The U.S. Department of Education has chosen Vancouver to host one of 12 Future Ready Regional Summits scheduled across the nation in the coming months. The purpose of the summit is to help school district leaders use technology to improve teaching and student learning.
Vancouver was chosen for the summit, set for Feb. 17-18, because Vancouver Public Schools has been recognized nationally for its leadership in using technology for teaching and learning, according to a Department of Education news release. The district has participated in the Digital Promise League of Innovative Schools, a White House initiative.
The district passed a technology levy in 2013 and is working toward providing individual technology devices for each student in grades 3 through 12.
The summits follow a Connected to the Future meeting hosted by President Barack Obama at the White House in November that featured 115 local superintendents from across the country. Steve Webb, superintendent of Vancouver Public Schools, was invited to attend that White House event, but he was unable to go because it conflicted with the school board’s annual state conference.
“The U.S. Department of Education contacted us in December to see if we were interested in being a host for the regional summit meeting,” said Tom Hagley, spokesman for Vancouver Public Schools. “The intent was to focus these summits in districts where they’ve had the track record of success.”
The purpose for these regional summits is for the Department of Education to reach out and help school district leaders develop plans for their own digital transformation, identify best practices, provide professional development for teachers, and bring people together regionally, Hagley said.
“Vancouver is further along than many (school districts), but there may be some who are more advanced,” Hagley said. “It’s an opportunity to share information and best practices, to learn from one another.”
Webb will serve on a panel on how to lead a digital transformation in a school district. Vancouver is helping to organize the Future Ready Regional Summit and is sending a team of four or five district leaders to participate in the event at the Heathman Lodge. The agenda for this regional meeting does not include site visits to local schools, said Pat Nuzzo, Vancouver district spokeswoman.
The summits are not open to the public. They are open to leadership teams on a first-come, first-served basis from districts where the superintendent has signed the Future Ready District Pledge. Already, more than 1,300 superintendents nationwide have taken the pledge.
“Being ‘future-ready’ means developing the human and technological capacity needed to transform teaching and personalize learning using digital tools,” said Richard Culatta, director of the Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, according to a news release.
Other cities hosting Future Ready Regional Summits are Raleigh, N.C.; Baltimore; Atlanta; Phoenix; West Warwick, R.I.; St. Louis; Redwood City, Calif.; Denver; Wadsworth, Ill.; Pittsburgh; and Dallas.
