HCG to Sponsor Policy Summit on Supporting High-Needs Schools
June 7, 2006

CONTACT:

Merideth Strawhorn, Hodges Consulting Group, LLC (803) 251-2304

Stacey Grissom, National Education Association (202) 822-7235

Riley, S.C. National Board Certified Teachers,^® Education Leaders Meet for First-of-its-Kind Education Policy Summit

Columbia, S.C. --- For the first time ever, hundreds of the state's top teachers will join former U.S. Secretary of Education and South Carolina Gov. Richard Riley, State Superintendent of Education Inez Tenenbaum, and other educational leaders for a daylong summit to discuss issues that affect the state's high-needs schools.

"If we are going to guarantee a quality education for every child in our state, it is essential that more accomplished educators teach in our high-needs schools," said Riley. "We are asking South Carolina's National Board Certified Teachers to help us find ways to attract these outstanding educators to the schools that need them the most. The success of this summit depends on their participation in this important conversation."

"The Policy Summit on Supporting and Staffing High-Needs Schools: A Conversation Among South Carolina's National Board Certified Teachers" (NBCT^®s) will be held on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2006, from 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia.

"It is critically important that our National Board Certified Teachers step forward to participate in this discussion because their voices need to be heard," said Sheila C. Gallagher, president of The South Carolina Education Association. "Many of these teachers are leaders in our schools and South Carolina needs their help to have great public schools for every child."

Participants will spend the day formulating solutions to one of today's most pressing educational issues--how to attract and retain high-quality teachers in schools that are struggling with high teacher turnover and poor student achievement. The results will be delivered to a panel of policymakers at the summit and will form the basis for future action. The summit recommendations will be used to address how teachers are recruited, prepared and retained in South Carolina's high-needs public schools.

"I'm looking forward to coming together with my fellow NBCTs to explore fresh solutions for South Carolina's schools," said NBCT Dr. Ed Epps, a veteran English language arts and creative writing teacher at Spartanburg High School in Spartanburg, S.C. "All children can learn, but not all can learn in the same way. The challenge we, as educators have--and what this Summit affords the opportunity for--is finding effective and efficient ways for supporting our students, our schools and therefore, our communities."

Conference sponsors include: the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement; the Center for Teaching Quality; the Hodges Consulting Group; the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS); the National Education Association; the South Carolina Department of Education and The South Carolina Education Association.

National Board Certification^® is the highest credential in the teaching profession. A voluntary process established by NBPTS, certification is achieved through a rigorous, performance-based assessment that typically takes more than a year to complete and measures what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. This process requires teachers to demonstrate how their activities, both inside and outside of the classroom, improve student achievement.

Currently, there are nearly 50,000 NBCTs in the United States. With nearly 4,500 NBCTs teaching in South Carolina's schools, the state ranks third in the country in the number of teachers who have achieved National Board Certification.

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For more information visit www.thescea.org.