ASQ Education Conference: Creating World-Class Learners

NQEC Focus: Innovation, Quality Key to Improving Student Achievement

Milwaukee, Wis., August 12, 2010 — Many students today are struggling to develop the knowledge and skills that it will take to succeed in tomorrow’s workforce. Preparing teachers and administrators with the innovative quality tools and strategies that they need to improve student achievement is the goal of the 18th National Quality Education Conference (NQEC) http://nqec.asq.org/, sponsored by ASQ (American Society for Quality). The conference will be held Sunday, November 7 – Tuesday, November 9 at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O’Hare Hotel & Conference Center in Rosemont, Ill.

General Conference Highlights:  This year’s theme is Innovation in Education: Creating World-Class Student Learning and the conference kicks offwith a keynote address Sunday, 9:00 – 10:30 a.m., by Jo Anderson Jr., senior advisor to the U.S. Department of Education.  Anderson’s presentation, The President Obama/Secretary Duncan Systemic Strategy for Continuous Improvement and Innovation in U.S. Public Education, will focus on the overall vision, mission and strategy of the Administration to transform public education, including the Race to The Top, the Invest in Innovation Fund and the reauthorization of ESEA.  Other keynote presentations include:

  • Effective Communication and Enhancing Creativity in Our Youth and Educators— Monday, 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. — Joseph and Judith Pauley, authors of Communication: The Key to Effective Leadership and nationally-renowned education experts, will describe four different “channels” of communication, describe which types of people prefer each of them, and suggest several strategies for using these “channels” to enhance the creativity of students and educators alike.
  • Running All the Red Lights— Tuesday, 8:15 – 9:15 a.m. — Brenda Clark, former associate superintendent for learning for Iredell-Statesville Schools (I-SS), which received the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 2008, will explore innovative structures that are producing impressive results in districts across the U.S. and focus on the critical impact the culture of an organization has in running all the red lights toward forward progress.

Educators can take part in more than 30 in-depth sessions as well as four preconference half-day workshops featuring education experts in six major focus areas supporting the national education agenda for high standards, data driven decisions, increased graduation rates, improved teacher and principal quality and closing the achievement gap. Areas include: Adopting rigorous standards for preparing students for success in college and the workforce; building data systems to track student achievement and teacher effectiveness; using data to inform instruction; using technology to enhance continuous improvement efforts; quality in higher education; and creating a culture of success.

More Conference Highlights:

  • Improving School Cultures to Reduce Bullying and Increase School Safety — This session addresses how process communication and quality processes can help reduce bullying and violence in our schools.  Monday, November 8, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m., presented by Joseph and Judith Pauley, CEO and President of Process Communications Inc.
  • Leadership Summit — This year’s summit, with the theme Building Systems, Encouraging Innovation, will be held in partial conjunction with NQEC. District leaders are invited to participate in this unique chance to strengthen leadership skills and engage in interactive learning and sharing best practices with other districts around the country. Advanced coaching will also be provided by speakers Jo Anderson, Brenda Clark and Lee Jenkins. For more information or to register, visit http://leadership.asq.org/.
  • Quality in Higher Education Sessions — Five sessions addressing higher education quality. Topics include using Baldrige as a framework; Six Sigma for internal process improvement; assessing doctoral student progression; classroom data tools; and customer service for student success.

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. 

About ASQ

ASQ, (the American Society for Quality) www.asq.org, has been the world's leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 80,000 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 a champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers. 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.
ASQ is a global community of people passionate about quality, who use the tools, their ideas and expertise to make our world work better. ASQ: The Global Voice of Quality.