May 28, 2009 Event at the National Press Club Will Explore School Choice Research
As the national battle over the fate of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program continues, America’s leading education researchers are set to reveal key evidence about the effectiveness of school choice.
The Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Greater Washington Urban League, and the Alliance for School Choice will host an important briefing on school choice research at the National Press Club (National Press Building, 529 14th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20045) on May 28, 2009 at 2 pm. The event is titled “What the Research Says about School Choice.”
At the briefing, four of the nation’s leading education researchers will discuss the latest findings from the Washington, D.C. and Milwaukee school choice evaluations, previous findings from school choice research, and the broader implications of school vouchers and scholarship tax credit programs.
Panelists Jay P. Greene, Thomas Stewart, Russ Whitehurst, and Patrick Wolf will share their insights on the extensive school choice research they have completed.
- Jay P. Greene is head of the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. Author of numerous studies on school choice programs, his research was cited often by the Supreme Court in the landmark Zelman v. Simmons-Harris case on school vouchers. He is the author of the book Education Myths.
- Thomas Stewart, coauthor of a recent study on parent and student experiences with school choice in Milwaukee, is the Senior Research Associate of the School Choice Demonstration Project and is founder and CEO of Qwaku & Associates, a research design and program evaluation firm. He has held senior executive and board positions at some of the nation’s most prominent education organizations.
- Russ Whitehurst is the Director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution and previously served as the first Director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. In this role, he oversaw the activities of the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance and the National Center for Education Research.
- Patrick Wolf, a professor and the 21st Century Chair in School Choice at the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform, is the Principal Investigator of the ongoing Milwaukee Parental Choice Program and the DC Opportunity Scholarship evaluations.
The moderator of the panel discussion will be the president of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, Gerard Robinson. The event is open to the public by RSVP only (e-mail Ashley Ehrenreich at aehrenreich@allianceforschoolchoice.org or call 202-280-1986).
This event is sponsored by the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the Greater Washington Urban League, and the Alliance for School Choice.
Contacts:
Alliance for School Choice
Andrew Campanella, 202-276-1303
acampanella@allianceforschoolchoice.org