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"Common Sense School Reform" Topic of UAlbany Lecture

Contact: Lisa James Goldsberry (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 5, 2004) -- Frederick M. Hess, director of Educational Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, will discuss "Common Sense School Reform: Politics and Prospects" in a lecture at the University at Albany on Thursday, April 22, at 5:30 p.m. in Milne Hall, room 200 on the UAlbany downtown campus.

Thomas Rogers, executive director of the New York State Council of School Superintendents, will offer comments in response to Hess' proposals. Part of the Education Policy Seminar Continuing Series, the lecture is free and open to the public.

Hess, a faculty associate of the Harvard University program in Education Policy and Governance, believes that reform strategies such as class size reduction and enhanced professional development are insufficient. He argues that real improvement requires a "bracing regime of common sense reforms to create a culture of competence by rewarding excellence, punishing failure and giving educators the freedom and flexibility to do their work."

A former high school social studies teacher, Hess serves as a member of the research advisory board for the National Center for Educational Accountability. His books include Revolution at the Margins and A Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom?. Hess earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in government from Harvard University.

Rogers is responsible for representing the public policy interests of the state's 800 chief school officers. Prior to his work with the Council, he held positions in the administrations of the current and former State Senate majority leaders and served on the Education and Higher Education transition teams for then Governor-Elect George Pataki as an advisor.

The event is sponsored by UAlbany's Center for Policy Research, the Department of Educational Administration and Policy Studies and the School of Education. A question-and-answer session will follow the lecture. Light refreshments will be served.


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