Rhode Island

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Rhode Island

Policy Challenges Conferences

Policy Challenges Conferences: Bridging Research and Practice hosts regular events with targeted audiences around the Northeast and Islands Region to bring evidence to practitioners, from IES Practice Guides published by panels of experts to key findings from REL-NEI’s research staff. Table talks, Q&A with expert speakers, and breakout sessions all serve to advance the conversation and connect research to practice.

View the Event Archives

	Multiple Measures of Teacher Effectiveness (June 2010) Leaders from the six New England states are participating in a regional network—the New England Collaborative for Educator Quality and Effectiveness (NECEQE)—to review research and share state efforts to develop policies and programmatic support for the complex challenge of measuring teacher effectiveness. This daylong meeting convened leaders from the Collaborative and their invited colleagues to delve more deeply into topics central to this undertaking: (a) defining teacher effectiveness, (b) measuring and evaluating teacher effectiveness, and (c) professional development and compensation systems tied to teacher evaluation. Featured speakers included Dr. Laura Goe and Charlotte Danielson.
	Webinar: Measuring Teacher Effectiveness in New England (May 2010) In this webinar co-hosted with the New England Comprehensive Center and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, Dr. Douglas Harris at the University of Wisconsin–Madison presented current research on value-added models for measuring teacher effectiveness. Among the webinar participants were representatives from the New England Collaborative for Educator Quality and Effectiveness (NECEQE), a newly formed initiative comprised of teacher-effectiveness leaders from each of the six New England states. Archive available.
	High-Risk Student Populations (March 2008) Bringing together researchers and stakeholders to discuss high-risk student populations was the focus of REL-NEI’s second Policy Challenges Conference, held in Providence, R.I., March 5–6th, 2008. Dr. Ron Ferguson, director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University, offered a keynote speech about the role of research in understanding and addressing the specific needs of at-risk students in the United States. Over 100 educators, researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders representing all states and jurisdictions in the Northeast and Islands Region attended. Video available.
	Teacher Quality: Addressing Regional Needs (November 2007) In collaboration with its partner organization, Learning Innovations at WestEd, REL-NEI convened its first Policy Challenges Conference on November 14–15th, 2007, in Providence, R.I. Dr. Richard Ingersoll of the University of Pennsylvania and the Consortium for Policy Research in Education gave the keynote address: “The Teacher Shortage: A Case of Wrong Diagnosis and Wrong Prescription.” Video available.