College of Education > News > 2011 > July > Education Summit focuses stakeholders on finding lasting solutions

Education Summit focuses stakeholders on finding lasting solutions

Dr. Cynthia Reed addresses the crowd at the education summit.

From kindergarten teachers to high school principals, educators in Alabama are facing a facing the same set of questions.

How do you expand professional development for teachers and school leaders, upgrade classroom technology, develop community partnerships, lower the state’s dropout rate and prepare students to compete nationally and internationally while working within the confines of ever-tightening budgets?

Dr. Cynthia Reed, professor and director of the College of Education’s Truman Pierce Institute, has made it her mission to help them find answers.

Reed hosted more than 50 Alabama teachers, administrators, policymakers, business owners and community leaders for a July 13 education summit at Auburn University. The summit, entitled “Developing Collaborations to Address Educational Issues in Alabama,’’ marked the culmination of a larger project undertaken by Reed as part of her 2011 Presidential Administrative Fellowship.

The fellowship provides senior administrative experience to Auburn faculty and enables them to devote a semester to the development and implementation of a special project. Reed’s over-arching project, “Developing University-Community Collaborations for a Better Alabama,’’ focused on the creation and enhancement of networks designed to help identify and address educational issues important to the future of the state and nation.

A summit participant prioritizes items on a list of education challenges and issues developed through five regional forums.

“I had to propose a special project when I applied for the fellowship and that created an opportunity to take a risk and do something on a larger scale,’’ said Reed, a professor of educational leadership in the Department of Educational Foundations, Leadership and Technology. “This is something that I’ve wanted to do for years.’’

As director of the Truman Pierce Institute, Reed oversees a research and outreach unit committed to the study and improvement of teaching, learning and educational leadership. Her work has enabled her to build close relationships with educational stakeholders at all levels, including classroom teachers, principals, superintendents, university administrators and state policymakers.

In building toward the on-campus educational summit, Reed hosted five regional education forums around the state that allowed parents, Alabama State Department of Education officials and local leaders from the school, business and non-profit sectors to share their concerns about educational issues affecting pre-K to college levels. Seventy-five people participated in the forums, hosted at and co-hosted by Auburn, Samford University, Alabama State University, the University of South Alabama and Wallace Community College-Selma.

During the July education summit at Auburn, participants discussed the findings of the earlier meetings, prioritized areas of need for Alabama and identified courses of action to address them. Reed said she will create a leadership team to develop plans and hold additional forums around the state. Reed said that future meetings would likely provide a forum for student voices.

“All of the work we do at the Truman Pierce Institute is geared toward building those [educational] infrastructures,’’ Reed said.

Last Updated: Jul 27, 2011