Pitt's Learning Policy Center to Host Open House Colloquium

PITTSBURGH-The University of Pittsburgh's Learning Policy Center (LPC) will host an Open House Colloquium at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Concordia Club, 4024 O'Hara St., Oakland.

Guest speakers for the event are Roy Romer, former Colorado governor, superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District, and chair of Strong American Schools' "ED in '08" campaign; Mark Roosevelt, superintendent for Pittsburgh Public Schools; and University Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science Lauren Resnick, director of Pitt's Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) and Institute for Learning. Following the speakers' presentations, there will be a reception at 4 p.m. with members of the LPC staff and guests.

Romer was the governor of Colorado for three terms, from 1986 to 1998, becoming the nation's senior Democratic governor. As governor, he served as chair of the Educational Commission of the States and the National Education Goals Panel. He advocated ambitious literacy and math plans that included computer-based learning programs and teacher training.

Before becoming superintendent to the second-largest school district in Pennsylvania, Roosevelt was a state representative in Massachusetts, serving in the state's general court from 1986 to '94. While in the general court, he helped pass the Education Reform Act of 1993, a law that provided fairer funding of school districts and raised standards for statewide testing.

Resnick is an internationally known scholar in the cognitive science of learning and instruction. Her research focuses on school reform, assessment, effort-based education, the nature and development of thinking abilities, and the role of talk and discourse in learning. Resnick cofounded the New Standards Project, which developed performance-based standards and assessments that widely influenced state and school district practice. She was advisor to the first chair of the National Education Goals Panel, and she served as a member of the National Council on Education Standards and Testing.

This event is free and open to the public, but an RSVP is required for attendance and is available at the LPC Web site, www.learningpolicycenter.org. For more information, contact Sarah Coon at 412-624-7050.

The LPC is a new center at the University with the mission of advancing ideas that encompass both education policy and research on teaching and learning. The LPC utilizes Pitt's School of Education, LRDC, Institute for Learning, and other regional assets to connect high-quality learning research with education policy decision makers.

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10/4/07/tmw