Accelerated Learning Policy Forum (conference)

June 8-9, 2006

Accelerated learning courses and programs are growing in number across the nation, and they hold promise as a pathway for low-income and racial/ethnic minorities to increase their access to and success in higher education. This national meeting will examine key policy issues related to accelerated learning options, such as Advanced Placement, dual/concurrent enrollment, early college high schools, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.

This forum was designed for state, institutional, and local leaders—including legislators, executive office staff, board members and trustees, state superintendents of public instruction, and state higher education executive officers and staff—as well as practitioners and researchers who are concerned with issues of quality, financing, and access as they relate to accelerated learning courses and programs. Plenary and concurrent sessions addressed topics including:

• Broadening Access with Accelerated Learning
• Financing Accelerated Learning Options
• Identifying and Addressing Issues of Quality
• Introducing Acceleration in Low-Performing Schools
• Using Data to Answer Important Questions about Accelerated Learning
• Aligning Accelerated Learning Policies: State, Higher Education, and K-12
• Distance Education Strategies to Serve Economically Disadvantaged Students
• Accelerated Learning: The Role of Foundations

Speakers included:

• KEYNOTE SPEAKER Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, President, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Cheryl Blanco, Senior Program Director, Policy Analysis and Research, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
• JB Buxton, Senior Education Advisor, Office of the Governor, North Carolina
• Linda Campbell, Executive Director, Center for Native American Educational Advancement, and Core Faculty, Center for Programs in Education, Antioch University–Seattle
• Nancy Hoffman, Vice President, Youth Transitions; Director, Early College High School Initiative, JFF
• Christine Johnson, President, Community College of Denver
• David Longanecker, Executive Director, Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education
• Tad Perry, Executive Director, South Dakota Board of Regents
• Representative David Rainey, Arkansas
• Mike Riley, Superintendent, Bellevue, Washington
• Marlene Seltzer, President and CEO, JFF
• Deborah Wilds, Senior Program Officer, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation