Superintendent Wayne N. Walters Panelist in U.S. Department of Education’s Raise the Bar: Literacy & Math Series to Address Academic Recovery

Superintendent Wayne N. Walters Panelist in U.S. Department of Education’s

Raise the Bar: Literacy & Math Series to Address Academic Recovery 

Session 5 – Putting Policy Into Practice

Virtual Convening - Thursday, February 9, 2023 

Two-part session: 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm EST 

Last fall, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) launched a series of five convenings focused on strategies and programs to boost literacy and math outcomes. The kickoff event on October 26, was a continued call to action for practitioners, education leaders, and policymakers to leverage the extraordinary level of available federal resources to mitigate the impact of lost instructional time and accelerate academic recovery. Subsequent sessions focused on providing rigorous instruction, increasing support for students beyond the classroom (i.e., best practices and research in after-school and summer programming), and supporting educators while addressing teacher shortages.

The fifth and final session of the series will take place on February 9 and includes two parts, both critical to advancing academic recovery: connecting policy to practice and starting with early learning as key levers to accelerated learning.

Part I – Putting Policy into Practice (2:00 pm – 3:15 pm)

Part one will spotlight success stories of states and districts that have collaborated among research, practitioners, and the community to implement evidence-based policies and practices on the ground. One panel will look deeply at putting into practice evidence-based policy recommendations that raise the bar for student learning. The other, which will include Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Wayne N. Walters, will look at states and districts and how they’re leveraging research and ARP funds to boost academic recovery for students in their districts and states.

Part II - Early Learning to Accelerate Academic Recovery: Building on Current Investments (3:20 – 4:50 pm)

Part two of Session 5 will highlight how lessons drawn from the Department’s current research and programmatic investments can be harnessed to support the academic recovery imperatives to start early with both literacy and math, and to become more intentional about aligning classrooms, homes, and communities.  Additionally, the two panels will be encouraged to explore how, to what extent, and in what ways centering on kindergarten could contribute to advancing and accelerating academic recovery.  

Click here to register for one or both parts of the February 9 virtual convening.