Senior U.S. education officials Michael Yudin and Scott Sargrad will address a national conference of state administrators Wednesday in Burlingame, California, regarding the Education Department’s efforts to turn around low-performing schools.
Yudin, who serves as acting assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, and Sargrad, who is deputy assistant secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, will participate in a panel titled, “School Turnaround: Leveraging Federal Initiatives,” at the Center on School Turnaround’s two-day fall conference, “Building Systemic and Sustainable Turnaround Efforts: An SEA Discussion.” The conference is expected to attract state-level administrators who work on turnaround and school improvement projects, giving them a chance to hear from leaders in the turnaround field and to share best practices.
The U.S. Department of Education supports several programs to help build ladders of opportunity for those in greatest need.For instance, School Improvement Grants help turn around persistently low-achieving schools; Promise Neighborhoods link schools with partner organizations in low-income areas to provide services from early learning to college and career; and the Investing in Innovation (i3) fund backs promising approaches in high-need areas. Race to the Top provides competitive grants to help promote innovation, reform and excellence in America’s public schools.