2012 was a landmark year for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. First, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Schools CEO Eric Gordon developed a consensus plan to change how the city's schools operate. Then they won approval for it from the Ohio General Assembly and finally convinced voters to accept a 15-mill levy to pay for the reforms. Now comes the really hard part: actually transforming the educational experience for thousands of youngsters.
How will school leaders and the community be able to monitor progress? And how will success ultimately be measured and achieved? These are just some of the questions we will ask in the fourth installment of our Cleveland Connects community conversation series. Mayor Jackson will define the stakes for the city and the region, and then CEO Gordon and a panel of stakeholders will discuss how they can tackle challenges that have been building for decades.
View a photo gallery of the event created by the City of Cleveland.
Linda Darling-Hammond is the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education at Stanford University. She gave a speech at the City Club, "The Need for School Reform," [watch online] on January 25, 2013. Afterwards, the Plain Dealer's Joe Frolik asked her a few questions about school reform for the upcoming special community forum "Cleveland Connects" focusing on the educational reform plan for Cleveland schools. Linda Darling-Hammond launched the Stanford Educational Leadership Institute and the School Redesign Network. Hammond has also served as faculty sponsor for the Stanford Teacher Education Program. She is the former President of the American Educational Research Association and a Member of the National Academy of Education. Her research, teaching and policy work focus on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity. Darling-Hammond is the author of over 400 publications including "The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity will Determine our Future" (2010) and "Powerful Teacher Education" (2006). She was born and raised in Cleveland.