Learning, Joy, and Equity: A New Framework for Elementary Education

Join New America and the Children’s Equity Project on Tuesday, October 15 from 2-3:30pm ET for an event introducing a new framework for elementary education. The framework builds on previous foundational efforts centered on children and the ways we know children learn, with a focus on disrupting well-documented, historically rooted, and contemporarily entrenched biases in learning systems. While there is no single ideal elementary school experience, there are core ingredients to which every child needs and deserves access. Guided by research, data, learnings from schools across the United States, parent and family voice, and a desire to design child-centered, joyful, and effective spaces for learning, the framework consists of 14 core ingredients.

The event will feature remarks from Deputy Assistant Secretary Swati Adarkar at the U.S. Department of Education on promoting early school success, an overview of the framework, and a panel discussion featuring teacher, family, principal, and superintendent perspectives. 

Agenda

Welcome

Cara Sklar, Director, Early & Elementary Education Policy, New America

Opening Remarks

Swati Adarkar, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Policy and Early Learning, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education

Framework Overview

Dr. Shantel Meek, Professor of Practice, Founding Director, Children’s Equity Project, Arizona State University

Dr. Tunette Powell, Assistant Research Professor, Director of Parent and Family Partnerships, Children’s Equity Project, Arizona State University

Panel Discussion

Keri Rodrigues, Co-Founder, Founding President, National Parents Union

Dr. Letitia Johnson-Davis, Founder of Nia Knowledge Network, former principal of Baldwin Hills Elementary School, Los Angeles, CA

Dr. Michael Robert, Superintendent, Osborn School District, Phoenix, AZ

Ambar Martinez, Teacher, District of Columbia Public Schools

Patricia Donati, Teacher, District of Columbia Public Schools

Moderator: Laura Bornfreund, Senior Fellow, Early & Elementary Education Policy, New America

Closing

Dr. Shantel Meek, Professor of Practice, Founding Director, Children’s Equity Project, Arizona State University

Dr. Tunette Powell, Assistant Research Professor, Director of Parent and Family Partnerships, Children’s Equity Project, Arizona State University

Networking