Contact:
Christel Henke
414-332-2933
chenke@hansondodge.com

For Immediate Release

Raising the Bar in Student Achievement for Tomorrow’s World

ASQ Education Conference to Provide Road Map for Innovative Improvement

Milwaukee, Wis., August 24, 2009 – In an economy where finding jobs is more challenging every day, it’s crucial that students gain the 21st century skills they will need to succeed in tomorrow’s work force. Developing teachers and leaders with the innovative strategies and skills used by nationally recognized districts is an investment that will pay off for educators who attend the 17th National Quality Education Conference (NQEC), sponsored by ASQ (American Society for Quality).

The conference will be held Sunday, October 25 – Tuesday, October 27 at the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront, Jacksonville, Fla. This year’s theme is "Leading, Learning and Teaching for Tomorrow’s World." Educators can take part in more than 40 in-depth sessions and five half-day workshops featuring education practitioners and experts in six major tracks supporting the national education agenda for high standards, data-driven decisions, increased graduation rates, improved teacher and principal quality, and closing the achievement gap. Tracks include Developing New Leaders and Teachers; New to Quality: How to Get Started; Rapid Response Assessment; The Power of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs); Integrating Measurement and Creativity; and Driving Quality Throughout School and District Operations.

Spotlight Sessions
Coinciding with the national conversation around high national standards are spotlight sessions based on a framework of excellence in education, including: Baldrige National Quality Program: Routes to the Top — Jeff Lucas with the Baldrige National Quality Program; Quality in Education 101 (tailored to newcomers to quality practices) — Becky Martin with Cedar Rapids Community School District; Moving to Organizational Excellence — Bob Ewy, Education Performance Improvement Coach; and Will Students Make the Grade in an Education for the World Ahead? — Maurice Ghysels, Mountain View Whisman School District.

Supporting Quality Teachers
Raising student achievement begins with developing teachers and leaders who will lead the acceleration of continuous improvement. This year, NQEC introduces a new series of sessions that will examine training of new staff, both recent graduates and experienced, in the teaching corps and in leadership.

Conference highlights include four keynote speakers:

• Effective Communication and Enhancing Creativity in Our Youth and Educators — Sunday, 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. — Joseph and Judith Pauley, authors of Communication: The Key to Effective Leadership and winners of the National Drop-Out Prevention Network’s Crystal Award for their work in helping school districts nationwide in reducing high school drop-out rates, will speak with administrators and teachers about how they can be more effective in leading improvement in their schools.
• The Quality Journey: Facing the Brutal Facts and Greatness to Last — Sunday, 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. — Dan Lukich,superintendent of Community Consolidated School District 15, Palatine, Ill., (2003 National Baldrige Recipient), will provide insights on three distinct stages of a school district’s journey to quality, including the processes employed to align and implement Baldrige criteria, internal and external challenges faced, and plans for the future.
• Quality Learning Down Under — Monday, 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. — David Langford, known as America’s master quality teacher and author of Orchestrating Learning With Quality and Tool Time for Education, will share effective application strategies and processes of Langford Quality Learning. His presentations always feature stories, data, activities and video documentation.
• Delivering on the Promise: The Education Revolution — Tuesday, 8:15 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. — Rich DeLorenzo, an internationally known leader in education reform and organizational restructuring and co-founder of the Re-inventing Schools Coalition (RISC), will discuss his uniquely comprehensive grassroots approach to re-inventing educational systems.

NQEC is the nation’s leading conference for teachers, administrators and support personnel to learn about the use of quality tools and concepts that can be applied to improve U.S. schools. It is an outstanding opportunity for educators seeking awareness, commitment, refinement and measurable progress in applying continuous improvement approaches and processes. In addition to numerous special sessions for K-12, it’s also a venue for educators and administrators to interact with their peers from school districts across the country and around the world.

 
ASQ, www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 90,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding sponsor of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.