Monday, November 8, 2010

Beyond Waiting for Superman: Panel Discussion


Beyond Waiting for Superman: How Do We Overcome Inequities in our Urban Schools?




Beyond Waiting for Superman
Tuesday, November 9th at 6:00pm
5710 S. Woodlawn Chicago, IL 60637
Community Lounge

The challenge of providing excellent education for students in urban communities is not new. As this Time magazine article states: "Education history is littered with big promises, national commissions and task forces, summits, and surprisingly little change." However, the recent paradigm shift towards a global economy has called even more attention to the educational gap that exists between American students and many of their international counterparts. Complicating the issue even more are the disparities that have always existed between American students in urban environments and students in suburban communities. This multi-layered issue of American education has spurred the documentary Waiting for Superman , which is a pretty interesting commentary on the educational challenges facing the United States, and highlights many of the disparities that exist between suburban and urban schools.

Waiting for Superman Trailer


In an indirect response to the film, and a greater response to the current challenges of education The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Teach for America and The Urban Teacher Education Program are hosting Beyond Waiting for Superman: How do we overcome inequities in our urban schools?

This panel discussion will feature current educational experts such as Tim King, Founder and President of Urban Prep Academies a highly successful system of charter schools for African American men, Dr. Timothy Knowles, the John Dewey Director of the University of Chicago's Urban Education Institute (UEI) a research institute at the University of Chicago dedicated to providing the framework to allow Chicago public school systems to be improved, and Elliot Ransom, Performance Manager at the Chicago Public School Office of New Schools.

Come join us as we discuss how to solve the educational inequities plaguing public schools! Refreshments will be served!