December 12, 2012
The Southeast Ohio Teacher Development Collaborative with support of a grant provided by the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, held a two-day conference, "Appalachia from an Assets Perspective," on Saturday, Dec. 1 and Sunday Dec. 2 at Shawnee State University.
The Jennings Foundation Grant is to bring together educators from Southeast Ohio, including teacher educators to develop an aligned system of professional preparation, among other initiatives.
Building on the initial conference in Fall 2010, this conference was more intensive to assist educators, administrators, and others to understand the teachers of Appalachia as assets, as contributors to the culture of the region, as activists, and as resilient advocates for their students.
The conference examined historical trends and current conditions that underlie the economic circumstances that prevail in the region. The purpose of the workshop was to help stakeholders understand teachers as assets of Appalachian culture and incorporate this understanding into products (e.g., lesson plans, policy statements) that have a direct bearing on their work. The target audience was P-12 teachers and administrators in schools across Southeast Ohio.
Topics included the Ohio Department of Education's major education initiatives, new evaluation systems, including student growth measures, resident educator program, new content standards, formative instructional practice, Ohio improvement process, race to the top and other initiatives for Ohio student success.