichel.
