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Education Experts Participate in Learning Forward's Annual Conference

On Monday, December 9, the George W. Bush Institute’s Alliance to Reform Education Leadership (AREL) participated in a panel titled...

On Monday, December 9, the George W. Bush Institute’s Alliance to Reform Education Leadership (AREL) participated in a panel titled “Rethinking School Leadership Preparation” for Learning Forward’s annual conference held at the Gaylord Texas Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas. The panel discussed innovative principal preparation for school leaders and creating the right school level conditions for principals to be successful.

Learning Forward is a professional learning association whose mission is to advance educator effectiveness and student results through standards-based professional learning. The Learning Forward Conference attracts nearly 3,000 attendees from around the globe each year.

Dr. Kerri Briggs, Director of Education Reform at the George W. Bush Institute, moderated the panel. Panelists included our invited guests Dr. Gina Ikemoto, Executive Director for Research and Policy Development of New Leaders, Rosemary Perlmeter, CEO and Co-Founder of Teaching Trust, Chris Garcia, Lead and Primary Director of Uplift’s Peak Preparatory and myself.

The panelists highlighted AREL’s mission of ensuring that all schools have an effective principal, able to significantly advance student achievement. Major points made throughout the panel conversation revolved around the need to recruit and select aspiring principals who have a certain set of competencies for the principalship. A large amount of focus was also placed on the district responsibility to create conditions to support school leaders and previewed an upcoming report co-authored by AREL and New Leaders about the district role in supporting principals.

The panel was one of only a handful of Thought Leader Lectures presented by Learning Forward, which included national educational experts such as Michael Fullan, Linda Darling-Hammond, and SMU’s Dean David Chard. AREL was proud to represent the Bush Institute at this nationally recognized conference.